It's a Beautiful Day, Let's Spray a Ton of Chemicals

It was an absolutely lovely day here on Eola Crest. The sun is shining, birds are tweeting, bees are buzzing - just fabulous. I spent the early part of the afternoon underneath the blooming cherry trees picking plantain in the orchard. Plantain or Plantago is a common "weed" that also happens to be quite medicinal. It is a key ingredient in the Healing Salve that we make here at the farm. The baby goats were hopping all about, grazing with their moms and sunning themselves in the warm sunshine. The chickens were busy chattering away laying eggs and dusting themselves in the east side yard. It was a lovely spring day!


Then came the machines. First, a tractor pulled a spray trailer up the hill and parked right across the street in the cherry orchard. At first we hoped they were just going to spray food for the bees as they had just brought in several bee hives to help pollinate the cherries. But when the driver suited up in the white suit and goggles we knew it wasn't just sugar syrup. We ran into the house as is our usual strategy to escape the toxins blowing in the air. Of course we had windows open which immediately had to be shut. Animals were gathered up and brought inside too. Then a few hours later the other neighbor sprayed their grass seed. I heard the rumble of the giant machine coming and repeated the drill. 


Could some one please explain why those of us who care about the health of the earth and the environment, those of us who never uses toxic chemicals on our crops, why we have to pay and go through a rigorous examination a to prove we don't use chemicals? And why people who choose to use toxic and environmentally unsound chemicals can do so without having to alert their neighbors? The least we should require is a warning notice that they will be spraying so we can be prepared. The best this society could do is outlaw petrochemical based synthetic herbicides and pesticides altogether.