Solar Mowing Spreads Its Wings

catplant4As we begin our 15th year, Solar Mowing is metamorphosing. You might say we’re spreading our wings. We’ve joined forces with a start-up company that has our same environmentally conscious values, but they also have a big mission:  To make American yards carbon negative (and planet positive)!

We’ve always known Solar Mowing could grow. We have an extensive waiting list and have rarely advertised. But how to grow and meet the needs of all actual and potential customers has been a struggle. Enter Sust, another Maryland company, who likes what we do and wants to build on it.

Besides a new name, we’ll have new trucks, a new website, and a new phone number. And look for some changes in how we do things, such as offering landscape service packages, providing levelized (consistent) monthly billing, and integrating new technology. By streamlining our processes, we can spend more time doing what’s important getting our hands dirty as we help turn your yard into a climate asset.

butplant1We promise to continue serving you with care and dedication – always making the needs of our earth and our customers a priority. We wouldn’t be able to make this leap without you, and are so grateful for the opportunity to have served you and your lawns for the last 14 years.

It’s been a great run! But it’s time for an upgrade. Solar Mowing can do more of what’s needed by joining Sust than we could do on our own. So, this isn’t good-bye, this is Hello Butterfly!

The Pearl Behind the Monarch

A friend I’ve known since we were wee caterpillars raises monarch butterflies by hand and provides food and shelter for them in her all-native garden.

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Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed leaves during the two weeks between hatching and pupating.

“I knew the species was in decline,” said Linda “Pearl” Derfiny, “and about nine years ago, I decided to try and do something about it. The troubling news motivated me, and Doug Tallamy’s book helped inspire me.”

Illegal logging in Mexico where most monarchs winter is a primary reason for the butterfly’s population decline. Another is the reduction in recent decades of milkweed along roadsides and the margins of farm fields.

“The best fuel for monarch caterpillars is milkweed,” says Pearl, who has planted five species of milkweed in her Midwestern yard. “In fact, it’s the only food they can eat as caterpillars.”

The perfect throne for a monarch: swamp milkweed.

The perfect monarch throne: swamp milkweed.

Here, in the Mid-Atlantic, we have many native milkweed species as well. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is a well-behaved choice, while common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) will spread, which might be desirable if you have a sunny area to fill. Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is a native that provides food for migrating monarchs. 

“I was surprised to learn that caterpillars sometimes walk 20-30 feet from their milkweed food source when they are ready to hang upside down and make their chrysalis,” said Pearl. The caterpillars will pupate on a tree, another plant, or on the eave of a shed or house.

Linda "Pearl" Derfiny with one of her hand-reared monarch butterflies.

Linda “Pearl” with a hand-reared monarch.

Pearl can’t guess how many eggs, caterpillars, and adults have found harbor in her garden, but she has hand-reared 10 butterflies. “Each caterpillar needs its own jar,” she explains. “And the jars should not be kept indoors or left outside in the sun.” On hand-rearing, Pearl follows the advice and guidance given here.

A final pearl from Pearl: “It may take a couple seasons for milkweed to start producing flowers. Be patient. You’ll eventually see butterflies and other pollinators enjoying your garden. Oh, and if you want to help monarchs, never apply pesticides to your yard or garden!”

 

Carbon Gardening

One lawn at a time, Solar Mowing keeps carbon dioxide (CO2) and smog-producing pollutants out of the air. We’re making a dent. And we all make dents every time we bike or walk instead of drive, eat plants rather than meat, and get our electricity from the sun rather than a fossil fuel. Dent, dent, dent.

There’s another way for all of us to make a dent — and that is to promote photosynthesis in our yards!

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The gifts of healthy soil — food and flowers, clean air and water — rely on the carbon pulled into the soil by plants.

That’s because plants take CO2 out of the air. Using energy from the sun, they convert that CO2 into sugar that feeds both the plants and microscopic life in the soil (fungi and bacteria mostly). The more life in our soil, the more water our soil can hold, and the more nutrients available for the plants. This increases plant growth, which increases photosynthesis, which pumps even more carbon into the soil. A regenerative feedback loop!

