Our yard tends to be shabbier than most of our neighbors’, even now that we use a regular mowing service. Dandelions proliferate, and crabgrass competes with the clover. However, for the most part, it seems to be healthy, if not too closely managed. The crabapple and sand cherry trees, and the lilacs, butterfly and bridal […]
Category Archives: conservation
If you get too excited, “Just take a slow deep breath,” they say. The sense of cool, clean air entering our lungs has a calming effect on anyyone. But what if the air we breathe is neither cool … nor clean? The BBC’s Melissa Hogenboom reports, “Emerging studies show that air pollution is linked to […]
When I was in junior high, we moved into a new house much larger and nicer than the one I grew up in. It had a bigger yard and my dad installed a couple of dog pens for his birddogs. My brother and I had to mow the yards, but on my dad’s instructions we […]
“Bye Bye BirdieI’m gonna miss you soBye Bye BirdieWhy’d ya have to go?(Bye bye) No more sunshine (no sunshine)It’s followed you away (you away)I’ll cry Birdie (Birdie)Till you’re home to stay I’ll miss the way you smileAs though it’s just for meAnd each and every nightI’ll write you faithfully(Bye Bye Birdie ) ~ Lee […]
We seem to think that expanding agricultural productivity will require more and more chemicals, and methods that are detrimental to natural ecology. There are, however, all kinds of efforts underway to capitalize on the efficient and eco-conscious use of agriculture without destroying Mother Earth. Journalist Zach Zorich reports, “According to Archaeologist John Hart, Iroquois farmers […]
“For decades, scientists have tried to figure out ways to reverse climate change by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it underground. They’ve tried using trees, giant machines that suck CO2 out of the sky, complicated ocean methods that involve growing and burying huge quantities of kelp.” ~ Shannon Osaka The prime climate change demon […]
“It’s likely that the first use of compost — or at least manure — took place not long after the start of cultivation … After all, a people who lived close to nature would soon have noticed the grass grew greener where an animal had deposited its poo.” ~ Compost Magazine I’ve been composting for many […]
“The United Nations estimates that humans produce 400 million tons of plastic waste every year.” ~ Susan Shain “Plastic recycling only exists in the minds of public relations agencies that are promoting plastics,” ~ Judith Enck, former E.P.A. official and founder of Beyond Plastics I’ve pretty much quit trying to interpret the little triangles on various products. […]
“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” — Kahlil Gibran I grew up very near the 30” rainfall line that transverses Texas and the entire U.S. from north to south and reflects the significant climate differences. Science writer Harvey Leifert described it as follows: “It separated “cattle country” from “farm country”. Crops […]
“All are from the dust, and to dust all return.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:20 Over the last week or so, I’ve been taking my compost pile apart to move it. Normally, I take it apart in the early spring to separate the good decomposed material in the center of the pile from the un-decomposed (composed?) […]
Writes of Nature 