re: Why Vermonter's HATE "Flat-Landers".

Well, yea, so, I've been trying to fight Japanese Knotweed on our property, (as well as a piece of the neighbors property, which is actually where the mother-ship plant is), for anywhere from 5-7 years, now.

At first when the neighbors would come up from Connecticut for their annual one week odyssey to Vermont, they were like; "hey, thanks for taking care of that problem for us; everything looks great".

It seems like they think the problem is over, as they've now decided to put in a fence. They tell me that it will be a modest split rail fence, whatever that is.

What they don't know (and what we tried to make clear to them) is that the knotweed is farrrr from being decimated, and will just come zooming back, the minute they break holes in the ground, for the fence posts.

When we talked to them today, they were just like: "well, we'll just have to keep up with it" More of what they don't seem to realize is that "keeping up with it" is a full-time job, and unless they plan to retire, and spend their days either pulling it, or mowing it, that ain't-a-gonna happen. It just ain't.

Well, heck, maybe they are planning on retiring up here as it seems like he's actually thinking he's going to dig the mother-ship up, all by his lonesome (he came over and marked where I thought it was). This is actually pretty funny, since a strong young lad and myself, couldn't do it, which is why we started trying to smother it, and the neighbor is in his sixties, if he's a day. :)

The other problem impacting this situation, is that there WAS a fence there, once upon a time, and because that bank is full of springs, (water leaking from an old, unused, dug well, on THEIR side of the boundary line); the fence got first rotted by the standing water, then the knotweed got so big it knocked it over and  proceeded to creep across the boundary line, where it made a right nuisance of itself; turning into an impenetrable dark thicket. (This was before we owned the property). This stand was roughly 40 feet by 200 feet, and NOTHING else would grow there.

Well, with lots of hard work, and persistence, there are now wildflower gardens, trees, shrubs, and other landscaping, there, creating a lot of diversity for the birds, of which we have at least 4 different pairs, hatching chicks this spring.

Here's some photo's.

The surveyed boundary line is to the right of this garden. This garden was made from all the old rotten fence posts I found, from the original fence (which I think, WAS cedar.) Cough, Cough. (Pretty much everywhere you see bark-mulch, in these pictures, is where the knotweed was growing.)

Their surveyed line is to the left of this arbor, and when they install the fence, it will pretty much make our driveway almost unnavigable. Like I said, I think they must figure they will glom onto all the work we've done and establish their dominion, with a fence.

I almost died laughing this a.m. when they told me it was merely a pine fence (the cheapest one they could get, apparently), which I will run bets on, if anyone's interested. Between the standing water and the pressure of fourteen foot high knotweed; I give it 2-5 years, before THAT fence also disappears. With that kind of standing water, the only thing that would even last over 5 years, would be pressure treated cedar posts at least 6-10 inches around. Pine just ain't gonna' do nothin' except need constant care and upgrade. Like I said; I'll give that fence a year or two at the most, to stay standing. I'll also do odds on when the knotweed will turn back into a problem and obscure the fence, entirely.

That's the funny part, if you have any kind of sense of humor.

The sad part is going to be seeing all my pretty flowers engulfed by the knotweed. One season of not-treated growth, and it will be back, stronger then ever, trying to encroach.

The really maddening part is that with their fence in the way, now, we won't be able to treat our side of the line organically (like we have been doing, with cardboard and bark mulch). Instead, will have to use something like black plastic, or landscaping fabric, which are both a pain, and neither  of which are very environmentally friendly. (I will no longer be able to drive my truck up into my yard, and I am simply too old to hump entire loads of stuff up in bags and wheelbarrows).

The good part is that I DO have a vid-cam; so I've gone out and video-taped everything, and will do so, again, once they install the fence. That way, when the fence and pretty gardens disappear under the avalanching knotweed, I can stand there and say: Uh-Huh, and just shake my head (like I have seen many Vermonters do, when faced with the utmost stupidity of some people..........cough...........flat-landers, mainly).

I can also video-tape them moving the plant, when they do their excavation on their cellar-hole, which is just full of the stuff. Last time they carted it off-site, I didn't say anything, but this time, I fully intend to video-tape them doing so, and sending it to the ANR (Agency of Natural Resources), which levies a $1000.00 dollar fine, for each incidence.

Oh! maybe I forgot to say, but Japanese Knotweed is a Class B Invasive Plant in Vermont, and is required to be quarantined (which is WHY I was doing so much work trying to smother it). This means that it is highly illegal to move it from the site. The state's recommendation is that you pull any that doesn't get smothered, stack it up to dry, and then burn it in permit season, which is what we've been doing with the stuff.

Here is the pile of knotweed we pulled from just one season of not taking care of it:

(They ran out of bark mulch last fall, at the transfer station, and I had surgery, so couldn't treat it. This pile stands as tall as me (at 5'4").)

We did let the neighbors know about the laws concerning the plant in Vermont, and they acknowledged that they did receive my email on this issue. I am hoping that they also understand that they should expect a very big problem from us, if they now decide to use herbicides on the plant, when it bolts out of the fence-post holes, and tries to creep back unto our side of the line.

