Upcoming Events

We (the Texas Master Naturalist chapter and a couple of other interested people) got that mess cleaned up on Rathgeber Rd, and the city did us a solid and picked up the bagged trash. We cleaned up about 35 - 40 lawn bags of trash in that short stretch. I need to go by to take a picture for a before and after.

This weekend is the semiannual compost giveaway by the city. Here are the details from their news release:

" Residents who participate in the Choose to Reuse Program can pick up a free load of compost at the Wichita Falls Organics Facility.   The City of Wichita Falls offers a variety of alternatives to diverting reusable waste from the city’s landfill, including organic collections. The organics collections are offered to both residential and commercial customers and can accept yard waste (grass, leaves, and branches), paper (newspaper, office papers, shredded paper, magazines, phone books, tissue paper, and paper bags), cardboard, chipboard, wood, and food waste. Organics recycling saves money, is environmentally friendly, and creates nutrient-rich compost that can be used to enhance soil for lawns and gardens.   The compost giveaway will take place Saturday, March 2, 2024, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Wichita Falls Landfill on Wiley Road.  The compost will be loaded by city employees for residents. There is a limit of one pickup truck or 4x8 trailer load per person.   To pick up the compost, residents must provide a City of Wichita Falls water bill showing the $3.00 recycling program charge. By State Law, all loads must be covered to ensure no blowing debris on roadways. City employees are required to see the participants cover material before loading the compost. No dump trucks, commercial vehicles, or oversized trailers will be loaded.  Commercial operation compost purchases can contact the Wichita Falls Landfill at 940-631-8274.   Landfill Address: 10984 Wiley Road Wichita Falls, Texas 76307   Directions to the landfill:  • Take Seymour Highway Southwest toward Seymour on Highway 258.  • At the Kamay “Y,” proceed West on Highway 258 toward Kamay.  • Travel approximately one mile to Wiley Road and turn right (North). • Remain on Wiley Road for two miles. The entrance to the landfill is located on the left. For questions or more information, please contact the Sanitation Department at 761-7977.  "

In addition, the annual plant swap, organized by the Wichita Falls Backyard Gardeners is coming up on April 6, 10 AM - noon. It will be at the Park Place Christian Church. Bring cuttings, seedlings, plants you have too many off, or other gardening items to swap. All of the guidelines are on the group's Facebook page. If you need a table, you need to let them know in advance.

Book Review: How Plants Work

A few months ago, Princeton University Press was nice enough to send me a copy of How Plants Work: Form, Diversity, Survival, by Stephen Blackmore. I paged through the book quickly and was immediately drawn in by the beautiful pictures. I thought to myself, "I am going to enjoy reading this book."

Well......you know the saying about the best-laid plans, right? I received the book in the middle of the workday, so I set it aside. With one thing and another, I lost track of the book (which is not an easy thing, since the book is not small--a full 8.5 x 11 and 386 pages). My husband is redoing my office. He relocated everything from the supply closets and one half of the office to the other side, while he tore up the carpet to lay tile and got ready to paint. Get the picture? It's not pretty.

I have looked everywhere for this book. Multiple times. I "thought" I put it on one of my bookshelves with my other nature books, but didn't. I looked everywhere, or so I thought. Recently, I was once again in my office, trying to clear out the piles in my office so my husband can do the other half and lo and behold, there was the book. Buried under a pile of stuff my hubby moved. So I am not complete airhead; I was just not very fast about tackling the piles.

It didn't take long for this book to provide a welcome distraction from the office cleaning chore. I was a biology major in college but had only one class in botany. Although I found the subject interesting, I can't say it was my favorite class. The book was dry and the instructor almost as much so. I love to garden and I have houseplants, so I find plants interesting. Dr. Estes from Midwestern State University is a lecturer for our local Texas Master Naturalist training course and is always fascinating--why couldn't I have had an instructor like him many years ago? Anyway, back to the book.

This is not a botany text. The book provides just enough information on a subject to arouse your curiosity to explore the subject more. Even if you don't, you're bound to be even more awed by the plants that surround us.

When you first look at the book, you may be intimidated by the size and think the book is dense. It's not. You can easily thumb through and read the short topics in a few minutes here and there. The 400 color illustrations are beautiful and helpful to understanding.

A number of well known and less well known topics are addressed. I never thought about pollination of plants under water for example, but there is a discussion of that topic in the book. And who has heard of "accessory" fruits versus true fruits? (A strawberry and many other common fruits we love are accessory fruits--I'll let you look up the difference in the definitions.) The discussion of orchid seeds is fascinating.

For the gardeners among us, the discussion of the rhizosphere and root pests is not only interesting but important to nurturing our soil and garden. I could go on, but you get my point. This book is interesting and fun if you're a nature geek.

