Anyone have good results using...

[prairie hill]

... Jerry Baker's (so-called "America's Master Gardener) "off-your-shelf" mixtures for killing weeds, etc? I'm talking the homemade recipes, not the boughten products.

I'm trying one with equal parts baby shampoo, cider vinegar and gin, mixed into a porportionate amount water and used as an overspray. I am to the point where I am willing to use chemicals (NEVER thought I'd say that) if I am out of options. We have a over an acre infested with puncture vine and when I think that every single blossom (dozens per plant, innumerable plants) will yield 5 virile goatheads, I want to throw up.

Thanks for any help with this - any ideas are also welcome and appreciated.

[myheaven]

I just use straight apple cider vineagar. It works for me. I have alot of Jerrys books and alot of his stuff works wonders. Just dump a gallon into a sprayer and attack spray till it runs. MAke sure the next 2 days it wont rain and you will have dead weeds.

[clovis]

A good friend of mine bought the most expensive Jerry Baker package they offered in a PBS fundraiser. It was so expensive that he wouldn't tell me how much it cost, but I am guessing it was $360.
He has followed the instructions to a tee, and now has the best lawn in the entire town!!!!
I am really thinking about buying a few of his books from ebay for my own use.
clove

[prairie hill]

Yippee... I'm feeling a bit hopeful here....
myheaven - does straight cider vinegar kill grass too, or just broadleaf weeds?
clovis - I was looking at his books on eBay just today - they're not too cheap, but they're not retail either - so, I'm thinking about that, too.
Thanks for the helpful responses!

[oberhaslikid]

I have his books and yes this does work.I have used his ways a couple years and I am pleased.My husband made fun of me untill he saw thew results.

[WolfWalksSoftly]

I have tried using vinegar to kill grass and weeds that grow in the middle of my gravel drive...results were slow and everything didnt die off...this year everything is back...I cant use chemicals, I have free range chickens.

[TxCloverAngel]

I LOve Jerry Bakers Books!

Not only his home-made recipes, but all of his gardening books. My fav is his old time secrets & gardening book.. its all of his grandmothers tips. He writes like he is sitting on your porch taking to you. Its an easy entertaining & informative read.

When I have friends starting a garden or family moving to a new home, its what I always try to give as a housewarming present. They all love it!

[zealot]

I don't think the shampoos and soaps are necessary. Jerry Baker is considered a charlatan of the day by professional horticulturists and agronomists, partly because of the unnecessary soaps in his recipes.

[DenverGirlie]

I'm interested in picking up one of his books. We don't have a grass lawn so defiantely don't need that one.

I searched Amazon and found 183 results! Way to many options. Can anyone give me any recommendations? Best overall. Most intersted in food gardening, flowers and grass are not needed.

Anyone?

***By the way Hobby Farms is $14 a year for a subscription. I wasnt to pick that up and one of Jerry's books and I'll get free shipping. Magazine orders count towards the $25 minimum purchase for free super saver shipping. It's $15 a year on the Hobby Farm website direct.

[Freeholder]

I've never heard of this guy, but don't think he's necessarily a charlatan for using soaps in his formulas -- soaps help things stick to the plants where they need to be and are often used in spray recipes.

I've used vinegar to kill weeds in a driveway. It does take a little while to work, but if you put enough on the weeds don't come back for years. Vinegar is both safer and cheaper than Roundup, so I highly recommend it -- in driveways and parking areas, or cracks in sidewalks. I don't know about broader areas of yard or pasture, because I suspect it works by changing the soil Ph drastically, and you might not want to do that to an area where you hope to grow other things.

Kathleen

[terrythetaod]

Folks, maybe I'm pointing out the bloody obvious, but EVERYTHING has a chemical make-up. Just because you produced some concoction with stuff you found around the house does not mean it's any safer than a ready-made product bought at the store. Now, while I agree that vinegar is probably more benign than RoundUp, it doesn't mean that all household products are. In this case, let the brewer beware.

[moldy]

I have tried everything to kill bindweed. Found out straight apple cider vinegar does a better job than anything on the market.

[myheaven]

Originally Posted by terrythetaod

Folks, maybe I'm pointing out the bloody obvious, but EVERYTHING has a chemical make-up. Just because you produced some concoction with stuff you found around the house does not mean it's any safer than a ready-made product bought at the store. Now, while I agree that vinegar is probably more benign than RoundUp, it doesn't mean that all household products are. In this case, let the brewer beware.

Apple cider vinager gin soap and water you can ingest no problem. Round up is one of the leading cancer causers. To load it into the sprayers at the co-op they have to be in BIO HAZARD SUITS!!!!!! I eat my spinach with apple cider vinager and the vinager is a cancer fighter. You choose!!!


The vinager will kill grass also. spray the leaves let wilt then get the roots of the plants it will take time but its well worth it.

[Jethro]

For those of you that are willing to buy used books, I highly recommend ablebooks.com. They ask for a title or author name and give you a list of book sellers that have that title and the price. Some times the price for a book you want really bad turns out to be ridiculously low and the shipping always seems to be reasonable. Give them a try!

[terrythetaod]

I think Jethro meant "www.abebooks.com" (ABE = American Book Exchange - I think)

[BobK]

Originally Posted by myheaven

Apple cider vinager gin soap and water you can ingest no problem. Round up is one of the leading cancer causers. To load it into the sprayers at the co-op they have to be in BIO HAZARD SUITS!!!!!! I eat my spinach with apple cider vinager and the vinager is a cancer fighter. You choose!!!


The vinager will kill grass also. spray the leaves let wilt then get the roots of the plants it will take time but its well worth it.

That's a wee bit hysterical...roundup...glyphosate....is extremely safe...and does not cause cancer....animals...humans included...digest it as if it were any old amino acid...it is one of the most benign herbicides around...including acetic acid.....

[Farmer Willy]

You hit on one of my pet peaves---you could get a lot of folks on this board to eat hemlock if you told them it was ***natural*** or it was ***organic***. Every other post is "I won't use this" or "I won't use that". Nope, no "artificial, chemical made rocks for me" (concrete). Nope, no "modified plants or animal products on my place" (selective breeding or antibiotics, includes that nasty rabies vaccine). As far as Mr. Baker, I've always thought of the man as a quack.

Originally Posted by terrythetaod

Folks, maybe I'm pointing out the bloody obvious, but EVERYTHING has a chemical make-up. Just because you produced some concoction with stuff you found around the house does not mean it's any safer than a ready-made product bought at the store. Now, while I agree that vinegar is probably more benign than RoundUp, it doesn't mean that all household products are. In this case, let the brewer beware.

[Quint]

Originally Posted by Farmer Willy

You hit on one of my pet peaves---you could get a lot of folks on this board to eat hemlock if you told them it was ***natural*** or it was ***organic***. Every other post is "I won't use this" or "I won't use that". Nope, no "artificial, chemical made rocks for me" (concrete). Nope, no "modified plants or animal products on my place" (selective breeding or antibiotics, includes that nasty rabies vaccine).

I have to agree with you on this. A little perspective is in order.

I don't think it is limited to people here but it is related to the scientific ignorance of society in general. I mean look at the absolute goofball hokum people still fall for and spend their heard earned money on.



Speaking of round-up (glyphosate) I'm not entirely sure but didn't they stumble onto it when they were researching food additives? I remember reading that somewhere.