Archive for ‘Organic Gardening’

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
May 6, 2012

Would you like weed killer with that?

I’ve been very disturbed lately, trying to process how we came to value a perfect lawn over people.

The other day, as I walked with my son to school, we passed house upon house with little signs posted in their yards saying “chemical treatment – keep children and pets off until: such and such date” or “pesticide application: keep off until dry”.  I’m sure you’ve seen them.  We’ve all seen them.  We’ve become accustomed to them.

But have you ever stopped to wonder why they post those signs?  Why just children and pets, is it safe for adults?  Why a three days?  Why is everything okay once its dry?  Is it really?  It is okay?  Can we really put chemicals on our lawns that kill plants and insects but have no effect on us after just a few hours or a few days?  Or are we simply ignoring the possibility that it might have an effect?

Let’s think about this.  We grow grass, we feed it with chemicals to make it green, we layer on more chemicals to kill anything that isn’t grass, then we layer on even more chemicals to kill off any insects, beneficial or otherwise, who might be living in the soil because we don’t want them to ruin the grass that we worked so hard to get perfect and green.  But for what purpose?  Can we walk in it?  Can we play in it with our children?  Ca we let our pets go out and sniff the ground?  Can we do all of those things without the little voices in the back of our heads saying “Are you sure that’s safe?”?

Now I realize some people, a lot of people, might not like to think about this.  In fact, I’m guessing they stopped at the subject line and didn’t read any further, or they started reading but stopped at the second sentence.  But if you’ve read up to this point then I ask that you bear with me and read through to the end.

There are times in our lives when we learn things that we don’t necessarily want to hear.  We hear things that put us on the defensive and make us not want to listen any further.  We, as human beings, have a conscience, and we don’t like to admit when we may have made a mistake or been a part of a greater problem.  My goal is not to put anyone on the defensive, but to just get us all to stop and think and maybe, change our behaviour.

If you use chemicals in your yard or garden I’d ask you to honestly ask yourself one question: Why do you do it?

Why do you use chemicals?  Why chemical fertilizer?  Why insecticides?  Why pesticides?  Why herbicides?  Is it because it’s how you were taught and you don’t know how to do it differently?  Is it because you think it will take too much time or too much work to not use chemicals?  Is it because you’re worried about what the neighbors will think if you have weeds in your yard? (After all  you’ve heard how they talk about the other neighbors, you don’t want that to be you.)  Is it because you can’t stand the sight of weeds because in the back of your mind there is a stigma with weeds and laziness?  Do you just think of weeds as interruption of the span of green and are therefore ugly?  Do you truly believe that the chemicals won’t harm anyone?  Or do you just not want to be bothered?

Let me ask another question.  If you knew today that you, your child or your pet would end up with Cancer in a few years, would you still do it?  Would you still expose yourself, your family and your pets to lawn chemicals?  Would you still value your lawn the same way you do today?

I don’t.  And here’s why: A few years ago I lost my dog to Cancer and I’ve lost far too many people in my life to Cancer, unexplainable Cancer.  And while I don’t have a background in science or chemistry or medicine, I can tell you my theory.  We are surrounded by chemicals in every facet of our lives.  Our food contains chemicals, our homes contain chemicals, our air is full of chemicals, we put chemicals on our skin in the form of lotions, sunscreens, make-up, deoderant and anti-perspirants.  We have chemicals in our toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, soap, laundry soap, fabric softener and house cleansers.  There isn’t an area in our lives that isn’t exposed to chemicals.  So why can’t scientists figure out what causes Cancer?  My guess is because everything causes Cancer.  Can I control everything?  No, I can’t.  I’m sure I’m exposed to Cancer causing chemicals far more than I’m aware of and I can’t control that.  But what I can do is eliminate the chemicals from the areas in my life that I can control and hopefully, that will be enough me and my family to live a long and healthy life.

My parents weren’t “hippies” or “tree-huggers”, in fact we used products daily growing up that contained all sorts of chemicals, mostly because it’s what we knew.  As I’ve grown and life has taken me on many paths, including working for an Organic Certification Agency over 20 years ago, I became increasingly aware to the dangers of chemicals and just how long they stay with us.  Did you realize that if you wanted to start an organic farm (or garden) today, but you were using chemicals on it yesterday, that your crops wouldn’t be considered “organic” for at least three years?  Why?  Because it’s not just the chemicals that get applied to the current crop that makes something organic.  It takes three years for the chemicals to break-down in the soil enough that they don’t show up in toxic amounts in our food.  Three years.

