Jun 16·edited Jun 16Liked by Greta at Love Off Grid
I feel your pain regarding the thistles and grasses. We're on just over one acre, and keeping up with nature (let alone fighting and winning!) is completely impossible. let's do a bit of Masanobu Fukuoka-style inquiry here: Any idea why your infestation is worse than everybody else's? Is there something obviously different about your property?
Back in the day, a certain kind of forest tree was being decimated in Japan. Scientists decided it was due to the presence of a particular beetle. So they sprayed all the forests in Japan to kill the beetle. Which did nothing to stop the die-off of the trees, but had huge knock on effects environmentally. He (Fukuoka) traced the cause & effect back to the near-extinction of a certain kind of delicious & delicate mushroom that is usually found at the base of those trees. (Either maiitake or matsutake, I forget which.) That mushroom has a symbiotic thing going with that type of tree. It's also extremely sensitive to pollution etc. He determined the real cause of tree die-off is actually acid rain. Not because the trees can't handle it, but because the mushrooms that supply its nutrients can't. So maybe if you can dial it back to find the actual reason(s) for the imbalance, you can deal with the locusts a different way that actually works.
On a more spiritual note, I wrote and videoed on the topic of fighting enemies in nature a few years back. I bring it up because I know you're open to such stuff. The astonishing realtime physical tangible miracles that showed up as a result of my choice to not perceive ravenous bugs as my enemies, speak for themselves. The video version can be found under Human/Nature TV on my main substack (which you recently subscribed to.) The episode is called Beyond Enemy Consciousness. https://carrietriffet.substack.com/p/human-nature-tv Check it out, it may help. xx
Nolo bait - wheat bran that has been treated with spores of the fungus Nosema locustae, which kills adult grasshoppers (natural and not dangerous to animals).
Beauveria bassiana, another natural fungus that infects grasshopper nymphs.
Installing lots of bluebird and swallow houses on your property - not only are bluebirds and swallows beautiful, they eat a ton of bugs! You'll have to space their houses out the appropriate distance to deter competition, but they can really make a dent in the bug population.
I agree with Jacquelyn below, that it's important to consider the broader effects that non-selective pesticides can have. For example, Permethrin will also easily knock out bees and beneficial wasps, resulting in greatly decreased squash and fruit harvests...as well as an increase in pests that wasps usually control.
Fascinating article, thanks for sharing your stories!
What happens to the birds who eat the poison locusts? Remember what happened when China killed all their sparrows (because some leader declared sparrows to be useless)....I see you are up against a huge problem, but I don't think you can spray your way out of it. I know you have tried many things, I can't imagine what I would do. Grind them up and sell them for food for those who are amenable to eating ze bugs, be they humans or animals....?
A Plague of Locust
I feel your pain regarding the thistles and grasses. We're on just over one acre, and keeping up with nature (let alone fighting and winning!) is completely impossible. let's do a bit of Masanobu Fukuoka-style inquiry here: Any idea why your infestation is worse than everybody else's? Is there something obviously different about your property?
Back in the day, a certain kind of forest tree was being decimated in Japan. Scientists decided it was due to the presence of a particular beetle. So they sprayed all the forests in Japan to kill the beetle. Which did nothing to stop the die-off of the trees, but had huge knock on effects environmentally. He (Fukuoka) traced the cause & effect back to the near-extinction of a certain kind of delicious & delicate mushroom that is usually found at the base of those trees. (Either maiitake or matsutake, I forget which.) That mushroom has a symbiotic thing going with that type of tree. It's also extremely sensitive to pollution etc. He determined the real cause of tree die-off is actually acid rain. Not because the trees can't handle it, but because the mushrooms that supply its nutrients can't. So maybe if you can dial it back to find the actual reason(s) for the imbalance, you can deal with the locusts a different way that actually works.
On a more spiritual note, I wrote and videoed on the topic of fighting enemies in nature a few years back. I bring it up because I know you're open to such stuff. The astonishing realtime physical tangible miracles that showed up as a result of my choice to not perceive ravenous bugs as my enemies, speak for themselves. The video version can be found under Human/Nature TV on my main substack (which you recently subscribed to.) The episode is called Beyond Enemy Consciousness. https://carrietriffet.substack.com/p/human-nature-tv Check it out, it may help. xx
Three other grasshopper cures to try are:
Nolo bait - wheat bran that has been treated with spores of the fungus Nosema locustae, which kills adult grasshoppers (natural and not dangerous to animals).
Beauveria bassiana, another natural fungus that infects grasshopper nymphs.
Installing lots of bluebird and swallow houses on your property - not only are bluebirds and swallows beautiful, they eat a ton of bugs! You'll have to space their houses out the appropriate distance to deter competition, but they can really make a dent in the bug population.
I agree with Jacquelyn below, that it's important to consider the broader effects that non-selective pesticides can have. For example, Permethrin will also easily knock out bees and beneficial wasps, resulting in greatly decreased squash and fruit harvests...as well as an increase in pests that wasps usually control.
Fascinating article, thanks for sharing your stories!
What happens to the birds who eat the poison locusts? Remember what happened when China killed all their sparrows (because some leader declared sparrows to be useless)....I see you are up against a huge problem, but I don't think you can spray your way out of it. I know you have tried many things, I can't imagine what I would do. Grind them up and sell them for food for those who are amenable to eating ze bugs, be they humans or animals....?