The Mississippi River flows through the heart of the America. From giant farms to our own backyard gardens, we have our Big River to thank for the veggies on our plates. This gardening season, let’s remember one of John Denver’s more memorable appearances on The Muppet Show, where he and his flower friends sing “The Garden Song,” reminding us that “Mother Earth will make you strong if you give her love and care.”

Seventy percent of American households garden or care for lawns every year, which often includes fertilizers and bug and weed killers. When it rains, these chemicals run off lawns into local storm drains, polluting our rivers. To give Mother Earth the love and care she deserves, reduce water pollution; only fertilize when necessary and use phosphorus-free fertilizers. In 2009, residents in Ann Arbor, Michigan were required to use phosphorus free fertilizer. Within two years, the level of phosphorous in their streams and river dropped 28%.

Abstaining from nitrogen and phosphorus helps combat the Dead Zone, an area in the Gulf of Mexico where nothing can live because of depleted oxygen. This oxygen depletion, or hypoxia, is a result of these pollutants that come from many fertilizers. And studies have shown that we only need to reduce nitrogen levels by 30% to shrink the Dead Zone.

It is possible to change the future and it all starts in our own backyards. As John Denver reminds us, “all you need is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.”

Watch the video here.