{"id":52321,"date":"2014-10-08T00:09:32","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T07:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=52321"},"modified":"2014-10-08T00:09:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T07:09:32","slug":"grow-where-youre-planted-merit-badge-intermediate-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/52321","title":{"rendered":"Grow Where You\u2019re Planted Merit Badge, Intermediate Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>, now with\u00a06,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

For this week\u2019s Garden Gate\/Grow Where You’re Planted Intermediate Level Merit Badge<\/a>, I took a good, hard look at my lawn. I narrowed my baby blues and really considered and contemplated. And then I marinated in the knowledge of what I learned \u2026<\/p>\n

\"Highclere_Castle_July_2012_(7)\"

Photo by EliOrni via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

That manicured, square shaped piece of grass in the front of your house? The one that\u2014may I venture to guess\u2014is not getting much use, takes up a lot of water to keep green, needs mowing at inopportune times, and doesn\u2019t seem to have a point in life. Am I being impudent? (Look who\u2019s been brushing up on her grammar. Over here! Pick me!) Perhaps you\u2019re not as bad as I am at neglecting the space out your front window, but if you are, let\u2019s chat.<\/p>\n

Front lawns are pretty enough, I suppose. But they\u2019re a surprising amount of work for a little patch of green. All that watering and mowing and removing of crabgrass or dandelions (although I like to let \u2018em live if I \u2018fess up. I\u2019m a closet dandelion lover).<\/p>\n

\"Lawn_Mower_Girl\"

Lawn Mower Girl via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

But, Jane, you say, I need a place for the kids to play! Can\u2019t roughhouse in a garden, can they? Well, says I, let\u2019s be honest. Half of us are guilty of spraying our patches of lawn with toxic chemicals just to keep it pretty and green (and keep the homeowner\u2019s association from frowning at us). Did you know that 100 million pounds of pesticides are used on lawns and gardens each year, many of them highly toxic to humans and pets? The CDC studied over 9,000 people nationwide and found pesticides in ALL of them; the average person tested for 13 of the 23 pesticides tested.<\/p>\n

Do we really want the rugrats playing on all that nastiness?<\/p>\n

There are lots of alternatives to just plain grass. Let\u2019s explore some, shall we, my little chickadees?<\/p>\n