By planting native trees, shrubs, and perennials in our yards, we create bird- and pollinator-friendly habitat AND sequester carbon.

Boosting soil health and sequestering carbon are twin goals of many unconventional farmers. Indigenous peoples have long practiced what is now called regenerative agriculture — a practice that involves no- or low-tilling (because tilling disturbs soil biomes), planting cover crops (because uncovered soil loses water and carbon and blows away!), and not using synthetic chemicals (which kill vital microbes and disrupt plant/soil interactions).

We know that the best way to take care of our lawns and gardens is by taking care of our soil. Healthy spongy soil even reduces flooding and is more resilient in times of drought. Imagine if yards and farms everywhere made drawing down COa priority. Major mega-DENT!

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1131044More on Regenerative Ag
What is Regenerative Agriculture? (EIT Food video, 3:30)
‘Kiss the Ground’ movie
Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture, A New Earth by Charles Massy
Local regenerative farms: Next Step Produce, Owl’s Nest Farm

 

SolMow Recycling Bin, MoCo’s Climate Plan, & Mo’

We’ll always know the year this photo was taken.

SolarMowing1_BethesdaRecyclesCROPNext time you’re strolling down Bethesda Avenue near Quartermaine and Bethesda Bagels, check out the new recycling bin sporting the Solar Mowing logo. We sponsored the bin through a program with Bethesda Green (BG). Another group, the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) maintains this and all downtown bins, and the good folks at the Montgomery County Transfer Station collects and sorts the materials.

Gathering around the new bin one recent chilly day were, from left to right, BG’s Executive Director, Adam M. Roberts; Solar Mowing co-manager, Anna DeWitt Kelly; BUP’s Executive Director, Jeff Burton; moi; and Solar Mowing co-manager, Randall Hitchins.

Those of us living and working in the County are recycling about 60% of our waste stream, somewhat behind the County’s goal of 70% by the end of this year. Perhaps the new bin will help get us closer!

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Just days ago, County Executive Marc Elrich released the Draft Climate Action Plan for public review. The 236-page Plan calls for the County to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2027 and 100% by 2035 — and details ways to get there. Public comments are due by February 28 and ratification is expected in spring, 2021.

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If you have not yet signed the petition to ban gas blowers in urban parts of Montgomery County, please consider doing so. We’re more than halfway to getting 5,000 signatures!

It’s Leaf Season. Let’s Ban the Gas Blower.

Before he was a Solar Mowing customer, Quentin was a neighbor and friend. He started this petition in early September 2020 because of the pollution caused by gas-powered lawn equipment, particularly leaf blowers, in our County. Quentin and his wife, Kate, were also motivated to act because their two young daughters have asthma.

LeafBlowerPerhaps this info will motivate you to sign Quentin’s petition:

1   Gas-powered leaf blowers emit more carbon monoxide and other pollutants than a Ford pickup and a small Ford Fiat when running for the same amount of time. (source here)

2   Air pollution exacerbates risks to respiratory health, including those suffering from Covid-19. (source here) Poor air quality alters immunity in children (source here), and those exercising in bad air can do more harm than good to their health. (source here)

3   Take it from me: Electric leaf blowers rival their polluting counterparts in terms of power and effectiveness. Eco-friendly lawn care is not only possible, it is profitable. Urge your landscaping company to ditch the gas — and protect their workers.

In less than three weeks, we’ve got more than 600 signatures. Maybe you’d like to sign as well and help Quentin reach his current goal of 1,000 signatures.

Let’s make leaf season fun again!

 

Goodies for the Garden

We mow, trim, and clear debris from hardscapes — all with emission-free equipment. We also offer, to our mowing customers, many non-mowing services, including spring & fall cleanups, weeding, mulching, pruning, reseeding, and laying sod.

This year, we’re adding to our lineup two garden goodies: gates and raised beds.

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Gates can include butterfly and/or flower cutouts, like my own gate, shown here.

Both will be made from western red cedar, a rot-resistant wood, harvested from private tree farms as well as sustainably managed timberlands. The gates and boxes themselves will be locally made by Solar Mowing’s own co-manager, Randall Hitchins.