So transfer this to our lawns.  When we use chemicals, we are typically on a schedule, we keep adding them to our lawn multiple times a year.  We add more, and more to get the best results.  And there it sits.  It sits in the soil that grows our grass, the soil that grows our flowers and our food for years to come.  But we continue to tell ourselves that it’s okay.   We post signs, telling people when we’ve put chemicals on our lawns.  And after a couple of days its safe, right?  When our dogs put their nose right on the ground and sniff, it’s okay.  When our kids sit in the grass, pull up the blades and put them in their mouth to make the blade of grass whistle, that’s okay too.  When we walk barefoot or have a picnic in the front lawn or when we eat veggies out of our garden that shares the soil with our lawn, it’s safe, right?  Or is it?

My thought is this.  If the guy spraying our lawn is supposed to wear boots, gloves and a mask to apply it (which they are supposed to do to limit exposure) and make sure not to spray on a windy day, or the warning on the bag or bottle of chemicals that we’re applying on our lawns or gardens says not to ingest and to call poison control or a doctor if it is ingested, then why would we trust that after just a couple of hours that it’s “safe” for us to be on, that it’s “safe” to eat, that it’s “safe” at all?

We do many things in our lives out of habit.  Change can seem difficult at first, but I urge you to question what you’re doing, what you’re using and if you don’t have a clear conscience, then look for alternatives.

If you have been using chemicals and you’ve thought about eliminating them from your yard but you don’t love dandelions and aren’t friends with creeping charlie or plantain or what have you, don’t sweat it.  There are alternatives.   There are more and more organic lawn care companies that will do the work for you if that’s what you’re accustomed to.  Or, if you want to convert it yourself I would recommend the book The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey.

Please, if you’re in the area, do not use my lawn as an example of what organic lawn care looks like!  My yard, particularly the front, is definitely not picture perfect.  Other than mowing, aerating and watering, our lawn has not truly been cared for in the past few years.  In fact, the current dandelion population makes me cringe.  However, when I weigh the dandelions against the health and well-being of my family and pets, they don’t seem quite as bad.

Think of it this way, if you were to go into your local coffee shop but instead of asking if you would like cream they asked “Would you like weed killer with that?” what would you answer?  Or, if you sat down at the dinner table and asked someone to pass the salt and pepper, but upon receiving it you realize its filled with weed n’ feed, would you use it on your dinner?  If your response is “no” then I ask you to seriously consider whether you think it’s truly “safe” to put these same chemicals on your lawn and in your garden.  If, in the back of your mind you have doubt, even the slightest bit, I urge you to change.  For you.  For your family.  For your pets.  And for those to come after us.

Afterall, is your lawn really that important?

Kate

Posted in Environment, Lawn Care, Mindful Living | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , ,
April 29, 2012

T is for Transplanting

Transplant, relocate.  Whether you’re talking people or plants, its lifting our roots and establishing them somewhere else.

Spring is one of the two best times of the year to transplant any plants, trees or shrubs to a new location.  (The other best time is fall.)

Let’s imagine for a moment we want to move a Hosta.  Right now, as the shoots are just beginning to poke up out of the ground like little spears, but before the leaves unfurl, is the best time to transplant. The same goes for most other plants as well, but I recommend looking up your specific plant or dropping me a line if you’re not sure.

The tools you will need to transplant are a pitch fork, a sharp spade and possibly a pruning shears or lopper.

Keep in mind the goal with transplanting it to cause as little stress, trauma or shock to the plant as possible.  You want to give them lots of room and be as gentle as you can.  Before you dig-up a plant, keep in mind that you are only seeing the shoots, when they leaf out they will be considerably wider.  Tree roots, for example, extend, at minimum, out to the canopy and most often much further.  So before your spade touches the soil, look up.  If you’re inside the canopy, you’re too close.  Move out.

Most perennials are similar.  Think of their leafed out size as their canopy and dig outside of that line.  It also helps to know what kind of root system your plant has before you even start this process.  In other words, it a shallow rhizome?  Deep tuber?  Tap root?  Or fibrous roots?  Knowing this is like having a road map for digging.  It gives you a rough idea as to what to expect as you go.  If the plant has a deep tuber or a tap-root, be extremely careful not to sever the top of the plant from the root.

