Quote from: LivingParadise on March 18, 2015, 09:57:59 PM

Quote from: Mark in Texas on March 18, 2015, 02:12:30 PM

I mulch and any weeds that come up, which they will, get nailed with a glyphosate spray.

You might want to keep in mind that chemicals are not actually necessary to keep plants living and prospering, and that what we pump into our soil then goes into the plant's cells and we end up eating it. It also goes into our water supply when it rains as run-off, and we end up drinking it - our water treatment facilities cannot filter out these poisons, they stay in our drinking water and build up the more people in our country put chemicals into our soil. Exposure to chemicals like herbicides have many direct links to cancer and chronic illnesses in people, and over many years they build up in the system so a small exposure becomes a big one. They also kill beneficial bugs and animals, including honeybees.

I happened to go to a lecture just tonight that was focusing on these things, and showing the way such chemicals have destroyed the hormonal workings of our local fish, caused male frogs to grow ovaries, and all sorts of other problems. The person giving the talk had worked for many years in a research hospital for children with cancer, and they found tons of these chemicals in the children's tumors and blood samples, that were there only because of exposure from family and community practices like this that people don't realize can kill - especially when dealing with children or anyone with a weakened or genetically vulnerable immune system. Very few of these chemicals have ever been tested for their safety, or the tests were performed and paid for by the company that makes the chemical - an obvious conflict of interest. Chemical companies have very powerful lobbies.

Prior to reading this thread, just today I also came across an article talking about the link between Roundup herbicide inert ingredients  and cancer, deformed animals, etc. It's a really interesting article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/

These are things to think about.

Many "weeds" are pretty easy to identify and in fact have strong medicinal properties or are edible and extremely healthy - and you get them for free! It might actually be most beneficial to carefully identify what you have, and allow it to grow just big enough to use. Then you have 2 harvests - the plants at the base of the fruit tree, and the fruit tree itself! Purslane is an example of an extremely common weed that is actually VERY healthy, great in salads, and grown in other countries on purpose for food because it's delicious and has a lot of Omega-3s. We don't necessarily have to kill and control everything around us when we grow things in the natural world. Sometimes our environment brings us many gifts for free that we can use in addition to the thing we intentionally planted.