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  • From: Weston Lant <weston AT luckyfieldorganics.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Poison Ivy!
  • Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 21:54:29 -0400

If you have a picking company anywhere near you or a serious commercial restaurant supplier near you you can order 100 grain white vinegar and it is pretty inexpensive when purchased in bulk it works very well on most anything that is a broad leaf.  It doesn't do much of anything to grasses unless you use an inordinate amount of it.  It very temporarily alters the pH, but it doesn't remain altered.  If you are certified organic you need to verify that the vinegar does not contain any synthetic ingredients, this is not usually an issue.

Weston Lant
luckyfieldorganics.com  Rochester, Massachusetts

On 5/31/2010 9:45 PM, Beth Spaugh wrote:
Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate in the field.  Mow, mow, mow, mow, mow, mow where you can.
 
Beth Spaugh
Rehoboth Homestead, Peru, NY
Farm Fresh Food Club CSA - http://rhomestead.com 
Become a Fan on Facebook
 
Garden fresh vegetables, organically grown, and pastured chicken, duck, and geese
 
"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used." - Wendell Berry
 
"Without power over our food, any notion of democracy is empty." - Frances Moore Lappe
 


From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Deb Taft
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 7:08 PM
To: Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [Market-farming] Poison Ivy!


Hi All.

I hope you had as gorgeous a weekend as we did here.

At my new little farm I have just discovered a wealth of poison ivy.  I have a small mowed section where I'm keeping my bees and in the last week the PI has exploded.  I guess it was being kept in-check by all the stuff I just mowed.  I'm also finding bits of it returning in the areas I've cultivated.  It isn't big and woody yet, just tender herbaceous runners.  This gives me some hope that I can get rid of it.

The section isn't huge but I really don't want to take the time to pull it all by hand.  I got such a late start because of the permitting process that I have too much to do without spending days in a hazmat suit pulling the damned stuff.  I'm recovering from my first encounter with it, which resulted in a nasty rash but in a limited area.  I washed with Tecnu as soon as I realized what I had been handling and that seemed to keep it from spreading.

What are your suggestions for eradication?

I've read that horticultural grade vinegar (20% acetic acid) will work but is hard to come by unless you want a 55 gallon drum.  It seems like most web forums eventually end up agreeing that RoundUp is the way to go, since glysophate breaks down readily.  Some sources also recommend Brush-B-Gone, which contains Triclopyr.  Triclopyr has a half-life in soil of 1.1 to 90 days but is "practically non-toxic" to birds, fish, water insects and bees.  Couldn't find anything about its affects on soil biology.

I can't believe I'm even considering these options.

Help!  There must be a better way.

Deb
Mobius Fields
Sleepy Hollow NY



















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