News Moms Need

Did the warm weather and sunshine last weekend boost you into overdrive like it did me? I was outside weeding, pruning shrubs that have already bloomed and planting some flowers. I dragged out the fertilizer for some things and went in search of weed killer for others.  I discovered a healthy crop of poison ivy and wanted to nip it in the bud before it really takes over that part of the garden.

We don’t have a garage, so we keep our chemicals on the top shelf of a “gardening room” in our basement where visiting children won’t see it. While mixing up and spreading all of these chemicals, it occurred to me that I was lucky I didn’t have small fry around at the time. It reminded me to mention once more how important it is to lock up poisons when not in use and to keep kids away from treated areas until it’s safe for them to be romping through the grass again. This goes for your pets, too.

Whenever you can, use non-chemical pesticides. But remember, even natural ingredients can sometimes be poisonous. Always read the label and follow instructions, including those for keeping them out of the hands of children and safely disposing of the empty containers.

If you’re going to be out in the yard this holiday weekend, wait to treat the weeds until the weekend’s over and yard traffic dies down. You’ll be able to relax and let the tots crawl in the grass without concern.

When I’m frazzled I love to go dig in the dirt.  My daughter does, too.  When she is at home and the kids are napping, she’ll go poke around in the flower beds or weed the veggie patch.  She made fabulous mud pies as a child! There’s something very satisfying about prompting things to grow, too. 

We were chatting last night about harvesting all the basil and making pesto before the first frost comes.  (Guess what’s for dinner?)  Time to finish pickling and putting by the rest of the goodies, too.  We also talked about soon having to put down manure or fertilizer and other things to beef up the soil over the winter.  This got my husband saying that he needed to fertilize the lawn a couple more times before heavy frost - this guy is way into green grass and hates a weedy lawn.

These are all good things that you may be thinking about soon, too.  But they got me thinking that it’s important to make sure you keep your kids off the lawn while the fertilizer is going down.  If your troops are more like a bunch of wild giggling goofballs who run around in bare feet in all weather like ours, you’ll want to be sure they’re not up to their ankles in potentially poisonous chemicals.  So read the labels and corral the kids with pumpkin carving and apple bobbing if necessary.