Gates can be single or double and can include butterfly and/or flower cutouts.

A raised bed in a sunny spot is a perfect place to raise flowers, vegetable, and/or herbs.

A raised bed in a sunny spot is a perfect place to grow flowers, vegetables, and/or herbs.

Raised beds are good for your back as they lift your plants about a foot off the ground. We’ll fill the beds with humus rich soil and line them with a weed barrier that will protect your plants from groundhogs and other critters that live down under.

If interested in either garden goodie, send us an email or give a call (301-787-5018).

Strange Spring

This spring is the same — and profoundly different — as past springs. We did sharpen blades, charge batteries, and begin another year (our 12th) mowing lawns. But we also outfitted our crew with gloves and masks and stored a big bottle of hand sanitizer in each dedicated vehicle.

Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, spreads by seed and is not a source of food for wildlife — but can be for people.

Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, is not a source of food for local wildlife — but can be for people.

Like every year, we charge our batteries with renewable energy. But this year, each battery also gets a daily wipe down with an alcohol-based disinfectant.

And like past springs, the slight hill on my corner lot is overrun with garlic mustard, considered a noxious weed by the USDA and all 46 states where it occurs. But this year, I’ve started eating the darn stuff!

From roots to flowers, the whole plant is edible and nutritious, with a payload of vitamins A, B, C, and E along with calcium, potassium, iron, manganese, and best of all, omega-3 fatty acids. This essential nutrient, also found in fish, is helpful in preventing and managing heart disease.

Garlic mustard leaves, stems, and flowers help fill out a spinach and sage  pasta topping.

Garlic mustard leaves, stems, and flowers help fill out a spinach and sage pasta topping.

While garlic mustard is edible, I wouldn’t call it delicious. I found the leaves to be more bitter than garlicky. But when stir-fried with spinach and sage leaves and served over pasta, it made itself right at home. Just like the masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer sitting here and there around the house.

A strange spring indeed. Embracing my invasives while keeping my distance from friends and neighbors.

Local Lawmakers Do Us Right

This spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, joined dozens of other U.S. cities and counties when a bill restricting pesticide use on private lawns overcame legal challenges and became law. The law extends to childcare facility grounds as well. County-owned property and parks have been pesticide-free since 2016.

Pestdef7This shift to organic lawn care means not only reducing pesticides. It also means mowing high, leaving clippings to decompose and fertilize the soil, and overseeding with grass seed and compost, all principles that Solar Mowing has practiced for more than a decade.

Worldwide, the anti-pesticide train has been fueled by Monsanto, the chemical company responsible for creating the weed killer Roundup. Turns out not only do recent studies show that Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, can cause cancer and other serious health problems, but that the company has known this for several decades. More than 18,000 court cases have been filed.

But damage has been done — and not only to people’s health. Roundup and other pesticides are playing a major role in the decline of the food web’s base as insect populations fall worldwide. A consequence of killing “weeds” is the loss of habitat and food sources. A recent study states that 40 percent of all insect species are in decline and could die out in the coming decades.

Many countries and U.S. cities and counties have passed legislation to guard against this chemical assault — and protect human health and the environment. (Here’s a list.) Big fans of the environment, Solar Mowing managers Anna Kelly and Randy Hitchins took these photos when they were out and about in our neighborhoods, which thanks to Montgomery County legislators will now be a bit healthier, for all of us.

green bee and thistle...

A large carpenter bee and a green-headed sweat bee collect loads of pollen at a stand of milk thistle.

An orb-weaver climbs on one of our yard waste bags. They build circular webs and eat many pesky insects, such as stinkbugs.

An orb-weaver climbs on one of our yard waste bags. These spiders build circular webs and eat stinkbugs and other insects.

The real Mosquito Joe & Jane, dragonflies, like this red saddlebag spotted on a customer's fence, is nicknamed Mosquito Hawk.

The real Mosquito Joes, dragonflies, like this red saddlebag spotted on a customer’s fence, are nicknamed Mosquito Hawks.

Queen Ant....

Ants offer many benefits:  They aerate the soil, decompose organic waste, feed on insects that attack lawns and gardens, and provide a source of food for other insects, birds, and mammals.

