Question
Charlotte,
Just wanted to say thank you for all your help. I'm going try organic because as you have said all those years of chemicals didn't work. I will keep reading your answers to others for more knowledge. Thanks for all this work you are doing. I think there are many of us here who would love to sit down with you and just 'jaw away' as my granma used to say. Bless your heart. I'll let you know how thing go.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi Charlotte. I am in Rochester New York and I have bumps in my lawn and have been reading about your organic solutions. Can I use the sugar here in upstate NY? There is still snow here and can be til late April? Can I aerate my lawn and apply the sugar and soak? Should I cover with manure and re seed? As you can tell I'm new to the organic thing but I'd love to not have to fool with chemical fertilizers ever again. Thanks
-----Answer-----
Hi Becky;
If you don't have heavy, tight clay soil, there is no need to aerate.
An organic program will work anywhere in the world, and will work better anywhere in the world.
I wouldn't cover the yard with manure.
You have to really know what you are doing to do that and not burn your grass to death, and you can't walk in the yard. It smells to high heaven and your neighnbors will HATE you, and can even sue you.
You have to use well rotted manure.
If you put fresh manure down, you create more problems that you can deal with.
For the bumps, you can till it up and rake it out even,or  fill in the low spots with good soil.
When you are on an organic program, you have little earthworms and other beneficial insects tunnelling around in your yard, and they keep it aerated.
Their castings ( poop)add nutrients to the soil, and that helps break up hard clay.
Agricultural corn meal kills fungus.
Apply 10  pounds per 1000 sq.ft of lawn and garden, that should do it.
Apply 4 or 5 pounds of sugar per 1000 sq.ft.
Sugar does absolutely nothing but nourish the beneficial microbes that enrich your soil.
Weeds will not thrive in rich soil, so as soon as they come up, they start to die out, and after a couple of years or so, the soil is rich enough that they won't even come up.
Cedar bark mulch scattered thinly all over your lawn will chase a lot of insects, including fleas, ticks and termites.
A heavy trail of it around the foundsation of the house will keep termites at away from your house.
Actually, you can throw down the sugar when the snow starts melting, and the water from the melting snow will disolve the sugar and get it into the soil.

You have to go either all organic or all chemical, because if ytou get the beneficial insects, microbes and nematodes and critters in your yard, and put down any weedkillers, fertilizer or insecticides, you kill all of them off and cancel out your organics.
Write anytime You think I can help.
Charlotte


Answer
Hi Becky;
My grandmother used to say that too.
I still say,"flappin their jaws?.
Yep, sitting down for a long talk would be nice.
I go into the emptynestmoms website's chat room sometimes.
We are trying to get more to go in more.
I used to go to a chat room at womenchat.com, but when they changed the java programs, that site kept the old version, and now all my buds and I can't get in there.
I was writing a column for the empty nest moms magazine, but had a lot of health problems, and layed off the last few months. got to start getting it in again.
that is a nice site.
It is for women whose children are grown and moved out, or about to be, and laetly we have had some younger ones come in.
There is no danger of perverts coming into the site and bothering us.
Give it a try, I have met a lot of nice ladies in there.

    www.emptynestmoms.com

Sometimes they veny about what is going on in their lives, and sometimes we goof around.
Check out the site.
My old columns from last year are still on there.
My columns are,From Granny's Cupboard ( cooking column, and Charlotte's Garden.
Write anytime you think I can answer something for you.
Charlotte