permaculture

["Rene and Lorraine van Raders" <rvraders@tpgi.com.au>]

Hi all - we've  been busy teaching a course, with it's inevitable backlog
of work to wade through - hence our quiet.....

People often ask us if it's dangerous living in our open walled house here
in the tropics - well the other day it was - a possum knocked a glass jar
from the pantry and Rene came out at first light and didn't see it
(although we do remember the crash during the night now that we think about
it....).  He did a very good job of slicing up his foot and has only been
running on 5 cyclinders for the past week....but he's back to doing the
chores already  :)

We live in a dairy farming area (in Far North Queensland, Australia) and
have been getting very involved in our local school which includes gently
introducing the area to permaculture.  The roundup barrel was empty and
when asked for agreement on buying the next one, we've been the fly in the
ointment so to speak.  Most parents readily use roundup on their farms and
see no reason not to use it at the school.  When we gave them some reasons
for our hesitancy (i.e. residual effects, killing/depressing of non-target
species, threat to other species, possible harm to chemically sensitive
people) these didn't hit the mark.   The general consensus was "we've used
it on our farms for years, it's easy, and don't have any complaints about
it."   Roundup is used at the moment on all fencelines and garden edgings,
as well as in the playground sandpit....Apparently it has been applied
every six months but the general feeling of the group was that that wasn't
enough to stop the weeds, and one parent recommended on a fortnightly (or
at least monthly) basis.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY NEW OR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON ROUNDUP THAT MAY
INTEREST OUR PARENTS & CITIZENS COMMITTEE???  ANY INTERESTING FACTS AND
FIGURES?

They have been good enough to give us a three month trial without roundup
(during the peak growth time in the tropics)....We have our work cut out
for us, as cattle graze on most sides of the school boundaries, making
plant selection even more challenging!!! 

I should point out that we have the support of the headmaster - that counts
for something.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING ON THE NEW 'FROG-FRIENDLY' ROUNDUP?

Thanks for any insights you can share on this one.

Cheers
Lorraine 

Rene and Lorraine van Raders
The Green Piece Permaculture Garden
PO Box 389
Malanda, Beautiful Far North Queensland
4885 Australia
Int.  61 740 965138
Australia 07 40 965138
email  rvraders@tpgi.com.au
"If enough people knock there heads against a brick wall it will fall
down."
Ashleigh Brilliant