Mother's going GREEN Day 59 - My Pet Peeve

It seems most green bloggers have a pet peeve. So I thought I would share mine. People who do not follow the water restrictions placed on their community.

A few weeks ago; I read in our local paper of what they are calling Phase 3 Water Conservation. It says that we need to conserve water by only watering our lawn twice a week. 1/2 an inch each time. Odd houses can water on Thursday and Sunday from 4:00pm to 9:00pm and even numbered houses can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Very simple straight forward instructions. For those who may not have picked up the paper or did not read it or can not read; it is announced on the local radio station.

WHY THEN ARE PEOPLE STILL WATERING THEIR LAWN on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and in the heat of the day????? It drives me crazy to see this.

If you are reading this and are one of the people who blatantly ignore your communities water restrictions - PLEASE ADHERE TO THEM NOW!!! - Thank you.

Mother's going GREEN Day 13 - Lawn Care the Organic Way

Lawn care, while it is better for the environment to have little or no lawn (should be plants and trees instead) there is very little chance in the near future of my husband giving up our lawn. It is also nice for the kids to play on. Since we do have lawn, not much of it, but lawn anyway we have decided to take care of it the environmentally friendly way.

• Using a push mower for starters, no carbon emissions, no use of a natural resource - gas. Just plain old man power.


• The grass clippings are then just left on the lawn, acting a a natural mulch - no need to rake them up and throw them away, besides your manpower is all spent mowing the lawn.


• The mulch will also help retain water which your grass needs, but not too much. It only requires 1 inch of water a week that includes rainwater.


• Don't cut your grass too short, this causes it too look yellow and will also dry out quicker requiring more water.


• If you need to water your grass it is best to water it in the early morning or early evening, that way it will not evaporate too quickly.


• It is best not to use a sprinkler to water your grass but to stand there and water it with the hose and a nozzle. Remember it does not need a lot of water.


• If a fertilizer is required it is best to use an organic one or better yet the compost fertilizer that your worms are busy creating or the fertilizer from a traditional compost.