thistle

We have some thistle slowly taking over our lawn (we think it's musk thistle)...We had our soil tested and have used the organic lawn care methods and they have worked pretty well for our other issues (low nitrogen, etc.).  We live in a neighborhood where EVERYONE else uses evil Chemlawn .  Personally, I would rather have a yard full of thistle than to have cancer-causing Chemlawn chemicals sprayed all around my home, but my husband is eager to get rid of the thistle.  He has spent hours out there pulling the thistle weeds out, only to have them come back in greater numbers after pulling them (did some research online and read that pulling them makes them worse and verified the truth of that statement)!  He is convinced that the only way to get rid of them is to spray weed killer.   However, he said that if I could find an alternative way, he's all ears.  Any herbicide-free suggestions???

TIA

Mow more frequently. 

If you are going to pull, go out at least three times a week and always start pulling at the same spot.  If you only pull where it is the worst, it will grow back in the other spot while you are pulling in the new spot.  Make sure the old spot is weed free before moving on to any new territory.