In article <6fbun3Far2nqU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Charlie Kroeger <ckrogrr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > Is Tansy Ragwort known to be bee-toxic?
>
> I read that all parts of the plant are toxic and yet you say the dead
bees
> you see are not evenly distributed across the flowers indicating
something
> else. Maybe you're seeing the end of the line for bees that are
suffering
> from CCD. Is there a lot of this decline re****ted in your area?
Don't really know. The honeybee population seems to be fairly light, but
that may be only because I'm not actually looking for them. Or it could
be that this area is too urban for much of a honeybee population - I'm
south and east of Seattle, probably about a 45 minute drive to get to
downtown.
> I believe you're right to dig out the Tansy Ragwort. It's good exercise
and
> the results will be more satisfactory than laying waste with herbicide
that
> will adversely effect the beneficial microbes and worms.
>
> There's one thing you might consider in your attack on Tansy Ragwort.
> They are a biennial short-lived perennial as it were, meaning the plant
> produces seeds in its second year.
I've already "done my homework" as far as controlling the Tansy goes -
I'm quite aware of the biennial "rosette"/"seed stalk" cycle. Doing said
homework is also why I'm yanking them out instead of mowing or "nuking"
them.
As of today, I've got things *PRETTY MUCH* under control as far as the
Tansy goes - I've removed pretty darn close to all of it. I *MUST* have
missed at least some, but right now, I can't see it. I'll be checking
back for the next few weeks to spot any stragglers, but at least for the
moment, it looks like the Tansy is pretty much toast. The last of it got
buried in the heart of the manure pile about 3 hours ago. Found a *VERY
FEW*, barely recognizable stalks of the last batch I put in while I was
opening up the pile to put this latest bunch of it in - The pile is
eating it *REALLY* quick, which I count as a Real Good Thing(TM).
> A sensible plan would involve removing
> first the blooms before they produce seeds. Put on your nitrile gloves
high
> quality dust mask and bag up all the blooms, leaving them in the bag
until
> they could be buried in the compost. Wait for a good rain to soften the
> ground then start forking out the plants. Do this for a couple of years
and
> they will be gone.
>
> The poison in Tansy Ragwort is a toxic alkaloid. This means it can be
> 'neutralized' by an acid like vinegar. You could improve the quality of
your
> compost by adding vinegar to the pile.
Truth be told, I'm real hesitant about messing with what seems to be
working well - Yesterday I went out and picked up a cheap candy
thermometer (reads 100-400F, where the one I used before was scaled from
-50 to 130 F) I could shove into the pile to see what the internal temp
*REALLY* is (closer than "the scale ends at 130, and the needle was
still going up fast when it passed that point", anyway) and found out
that the pile is running in the 155-165F range anywhere deeper than the
outer foot or so - which tells me it's cooking along almost perfectly -
The pyrophilic bugs that you want in a manure/compost pile are
apparently QUITE happy in mine, since everything I've ever read about
composting says that the pile should be hitting 150-170F when things are
working the way they should be.
(Got an interesting surprise while I was digging one of the holes this
morning - found a large rock - I'd estimate its volume to be a bit more
than a basketball, though the shape was irregular - that had gotten
stirred into the pile. Rolled it aside, and half an hour, maybe 45
minutes later when I grabbed it to move it someplace useful, found that
it was still so hot I couldn't hold on to it with bare hands for more
than a few seconds - yow... TOASTY!)
> By the way, weeds like you've described are a sure sign of overgrazing.
> After you've removed the weeds it would be ideal to let the area rest a
> while letting the natural grass become re-established. Where I live that
> process would take about 20 years. I **** you not pardner.
Actually, in this particular case, the weeds are the result of the
previous owner and/or contractors hired by the previous owner scraping
the top 18 inches or so of soil into a pile, putting down a layer of
large (3-6 inches) broken stone and drainage lines, adding a 6 inch
layer of 5/8-minus gravel on top of that, scraping the piled up soil
back across the area, then running out of money to level, seed, and
otherwise finish the job. Let sit for almost 3 years with "whatever
floats in" taking root, and it's now pretty much a jungle - Blackberry,
Bull Thistle, the Tansy, Queen Anne's Lace, some morning glory,
"regular" (as in "not ragwort") tansy, sweetpea, field mustard, etc -
all surrounded by fairly scraggly grass that, given a chance, would
likely take off pretty well. The weeds are so thick right now, though,
that the grass is struggling (and that's putting it charitably...)
I'm in the process of TRYING to fix the problem I've "inherited".
Next step is to get a set of welder's leathers or similar "armor" and a
heavy pair of leather gloves, and start ripping out the thistle -
hopefully before this year's seed crop emerges - Most of it has already
flowered, so like the Tansy, I can't get away with just mowing it, and
even if it wasn't in flower, I know only too well how quick that stuff
will regrow from the taproot it sinks.
--
Don Bruder - dakidd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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