The book is not cheap at $35, but well worth the cost. The many beautiful illustrations and interesting information will have you returning to the book more than once and the hardcover means it will last. I did look it up on Amazon, and you can purchase it for $26.93 there.

Here's to Our Pollinators!

I know, I should have written this post at the beginning of the week, instead of the end, but....I am doing it now. Pollinators are just too important not to make a big deal about them.

On the hunt for pollinators

Beetles are great pollinators!

I celebrated Pollinator Week today by going out to Lake Arrowhead State Park and looking for pollinators with a few of the Texas Master Naturalists. We had some kids along as well, so we had a really good time.

Most people think bees are the only pollinators and they are important, but other bugs like flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, and beetles are also important pollinators. So are hummingbirds and bats. In specific instances, birds and even lemurs pollinate certain species.

I garden, as do many of you. Have you noticed fewer bugs in your garden? I certainly have. I also haven't seen many in my flower beds and I plant to attracts wildlife. I don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, although I think I am the only person in our neighborhood who doesn't. But back to the lack of bugs (well, except mosquitoes, which seems to be the only bug in the yard). This is not a good thing. If we like to eat, we need pollinators. More than 1/3 of all of our food has to be pollinated by some living thing.

So what is happening with pollinators and what can we do?

I have yet to figure out why people feel like they have to kill every living thing that they see as "icky." Bugs, spiders, and snakes, for example. Every year here in the Falls people go crazy because of rattlesnakes and kill every snake they see. But many of the pictures of dead snakes posted proudly in Facebook are not rattlesnakes at all--they are rat snakes or some other harmless snake. But at least for snakes, they are using blunt force trauma for the most part--not good for the snake, but the damage is reasonably contained to the snake.

However, then we have a rodent problem, so then we drag out the rodent poison. Not only is poison a horrible way to die, but these poisoned rats and mice are now eaten by other animals who were not the intended target, but who are now also poisoned. That might be your pet cat or it could be a hawk or an owl. Poisoned rodents are often taken by birds of prey, which also then die. So, first, let's not spray our yards with insecticides. If you have a significant problem and cannot find a nontoxic solution (and there are many out there) then use the least amount of poison possible. Home application of insecticides is much higher than agricultural applications. Many homeowners are like Tim the Toolman--if a little is good, then a lot must be a lot better. But that is not the case. The rest runs off into our water supply or blows into your neighbor's yard.

Next, lawns are a waste. There is nothing little for pollinators to use as food. Plant some native plants that appeal to pollinators. Not a single plant, but groups of them. Plant different kinds of plants to attract different types of pollinators and which will bloom at different times of the year, to provide food all year long. Besides, once these plants get started, you'll have less work mowing and putting down fertilizer and more poisons--costing you money and harming your environment.

Messy yards are not a crisis. If you want, make the front yard pristine (although I don't advocate that), but have some messy places, with leaves and brush, where pollinators and other small wildlife can live and be safe.)

I know here in north Texas it is almost a religion that climate change is a hoax. No, the hoax is that a small group of nutcases have managed to convince large numbers of people that science is wrong. There are only a couple of fringe scientists who are not certain that climate change is real and that people are the primary cause. Climate change is causing or contributing to a host of environmental issues--one of which is pollinator collapse. Make purchasing decisions based upon the product's impact on the environment. You may rightfully say that your single purchase makes no difference, but all of our purchases can make a huge impact. So stop using that as an excuse. Elect people who respect and understand science and who do not pander to a very loud minority. If you cannot understand the science and the long-term effects of government policies on the future my grandchildren will be living in, I don't want you in a position to make those decisions.

So, to summarize:

• Stop poisoning your home and yard
• Plant lots of native plants
• Let there be some messy spots
• Advocate for the environment
• Elect people who understand the policy implications of science and act accordingly

Let's support our pollinators in Wichita Falls.

An Earth Day Challenge

By NikoLang - Own work (Screenshot), CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=913338

Here we are, another Earth Day anniversary tomorrow (April 22.) I am among those old enough to remember the first Earth Day in 1970. The amount of energy and enthusiasm to be better stewards of the Earth was amazing. Now, there is barely a whimper, especially here in Wichita Falls.

So what happened?

Part of it is probably that it seems we have made little progress in the 47 years since. However, that is not true. In spite of recent reversals in many areas, in the United States is far ahead of where we were then. Many pieces of landmark legislation have been made since. The Clean Air Act (1970); The Clean Water Act (1977); and The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act (Superfund) (1980), among others, were a result.

Some of it may be that we seem to have a "day" for just about everything, most of which seem to be driven by the retail industry (like Valentine's Day). There are plenty of days that seem to be just for fun, like Grouches Day on October 15. But it seems the more designated days there are, the less significance they have.

