Darke County Farmers Union

07/02/2026

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07/02/2026

VICTORY FOR SOME VOTERS! The Supreme Court of the United States just affirmed that mail-in ballots received by states with post-election acceptance windows are valid votes under federal law and should be counted.

Unfortunately, this will not benefit Ohio voters but we remain committed to helping eligible Ohioans overcome unnecessary ballot barriers that Ohio lawmakers continue to inflect upon them.

07/02/2026

A 25-dollar half-barrel does the same containment job as a barrier install that runs into the hundreds.

The container IS the barrier. Running bamboo can't escape a solid-walled tub, so you get the lush look of running types with none of the underground spread. That makes a pot the cheapest way to grow the aggressive, fast, cold-hardy bamboos safely, and it lets renters and patio owners have a screen at all. A trenched-in HDPE barrier means renting a digger or hiring a crew; a row of barrels means a hand truck and an afternoon.

Size is the one rule you can't cheat. Go no smaller than 25 gallons, with half-barrels or 30-gallon stock tanks being ideal, because bamboo in a too-small pot dries out, starves, and thins fast. Make sure there are real drainage holes, sit the tank on pot feet or bricks so water escapes, and use a good loam-based potting mix, not pure bagged compost that collapses.

Potted bamboo needs more from you than in-ground does. Water it often in summer (a full tank can drink daily in heat), feed it through the growing season because it can't forage, and every two to three years tip it out and slice off the outer few inches of rootball with an old saw before repotting into fresh mix, or it strangles itself. In cold winters, wrap the container in burlap, bubble wrap, or horticultural fleece, because roots in a pot freeze far faster than roots in the ground, and group several pots together against a sheltered wall to buffer the cold further. Choose a clumping type and even the summer maintenance eases off.

Watch for the warning signs that a potted screen is outgrowing its tub: yellowing lower leaves, water running straight through without soaking in, and roots bulging the sides or lifting the plant proud of the rim. Those mean it's root-bound and due for the saw-and-repot. A glazed or lined wooden container also holds moisture better than bare terracotta, which wicks water away and can leave a thirsty bamboo crisping in a heatwave. Done right, a line of barrel-grown bamboo is the most flexible screen there is: it works on concrete, it moves when you do, and it never spreads an inch. [E8P1W]

07/02/2026

Best advice of the day. In some areas you can use composting toilets so check your zoning. A small solar set up can be as low as 3000. Alternative living to being a debt donkey...it's a thing.

07/02/2026

"Mexico sits at a particular crossroads. It has one of the richest agricultural traditions on the planet: milpa systems, polycultures, campesino knowledge that runs centuries deep, and at the same time, decades of policy that pushed agrochemical dependency so far into smallholder farming that it stopped feeling like a choice. Herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, monoculture." Learn how our friend and agronomist Homero Blas is fighting against the current of chemical ag in favor a system that works in harmony with nature:
https://regenerationinternational.org/2026/03/09/meet-our-local-expert-homero-blas-bustamante-mexico/

07/02/2026

The Scientific Evidence Justifies Banning Glyphosate

The primary scientific study pesticide regulators worldwide used to justify the approval of Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and many other herbicides, has been retracted due to fraud.

This study, by Gary Williams, Robert Kroes, and Ian Munro, was used to cast doubt on the numerous published studies showing that Glyphosate caused cancers and many other diseases.

Read more from our International Director Andre Leu
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https://regenerationinternational.org/2025/12/04/the-science-shows-glyphosate-must-be-banned/

07/02/2026

Know you farmer, know your food

07/02/2026

Why Earth Is Farthest From The Sun In July — Yet Summer Is At Its Peak (Link In Comments)

07/02/2026