As the weather warms up, family activities move outdoors\u2014including those that involve our beloved four-legged pets. At the same time, popping up on grassy areas everywhere are those bright yellow signs that say \u201cCaution! Pesticide Application. Stay Off Grass for 24 Hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, pesticides and fertilizers can be present on lawns and in parks for much longer than 24 hours. Chemicals on pets\u2019 paws can be tracked back into homes\u2014on floors, carpets and furniture. Even worse, they can be ingested when pets clean themselves.<\/p>\n

If we can\u2019t give up the idea of a \u201cperfect patch of grass\u201d then shouldn\u2019t we at least use all-natural methods that keep people and<\/em> pets safe\u2014while protecting our groundwater and improving the soil instead of harming it?<\/p>\n

By adding all-natural rock dust to our lawns, we are mimicking the Earth\u2019s own method for producing healthy soil. Volcanic basalt in particular contains micronutrients and trace elements that are important to the life cycle of plants and which enhance the ability of beneficial microbes to flourish. In addition, the naturally occurring silicon in volcanic basalt helps grass to develop bigger and stronger root systems. The denser and stronger the roots, the less room there is for invasive weeds to pop up and take over.<\/p>\n

In fact, rock dust is the secret weapon behind many environmentally conscious golf courses\u2014proving that it is indeed<\/em> possible to find a sustainable solution to the \u201cperfect\u201d lawn. It\u2019s just a matter of readjusting our mindsets, which includes questioning landscaping and lawn service companies who sell \u201ctreatments\u201d that involve the regular application and spraying of chemicals.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re pretty sure that if Fido* could talk, he\u2019d say \u201cthank you!\u201d<\/p>\n

(Of course, we are just using Fido as an example. Cats appreciate all-natural solutions as much as their canine counterparts! Woof! Meow!)<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

When looking for rock dust made of volcanic basalt, look for a high-quality product that is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production. One product that meets this criteria is Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster<\/strong> which is made entirely in the USA from all-natural volcanic basalt from Central Oregon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the weather warms up, family activities move outdoors\u2014including those that involve our beloved four-legged pets. At the same time, popping up on grassy areas everywhere are those bright yellow signs that say \u201cCaution! Pesticide Application. Stay Off Grass for 24 Hours.\u201d Unfortunately, pesticides and fertilizers can be present on lawns and in parks for… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-1508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","category-soil-amendment","tag-pets"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Happy-Cat.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YalT-ok","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1791,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions\/1791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}