Sustainable Gardening News

The documentary "A Chemical Reaction" - about the anti-lawn-pesticide campaign in Canada - won the Independent Spirit Award at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival.  Pictured are Paul Tukey and filmmaker Brett Plymale.  Here's a team review by the Lawn Reform Coalition.

   In the News

• France's highest court has ruled that US agrochemical giant Monsanto did not told the truth about the safety of its best-selling weed-killer, Roundup, falsely claiming it's "biodegradable" and "left the soil clean". Monsanto lies?  Who knew?  Here's the story by the BBC.   

• San Francisco's mandatory composting law is now in effect - support is mixed. 

• Is male pee better than female pee for composting? We'll have to ask the National Trust in England.
  
• Interesting - this report of GMO crops needing MORE herbicides.  But wait - isn't that that the opposite of what they're supposed to accomplish?
  

• Dirt is dandy because bacteria on the surface of the skin help combat inflammation when we get hurt.  Research findings are called a vindication of common sense parenting. Here's the story.

   Urban Gardening on the Web

• A DC blogger's chickens are arrested, so naturally she rallies chicken-lovers to change the outdated law, and then writes about it.  While you'e there, check out the team blog she writes for - DC Food For All.  A team blog with a purpose.
  
• Say Hello to Jackie D'Elia and Olive Barn is the story of a web-savvy horticulturist who succeeds in business (and sponsors Sustainable and Urban Gardening).
  
• Are commercial bagged soils safe for growing vegetables? is a terrific report in the LA Times. Learn what contaminants are in them.
  
• Liz Falk, of DC's Common Good City Farm, visited Will Allen's awesome urban farm Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI, and I loved this account of her report.
  
• And how's your grocery store treating you?  Mine has a free massage therapist who knows where my "gardener muscles" are and what to do with them.
  
• "Greens go NIMBY over street trees" prompted lots of comments about the emotionally charged topic of laws that affect us where we garden or play.

  Sustainable Gardening on the Web

• Sustainable Sites Folks say: "Landscapes Give Back" is my report from their press conference, and the good news - that there will be a home edition.
  
• Giving Hedera a Chance tackles the question - is ivy ever well behaved?  Should any varieties be given a chance?
  
• In another squirmish in the war against lawns, somebody steps up to defend his "lawnlet". Photo above by the lawnlet defender, Frank Hyman.
  
• The Simple Life of Ed Begley covers waaay more than just his landscape.
  
• Dead Leaf Debate - Who Knew? tackles the surprisingly tricky question of whether to remove dead leaves from our gardens. That's Part 1.
  
• Part 2 of the Dead Leaf Debate is:  If you DO remove them, what to do with them.
  
• What's up with FreezePruf? includes an interview with the botanist who developed the stuff.

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