Spring has sprung, and as the weather begins to brighten up, you might begin to consider your garden and yard. Maybe this is the year you plant your own veggies, and bump up on those important vitamins and minerals, or maybe there are some flowers you’ve been imagining outside your kitchen window. Whatever your plans, the Grow Smart, Grow Safe website can help.
This user-friendly site at growsmartgrowsafe.org walks you through your options for choosing safer gardening practices and pesticide products. There’s a printable natural yard-care booklet and information on choosing the right soil amendments and fertilizers. You can look up both natural and chemical pest control options for animal and insect pests, as well as explore choices for controlling moss, plant diseases, weeds — even slugs or snails.
The first step to dealing with any problem is understanding it. Grow Smart, Grow Safe gives you the resources you need to identify the specific problem, so you can find a solution. There’s even a link to the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program to help connect you to your local Master Gardeners. It’s free to talk with these local experts for their advice on gardening, as well as assistance with identifying (and getting rid of) that pesky weed or bug. Identifying the problem correctly will guide your choice about solutions and lead to successful gardening and healthier yard care.
When it comes to insecticides, herbicides and other pesticides, it’s important to choose the least toxic product — something that will solve your problem, but have the least impact on the health of your yard and garden, as well as on the community around you. Grow Smart, Grow Safe lets you look up products by name to see how safe they are, using simple categories (green for low hazard, yellow for moderate hazard and red for high hazard). You can also search by active ingredient, or by pest, to get a broader picture.
Not sure how to read that complicated label on a product? No problem — you can learn how to read a pesticide label in the Pesticide How To section. There’s even a clickable map to show you where you can safely dispose of unwanted pesticides and herbicides right here in Lewis County.
Whatever your spring gardening plans might be, Lewis County Public Health & Social Services wants to help you make the safest and healthiest choices for you and your family. This website is a great resource, and one that we’re proud to share with the Lewis County community.
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Dr. Rachel Wood has worked in clinical medicine as a Family Physician and in Public Health at the local, state and national levels for more than 30 years. Since arriving in Washington State in 1995 she worked as the physician for students at The Evergreen State College for 12 years before becoming the Public Health Officer for Lewis County Public Health and Social Services in July, 2007. She became the Health Officer for Thurston County as well as Lewis County in 2013. Dr. Wood believes in preventing illness and disease, reducing the number who get sick and improving overall community health.
