Page 3 - Sonoma County Gazette October 2018

CLARIFICATION:
At my local school all it took was
a parent who had breast cancer to
ask the admin to stop - they did.
The reports on each school are enlightening. I took the report on my granddaughter’s school to the school board. One vineyard is organic - the other is not - both schools in my town are surrounded by vineyards. But on campus - no toxic sprays. ~ Vesta
Fire Risk of Landscape
Mulches (September Gazette)
Recently Roseland Review reported on how some windows have been “removed” in a process of “boarding up” two houses recently purchased using Sonoma County Taxpayers’ funds from the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. Roseland Review had requested the buildings be boarded up to protect them from vandalism.
This happened in early July after the buildings were sold to the taxpayers. This reporter visited the homes and saw the windows, frames, and window sills, were removed
Thank you for your article on the use of compost as a fire resistant soil cover. Below is a LINK to a great study which explores the fire risk of different landscape mulches.
to allow the boarding up to occur. Perhaps the windows are stored in the buildings, but no one at the city or the county has been able to tell me where they are. This matters because if the windows are missing this is a misappropriation of public property. If the windows are in storage please let Roseland Review know. Thank you.
The short of it; bark and fiber mulches can represent fire risks, but as you get to woodier materials like wood chips, the fire risk drops. And composted wood chips, or even just chips that are broken down by a rainy winter pretty much don’t carry or spread flame. And of course, the study showed that shredded rubber mulch is the worst for fire safety, and for soil too! Happy mulching! unce.unr.edu/publications/files/ nr/2011/sp1104.pdf
Pesticides Near Our Schools
(September Gazette)
There is overwhelming evidence that glyphosate causes cancer -- Monsanto just lost a $289 million lawsuit in San Francisco for their product causing thousands of cases of cancer, and hiding the truth from the public, a la the tobacco industry. The incidences of cancer in farmworkers has skyrocketed over the years. Local doctors like Michelle Perro, MD, author of What’s Making our Children Sick routinely treat neurological and behavioral problems in children by limiting exposure to pesticides in food and the environment. And glyphosate in the environment is just the tip of the toxic iceberg.
Padi Selwyn
I would like correct your recent column on compost, recommending that people mulch their gardens with compost. Compost is the best thing that you can do to a garden, but to
get the most use out of it, it should be dug in and incorporated into the soil. If compost is used on top of the soil
as mulch is will be subjected to the drying effects of sun and wind,and the life in it will be lost. So in other words, mulch with mulch - not compost.
The herbicide Roundup, unfortunately is still in use on many public schools and colleges, despite the concern that is is a carcinogen.
Ref: http://20minutegarden. com/2011/06/18/compost-versus- mulch-whats-the-difference/
Grounds crews routinely spray the toxin, and will likely continue to do so until the public asks schools boards to stop.
I am just trying to discourage people from using flammable BARK. I have dug in compost as well as laid it on top for clients who didn’t want to pay me to dig it in, and I have to say that the gardens loved it anyway. Over
SonomaCountyGazette.com LOGIN to COMMENT
Bill Collins
Pieter S Myers,Occidental
LETTERS cont’d on page 4
10/18 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3