Diane Emerson - Organic Gardening
King County Wastemobile annual visit to Vashon - April 22 - 24th, 2022
About the Wastemobile:
Created in 1989, the Wastemobile was the first traveling hazardous waste collection program in the nation. It visits rural, suburban, and urban areas in King County to provide more convenient options for safe disposal of hazardous waste. Since first hitting the road, the Wastemobile has collected more than 17,000 tons of hazardous household waste from nearly 500,000 customers.
On Weed and Feed
Weed and Feed products contain 2,4-D. This is a very harmful chemical.
1. What King County has to say: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/dnrp/solid-waste/programs/natural-yard-care/pesticide-use/pesticides-environment.aspx
2. Health Effects of Commonly Used Lawn Chemicals: https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/Health%20Effects%20of%2040%20Lawn%20Pesticides%202021.pdf
3. Grow Smart, Grow Safe (Thurston County) hazard ratings for a typical Weed and Feed product containing 2,4-D: https://www.growsmartgrowsafe.org/Products?pesticideTypeId=12
"Organic Lawn Care"
presented Feb. 14th, 2022
"Get your yard off drugs!"
What To Do Instead
City of Seattle: Ecologically Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest: https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SPU//EcologicalLawnCareReport.pdf
Grow Smart, Grow Safe: Natural Lawn Care: https://www.growsmartgrowsafe.org/Documents/NaturalYardCare/Natural-Yard-Care-2015.pdf
"Live Stakes" presented Dec. 2021
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"My sawtooth shovel - so perfect for digging blackberries"
"Organic Gardening Update" presented Sept 2021
Roundup is Pulling Their Products
Roundup products containing glyphosate will be removed from US retail shelves in 2023. It will still be available for commercial use, schools and farms, however.
If you have some and want to get rid of it, you can:
1. Bring it to a hazardous waste collection site: https://kingcountyhazwastewa.gov/en/households-disposal
2. Keep it until next April, when the Hazmobile comes to Vashon again (once a year!)
3. If you are 65+ or have a disability, King County may pick it up at your home for free. Call 206-296-4692.
Notes on Weed & Feed
It is illegal to apply this more than once a year.
It is illegal to apply it near any water body
The 2,4-D herbicide in the product (the Weed in Weed & Feed), is very toxic to humans and animals. See Thurston County’s analysis here: https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/ehipm/pdf_terr/terrestrial%20actives/2,4-D%20acid.pdf
And Grow Smart, Grow Safe summary here: https://www.growsmartgrowsafe.org/Products?pesticideTypeId=12
They are Fall Webworms, not Tent Caterpillars
No need to worry, and certainly no need to spray chemicals on the webs you are seeing in some trees this time of year. They are native fall webworms, not tent caterpillars. They are eating leaves at the end of the year, so are not harmful to the trees, which are soon dropping their leaves anyway. If you want to do something, just get a long stick and open up the web so the birds and other predators can get to them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_webworm
Rodents - What to do? by Diane
Fall is the time when mice and their big cousins look longingly at our warm, dry houses and outbuildings. “How can I get in there?”, they wonder, and they have long fall nights to check out every tiny hole and see if they can enlarge it enough to make their way in.
Then it becomes our problem, and a common problem it is.
Green Gardening Ways that Work! by Diane
What issues are you dealing with in your garden, where you are tempted to reach for a pesticide? (herbicide, insecticide, rodenticide, etc).
There are low maintenance and environmentally safe options to address all of these issues. Here are your answers to questions about weeds: