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July 2014

An occasional report on what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery and the Miley homestead in Norwood, Louisiana; to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by email: maypophill@wildblue.net web: maypophill.com

Our land ethic, as conservationist

Aldo Leopold put it, “reflects the

existence of an ecological

conscience, and this in turn reflects

a conviction of individual

responsibility for the health of

land.” A Sand County Almanac Ethical Land Use? What does that mean for gardeners and landowners?

For us Maypop Hill residents, it means growing food plants and ornamental ones

that disturb nature as little as possible. And, boy, is that a challenge!

We have deer that like vegetables,

crows that like corn, yellow jackets that lie in wait to sting ankles, armadillos,

diggin’ dogs, snakes, plant diseases, etc.

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Maypop Hill’s Rules for Ethical Land Use.

Actually, we make them up as we go along.

1. mow high and slow, meaning we set the blades at the highest level and leave them

there; go slow enough to see tiny flowers that must be mown around, not down!

2. Pollinators and other beneficial insects have the right-of-way, as well as fuzzy thistles

and other plants they use, like the bright Tickseeds, and PinkLadies/Evening Primrose.

3. Alibi/Public relations: when visitors are aghast!! by the tall grass, we tell them we’re being

good stewards of our land. They may think we’re not “neat,” but Mother Nature does.

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Well, the weather for one thing. This last winter was so severe that a lemon tree on the glassed-in but unheated back porch froze. The little leaves growing near the bottom aren’t the Meyer lemon. They’re the rootstock of sour orange (Poncirus trifoliata) that citrus farmers use to grow sweet oranges and other tender fruit. Meyer lemon can’t tolerate temperatures below 30 degrees. When freezing weather kills the grafted top half, the sour orange roots grow back. They make big bad thorns and can form impenetrable thickets. Ergo, this Meyer Lemon is a gone pecan.

A lizard (technically an anole)

has found a cicada that’s a little too big for him to

swallow. They were all over the place for a while,

making a loud humming sound for days on end.

They’re fairly harmless to plants. Some people call them the 17-year locust.

A caterpillar chows down

on leaves of a Woolly Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia tomentosa). Not a problem. We grow the vine to feed the larvae babies so we can have the beautiful Pipevine adults.

A Tiger Swallowtail taking nectar from a Titi (Cyrilla arida).

A rat snake climbed into a live oak when it heard baby birds chirping in their nest. Nature is what it is!

Maypop Hill Nursery & Publications Betty and LJ Miley, specializing in native plants & sustainable land use

web: maypophill.com email: maypophill@wildblue.net 4

What do weed killer do

we use on Maypop Hill?

Not much, and it shows! We try to keep the parking area mowed, and a few areas where we often walk. Now and then we squirt some vinegar to kill pesky

weeds where it’s too hard to use ordinary methods.

This is not the 5% household product from grocery stores.

We buy the 20% concentration online at one of the sites that sell

organic products. It’s strong enough to require gloves and careful application. Does it kill plants down to their roots? No, just

--- the top growth. After a few hours in the sun, leaves began dying.

We’ll re-apply after it starts to green up again.

Weeds are like taxes and weather. Everyone complains about them but

you just can’t get rid of them for good. It’s possible to eliminate them . . . if . . .

you enjoy pulling by hand --or tilling with a machine -- or attacking them with a hoe.

“One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human

embryonic, placental and umbilical cord than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call

‘astonishing.’

‘This clearly confirms that the [inert ingredients] in Roundup formulations are not inert,’ wrote the study

authors from France’s University of Caen. “Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market

could cause cell damage and even death [at the] residual levels” found on Roundup-treated crops,

such as soybeans, alfalfa and corn, or lawns and gardens.

The research team suspects that Roundup might cause pregnancy problems by interfering with

hormone production, possibly leading to abnormal fetal development, low birth weights or

miscarriages.” http://www.safelawns.org/blog/2009/06/is-roundup-safe/

Why we don’t use manmade

herbicides on Maypop Hill

• Harmful to gut bacteria, which is so important for human health.

• Long-term exposure to glyphosate via residue on foods can cause chronic inflammation.

• May actually enhance the effect of other toxic chemicals in your system.

• Implicated in kidney disease and non-Hodgkins lymphoma

• Linked to autism and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

• http://downtoearthmother.com/2

014/05/16/is-roundup-safe-to-

use-in-vegetable-gardens/

you can buy products that kill pest plants. Herbicides. But are they safe? RoundUp® has been a popular herbicides for decades. It’s sprayed on roadsides,

lawns, even vegetable gardens to kill weeds. Monsanto, the chemical company that makes it, says it’s safe. They test rats and rabbits to measure the toxicity. But

various independent laboratories disagree and claim that the chemical (Glyphosate) and its inert ingredients are mutagens of fish DNA.

Or