Except poison ivy. I have a bumper crop of that this year, poke weed too. Time to bust out the Round-up and get rid of those pests.
Musical options include "Poison Ivy" by The Coasters, the country boy song by John Denver, but instead I shall go with this:
9 comments:
I like poke weed a lot, also sumac. Rose of Sharon can take a hike, invasivity-wise.
I love to kill noxious plants with Roundup. It's a sadist thing.
One of the best things ever invented is Roundup ready corn and soybeans. Just spray after the crop comes up without worry about killing it off. 7 to 10 days later, all of the weeds are dead and a clean field of corn or soybeans are all that's left.
I was surprised when I learned Tony Joe White was not black. He taught me to be careful of any "Straight razor totin' woman."
He taught me that there are people whose momma is workin' on a chain gang, as if that is a voluntary occupation.
"Yeah, she finally got her a job down to the chain gang - she had to apply a couple o' times, but they eventually recognized her drive and determination and hired her". Yep.
I use RoundUp guiltily, and try to be careful, but confess I've spayed it on windy days. The worst is spraying plants taller than me, e.g., pokeweed.
I'm hoping there won't be as much poison ivy around the new place. Since we're planning to be out of our present home at the end of May, I'm hoping to avoid my annual outbreak this year. It usually takes place during May through exposure while weeding, pruning and getting the garden areas ready for flowers.
I use the Tecnu exposure wash and that seems to help. https://www.teclabsinc.com/products/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu
I've wondered how the natives, early settlers and explorers managed their encounters with it? Jewelweed is supposed to be a natural remedy, but it grows right alongside the poison ivy in the patchy areas near the creek, so I didn't pursue that path.
I don't feel guilty using Round Up when it comes to weeds and poison ivy opportunistically taking advantage of the open space, fertilizer and water I provide in areas that wouldn't be available for their use without my input and energy.
With people, plants, and animals, this fave from Peterson's book, applies:
If you say no to your boss, or your spouse, or your mother when it needs to be said, then you transform yourself into someone who can say no when it needs to be said. If you say yes when no needs to be said, however, you transform yourself into someone who can only say yes even when it is very clearly is time to say no. If you ever wonder how perfectly ordinary, decent people could find themselves doing the terrible thing the gulag camp guards did you have your answer. By the time no seriously needed to be said, there was no one left capable of saying it. pg 212
Learning how to say yes and no, and receive yeses and noes from others is crucial to the development of identity.
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