Green Thursdays: A Green Yard
Every Thursday I write a post about green living. This week I’m writing about my yard. By green yard, I don’t just mean the color, I mean the way we care for it.
This is a picture of my front yard.
Here’s one of my backyard.
If you look close, you may notice a few weeds. You may even notice some brown patches. Yep, I have both in my yard. Why is that? Because we don’t put any chemicals on our yard. At all.
If you look at the top picture again, you’ll see why. My children are barefoot. They like to go barefoot. I like them to go barefoot. I want them to be able to feel the grass between their toes, to run around in the sprinklers in the summer, to play hide and seek behind the bushes, without worrying about exposure to chemicals. I like not having to keep them off the grass because we just put chemical fertilizer down. I like not having to constantly remind them to put their shoes back on because I’m worrying about them absorbing chemicals through their skin. For our family, it’s more important to minimize our children’s exposure to chemicals than to have no weeds.
The weeds really aren’t too bad. By keeping our lawn mowed and watered correctly, we don’t have too many weeds. Plus, we have a secret weapon to battle the weeds, especially the dandelions. Her name is Delilah and she likes to eat.
Our Secret Weapon Against Weeds
Do you keep a green lawn?
This post is part of the Healthy Child Blog Carnival–an effort by Healthy Child Healthy World to help inspire a movement to protect our children from harmful chemicals.
Visit some of the other posts from the blog carnival:
I Am Not The Master of My Backyard at Eco-Novice
The Evolution of a Lawn at A Pug in the Kitchen
The Most Expensive Egg We’ll Ever Eat at Rookie Moms
Clean Food and Dirty Kids at Spoonfed
Our Grass Is Greener at Farmer’s Daughter
Twitter: daisy2645
on July 8, 2010 said... {#}
There’s nothing like cool grass between your toes, is there? I grew up running everywhere in bare feet, as I’m sure lots of other kids did too. Things were different back then – but I want my son to grow up the same way.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Have an awesome day
Emily´s last blog ..Summertime- and the living is easy
That’s exactly what I want for my kids too. Nothing makes you nostalgic for your childhood more than having kids. I just want them to be able to enjoy simple things.
I am so bad at keeping a green lawn. Keeping, to me, would mean I had started the garden I wanted and actually done something. I have “unkept” it, which means I just don’t allow my husband to put any chemicals on it. I wish I had started the garden I planned in my head and I wish I could find a way to get rid of the mosquitos without chemicals, right now we’re just staying indoors to avoid them rather than spray everything outside.
So glad you stopped over at my blog, following you back.
Your turtle is the best thing ever!
~Liz~
lizhasalife.com
Liz´s last blog ..No More Babies to Rock
I’ve decided I’d rather have nothing grow in my garden than cover it with pesticides. So I guess mine is kind of “unkempt” too.
Here’s a link about natural mosquito control and natural insect repellent if you’re interested. I really like this website for the most part.
Entirely love your secret weapon! Blow a kiss to Delilah from me
jaded16´s last blog ..The Things We Always Remember Edition Of Selective Memories
Will do. She’s doing her job very well.
I love the pictures! I’m visiting from Friendly Friday. I signed up to be a new follower.
Paula@One Mom’s Corner of the World´s last blog ..Welcome Wednesday- July7
Twitter: mysticconn
on July 9, 2010 said... {#}
Thanks for joining Fun Follow Friday! I am your newest follower.
Twitter: SofiasIdeas
on July 9, 2010 said... {#}
Uh, so jealous am I!!! No barefoot in the grass, EVER, unless we don’t mind being viciously attacked by fireants! When I go back to NY in the fall, I’ll be sure to take my shoes off and savor that feeling…
Sofia’s Ideas´s last blog ..Reflection in my Eyes
Oh no! Fireants! That’s terrible! Definitely enjoy it when you can.
Oh my gosh, the picture of Delilah made my entire day! Definitely not the secret weapon I was expecting!!
WeeMasonMan’s Mom´s last blog ..Mason does the Farmers Market
She is a little surprising, but a good weed eating machine.
Barefoot in the grass… ahhh. That is something that all kids should be able to experience without also being exposed to toxic chemicals (or fireants, yikes!). Love your secret weapon too! How did you get her?
(Visiting from the Healthy Child Healthy World blog carnival)
Brenna @ Almost All The Truth´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday- My little butterfly is turning two…
I agree, barefoot in grass is one of the best things ever. My MIL found Delilah about 10 years ago. She has outgrown her patio, and we finally have room for her. She seems to be enjoying the buffet.
Thanks for this post! Hearing that someone else leaves the weeds makes me feel more okay about leaving ours.
We’ve been trying to make a lot of changes in our everyday lives to be healthier and more green. We’re so thankful for the changes, but my husband can’t stand the weeds in the grass (particularly the creeping Charlie … which I almost called the Johnny jump-up … clearly not the same thing — oh jeepers, you can tell that conversations with someone over three feet tall haven’t happened much lately!)! I’d of course prefer to not have the weeds, but not with the (many, many) risks of what it takes to get there! Maybe we need a Delilah, too!
Erika @ MoreTimeWithOurKids´s last blog ..The Weight of the World
Good for you for letting the weeds come! You’re right, they aren’t as bad as all the chemicals used to control them. It definitely took a while to get used to it, but now I think it looks kind of pretty. My kids love all the little flowers we get, too. Delilah is worth her weight in gold (or dandelions).
Love that turtle. And dog. I wish we had pets.
Betsy (Eco-novice)´s last blog ..Ten Ways Omnivore’s Dilemma Changed My Life Food Rules Giveaway
Thanks! Pets are great, even though there are some days I wish I didn’t have to feed them.
Appreciate the help…here is a tip my grandpa used to tell people ” The best way to garden is to put on a wide-brimmed straw hat and some old clothes. And with a hoe in one hand and a cold drink in the other, tell somebody else where to dig.”