As a side note, tap rooted plants typically don’t like to be moved (think of carrots), so make every effort to site them properly the first time they are planted.

Okay, time to start digging.  Personally, I like to use a pitch fork to do the first round of digging.  The pitch fork will allow you to test the waters a bit without severing any roots.  It allows you to feel around in the soil and help determine whether you’re out far enough or whether you’re still in the root zone.  Once you’ve determined that you are out far enough from the center of the plant, grab your sharpened spade and slice into the soil.  (Try to keep your spade upright so you don’t inadvertently slice off the roots you just worked to avoid.)  Dig all the way around the plant and gently work your way underneath until the plant feels loose.

Hopefully you get everything on the first try to the root ball comes out of the ground.  Typically what happens with me is that I think I’m set, but as I start gaining momentum and go to lift the plant out of the hole it comes to a screeching halt because one root is still be attached.  It feels much picking up an old TV, getting a grip on it and turning around to have it nearly fly out of your hands because it’s still plugged into the wall.  If this happens to you, get back in there and continue digging until you find the “cord”.  Occasionally there will be one wild root that seems to go on forever.  You’ll be digging and digging, following the root nearly to China.  If this happens, you need to make a decision, fish or cut bait?  My recommendation is to check out the whole root ball and determine how much damage you think you will cause the plant if you cut this wild root.  If it seems like it’s a major player, keep digging.  If not, grab your spade, pruning shears or lopper and give it a nice slice.

Woo, hoo!  It’s free!  So now what?  Hopefully at this point you’ve already selected a site for your plant and have the new hole pre-dug.  If not, leave the plant in its current place in order to prevent the roots from drying out by keeping them out of the sun and wind.  Ideally you won’t have to worry about the sun and heat drying it out because you’ve chosen a cool overcast day to do your transplanting, right? 🙂

Okay, so off we go to the new home for our little transplant.  Dig a hole about 6″ wider but at the same depth as the original hole.  You want to have loose soil around the sides of the plant for roots to establish in, but you do not want to have a soft bottom or the plant will sink deeper than it was previously living.  You want the bottom of the hole to be firm to provide a nice foundation for the plant to sit on so that your plant sits at “ground level” in its new hole at about the same place it sat at “ground level” in its old hole.  This is important because plant depth can effect many things including flowering, fruiting and in the case of trees, stem-girdling roots.

Once your new location is ready, go get the plant from its first location and bring it to its new home.  Gently set it in the hole and make sure the plant is sitting at the right depth.  If it’s not, adjust the hole until it is.  Then, make sure it’s evenly spaced in the hole. Water the plant thoroughly, allowing water to partially fill the hole.

Next, add some compost to the soil loose soil that will be going back into the hole, making about a 1/3 of the mixture compost.  Put the soil/compost mix into the hole around the plant, gently packing with your hands. Do not step on it!  (Plant roots need air space in the soil in order to get established, not compacted soil.)

Finally, with some of the remaining soil, create a small ridge of soil at the perimeter of your hole.  This should look like a dish, which will help direct water down to the roots and prevent it from running away from your plant.  Cover the open soil with mulch, repeating the dish with the mulch.

Note: Never mound soil or mulch at the base of a plant or tree!  This can cause rot, disease and damage.  If you have mounds on your plants or trees, simply pull the mulch away from the base/trunk and create a dish instead.

Once you’re done mulching, keep the plant well watered until its established in its new home.

Voila!  You’ve successfully transplanted a plant.

Questions?  Let me know!

Kate

Posted in Perennials, Transplanting, Trees and Shrubs, Veggie Garden | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ,
April 22, 2012

R is for Rodent

Rabbits eat my lettuce

Squirrels steal my pears

Raccoons peak in my windows and freak me out when they stare

Opossum at my back door

Woodchuck under the shed

Garter snakes slither and stop my heart nearly dead

Toads in all directions hopping here and there

Neighbor’s cats adding scents for which I don’t particularly care

Japanese Beetles and June Bugs and May Flies

Might make you wonder why I garden, why I even try?

You might say I like it, or love it at the least

For why else would I put up with these less than sightly beasts?