So many lawns, so few emission-free mowing companies

mowing10thAnniv1We’re beginning to wrap up our tenth year, and I must say, I truly did not believe that it would last this long.

When I started Solar Mowing in 2009, I figured that bigger companies would soon invest in battery-powered equipment and renewable energy. I figured customers would demand it. I figured I’d get mowed over in five years, tops.

Wow, was I wrong. Nearly all mowing and landscape companies in the DC metro area and elsewhere still use dirty and deafening equipment.

Thanks to our customers (several of whom have been with me for the entire 10 years!), we’re proud of what we’ve prevented:  50 tons of CO2 from going airborne.*

If everyone in the U.S. mowed their grass with renewables, our country’s CO2 output would diminish by 5%. And hey, 5% is 5%. It’d actually be amazing!!

If you think, what’s the use, everyone on Earth is polluting, what possible difference will I make by flying less, putting solar panels on my roof, or using emission-free mowing equipment? As Americans, we are already way ahead on the polluting scale. On average, today and every day, we burn twice as much fossil fuel as the typical person in Europe or in Japan.

That’s embarrassing. And immoral.

I hope that big landscape companies invest in renewable energy and battery-powered equipment. Customers should demand it. But until those companies clean up their act — and perhaps even after — we’ll be here doing our part. We hope you will, too.


*
The average homeowner burns five gallons of gasoline each year to mow and trim the lawn. And each burned gallon emits 19.6 pounds of CO2. Over ten years, our customers have NOT burned 5,100 gallons of gas and NOT emitted 99,960 pounds, or 49.98 tons, of CO2. 

The Mowing/Writing Link

I see no obvious connection between emission-free mowing and the act and art of writing, but one must exist because I’m a longtime writer and editor, and many of my customers also work with words.

Customers, such as Carlos Lozada, who joined the Washington Post in 2005 and became its nonfiction book critic in 2015, the same year he became a Solar Mowing customer. Spooky.

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A man of many good words: Carlos Lozada

This spring, Carlos was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. The award, wrote the Pulitzer Board was “for criticism that dug deep into the books that have shaped political discourse — engaging seriously with scholarly works, partisan screeds and popular works of history and biography to produce columns and essays that plumbed the cultural and political genealogy of our current national divide.”

Here’s one of Carlos’ recent meaty columns, a review of five books that deal with Truth and Trump.

Sue Stolov, a SolMow customer since 2011, oversees the creative process of storytelling through video. Her company, Washington Independent Productions, helps organizations and individuals change people’s attitudes using words and pictures. Her projects have included reducing drunk driving deaths for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, increasing the use of booster seats for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and encouraging businesses to hire wounded veterans for the U.S. Army. Sue’s also a writing coach, who can be reached HERE.

Another master with moving pictures, television producer Chris Weber has worked independently as well as for the Discovery and Travel Channels. Now in her second stint with National Geographic (and fifth year with Solar Mowing), Chris manages a team of folks that update existing shows and create new ones. See what’s playing on National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD HERE.

SolMow customer Linda Lombardi's latest books busts the myths about pit bulls.

SolMow customer, Linda Lombardi, busts the myths of a dog breed in her latest book.

A bizzy bee of a writer, Linda Lombardi, has authored three books and multiple articles on animals, both wild and domestic. Her latest, The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, describes the history of this breed and ways to counter unfair laws and policies related to its undeserved reputation.

An animal lover and owner, Linda more than once (I’m sorry to say) had to remind me and my crew, of our #1 rule — a rule more essential than “mow high” and “leave no clumps.” And that is: “Close the gate!”

Spencer Stephens, a lawyer-friend, who helped me with state and federal incorporation filings 10 long years ago and has solved many business puzzles since, is also … a writer. Spencer has nearly finished his second book; here’s his first.

As for me, one of the three children’s books I’ve written remains in print, and a poem of mine was recently published in The American Journal of Poetry.

I may write a post on customers who are musical or who work in medicine. But I probably won’t. The truth is, of course, there is no mowing/writing link. Lots of different people who do lots of different things seek quiet, emission-free lawn care. Thank you all!