Re: Fave Organic Fert reply

**N* S* <n*@PlantSoup.Com>**

How do you test for clopalryd?

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Nan Sterman
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Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive the typos.

On Apr 26, 2013, at 12:53 PM, "Daryl" <dp2413@comcast.net> wrote:

> Well, darn. Guess I'd better do something to test the bale I got to mulch my 
> vegetable garden this year. With manure, I'd always check around the edges 
> of the pile. If chickweed was growing there in late winter, early spring, I 
> figured it was safe. With hay, I'd wet the bale and watch to see what popped 
> up. If they were broadleaf weeds, I figured it was safe. With wheat being a 
> grass, and normally only sprouting the flush of wheat that you mentioned, 
> there's no real way to tell.
> 
> I wonder if chopping up some of the wheat and soaking it, then using the 
> water on test pots of beans or lettuce would do the trick. What do you 
> think?
> 
> I remember seeing the photos of the lush growth at the PNW show. They made 
> me smile.
> 
> It would be a shame if there was no way to make this work now. I used to get 
> free "spoiled" hay - hay that had been left out too long or baled too wet. I 
> would use the bales the first year as walls for my cold frame. When when 
> they had started to break down a bit, I'd wet them down a bit more,  add 
> some chicken litter (at one time I had 45 hens), and after the heat dropped, 
> I'd plant just for fun and to surprise visitors.   When the bales had done 
> their job the first year, I'd use whatever was left over as mulch, or if 
> they were too far gone, use them for compost.
> 
> Can you use alfalfa hay as an alternative? I really never had much trouble 
> with weeds, either with alfalfa or fescue, in bale gardening. After that 
> first flush, they were gone, because the bale heated up somewhat and killed 
> the rest of the seeds. Shipping costs drove alfalfa hay pretty much out of 
> our market a few years ago. The only remaining feed and seed store close to 
> us does not carry it now. Since it's a legume, they don't use clopyralid.
> 
> Do you know of a fish fertilizer that wouldn't be attractive to raccoons? 
> I've never had any that wasn't pretty smelly, even if it said "odorless".
> 
> d
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Rose Marie McGee
> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 10:41 AM
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
> Subject: Re: [GWL] Fave Organic Fert reply
> 
> The wheat fields in the the Pacific Northwest are being sprayed with 
> clopyralid as it controls the broad-leaved weeds and as we've discussed 
> passes through animals fed the straw or hay without leaving any residue. If 
> a person plants in these bales their crop is severely damaged by clopyralid 
> which does not breakdown for a couple of years or more. I've never used hay 
> because it is weedy. Straw bales have a quick flush of wheat growth and then 
> it dies back. If planting legumes in the bales all I've needed for 
> fertilizer is legume inoculant and a lovely crop is produced. Salad greens 
> I've used fish fertilizer. Strawberries the same. Tomatoes and cucumbers 
> perform fairly well but if I were planting as extensively as I once did I'd 
> use fish bonemeal. Peppers have been under fertilized and no answer for you. 
> I had quit giving talks on straw bale gardening but in regular gardening 
> talks would tell people to check out for clopyralid. When we GWA members 
> grew and installed a demonstra
> tion garden at the PNW Flower and Garden Show, for which we received a gold 
> medal and the People's Favorite award, no small thanks to Jeff Lowenfels, 
> straw bales planted with salad greens knocked the socks off people because 
> it was a new concept with an old history and we came up with the idea 
> because it was cheap kick board. I've gone on a bit, sorry but I'm very 
> concerned about the use of Stinger and other chemicals making such a direct 
> hit on unsuspecting gardeners.
> Rose Marie Nichols McGee
> www.NicholsGardenNursery.com
> 
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