As I venture outside to plant and weed and water

I realize there’s nothing that rhymes with rodent

I only wish my garden wasn’t their fodder

Kate

Posted in Critter Problems, Insects & Diseases, Insects and Diseases, Laughing at Life | 1 Comment »

Tags: ,
April 19, 2012

P is for Gardening with Pets

Many of us have a four-legged friend or two with whom we share our life.  They are our companions and friends and often become part of the family.  They greet us when we get home.  They love us unconditionally.  They snuggle.  They protect us.  They have a sixth sense to know when we’re sick or down and come to just be by our side.  They’re the best!

Until they’re not.  There is nothing more frustrating to a gardener than working so hard to grow flowers, plants, veggies, to watch them mature and just begin to peak only to have them trampled, dug up or otherwise destroyed.  Now it’s one thing when it’s a “wild” animal that does it: a raccoon, a squirrel, a rabbit or a deer, somehow it feels okay to get angry, to want them out, gone.  It becomes a battle.  Us against them. We put up fences and spray our plants with pepper spray and put fox urine powder around and whatever it takes to keep it from happening again.

But what about when it’s that four-legged friend who did the damage, that companion who greets you at the door?  What then?  The anger feels different.  The anger gets channeled as frustration.  Instead of referring to them as “those dirty rats” thoughts of anger show up as feelings of betrayal.  After all, they’re with us everyday.  Chances are they are hanging out when we were planting.  How could they not know that we loved that plant, that we wanted to keep the flowers on top of the stem, high in the air, not lying in tattered bits on the ground, or that we really did want to eat that lettuce they just went running through and smashed?

Is it possible to have pets and a garden?  Yes!  However, it’s takes observation and flexibility.  When most of us start planning a garden, we usually have a fairy tale vision of what it will look like at its peak.  When you have pets, particularly dogs, sometimes those visions need adjusting.  And they might need to be adjusted more than once.

So where do you start?  Watch your pet.  Watch what the do from the moment they leave the house until the second they come back.  You’ll need to observe them for a while, in other words, more than once.  Watch where they go and what they do.  After a while you’ll start to notice patterns.  Then, once you know what their habits are, you get to adjust either yourself or their habits.

I’ll give you an example, my dog Jake.  Jake was a rescue dog from the Leech Lake Reservation.  Prior to being rescued Jake was essentially a feral dog.  He spent his days running with a pack, chasing chickens and dodging bee-bees (he has a few souvenirs in his legs as proof).  So what happens to a garden when a dog like Jake becomes a domestic pet?  Well, I’ll give you a glimpse, here are Jake’s habits:

1. We open the door, he slinks out onto the back step in stealth mode, scanning the yard for prey.

2. A squirrel!  He bolts from the back steps, runs across the patio, leaps off of the step, over the stepping stone pathway, lands in the grass, makes an arc in the yard as he races under the spruce tree, rounds the curve to the huge old elm and attempts to climb the base of the tree to catch the squirrel.

3. Defeated, he’ll sit at the base of the tree and stare, daring the squirrel to come down.  This stare-down can go on from a minute to an hour.

4. Once his watch is over he heads to the shed in hopes of catching the rabbits or the woodchuck that seem to take turns residing underneath.

5. Finally, he’ll cruise the perimeter of the yard and relieve himself before returning to the column by the back steps, assuming gargoyle position, to guard the yard for an undetermined amount of time.

Again, what does this mean for the yard/garden and what can be done?

1. Slinking and scanning, no harm done.

2. Bolting across the patio, no problem, he races through the designed-in traffic area.

3. Leaping off the step over the stepping stone path and landing in the grass has destroyed the lawn in that area and worn a dirt path.  Chances are I’m not going to be able to break him of this habit, so my choices are to deal with the daily mud (not fun) or create a path for him (with something other than mud).  It will need to be something smooth or soft: pavers, stepping-stones, pea gravel (no angular stones) or mulch.  Nothing that will hurt those tender pads on his feet.

4. Racing under the spruce tree.  Prior to Jake I had a little shade garden under the this tree.  I need to move it.  Actually, I only need to move what’s in his path and the plants near the base of the tree where he tries to jump at the squirrels.   The rest can stay.  I may add a little path through here as well because he occasionally comes in with spruce needles in his paws (ouch!).

5. Climbing the elm tree.  No harm done here.  There are no plants at the base (aside from lawn) and the tree is mature enough that he can’t hurt it.

