Organic Is Not Just for Vegetables ; How to Wean Your Yard Off Chemicals

When my husband and I bought our home, our son had just turned two. As I stood on the patio with our young baby and watched my husband distribute fertilizer on the grass, I noticed the bag laying to the side.  This fertilizer was nothing special, was just ordinary fertilizer that can be found at any local home and garden shop. It was chemically produced to ensure the correct combination for a “healthy lawn”. At the bottom of the bag, I noticed the enormous WARNING label.  I am not naïve, I have always known that fertilizer was toxic and have been identified as possibly carcinogenic or thought to cause cancer in large doses with prolonged exposure. I just hadn't really thought about it before.  I looked back at my young son and made a fast decision.  I stopped my husband and made the committment to my son, my family and my neighbors to use only organic methodis for our lawn.  One of my son's favorite activities was to crawl through the grass looking for those little black bugs that roll up in a ball and I couldn't think of him crawling around among the harsh toxic chemicals applied through fertilizers. It was an easy decision, our son's health over a perfect lawn.