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My Conversion to Organics

October 2005

I’m very pleased to share the story of my conversion to organics. My journey started over 20 years ago. I owned my first home, had begun my career as a fire fighter and, like most fire fighters, was starting a business. My choice was lawn and landscape maintenance.

So, I wanted my yard to look great. I stocked up on fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and more. I kept seeking that magic bullet that was going to solve my big problem - summer distress. Each spring my yard started off lush and green. By July things would start to go wrong. The turf looked sick. The grubs, chinch bugs and weeds thrived. No matter how much fertilizer I applied or what pesticides I used it was the same story each year. I watered like crazy, but it didn’t help. And, I was spending all my free time working in my yard.

It really aggravated me that I had a neighbor who didn’t spend much time on his lawn, but it always looked better than mine. Finally, I knocked on his door. “Can I ask you something? What are you doing that I’m not?”

He said that he just applied an inexpensive balanced fertilizer every month - like a 10-10-10, never exceeding the recommended amount. At the time I didn’t understand that fertilizers with balanced levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium closely resemble compost. And, cheaper fertilizers don’t have weed control or pesticide additives. He wasn’t organic, but was closer to it than I was with my arsenal of chemicals. This was my first lesson on my journey to organics.

The next step in my conversion came when I was in paramedic training and my lawn business was thriving. I had over 100 customers when I learned that if you’re paid to apply pesticides and aren’t licensed, the first offense carries a $10,000 fine.

When studying for the test, I realized that herbicides and pesticides contain chemicals that firefighters classify as hazardous materials. For a chemical fire, we send out specially equipped HazMat teams. The chemicals can penetrate our regular firefighter suits. I was handling them with no gloves. I was twisting the diazinon lid off with my teeth. And, I was more careful than most homeowners.

One of my first runs as a Dallas firefighter was on a man who had sprayed diazinon. His daughter was going to be married in his yard. He didn’t want any bugs to spoil things. So, he used a lot more than the recommended amount. They held his funeral before her wedding.

In firefighter school we saw photos of firefighters being burned out and of some of the worst fire casualties in the history of the US. The Texas City explosion still stands out in my mind. On April 16, 1947, a cargo ship loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer blew up in port. The blast took nearly 600 lives.

Let’s see now. As a firefighter, I try to save the lives of people who misuse chemicals and in my second job I expose myself to these same chemicals. But, I’m tough. I’m Big Bad Ron, the firefighter. I walk into burning buildings. I’m invincible! What’s wrong with this picture? I was about to see.

After years of using these Dursban and Diazinon to battle grubs, I started getting violent headaches. And it was such a waste. We were still losing the battle. Something had to change. I started wearing gloves. But I was plagued by the images of the devastating Texas City explosion and my paramedic experiences treating victims of chemicals.

The bad thoughts were ganging up. As a pesticide applicator I have to put up placards warning people to stay off the property for at least 24 hours. I’m not supposed to apply chemicals if the wind speed is over 5 miles per hour. This must be bad stuff.

I started using organic amendments, but still used chemicals to control diseases and pests. What a failure. You’ll never get healthy populations of beneficial microorganisms in the soil to help the organic amendments to do their job if you continue to use synthetic products. But, I thought I needed them.

Then in the early 90’s we bought our present home on 3 acres with a pond. The landscaping was horrible and the pond was covered with algae. The turf was choked with weeds. The fruit trees were full of borers and didn’t produce fruit. The seller had a golf course management degree. But given the condition of the property, I can’t believe I asked him for pointers.

He took me to the garage and volunteered. “I’ll leave all these chemicals for you. You’ll need every one of them.” There was 6 by 4 foot shelving units full of chemicals. “You should cut down all the fruit trees. They’ll never amount to anything.” He went on to tell me about the fire ants, grubs, chinch bugs and borers.

I took hard look at the condition of the landscape. I’d been uncomfortable about the safety angle of chemicals for years, but it finally hit me. They don’t work. I turned to my wife, “Mona, this is it! We won’t use a single chemical. I’ll figure out how to maintain our land chemically-free or die trying!”

We disposed of those chemicals in the best possible way. We pledged to use nothing but organic amendments from that day on. Two years later I had a very special visitor - Malcolm Beck. I’d call him the father of organics in Texas. I am proud to say that after looking around he said “I don’t know why you’ve been pestering me for advice. I think you could teach me something.” While taking photos he said, “You’re obviously doing a lot of things right. I never seen prettier roses.”

My organic conversion was a struggle but it’s been worth it. As a firefighter I work to save lives and property. As an organic landscaper I save landscapes and lives also. We should all be more vigilant with our neighbors, relatives and schools. This is the information age. Just get on the Internet, key in the names of chemicals you’re using on your landscape and you’ll see why it’s up to us to change the world one yard at a time.