Pickles by Brian Crane for May 13, 2009

Gee, Grandpa where is the screen & the game controller?

They’re from two different worlds.

Nelson is getting older. Earl needs to be more creative.

My husband likes to kill weeds with a flamethrower. I think Nelson would enjoy watching that method. I, however, am not thrilled with the warped vinyl siding that occurred when he used the flame thrower on a snake. (We live in copperhead territory.)

I have been trying to get rid of blackberries. And it actually takes two weeks to see if your spraying did any good. In that two weeks they continue to grow and grow.

Alas, blackberries are so resistant that thick clothing and heavy gloves and enough fortitude to rip the monsters out do a better job than poisons. Around here they’re guarded by fire ants, making the job a real adventure. I need to borrow that flame thrower.

In Ontario, where politicians rule with their heads in the sand, they’ve banned the use of weed killer for the sake of the environment. So now we have to spray our weeds by cover of darkness…

Umm .. that would be because most commercial weed killers are HORRIBLE for the environment. There ARE eco-friendly weed killing alternatives (boiling white vinegar springs to mind). Talk about people with their head stuck in the sand. Geez.

you go mama, krusher just doesnt get it

I’ve done the vinegar trick and it also damaged the grass. I second the weed killer.

The weed killer have hazard chemical if smelling it while spray toward the stupid, stubborn and ugly weeds. Also can destroy the lawn. cleokaya says: I have been trying to get rid of blackberries. What! Are you trying to destroy the blackberries plants? Blackberries sound so delicious that can make a blackberry pies!

The blackberry plants on my property have dense, sharp thorns, are ugly, and spread like weeds. Their fruit is sparse, hard and bitter. Not pie berries, unfortunately. Oh, great – now I want pie.

Wildmustang I like blackberries as well. We have a mountain blackberry which I love, but we also have an invasive blackberry that has been introduced by man that send out thick, thorny suckers that take over everywhere they get established. And Roundup is a good weed killer. It doesn’t kill anything except what it is sprayed on. I live on a lake and a creek and nothing toxic that can leech into the soil is permitted.

Weed Killer is SO idiotic an idea.

Earl could just stretch out his hand & PULL the weed (roots & all) right out of the sidewalk crack.

And anyhoo, when the pesticided weed DOES finally wither & die, it’ll simply be a brown - instead of green - eyesore.

THEN there’s the pollution problem from runoff during rainstorms, or even watering grass, to think about.

I guess guys’ll buy ANYTHING if it has a “trigger” on it & they can KILL something with it!

Back to the strip, he’s killing weeds in the walkway, not the lawn. No eyesore there.

cleokaya Oh I get it clearly about the blackberry plants. Thorny is the worst to reach through and pull the blackberries out for making the pie. Ugh! Ouch!

I hope he’s not using “Roundup”. Gives you cancer!