6. Over to the shed.  This is a problem.  There are holes, three or four of them, created as a joint effort between the dogs, the rabbits and the woodchuck.  I need to determine whether we let the critters continue to live under there or try to get them out once and for all then block the holes with chicken wire (dug into the ground) and repair the holes or if I just deal with it and let the dogs enjoy the chase.  The other option is to train the dogs to stay away, but realistically this will only work if their source of entertainment is gone.

7.  Perimeter relief?  Kind of nice, actually.  They have to “go” and it’s nice to know where to look for it.  However, it has taken some training to teach him not to relieve himself on the perimeter where there are flowers and raspberries growing!

Okay, did you catch it?  Do you know how to deal with pets in the garden?

1. Observe their habits.

2. Go with the flow.  If you have a dog that loves to pace at the perimeter of your yard, let them!  Give them a path.  Move your flower beds out, away from the perimeter and give them access to get through.  The same goes for any other regular paths.  If you don’t like their path, you’ll need to provide and obstacle, a reason for them to take a different path.  And if you’re going to remove one, make sure you give them an alternative first.

3. Dog Digging?  Give them a spot to dig.  Their own sandbox perhaps.  Train them that it’s okay to dig here, but not “over there”.

4.  Keeping them out of gardens?  Fences, raised beds or container gardens and training!  Training your dog what’s okay and what’s not okay will be the best time you’ve ever spent.  It will make you both a lot happier!

5. Give them space.  Make sure your pets have a place to play that really is okay.

6. Supervise.  I know some people like to simply “let the dogs out” and forget about it.  If you’ve already done all of the above and you know your dog really well, and think they know the rules,  then go ahead, but please don’t think you can simply let the dogs out without training and taking precautions first and expect them to know where to go.  Dogs will be dogs.   They can’t read and they can’t read our minds.

7. Cats.  If you love them, keep them indoors, leash them, walk them (yes, it’s possible) or create a safe play area for them.

8. Cats can be destructive when left unattended outside and can become a gardeners nightmare.  They will mark territory, which smells offensive and usually isn’t the best way to be a good neighbor. If you’re dealing with your neighbors cats, this is tougher.  Cats typically don’t like the smell of citrus or lavender.  You can leave orange, lemon and lime peels in the garden (give them a little squeeze first to release the oils in the skin) or plant lavender.  There are also cleansers on the market to clean up outdoors post-cat spray and some others to deter them from coming again.  Both are supposed to be okay for plants and the environment.

9. Cats tend to use gardens and children’s sandboxes as a litter box.  Yuck!.  But beyond yuck, cat feces contain toxoplasmosis.  Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic organism that can infect most animals and birds, but it only reproduces in cats, so cats are the parasite’s ultimate host. When a person becomes infected with toxoplasmosis, the parasite forms cysts that can affect almost any part of the body — often your brain and muscles, including the heart.  It dangerous for adults, particularly pregnant women, and especially young children.  To prevent cats from invading sandboxes, keep them covered.  Gardens?  There are little mats you can buy that have plastic spikes on them not sharp enough to hurt people, but just annoying enough to keep cats out of the soil.  Again, citrus or lavender may help as well.

10.  Cats also hunt birds, the same birds that you or your neighbors are feeding.  Feeders shouldn’t be bait for cats, and my guess is that most people feeding the birds aren’t intending it to be a buffet for cats.  It’s cruel to attract birds to a feeder, let cats loose and allow them to kill the birds.  Mice, moles and voles on the other hand…

11.  If you have a cat who likes to be outside, keep them with you, watch them, leash them or give them a play space… it can be outdoors, but covered, contained, somewhere they can sunbathe, watch the birds and squirrels, but not do damage to others.  I’ve seen some pretty cool outdoor cat play areas.  There are definitely options.

12. As a reminder, be careful what you grow.  Some plants are toxic to people and even more toxic to pets.  If your pets are in the back yard and you really want that Datura, grow it in the front.  It’s not worth taking chances.

13.  And finally, grow stuff for your pets too! Grow catnip or mint! (My cat isn’t fussy, any mint will do.)  Grow wheat grass, both dogs and cats like wheat grass.

So keep your companions and keep gardening.  Work together and you’ll have a yard and garden everyone will enjoy!

Kate

Posted in Gardening wth Pets, Mindful Living, Pets | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , ,
« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »