Happy Earth Day! April 22nd is the national day for promoting awareness of how our actions affect the health of our planet. Fortunately, America has begun to celebrate Earth Day everyday, choosing healthier lifestyle alternatives that make long-term differences (be sure to read on to David Bach's "Simple ways to save the earth").

This Earth Day consider involving your family and choosing several daily lifestyle changes that will make a difference for our future. Examples include: reduce landfill pileup by composting your kitchen waste with a backyard composter or an indoor vermi-composter; eliminate miles traveled by your food to your plate by planting a vegetable garden (if space is limited consider square foot gardening or containers); save trees by switching to recycled paper products.

Anita Roddick said it perfectly with the quote "Anyone who thinks he is too small to make a difference has never been in bed with a mosquito." So funny and oh, so true!

Happy Gardening!

For THG's complete Year-Round Organic Lawn Care Schedule, go to www.thehappygardener.info

David Bach's newest book, Go Green, Live Rich is now available in book stores. The author of 5 New York Times Best Sellers has joined the green movement and put out a book for all of us socially-responsible consumers.
His book highlights 50 simple ways to save the earth.
Here's a sneak peek at some of my favorites:

Tip #2: Nearly 1 in 4 of the bottled water we drink is tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi. Pepsi's brand, Aquafina, costs 2500 times more than what comes out of our faucets. Not only that, but you could run 100,000 cars for a year on the amount of oil required to make the plastic used for bottled water.

Tip #17: We use up to 7 billion gallons of water a day on landscape irrigation, half of which is wasted due to evaporation, wind or overwatering. It is recommended to decrease our lawn's water by up to half.

Tip #18: We can spare the environment the 67 million pounds of chemicals used each year by using organics in our yards.

Tip #45: Try Green Direct Selling by exploring the green opportunities offered by companies such as The Happy Gardener (I really like this tip!).

The Happy Gardener is committed to finding healthy, chemical-free garden products that are safe to use around children and pets. We have developed several Foliar Feeds that also act as beneficial pest control:

Deer Control: Springtime meals for deer unfortunately consist of our beloved pansies and tulips. How to control them? THG's Foliar Feed plus Garlic is made to repel the deer also feed your plants through the leaf spores. Your flowers and trees will look great but taste and smell awful to the deer. It stinks but it works!

Japanese Beetle Control: For those of us who dread the upcoming Japanese Beetle months, it's a great idea to get THG's Top Selling Outdoor Foliar Feed ready so as soon as they arrive, we can wipe them out before they have time to reproduce. Lovers of roses, fruit trees, crepe myrtles and flowering plants, these pests can't withstand our organic blend of vegetable-based soap and sea veggies.

Ants: Everybody wants to get rid of ants. Whether they are covering our houseplants or front steps, they are a real pest. THG's Foliar Feed plus Cinnamint repels the ants and is safe enough to use in the kitchen.

That is what gardeners across the country are doing and are donating the harvest to their local food pantry. One of the great things about gardening is we can use it to give back to our own local community with so little extra effort.
The Happy Gardener, Inc is proud to be a sponsor of this worthwhile cause. Our efforts have helped food banks, community kitchens and food service organizations collect thousands of pounds of fresh produce throughout the country.
Please contact your Happy Gardener Independent Garden Consultant for more information on the Plant A Row activities in your community.