Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
is much more painstaking and requires ongoing, habitual commitment, as described
by Jo, the bush regenerator:
Now where that fern is, all that area was all covered in madeira vine and
lantana, and so I've just gradually got rid of it all and I have to keep vigilant.
The madeira vine still comes back but we've just worked on, I just work at
it, you know, it's painstaking work but I suppose I seem to have the right kind
of mentality . . . when something gets away, you just go back into one area
and clean that completely . . .
(Jo, northern Wollongong)
The issues that Jo was dealing with on an ongoing basis were very similar to those
encountered by professional weed managers in more remote areas, such as those
we have worked with in the Northern Territory (Atchison and Head, 2013). For
example, Dennis's experience, if somewhat more aggressive than Jo's, was very
similar:
I'm aware that I'm bashing my head against a brick wall. I killed millions
yesterday. Millions more will grow in their place, but I can't wait to get back
there and kill all them ones as well.
(Dennis, weed manager WA, quoted in Atchison and Head, 2013)
It was quite rare for people to say they enjoyed the work of weeding in the garden.
Margaret of Campbelltown provided one example: 'I sometimes think weeding
and tidying up is work. But once I get into it I really like it. I like puddling around
in the dirt.'
Weeding for vegetable production
Much of what we know about the history of weeds is intertwined with the history
of agriculture, which has involved concentrating on some highly productive food
plants at the expense of others. Like broad-scale agriculture, producing vegetables
in backyard gardens usually entails a commitment to removing weeds. (The excep-
tion to this is some permaculture gardeners who are happy to let everything go.)
I spend time out here growing things, coming out here every day and seeing
where the weeds are, checking how the vegetables are. I don't think you can
grow vegetables if you don't spend a lot of time checking how they are.
(Karen, Wollongong)
I always try to keep the soil clean around the plant because if one [weed] is
allowed to start growing between the plants, it takes all the goodness from the
soil and from the plant.
(Blaga, Port Kembla)
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