Herbiciding

ROCKET MAN HAS LANDED! Or maybe he's getting ready to take off. This is the husband in his make-shift Haz-Mat suit spraying herbicide on the wheat.





This is a post-emergence chemical to prevent choking grasses from strangling the wheat. Not all of our fields have weeds yet so spraying them all, just because he has free time, is a waste of chemicals and outright stupid. (You may be able to tell I have already had one argument about this issue and had no results - he's out there spraying anyway.) He never read the package to know that it should only be applied after the weeds have sprouted. Our rows are too tightly spaced plow in between, so herbiciding becomes a necessity but itshould be done responsibly.

Ironically, the Dupont chemical is called "Harmony"- as if to convince us that it really is OK to use. They claim it disintegrates upon hitting the soil and is low-toxicity, but I suppose they wouldn't really brag about it being lethal.


Next year, I'm hiring the co-op to do this. Dear engineer husband made a make-shift chemical tank with all kinds of pipes and valves and a special base to hold the 350 L vessel in the back of the truck. It took almost 2 hours to assemble it, find the missing washers, figure out which direction the base turns...this has to be the most ridiculous set up ever. I'm glad it is too cold for anyone else to be outside to see this. Most fields were sprayed with tractor driven sprayers-30 minutes a field. Walking up and down every pair of rows will be an all day job. Lord, we are rednecks.

I see snow falling from the distant clouds, broad bands of gray stuff sweeping down from the hills.