Cold to Lessen & Organic Fertilizer

I was off Sunday and Monday and I spent some time outside working on the yard. It wasn't just cold, it was damn cold! Easter Sunday brought more snow flurries to the area, after Saturday's snow, and Monday was perhaps, slightly better.

How rare is this April cold snap? This stament was issued by The National Weather Service this morning:

Both Washington and Baltimore hit five consecutive days below 50 degrees with the addition of Monday. Even with the extensive weather records from both cities for April, that is nearly unmatched.

For Baltimore, our current streak of five sub 50 degree days ties a streak made over 70 years ago in April of 1935. The only streak greater than those two was set back in the 19th century. Between April 1st and 6th 1881, the temperature remained below 50 for a record six days.

For Washington, our current streak of five sub 50 degree days is the first time such a streak has been made in April since the nineteenth century. There were two other streaks of five, in April 1898 and April 1886. However, as with Baltimore, the record lies in the period between April 1st and 6th 1881,the temperature remained below 50 for a record six days.

Pretty Amazing! Perhaps pretty devastating as well as many farmers had fruit trees that started to blossom. Apple trees seem to be OK as they haven't blossomed, but Peaches, Apricots and Strawberries may be much more expensive this year.

Speaking of growing, I mowed my lawn for the first time last Thursday. I'm one of those who likes to mow high and mulch. It's better for your lawn. I have also been told to fertilize 2 to 3 times in the Fall and once in the Spring. Maybe that's why I already had to mow.

But I got to thinking about all of that fertilizer and where it goes. Sure, plenty of it goes into my lawn, that's why it's green and somewhat healthy, as opposed to many of my neighbors that haven't fertlized since they moved in and now their yards look terrible. (It's not a keeping up with the Joneses thing, it's about having a healthy lawn.) Anyway, a bunch of that fertilizer must also run off into the streams and creeks and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

So I went out of my way to buy an organic fertilzer. I found myself at the Lowes in Frederick, MD. I live closer to the Kentalnds in Gaithersburg, but trust me, going to Frederick is a far better Lowes experience. Searching the garden center, I found an organic fertilizer called Gro-Well. It's a fertilzier and weed pre-emergent. It's made from corn proteins. An organic fertilizer that contains no Phosphorus and therefore won't be doing the damage to the waterways sounds good to me. We'll know in a month or so how well the stuff works. http://www.gro-well.com/lawnandgarden/fertilizers_growell.html for more info and I do not own any stock in this company, I just like the "green-ness" of the product.

Milorganite was another organic choice, along with Richlawn Organic Based Turf Food. Scotts and Miracle grow also had some organic choices.

I also plan on buying all natural Hollytone for my shrubs. I'm only one yard, but if enough people act the same, a real differnce can happen. I'm still naive enough to believe that one person can change the world.