We have been working in the garden for the last 5 days. We've made so much progress; have planted, weeded, mulched, watered and planted more.
G rotortilled the strip next to our garage so that we could plant even more things. In that narrow strip, we managed to get in 12 tomato plants, 8 plants of romaine lettuce, 4 parsley and 4 basil plants. It looks great, gets a good amount of light despite it facing the north, and we're all feeling like we are really re-thinking our perceptions of allotted space on our growing urban vegetable farm.
So this morning I was out hanging clothes on the line and I heard a swish swish swish, over and over again. Hmmm. I can't see next door because thankfully, there's a privacy fence blocking our view of the newly-built "historic" condos. They were putting in a new door on one of the units.
A few minutes after hearing the swish swish swish sound I smelled chemicals. Where do I know that smell from?
Oh that's right, it's freaking RoundUp vegetation killer. Grrrrrrrr.
I walked over to the front yard and peered over the chain link fence and saw the owner rinsing out his bucket of Agent Orange.
-Excuse me. Are you spraying chemicals along the fence?
-Yeah. It's just RoundUp. Why?
-We have vegetables growing on the other side of the fence.
pause-blank look- Oh, well it should be okay. I only sprayed along the fence line. Where are your plants?
-Along the fence line.
-Oh. Well it might kill a few of them.
-Yeah. Well. Fuck.
So there you go. I'm caught between trying to find all these vegetables new homes (I don't have anymore room in the prepared garden areas) and just leaving them and hoping for the best.
Can I assume that if they don't die, then the chemicals didn't reach the plant and that it is safe to eat?
This here is from the RoundUp website:
Since Roundup kills weeds so effectively, are they harmful to me, my kids, pets or the environment?
Roundup products have a long and trusted history of safe use and do not pose an unreasonable risk to humans or the environment when used according to label directions.
RoundUp just happens to kill any living vegetation it's sprayed on, but apparently is "safe" once it's dried.
Grrrrr.
I'm feeling really pissed and sad. Oh well. We shall if anything dies or mutates.
It was an innocent mistake, right? Totally something my dad would do to his neighbors.
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