I was over at Ink and Penstemon, and in a post it was mentioned that she was wary of round-up. I commented, ” I can’t imagine being scared of herbicides. To me, I would rather use a herbicide than to spend hours weeding. And I guess resistance is an issue, but maybe rotating chemicals? At least that’s insect IPM. There is more then round-up…” That kind-of makes me sound like a spray-happy farmer with no regard to the environment.  Alas, one of my faults, especially on comment forums, is being a little too blunt and lacking tact. So I come across not as I want to. For the record–I haven’t used any type of pesticides in over a year. I got pregnant, and then had a kid crawling around and it made me think a little more about using chemicals.

And now I come to my dilemma right now in my horticultural and regular mind. Are chemicals (specifically pesticides) good or bad? There seems to be two sides, and I’m a fence sitter. On one side is wary of pesticides and avoiding them at almost all costs, instead focusing on organic gardening. (Which to me is a way to garden, not necessarily just avoiding pesticides. Now I’m sidetracked–another day maybe.) The other side sees pesticides as a means to get rid of all pests, with no worries about ill effects.

I firmly believe pesticides, if used according to label directions, will generally not cause ill effects. I’ve learned a little about what goes into the testing, and the toxicity level of pesticides, and they don’t scare me that much. Homeowner chemicals are usually quite safe. And pesticides are many time more effective than any other option. In school, I knew many (some of whom came from farms) who where a little flabbergasted at the movement to reduce pesticides. Pesticides do their job economically and effectively and without any direct risk.   So on one hand, they seem to be a useful means to an end.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any risks. Now with a kid, I feel a little more aware of them. Certainly exposure to high levels and amounts of artificial chemicals will result in ill effects. Chemicals are everywhere, and it isn’t a big deal to get them out of our gardens, where we grow food to consume and roll around in the grass. I also cringe sometimes thinking about the amount of agricultural pesticides used to get rid of blemishes on crops. The spray happy era of DDT is certainly not something desirable.

In my mind, I’m torn between knowing that pesticides probably won’t hurt me but aware they aren’t the most friendly answer. So in practice, I use them as a last result. I am not a couple I knew who put sevin on all their vegetables to prevent bugs of unknown type and origin. But I will use a bottle of round-up to tackle the acre of bindweed (And I have faced an acre of bindweed. We did till, but that really does squat against bindweed. Actually, round-up was only half effective too.) Sometimes, I admit, I look to pesticides too early. Oh well. I’ll figure it out one day.

I believe chemicals are not huge ugly demons. Just annoying cousins. I don’t want them around if I can prevent it, but if there’s not other option, I’ll deal with it.