My head is spinning!!!

[Silky ma]

hello, new to BYH forum. Not sure where to post this thread so let me know if this is the right post area.

IOkay just posted my hello intro. Just starting out with 4.19 acre property where we are in the process of fixing the home so we can move in....big project for now but while we work on the house I need to do the following;

Find someone to clear and grub the property of all but the oak trees ( oak ordinance in play here)....... I have had some people tell me they had a logging co come in and pay them for the trees, and another say a logging co came on for free and cleared their land and kept the trees for the wood so the land owner didn't pay a cent. We are in placerville ca. So if anyone can steer me in the right direction I would love the help, so far calls I have made have yet to be returned.
The land is a mix of tall pines, oaks, manzanita with a splash of other bushed and a wee bit of poison oak.

Now the second issue.... The eradication of poison oak....
I have tried a few organic ways of eradicating this crap but I have now resorted to round up.....Major Cringing!!! I am hollistic and having to use Round up is just about sending me into a panic!!! I have been told by others who live In placerville that they have tried to do it without chemicals but with large acreage it was impossible so they have had to resort to roundup and I was told it will take 3 years of application to kill the poison oak. Any ideas?

I have been looking into getting highland cattle,turkeys and possibly fainting goats. Yes ruminants will eat this crap but I was warned that if I touched the mouths or bodies of these guys they could pass on the oils from the poison oak to me. That won't work. Any ideas? If I continue to use round up- cringe- how long should I wait to get the above? I don't want to poison any animals.

This is a lot to deal with so I will stop here and hope someone can give me direction/ better land mgmt practices.

 

[Mike CHS]

Welcome - If I was a betting man I would expect that even though you mentioned ruminants, someone will suggest it (but this is BYH)

I haven't found an organic way that really works but you can minimize how much glyphosphate you use. I dig or pull the smaller plants and before I use roundup I'll cut the vines and just apply it to the poison oak stump. Seems to work relatively fast.

 

[Silky ma]

I have been aggressively digging up the small plants and bagging for disposal. Will salt water applied after digging prevent any missed roots from sprouting?

 

[Silky ma]

Which product do you like if your skin does get exposed to the poison oak?

 

[Mike CHS]

I'm not sure about salt and would hesitate to use it anyway. I don't have the soap available now but I think it is is Tecnu Poison oak & Ivy cleanser. After my last battle with poison ivy rash I now use a blocker called just that -Ivy Block and it does work. A good scrubbing works also if you make a point of not letting it sit on the skin very long.

 

[Silky ma]

Thank you for the info

 

[Baymule]

We have 8 acres and have lots of poison oak on it. I break out horrible from the stuff. Wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves and hat. Chop and pull all you can, bag it up and get rid of it. Change, shower immediately. I will wash in a bath tub with a cup of Clorox in it, it kills the poison oak/ivy and dries up any rash. My sheep are eating a lot of it. If you aren't kissing livestock on the mouth or sticking fingers in their mouth, you should be ok.