Doing Things The Hard Way

This afternoon Dennis crawled around the patio removing weeds from the cracks between the limestone pavers.

Sure, he could have sprayed weed killer and saved his knees, but we don’t use herbicides except in extreme circumstances, such as poison ivy that is too large to pull or dig. Our yard is populated by dandelions, chickweed and other plants most people deem undesirable. We don’t care.

We don’t use pesticides either, in the garden or in the house. We use biological remedies such as bacillus thuringienesis for green worms on broccoli and other cole crops. We get rid of aphids by spraying them with water. If potato bugs show up, which has happened only once in thirty-five years, I hand pick them and drop them into a jar of oil.

We refuse to poison the soil, our food, ourselves and the water that runs off into Chicken Creek. We are rewarded by peace of mind and by little benefits such as the moss growing between the patio stones.

I wish no one would poison the earth, but we can’t control other folks’ choices. Recent news of the health effects – cancer and more – of using Round-Up may give them pause. I hope so.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer