Dandelions

Fuck it, if most of you folks don't care about a non-chemical lawn and we are looking to sell this place in a few years I'm going to hit it hard this fall and next spring with the weed and feed. All the metro area folks will want to see a golf course lawn at the listing anyway.

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Originally Posted by MultiVerse

If wishes were fishes... it would be a good thing if safer cost effective alternatives to glyphosate existed because FDA chemists have been quietly finding glyphosate in food.

The chemists found glyphosate residue on just about everything: crackers, granola, cornmeal, honey, oatmeal, baby food, and even corn. Their surreptitious corn test—one of the four items the FDA is actually testing—found glyphosate significantly over the legal limit set by the EPA. The chemists emailed their bosses to ask what to do. The FDA’s response (which was also captured in the FOIA documents): That corn was not an “official sample” and will thus be ignored.

https://modernfarmer.com/2018/05/ema...osate-in-food/

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and plastic beads from facial scrubs in our water, lead in pipes supplying the water to your house, balloons killing sea turtles, anti-freeze poisoning cats and dogs, lithium batteries....... and... and..... and......

I'm not advocating anyone should spray indiscriminately. I don't weed & feed my lawn and I do as much hand pulling and mowing as I can but when it comes to growing 100 acres of wheat something has got to give.

A teaspoon of of gasoline per dandelion does quick work on them pests. Lawn looks like it has the measles tho

Just use that fork thing, no chemicals and feed the bees. If there is that much and you have to use chemicals, just follow the label. My neighborhood is inundated with them, so I just work them a little at a time and there is less than them. Now, the damn bindweed that is taking over is what is really driving me nuts.

My neighbors bitch about my miniature marigold farm every year. I feed the bees and let the wind blow the seeds to share the wealth. I have all the fancy tools listed above but I am over worrying about it. Tried the corn gluten too. Top dress your lawn if you really want to feed those fuckers. Vinagreen if you want to spot kill. http://www.vinegarguys.com/vinagreen-weed-control
Attachment 236677

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Originally Posted by SkiBall

Just use that fork thing, no chemicals and feed the bees. If there is that much and you have to use chemicals, just follow the label. My neighborhood is inundated with them, so I just work them a little at a time and there is less than them. Now, the damn bindweed that is taking over is what is really driving me nuts.

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Good luck with that bind weed. I have from time to time pulled it but there is little you can do to stop it besides goats. It is one of the many weeds I've learned to live with. At least it has pretty flowers.

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Originally Posted by Mazderati

1. Register as boutique small batch organic dandelion tea farm.
2. Harvest and sell.
3. Profit.

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[/end thread]

Turns out bindweed isn't what I thought it was. Thought it was just a benign ivy.
First google hit mentioned boiling water to kill, maybe you could use that in place of some chemicals.
I've found that effective against ants as well. Maybe they think it's a steam vent and relocate.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/pla...g-bindweed.htm

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Originally Posted by Rideski

Turns out bindweed isn't what I thought it was. Thought it was just a benign ivy.
First google hit mentioned boiling water to kill, maybe you could use that in place of some chemicals.
I've found that effective against ants as well. Maybe they think it's a steam vent and relocate.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/pla...g-bindweed.htm

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I don't believe any chemical short of sterilant kills bindweed. You can burn it with Glyphosate but that is about it. I've heard it has a tap root that can be 100 feet long. I either hand pull it or just let it be. You can mow it when it starts to wrap itself around tall grasses.

I don't mow, gave away my mower a decade ago. I don't have much bindweed, just rip it up now and then.

Speaking of which I was going to say some people upthread said he wanted roundup, but they want weedbgone if its in their lawn. Semantics, but if they're a chem newb, good to know.

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Originally Posted by KQ

I don't believe any chemical short of sterilant kills bindweed. You can burn it with Glyphosate but that is about it. I've heard it has a tap root that can be 100 feet long. I either hand pull it or just let it be. You can mow it when it starts to wrap itself around tall grasses.

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Need some dicamba for bindweed, 2-4d gets some strains, but the dicamba does better.

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Originally Posted by Rideski

I don't mow, gave away my mower a decade ago. I don't have much bindweed, just rip it up now and then.

Speaking of which I was going to say some people upthread said he wanted roundup, but they want weedbgone if its in their lawn. Semantics, but if they're a chem newb, good to know.

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Yup, roundup would kill the grass, unless sprayed each dandelion without getting it on the grass.

Weed be gone is 2-4d with even smaller amount of dicamba, and mostly water.

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Originally Posted by capulin overdrive

Need some dicamba for bindweed, 2-4d gets some strains, but the dicamba does better.

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ah yes... dicamba.

Fork tool and hands and knees for 2 hours before each mow this spring. After a month they are mostly gone. Small yard though. Neighbors cat ate weeds sprayed with Roundup and went through all nine lives. With 3 kids and a dog, no chemicals outside for us.

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Originally Posted by RShea

Dig them all out by hand with one of these if you are young enough to bend over for an afternoon:Attachment 236612 or if you want to save your back and knees then one of these: Attachment 236613

Then have a nice big salad with all the leaves.

Alternative - hire a neighbor kid at a set rate of so many cents a dandelion....

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I have one of the standup weed pullers. It's actually kind of fun. For a while.

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Originally Posted by flowing alpy

Attachment 236625
Attachment 236626
been petrochemicaling for a few years with good health for the kids and lion hound.

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Pretty ridgeback. I miss mine a lot.

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The neighbors have a nice mixed crop of flowering weeds and a happy Robin searching for dinner.

Attachment 236710

Just plant marigolds to match.

This just popped up for me. Seemed fitting. Taylor farm FB photo.

https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...8a&oe=5B7F4EC9

Back in the early 80's a friend of mine had a lawn care franchise that used pump trucks to spray fertilizer and weed killer on your lawn, the company was called Chem Lawn, I always thought it was a bad choice of names. Eventually they changed the company name to Tru Lawn or something (They also own Merry Maids and a few other service companies).
Our biggest problem with the wheat fields is seed from other farms, We've noticed combines do a terrible job cleaning grain, We have to put it thru the seed cleaner (sometimes twice), and then thru the spiral separator to get the remaining vetch seed out.