permaculture

[Marsha Hanzi <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

I would like to second the request.  Herbicides are just arriving in
Northeast Brazil, and  as they are not yet well-established,  there is
still time to make a "counter proposal"...


Marsha Hanzi
Instituto de Permacultura da Bahia

Rene and Lorraine van Raders wrote:
> 
> 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