The polls may have closed on the U.S. elections, but you can still vote for Pearl's Premium in the British Airways Face the Opportunity Contest

The contest gives small businesses the chance to win free round trip airfare to anywhere in the British Airways network. So, they can see their opportunities face-to-face.

We did it! Pearl’s Premium won a $50,000 cash prize at the MassChallenge international competition for innovative ideas.

Help us find Bob! We get feedback all the time. Most of the time its flattering stuff... "Pearl's Premium is great; it really does grow slowly..." or "Your grass grew in my lawn where nothing has grown before; finally, I have lawn..." or "I gave up the chemicals and I'd all but given up on having a beautiful lawn... until I found Pearl's Premium." Well, you get the idea.

Of course, as with any product, we get a few complaints along the way. Responding to these my job behind the scenes. We always try to respond quickly, often dropping by for homeowners in the area, taking a test soil sample and even offering up a new bag of Pearl's Premium sometimes.... even when the issue was unrelated.

For example, I visited Debra in Natick the other day to see why she was unhappy. It turns out Debra had a grub infestation that had ruined part of her lawn. Pearl's Premium wasn't to blame, but we showed up, and she was grateful we did: "Hi, This is SO above and beyond the call of duty!!! I am thoroughly surprised and appreciative that you took the time to ask Russell's about grubs - in addition to driving over to my house! Thanks again so very much!"

Pearl's Premium was proud to sponsor this year's edition of the Dudley Pond 5k Fun Run. The event includes competitive runs for men and women, a kids run and a family walk. The Dudley Pond Association which sponsors the event was founded in 1968 and has taken a leadership role in addressing water quality issues, including invasive weeds and lawn chemical run-off that threaten lovely Dudley Pond (a favorite fishing hole for Babe Ruth back in the day).

It turns out there's a lot in common between automobiles and lawns. Like your typical car, the typical American lawn consumes a tremendous amount of resources and leaves a large carbon footprint behind. And, unfortunately, Americans can't get enough of either!

A different automobile - lawn paradigm was on display at my home in Wayland this week (photo at left). Marc Muller dropped by to learn how our Pearl's Premium sustainable grass seed mixes are cutting the carbon foot print of lawns with less mowing, less watering and no chemicals and to show off his own very cool car.

I read a great article the other day, Free-Range Landscaping, in the Wall Street Journal. Eco-entrepreneurs are using goat herds to maintain lawns without chemical weed killers or noisy, air-polluting mowers. The friendly critters really take to the job, devouring all manner of grass, weeds and even thorny brush.

We adopted a dog this week! Its a cute little thing called a Chinese Crested Powder Puff Terrier. The name's a mouthful, but the dog is bite-size. The photo shows Betsy and me with Zoe on our dock on Dudley Pond in Wayland (MA). I started Pearl's Premium to get the chemicals out of the lake, but when I learned what lawn chemicals did to dogs, it took on a whole other meaning.

The short story is dogs walk on treated lawns, chemicals get on their paws, chemicals sting, dogs lick paws and ingest chemicals, dogs get sick in alarming rates! And the word is getting out.

Check out what vet Margo Roman and other have told us about lawn chemicals and animal health risk.

We went to a really great Farmers' Market this past weekend in Roslindale Village (MA). It was an urban setting (Roslindale, for those who don't know, is part of Boston), but it had a real country market feel. You know, friendly people, waggy tail dogs, good smells, homemade pie (more on that later).

Did anyone catch the Presidential Report on Cancer that came out this week? Surprise, surprise the chemicals in our environment are putting us at significant risk of cancer. There are over 80,000 known chemicals in our homes - a number that has exploded over the past 30 years.

I did and, not surprising for those of you who know me, I had something to say!

Listen to my comments on NPR's On Point.