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| THE CASUAL GARDENER, Shawna Coronado A Reader Responds To Chemical Awareness Dear Readers, I’ve had a Casual Gardener fan, Therese, write me about the incredible chemical free results in her garden in response to the column I ran a few weeks ago. I felt the correspondence was so inspiring, I wanted to share it with all of you. Happy Greening! Shawna = = = = = = = = = Dear Casual Gardener, Having just read your column in the paper about Chemical Confusion, I just had to extend a great big “Thank You!” I had been hoping that someone in the area would address this very issue, and you made that wish come true. My husband and I have lived in Warrenville for over 10 years. We both love to be outside and garden at every opportunity provided us (he likes growing vegetables, I like flowers, trees and shrubs). Years ago, while sitting on our back deck relaxing, after an afternoon spent toiling in the gardens, we watched as a bunny sat munching on a dandelion. She chomped at the stem and then proceeded to eat the entire flower. After digesting that one, she moved on to the next and the next and the next. One by one, she was helping us with weed-control. It was then that we made the decision to never use chemicals in our yard again. No artificial fertilizers, no herbicides, no insecticides, nothing but good old natural, biodegradable source for us from now on! After all, our back yard, front yard and all of ‘outside’ is the ‘dining + living room’ of all creatures. How inconsiderate of us to poison their food and home! Yes, we have dandelions now, more than I can count! And the creeping charlie is ‘creeping’ my husband out as it approaches his squash garden, BUT, since we have NOT used chemicals in years and years, we have been seeing many more species of wildlife in our yard! Just last year we saw a lot of frogs, more than ever. I do not ever remember seeing them when we had used chemical fertilizers. My husband even saw a Salamander near one of our rain barrels! Very cool! We saw at least a dozen praying mantids by our clematis vines and roses, dozens and dozens of brightly colored dragon flies, hummingbird moths and butterflies too numerous to count. We have had Robins and House Wrens nest in our yard. Many bird species visit our 10+ bird feeders on a daily basis. I must admit that we do have a lawn service. It is all natural and absolutely free! We have skunks that visit at night and dig up and eat the grubs in our lawn. They get a free meal and we get our lawn aerated at no cost! The trees and shrubs on our property drop their leaves in the fall which we shred with our electric mulching lawn mower and use to cover our flower beds for the winter. Free mulch! The butterflies, bees and birds pollinate our plants and flowers ensuring us germinated seeds that we can plant again the following year. Free seed maintenance! We have dragon flies and bats that soar through the air and eat thousands of mosquitoes each and every day. Free pest control! We have a covered compost barrel that we put our garden clippings and organic table scraps in, then, in the spring, we have a generous supply of natural compost to feed our plantings. I usually add organic mushroom compost that I purchase from a nearby nursery. The flowers LOVE that stuff! We have 2 rain barrels that collect rain water run off from our roof. When our neighbors are out watering their gardens with their hoses, we are usually using saved rain water instead. It was a fairly easy transition to stop our use of chemicals outside, as we had already stopped using them inside. We use only biodegradable household cleaning products, some are simple and all natural like Vinegar. Who knew that vinegar could make your faucets and sinks so shiny clean! The acidity of the vinegar kills off bacteria and germs too. Laundry and dish washing liquids we purchase from Whole Foods, who carry a wide range of household cleaning products that are Earth Friendly. I don't know about you, but every time I walk down the aisle that has the cleaning supplies and spring/summer lawn care items at a regular food store, my eyes start to sting and water, my throat starts to burn and I can't help but wonder ‘Why do we still sell and buy these things if they are so harmful?” I guess a lot has to do with marketing and the media. Advertisements can be so powerful and convincing, but they can be so misleading and wrong too. I say give me dandelions if it means I will see more bunnies. Give me creepy crawly things in my garden if it means food for the Robin mommies so she can feed her babies. Give me grubs, so my lawn can be aerated for free. It gives me peace of mind to know I can walk barefoot in summer and not bring in any chemicals on the soles of my feet and worry that our pets may get sick. It is so nice to see that someone else cares about what we do to our “mother” (earth) and is taking the time and effort to spread the word. Thank You Shawna. Chemical-Free, Therese Please send your gardening questions for Shawna Coronado, The Casual Gardener to dearshawna@thecasualgardener.com or The Casual Gardener, P.O. Box 358, Warrenville, IL 60555. www.thecasualgardener.com |
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