Not that it will do any good; but I fully intend to sue the shit out of them, when this happens. After all, this will render our entire stretch of property on that side of the line, unusable for organic gardening, which is what we've been doing there. It will definitely impact any future income we may have been able to derive from that part of our property. (This is significant, because this is one of the sunniest pieces of ground ON our property).

We also suggested they fix their abandoned dug well, thereby making the water problem go away, but like with the knotweed, I suspect our suggestions merely fell on deaf ears.

(this is a picture of my feet, up by their well. granted, it's been a very wet spring, however, this is the top of the hillside, NOT down by the lake.)

At any rate, did I mention that this is a prime example of just why Vermonters HATE flat-landers, (people from anywhere south of Vermont) and that this is most likely one of the reasons this term was derived?

Instead of just asking us what our take is on the problem, they assume (wrongly, as it stands), that the problem is resolved, because they obviously don't have a clue (I'm not sure they even know what the plant is, exactly, as she doesn't come out of the house when they are here and didn't seem to know that it was right by her back door), and simply WON'T allow themselves to be educated.

Well, so, they are obviously going to have to find out the hard way, and may the devil take 'em.

Mona Rae, signing out, from the House of Found Goods.

Today's Meanderings.

I think it may be official that we have now had the wettest spring on record. Criminy. Well, since it's the only time I feel compelled to actually sit down and write, I guess that's okay, and what can I do about it, anyway. What can anyone do about it, actually? It's kinda like insomnia, just embrace it and let it work for you. That's my Modus operandi, when it doesn't depress me, outright, anyway.

It occurred to me over the weekend, that as a culture, we are still having an awfully lot of trouble, putting ourselves in a place where we will stretch our understanding of the cosmos and embrace the fact that we could be wrong about everything. On that note, however, I feel pretty safe saying that I may be wrong about these upcoming assumptions and opinions, but I am going to go ahead and vent them, anyhow, on account of it's my blog, and that's partly why I set it up. (To vent when I am disturbed).

I have been taking some wild edible courses now, with the same school, and it occurred to me yesterday, that even the people setting themselves up as our leaders/guru's/elders, have some serious personal issues of fallibility. For instance, the place I go is at the end of a very long dirt road, and sits on what looks to be at least ten acres of land, at the top of a hill, with no electricity. That last part is at least ethical, when you do the environmental footprint numbers. Unfortunately, it also occurred to me, when I did the math and studied the situation thoroughly, that there are some serious and significant gaps in the awareness of the school leaders, concerning sustainability.

Environmental footprint numbers (at least the ones put out by Sierra Club, who probably are also fallible), say that there is only enough land for everyone on earth to have/use 1.3 acres of resources, each. There is enough, though, truly, to feed, clothe and house, every man, woman and child on earth, if only gluttony and self-interest could be set aside to embrace the concept of true sustainability (which is good news, if you think about it). What that means to me, when I translate it directly, and tangibly, is that nobody, and I mean nobody, could own more then 1.3 acres of land. Period. Or conversely, that means that anybody who does own substantial acreage, would have to be willing to give up that acreage, or at least feed 1.3  people (for free), for every acre they do own, by putting that acreage into food production.

This is a concept that most people (who have acreage), cannot even seem to grasp, let alone embrace.

Another issue that I encountered was that of wild-crafting. The owner/teacher of the school insisted that it was okay for people who know what they are doing, to go out and wild-harvest food, and then sell it to people who don't know how to do it. In my mind, there's some serious miscalculation here. If everyone all of a sudden learned, tomorrow, how to wildcraft food, even ethically, there would definitely NOT be enough for selling, only for eating. If we look at the old ways, (which is what I think the teachers at this school are trying to teach), then food provided by mother nature, was never 'sold' for profit. Never, not once in Native American history, or any other native population's history, was food considered a commodity. It was only when colonialism collided with indigenous tribes, that food became available for sale.

Moving right along with trying to get back to the earth, then, and avail ourselves of all the bounty that mother nature has available, and at the same time, trying to move back to the old ways, it does not then make sense to say that "some" can sell food that is free, just because they are somehow more knowledgeable and/or given the gift of largess. Like I said, if everyone-all-of-a sudden-like, went out into the woods and started wildcrafting, the same thing would happen, that happened with ginseng. Most of the food would be depleted within a generation.

That's NOT sustainable, not by any stretch of the imagination. So, once again, I am bumping up against what I know to be the case, (or at least, what the numbers show to be the case), and what people are saying/doing, that is in direct conflict with the facts. To give the benefit of the doubt, I think the teachers ARE trying to teach the walk, they just are having trouble balancing their need for income, with the concepts they are trying to instill in the students. Which just brings to mind, how very, very difficult it is, for most people to not only talk the walk, but to walk the walk, as well.

And hey, I could be wrong. :) (Which is what this vid. is about). If you can't get it to load without the little circle loading symbol; go right to the TED site and do a search for: On Being Wrong. Her name is Kathryn Shultz. This was posted on FB this a.m. by my friend Erica, and was so apropos, I decided to include it, here. Enjoy!