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Hi, I thought this might go in the shelter-in-place garden thread which I just read, but it seems a different topic.
I live in a township, not in the country. I posted a question in the food forum.
I asked people in the food thread if it is okay to harvest dandelion greens from my back yard.
A lot of people had worries about pesticides and suggested I maybe shouldn't.
I don't spray my lawn, but I cannot say that other people in my township don't.
I have a quarter acre lot, and it is fenced in.
My worry now is I have already planted a nice lettuce and herb garden. (Actually, I did this last year as well.) If it's unhealthy to eat the dandelion greens, I suppose it's unhealthy to eat the lettuce.
Is this a worry for anyone? Can pecticides 'get in the soil'? Can it run off other lawns when it rains?
I don't want to bug my neighbors about whether or not they spray. I'm sure maybe some people do.
Your link dead-ended. I am interested in drift because I live in an HOA and do not use herbicide or pesticide, husband allergic. But possibly neighbors on either side use it and they are never outside to ask them.
Some states require licensed pros to post signs when they spray a yard so that children and pets do not come into contact with it while wet/fresh.
In a previous home I had to threaten the HOA-hired landscape company with reporting them to state for not posting yard signs (they could be fined and lose license). They had minimum wage workers do spraying to keep their cost down. Landscaper had spray license but that person was nowhere on site and no signage or advance notice given when spraying was done. That's illegal (in Florida) and harmful to people like my husband. Your state laws may vary.
My current HOA does not provide yard maintenance :-)
Is pesticide in the ground where I'm planting food plants? Maybe.
Half my vegetables are in pots with bagged dirt. Maybe I should buy organic dirt.
You've given me something to think about.
You said your 1/4 acre property is fenced in. What kind of fence is it and how tall is it? Can wind move through the fence? People who spray their lawns and gardens with anything, be it toxic or beneficial and safe, are very plainly instructed to spray it when it is NOT windy, precisely so there will be no drift. But sometimes people aren't sensible and though they might not spray in high wind they will still spray in a breeze because they think that's mild enough to spray in. There is no accounting for other people's stupidity. If you want to cut down on the risk of wind drift getting onto your 1/4 acre property then you have to have a very tall, solid barrier fence that wind can't go through surrounding the property. That is, turn your property into an impenetrable wind-proof compound that you can't see into or out of. And you aren't going to do that, are you? So if you're going to be worried about possible wind drift you do have the option of installing covers over your garden beds, or putting up a green house to grow things in.
If you want to find out whichever of your neighbours have been spraying their lawns and plants with anything the only way to find out is to ask them directly about what kind of treatments they use on their lawns. Don't worry about bugging your neighbours. Be devious. Ask only those people who have really nice looking well kept yards. If they ask you why you want to know you could tell them that you admire their properties appearance so much and you'd like their advice so you can follow up on the same kind of treatment on your own lawn. Then that will seem a compliment, you have flattered them and they'll be happy to tell you their methods and products they use. Don't argue or debate the merits of the products with them, your mission is strictly to flatter them to find out what, if anything, they use. You won't need to ask people whose yards are a mess, if it's a mess and full of weeds then obviously they aren't using any kinds of treatments on their lawns or gardens for anything.
The differences between a farmer and a back-yard gardener are that farming is a profession, the farmer grows large scale crops to earn a living and the back-yard gardener does not. And because the farmer is farming for commercial market purposes the farmer can get approval and gain access and use heavy-duty chemicals on his crops that a back-yard gardener cannot gain approval or access to use on anything in his yard. But that doesn't stop some back-yard gardeners from being able to get their hands on certain chemicals that they shouldn't be using and then applying them on the sly.
Well I learned a few things about this in my Master Gardeners class. The extension service here stresses the fact that the right pesticide, used in the right circumstances is very safe, as long as you read the label and follow the label exactly. In fact, it is against federal law to do otherwise. If a pesticide or fertilizer is safe for vegetables it will say so, and if it says so, it is.
Some of the things you will find on the label are that you must mix it correctly, never spray on a windy day, use only the amount you need (more isn’t better) and the length of time it takes to become inert. Knowledge is power.
Another thing to keep in mind is the timing of your planting. If you know the life cycle pest you are trying to avoid, you can avoid the need for a pesticide. For example, here in the south, if you grow squash you will get squash beetles, and your squash will get decimated. However, if you plant it early enough, you will harvest your squash before the beetles reach the stage to do harm. Timing is a tool in the toolbox.
Your county extension service is there to answer and questions you have about specific situations in your area.
Last edited by gentlearts; 04-11-2020 at 01:11 PM..
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