On 02/04/2012 23:49, Christina Websell wrote:

We haven't attacked the brambles yet. 50 yards x 15 yards at least. How to
do it organically as that's the way we want to go? I suspect slash and
burn.
Now if I still had goats, not a bramble will live as they love them.

Borrow a goat?

Seriously though unless you are going for Organic(TM) certification to
rob the worried well with overpriced and overpackaged imperfect fruit
and veg at the local supermarket you might as well use glyphosate to
clear the brambles followed a few weeks later by fire.

It will be more environmentally friendly in the long run than all the
fuel you will use in the minidigger doing it "Organically".

It is by far the easiest way to clear brambles and nettles (the latter
are fairly shallow rooted and can be cleared mechanically). Ivy and
holly and some buttercup will survive glyphosate but not fire.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown