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Having spent over 5 weeks in UK the weeds in my veggie plot were as expected, almost as tall as me. I had not planted anything knowing we were going to be away. My question is can I use a weed killer that would kill the weeds BUT would not interfere with my winter planting. If anyone knows of something I can use please let me know. I am not usually one for using such things but this is an emergency as I am afraid my back would not cope with all that weeding.
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Without meaning to be condescending or preachy, and I am sure you just want an easy answer but.....in case you were unaware, if you put plant poisin on your ground then you grow ....ehmm plants, it is going to end up in what you eat.

It seems there has been a giant hoodwink going on for some time, fuelled by adverts of course, that weedkiller (in reality, poisin) is good (and safe!) for your garden. Just because it is easier than weeding by other methods, people seem to ignore the obvious logic that plant poisin is.... well ... poisinous and it is by its nature toxic to living things. Possibly worse for us as we are near the top of the food chain and we eat all the produce of other living things that have been subject these poisins and pesticides. Yummy... or miam miam as highly polluted France might say.
The active killing compounds may not work for long but they mostly stay in your soil and what doesn't remain goes in to the watercourses, rivers and eventually the sea. No one really has any idea of what the long term effects of these poisins are. 

More on this previous thread:

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1721160/ShowPost.aspx

Bon courage!

Danny

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[quote user="Jane and Danny"]

The active killing compounds may not work for long but they mostly stay in your soil and what doesn't remain goes in to the watercourses, rivers and eventually the sea. No one really has any idea of what the long term effects of these poisins are. 

Danny

[/quote]

Whata da you mean, No sea weed? [:D]

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To make it easier, if you are going to be in France for a while, cover up the weeds with something like a bache, or some old bits of carpet, or large cardboard boxes , something that will flatten them. Then a few weeks later, after it has rotted down, you will be able to rake up some of it, and have less to dig.

I moved some tall weeds last August and found they pulled up surprisingly easily.

I'm trying to deter husband from using weedkiller at the moment - he asked advice from locals and they all showed him these bottles of "poison". There are others who handweed and use the heavy-duty hoe.

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Don't worry about the 'poison in the soil' scare stories. Buy some glyphosate gel and just paint it on to the leaves of the weeds - they will die, but nothing else will, and nothing harmful will get into the soil.

M

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Spelling correctly has little to do with this very serious subject, surely!

Personally I would NEVER kill weeds on a veg plot with a weedkiller - then eat the veg! I have decided to take the slow and easy option. As advised above, I have covered the whole area with 1 tarp, cardboard then another tarp held down with old tiles, as soon as snow melted - then put lawn cuttings on top on regular basis to 'cook' the lot. I will then dig over in the autumn and be ready to plant in SAFE soil next Spring.

In the meantime gathering and stock piling all the horse manure I can lay my peasant hands on!

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[quote user="M"]

Don't worry about the 'poison in the soil' scare stories. Buy some glyphosate gel and just paint it on to the leaves of the weeds - they will die, but nothing else will, and nothing harmful will get into the soil.

M

[/quote]

Blimey M, I'll put money on the fact that you believe Gordon Brown too if you believe the crap put out by Monsanto that glyphosate is harmless when it hits soil? You might just like to start your education of the 'safeness' (is there such a word?) of your treasured glyphosate with this http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/contaminants/dw_contamfs/glyphosa.html

BUT? I suppose if my spelling is slightly off then you can ignoar everiething eye sai?

We have some in our garage and I am trying to fathom out how we can dispose of it, but if it is true what you say then I can just pour it down the drain! Like blo-ody hell !!!!!

Edit :- This is an even better site and if you want more there is lots out there. Just google glyphosate problems and be prepaired for a long read! http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/organo/glyphosate.htm  , but whatever else you do don't use it near me!

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M and Scooby I am with you both on this, especially your PS!.

You will "damage"yourself more with untested chemicals that you use every day in your house - plug in air fresheners, deodorants,face creams, hairspray etc. I use the word untested loosely in trying to emphasise these household items do not go through the extremely lengthy vigorous testing as agricultural chemicals do.Milkey
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[quote user="Scooby"]Well my best friend (a post doctoral chemist) is happy to use it on her garden...so that's good enough for me!

P.s - given the average age of posters on here I'm surprised you're worrying [;-)]
[/quote]

There are lots of those employed by the likes of Monsanto Scooby, but that's for you to decide and your right to do so. I won't touch the stuff though!

As far as a lance de flamme is concerned I don't think that you would get much thanks down this way at the moment RH [:D]. I would love to be able to use ours on the drive, but???

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Almost a third done to date, by hand. They are coming out quite well and not as bad as I thought it would be. So, nothing nasty being used and all veggies should be fine to eat in the winter. Thank you all for taking time to reply.
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I'd rather not use weedkiller as I prefer to avoid the poison issue as well. Instead, covering the ground is one option, weeding (which I can do as I live here) another. However, the recommendation in my Mairie is boiling water. I haven't tried it, has ony one else?
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I just thought that it would kill most things, but that it may prove to be as expensive as weedkiller given the cost of heating the water. I'm also guessing that its covered by any water use restrictions that may come into force at various times, still that is not a problem this summer!
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Why not solar heat the water? The cost of the boiling water may well be a lot less than the chemicals you pour into the ground in the long run?

I may well get one of the 'spare' Navitron tubes out of the loft just to provide the boiling water and see what happens? That will give me a gallon or so, but then again as our hot water is solar heated anyway?

Decisions, decisions, no wonder I am so tyred. Sorry, trying to keep on 'tread' there?

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[quote user="milkeybar kid"]M and Scooby I am with you both on this, especially your PS!. You will "damage"yourself more with untested chemicals that you use every day in your house - plug in air fresheners, deodorants,face creams, hairspray etc. I use the word untested loosely in trying to emphasise these household items do not go through the extremely lengthy vigorous testing as agricultural chemicals do.Milkey[/quote]

Milkey, thanks for the straw man In doing so, you make a valid point about all the chemical garbage which invades our houses. Back to the point, however, regarding agricultural and garden chemicals, I suppose you were thinking of the kind of vigorous testing the US carried out in Vietnam for ten years...

http://www.truthout.org/061509R

Surprise, surprise - one of the largest suppliers of this 'defoliant' - cute term for a poison (is that better, Scooby?) don't you think - was a caring, sharing band of entrepreneurs called Monsanto who proclaimed that "without chemicals, life itself would be impossible" without a hint of irony of course. Especially to those who unwittingly took part in those tests 

 http://home.clara.net/heureka/gaia/orange.htm
"Monsanto's contribution to the well being of the world has included dioxin, rBGH, PCBs, DDT, Agent Orange and Roundup. Monsanto is currently aggressively pushing genetically modified crops, a technology the world does not need and does not want. For Monsanto, corporate greed far outweighs planetary need. Monsanto aggressively pursues anyone who dares to criticise their policies. "

No doubt all of the things that are now banned were approved by 'scientists' as safe at one point. here is a recent example.

Danny

 

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[quote user="mikeinfrance"]Well you learn something every day, I didn't realise you could solar heat water to boiling.[/quote]

As a quick aside Mike, have a look at this lot. Not just for boiling water!! http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/board,27.0.html

End of hijacque..

Edit :- I have just been looking at your links Danny. Very interesting! Something else that was very interesting was Silent Spring mentioned in one of the links. We got the book a few months back and I will be reading it again soon. I certainly opened a lot of 'importaint' peoples eyes and a fascinating read to boot.

(Old Chinese proverb --- You can tell the importance of a person by the impression that his hand leaves in a bucket full of water!)

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