Self-Created Problems – Part 1 - Lawn Care Herbicides

Michelle and I have noticed a great number of birds hanging out at Bear Butte Gardens this year – way more than in past years.  We've had flocks of Robins, Meadowlarks, Sparrows, Black Birds, Prairie Chickens, and Finches.  I've never seen a flock of Robins before this year.  It was cool!  We've had Blue Birds, Mourning Doves, and many more varieties.  I've been asking around if other people are noticing a lot of birds this year.  “No” they say.  “Not any more than any other year.”

So I’m wondering… the birds must be attracted to our property for a reason.  Then, the other day we noticed something.  We saw a flock of birds land on our front lawn and start feeding on… Dandelion seeds!  The aggressiveness and thoroughness of the birds eating those seeds let me to wonder if any seeds would survive the feeding frenzy!  Hmm… maybe this is the balance Mother Nature intended?  Those bright yellow flowers certainly seemed to attract birds.  If we would spray chemicals on our lawn to kill the Dandelions (like many people do), then we probably would not attract so many birds – and the birds would not keep our Dandelion seeds in check.

Dandelions are actually very beneficial in many ways.  They have deep tap roots that break-up hard soil and bring nutrients to the surface.  In a way, they actually fertilize and aerate the soil to the benefit of other plants, like grass.  Dandelions provide nectar to bees – and at a very important time of year when bees don’t have many other options for nectar.  Dandelions have many nutritional, health, and medicinal benefits as well.  Visit www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=756 for more information about the benefits of Dandelions.

With all the benefits of Dandelions, I just don’t understand why so many people spray chemical herbicides on their lawns to kill the Dandelions.  Chemical herbicides have so many negative side effects also.  Even though the lawn chemical companies say their products are safe, I have serious doubts.  You might think that some government agency, like the EPA, requires complete testing of these products for the safety of kids and pets.  Well, you would be wrong.  And, besides the kid and pet safety concern, there are many, many more risks.  Visit www.organiclawncare101.com/dark-lawns.html for more information about the risks of lawn care products.

If you don’t spray chemicals on your lawn to kill the Dandelions, then you get some benefits (like birds & bees), and you avoid creating all of these other problems.  Win/win? Of course, your lawn might not be a “pretty” as you might want, but where exactly did you get your idea of a pretty lawn anyhow?  From some commercial on TV?  From someone trying to sell you something?  Just sayin’.

Rick Grosek
Bear Butte Gardens
Sturgis, South Dakota
www.BearButteGardens.com
Rick@BearButteGardens.com

June!

Wowsers it's been a while since I blogged!  That usually means one of two things:  I've been pretty busy OR I don't really want to talk about something because it didn't go as planned.  I'd say the former is my excuse this time.  At any rate, let's get caught up a little.

What have I been doing at the gardens since April?  Ummm.......planting.....and then some planting.....and a little more planting.  It's been an interesting mix of really warm 85-95-degree days and really cool 50s to 60s with a lot of wind thrown in and maybe a quarter inch of rain here and there.  All in all it's a pretty dry spring, even for South Dakota.  Hence part of the reason I've been so busy--every time I decide it's time to plant something I MUST first lay drip irrigation because we just aren't getting the normal spring rains.  I usually have a little leniency about getting drip irrigation in place up until about the first of July, but not this year.  So my preference is planting, not laying drip irrigation line; however, I certainly do appreciate the advantages that drip irrigation allows for larger-scale gardening.

Drip irrigation on pumpkins

So at some point this spring as I was laying yet another 100-foot increment of polyethylene tubing I started wondering, just how much drip irrigation line have I put out so far?  It seems like I'm always ordering more tubing and drip emitters, so it must be a lot.  Here's what I've come up with:  1120 feet in the potatoes, 1900 feet in the pumpkins/melons, 900 feet in the tomatoes, 400 feet in the peas/beans, 1400 feet in the cabbages/garlic, 700 feet in the peppers and corn, and potentially another 700 or so feet in the high tunnel greenhouse when it's done.  So altogether that is about 7120 feet of drip tubing and a mile is 5280 feet, so I've laid out a mile plus 2000 feet of tubing.  Sheesh!  And that doesn't even count the new shelter belt.

Killdeer nest in the middle of the pumpkin patch

Planting has been going well for the most part.  I really wish I had more spring greens.  They just aren't as easy to grow without a lot of nice spring rainfall.  I seeded various kinds of greens a few times in different places, but when they didn't really take off after a few weeks, I would re-designate that plot of garden to something seemingly more important like celery or tomatoes or cabbages.  So I am just starting to get some sign of spring greens coming up now and it's already the middle of June.  I may do some close-space planting of greens with intensive water under a section of the new greenhouse when it gets up to see what I can do there.  I guess if all else fails, I can just wait until late summer and re-seed them again for a nice crop in the fall when we will all appreciate them after tomato season is done.

I have a young lady, Kayla, helping me in the gardens this summer as a part-part-time job.  She has a couple other jobs, so I get to see her early in the morning at 6 a.m. or late afternoon, which works out very nicely in the gardens.  I know it seems obvious, but two people can just get things done so much better!  When I'm working by myself it usually takes me 1-2 hours to lay out drip line, then install the drip buttons, then I finally get around to planting 50 to 100 of whatever I'm working on that day.  Usually by then I'm beat and don't get the mulching of the new plants done until Phase II a little later or the next day or so.  When Kayla helps me one of us can be working on the drip irrigation, the other following up with seeds or plants at the appropriate places, and then quite possibly we quickly throw the mulch on and voila! instant garden!  I do have a concern, though.  A few days ago while I was laying drip tubing, she was seeding the squash and she convinced me that we really did NEED to plant 40 zucchini seeds.......and I let her.  So there may be some peer pressure going on here.

The high tunnel greenhouse is a continuing project.  We need to get it finished up very soon, so we'll be really focusing on it for the next week in the evenings and on the weekends.  It's going okay, it's just a first for us putting up something like this and we're trying to make it super strong to withstand all the winds it's going to have to endure.

One guinea and two turkeys of the five bug eaters

We have some new additions to the gardens:  3 young turkeys and 2 young guineas!  After a two-day incarceration in the dog kennel-turned-bird-coop to get them used to me feeding them, they now get daily excursions for many hours about the gardens to eat a nice variety of their favorite bugs.  They are doing a GREAT job.  I've never had turkeys before, so I'm excited to see them grow and watch their personalities.  Right now the turkeys seem to think they are also guineas, so that's kind of interesting.  I think they were all actually hatched and raised by a chicken......so kind of similar to a lot of our present-day human "mixed" families.  :-)

Although the CSA shares have been small the past couple weeks, I think the shareholders are really enjoying them.  I get reports back on how they are preparing and cooking their veggies each week.  So far they have gotten small packages of mixed greens, quite a few snow peas, new potatoes, garlic scapes, and radishes.  I'm looking forward to having the bigger items in the coming weeks like broccoli, early tomatoes, summer squash, and beans.  It all takes time and patience.  I have quite a bit of time, but not always a huge amount of patience!

I've seen this recently in articles I've read and some web sites:  S.O.L.E. Food = Sustainable Organic Local Ethical Food

Please seek out and enjoy your local foods.  There's more out there than your realize!

Michelle
Bear Butte Gardens
www.BearButteGardens.com
Michelle@BearButteGardens.com