There are many sustainability issues that are relevant today. This page will focus on a particular topic every month.

July's topic: Safe Gardening Practices

Summer is here, and we had high hopes to help SFROMP.ORG with the rehabilitation of orphan baby raccoons this summer. But the combination of an intense weed problem and invasive bamboo from our neighbors' yards has ruined our plans. As my hubby threatened to reach for that bootle of RoundUp, I was faced with the opportunity to investigate a new frontier: safe gardening practices.

One would think that the greenest of all green practices—being in contact with dirt—would be the first to be environmentally safe. Not so fast! Herbicides and pesticides are highly toxic and harmful to our health. The industry that is in place to sell this cheap, toxic stuff is already on the shelves, and to find alternatives is up to us. It's actually super easy to just do a search on the internet for eco products. In my case, I've found, that vinegar is an active ingredient that kills many unwanted weeds, and there are a couple of products out there that do the job in 20 minutes. Some say it works better than the toxic stuff. Then, corn gluten (that's right, corn gluten) prevents the weeds from coming back up.

Healthy soil: Another super easy thing to do is to compost our fruit and vegetable scraps and to put them to good use in the garden. Since our Biostack was found on the side of the road, I haven't had the proper instructions in how to use it, and I'm continuously learning what I'm doing wrong. But the compost keeps rotting, which it's what's supposed to do, so I'm convinced that this whole operation is not rocket science. I really want to get a wriggly wranch worm bin this summer. I think worms are funny and cute. This bin is meant for small spaces, it's only 2 cubic feet. But you can skip all that and get ready-made soil amendments that help micro-organisms flourish, and top it off with mulch to keep the soil from drying too fast.

Water. Choosing low-maintenance plants that require little water, like native grasses, groundcovers and plants is the way to go. I'm a really busy gal, and if I can "set it and forget it", I'm all for it. A soaker hose, which is a hose with a bunch of holes in it, drips slowly and there is less or no runoff of water compared to a sprinkler or a manual hose.

And finally, creating a wildlife habitat that includes food, water, shelter and nesting for insects and animals not only promotes pollination and biodiversity, but also controls plant pests. Having a little bird feeder, a shallow water dish, or plants that attract birds and insects are very simple steps in that direction, but allows us to reconnect with the natural world.

Resources:

www.stopwaste.org

www.ecomall.com/greenshopping

Previous Green Thoughts:

Green Thoughts May 2006

Green Thoughts April 2006

Green Thoughts March 2006

Green Thoughts February 2006

Green Thoughts January 2006

© 2006 Designarchy