This document summarizes the land use practices at Maypop Hill Nursery in Louisiana. It discusses their focus on ethical land use and minimizing disturbance to nature. This includes mowing high and slow to protect pollinators, allowing certain "weedy" plants to exist for beneficial insects, and using vinegar instead of harsh chemical herbicides to control weeds. The document cautions that Roundup and other herbicides may not be safe due to studies linking them to health issues in humans and animals.

1. 1
July
2014
An occasional report on what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery
and the Miley homestead in Norwood, Louisiana;
to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by
email: maypophill@wildblue.net web: maypophill.com
Our land ethic, as conservationist
Aldo Leopold put it, “reflects the
existence of an ecological
conscience, and this in turn reflects
a conviction of individual
responsibility for the health of
land.” A Sand County AlmanacEthical Land Use? What does that mean for
gardeners and landowners?
For us Maypop Hill residents, it means
growing food plants and ornamental ones
that disturb nature as little as possible.
And, boy, is that a challenge!
We have deer that like vegetables,
crows that like corn, yellow jackets that
lie in wait to sting ankles, armadillos,
diggin’ dogs, snakes, plant diseases, etc.

2. 2
Maypop Hill’s Rules for Ethical Land Use.
Actually, we make them up as we go along.
1. mow high and slow, meaning we set the blades at the highest level and leave them
there; go slow enough to see tiny flowers that must be mown around, not down!
2. Pollinators and other beneficial insects have the right-of-way, as well as fuzzy thistles
and other plants they use, like the bright Tickseeds, and PinkLadies/Evening Primrose.
3. Alibi/Public relations: when visitors are aghast!! by the tall grass, we tell them we’re being
good stewards of our land. They may think we’re not “neat,” but Mother Nature does.

3. 3
Well, the weather for one thing. This last winter was so severe that a
lemon tree on the glassed-in but unheated back porch froze.
The little leaves growing near the bottom aren’t the Meyer lemon.
They’re the rootstock of sour orange (Poncirus trifoliata) that citrus
farmers use to grow sweet oranges and other tender fruit. Meyer
lemon can’t tolerate temperatures below 30 degrees. When freezing
weather kills the grafted top half, the sour orange roots grow back.
They make big bad thorns and can form impenetrable thickets. Ergo,
this Meyer Lemon is a gone pecan.
A lizard
(technically an anole)
has found a cicada that’s
a little too big for him to
swallow. They were all over
the place for a while,
making a loud humming
sound for days on end.
They’re fairly harmless to
plants. Some people call
them the 17-year locust.
 A caterpillar chows down
on leaves of a Woolly
Dutchman’s Pipe
(Aristolochia tomentosa).
Not a problem. We grow
the vine to feed the larvae
babies so we can have the
beautiful Pipevine adults.
A Tiger Swallowtail
taking nectar from a Titi
(Cyrilla arida).
A rat snake climbed into a live oak
when it heard baby birds chirping
in their nest. Nature is what it is!

4. Maypop Hill Nursery & Publications
Betty and LJ Miley, specializing in native plants & sustainable land use
web: maypophill.com email: maypophill@wildblue.net
4
What do weed killer do
we use on Maypop Hill?
Not much, and it shows!
We try to keep the parking area
mowed, and a few areas where
we often walk. Now and then we
squirt some vinegar to kill pesky
weeds where it’s too hard to use
ordinary methods.
This is not the 5% household product
from grocery stores.
We buy the 20% concentration
online at one of the sites that sell
organic products.
It’s strong enough to require gloves
and careful application. Does it kill
plants down to their roots? No, just
--- the top growth. After a few hours
in the sun, leaves began dying.
We’ll re-apply after
it starts to green up again.
Weeds are like taxes and weather. Everyone complains about them but
you just can’t get rid of them for good. It’s possible to eliminate them . . . if . . .
you enjoy pulling by hand --or tilling with a machine -- or attacking them with a hoe.
“One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human
embryonic, placental and umbilical cord than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call
‘astonishing.’
‘This clearly confirms that the [inert ingredients] in Roundup formulations are not inert,’ wrote the study
authors from France’s University of Caen. “Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market
could cause cell damage and even death [at the] residual levels” found on Roundup-treated crops,
such as soybeans, alfalfa and corn, or lawns and gardens.
The research team suspects that Roundup might cause pregnancy problems by interfering with
hormone production, possibly leading to abnormal fetal development, low birth weights or
miscarriages.” http://www.safelawns.org/blog/2009/06/is-roundup-safe/
Why we don’t use manmade
herbicides on Maypop Hill
• Harmful to gut bacteria, which is
so important for human health.
• Long-term exposure to
glyphosate via residue on foods
can cause chronic
inflammation.
• May actually enhance the
effect of other toxic chemicals
in your system.
• Implicated in kidney disease
and non-Hodgkins lymphoma
• Linked to autism and
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
diseases.
• http://downtoearthmother.com/2
014/05/16/is-roundup-safe-to-
use-in-vegetable-gardens/
you can buy products that kill pest plants. Herbicides. But are they safe?
RoundUp® has been a popular herbicides for decades. It’s sprayed on roadsides,
lawns, even vegetable gardens to kill weeds. Monsanto, the chemical company
that makes it, says it’s safe. They test rats and rabbits to measure the toxicity. But
various independent laboratories disagree and claim that the chemical
(Glyphosate) and its inert ingredients are mutagens of fish DNA.
Or