There are a few things happening in Wichita Falls and the surrounding area that relate to Earth Day over the next couple of weeks. Those I have come across are posted on the Living Green In Wichita Falls Facebook page, but there is certainly no special community events centered around this day. We will have to celebrate individually to have some collective impact.

Here's my Earth Day challenge to people living in Wichita Falls and the surrounding area. Pick something that you can do to be good stewards of the earth going forward. It can be something you already do (just do it again or more of it), a special event, or something you have been meaning to. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Start a compost pile (or vermicomposting bucket for those of you in an apartment)
• Order an organics bin from the city and let's agitate to have the organics picked up every week (see Recycling Options in Wichita Falls)
• Plant a pollinator-friendly or bird-friendly native plant in your yard
• Ditch the one-use plastic shopping bags and plastic produce bags (Did you know you can buy reusable produce bags? I have no trouble using mine at Market Street)
• Make more food from scratch--it tastes better and is less expensive
• Make an insect hotel--most can be very simple
• Stop spraying poisons in your yard
• Plant your own vegetables--even if it is one plant in a pot
• Use compost and other natural fertilizers
• Mulch like crazy--the summer is coming
• Buy local when possible
• Let's get rid of styrofoam--purchase a To-Go Ware or similar and let restaurants know there are more environmentally friendly ways to package food
• Eat more vegetables (especially local) and a little less meat
• Get outside--walk, bike and take the kids. We have a wonderful trail system. Use it.
• Join an organization that is related to environmental issues, especially those that are local 
• Buy a Texas Parks Pass and visit our state parks--you can get in free to any of them for a year with a pass and you get reductions on camping fees. You also send a much-needed message to the state legislature that the parks are important.
• Hold a neighborhood cleanup. Did you know the city sanitation department will deliver one of those big dumpsters to your neighborhood and pick it up again for a very small fee (I think it is $25)? That will save having to haul things to the transfer station and everyone can benefit. Many people do not have a way to transport. Do you have an elderly or disabled neighbor who needs help cleaning up their yard? This would be a good time/place to do it.
• Pick up trash wherever you walk. This town is awash in little. 
• Vote "yes" on May 5 to finish our Circle Trail and improve Lake Wichita.

There's a short list. Feel free to add your own. Post a comment about what you've done or more ideas about steps individuals can take. Feel free to post some pictures on the Living Green Facebook page too.

Earth Day 2017

The Earth from space. NASA photo.

I have been very lazy about writing in this blog, as you can tell by the date of the last post. I have been trying to keep up with the Facebook page--as a consequence, this blog as fallen to the wayside. Earth Day is a good time to get back in the saddle. There are plenty of things that need more room than a Facebook post, and there are plenty of people who are not on Facebook. So I am going to make an effort to be a little more regular about updating this. I will then post a link to the FB page for those who are members of that page.

I am old enough I can remember the first Earth Day in 1970. Since then, we have gradually lost interest and allowed Earth Day to pass by largely without notice. This year looks like it may resurge a little bit, at least in part because of the March for Science takes place the same day. That is no coincidence, as the issue that started the entire march is Climate Change. I haven't heard of a march in the Falls, but if I do, I will pass on the details.

There aren't a lot of activities surrounding Earth Day here in the Falls, which is unfortunate. As always, the city has more activities happening than any person could take advantage of, it's just most are not related to nature or the environment. With a little effort, we could have a great themed series of activities around Earth Day (in Penny's head--just say, "No!")

River Bend has some of their usual Saturday activities going on: Science Saturday and Nature Tots Story Time. The Wichita Falls Public Library has a plastic bottle crafts and upcycling programs happening. That appears to be pretty much it, unless there are things I haven't heard about. If you know of an event, email me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com and I will try to get it here and on the FB page.

So, what to do? I am planning to have my own little Earth Day celebration. Birding in the morning. Gardening in the afternoon. The Audubon Society is asking people to plant a native plant to support the birds. I have quite a few in my yard now, but I will be stopping by Wichita Valley Nursery for another to add. I just have to decide what I want to plant. I also have the makings for an insect hotel standing by--if I don't get it done before, Earth Day would be a good time. It won't be as pretty as the ones you can find on Pinterest, but it will still be home for the bugs. If you want to see some of the photos I've collected on Pinterest, here's a link to by board. Feel free to browse.

How do you plan to celebrate Earth Day?

Living Green(er) in 2016

It's that time of year again. A new year is just around the corner. I have been thinking lately about my New Year's resolutions for 2016. Yes, I am one of those people who make New Year's resolutions, and generally, I tend to stick to them. Mostly because I frame them as goals, not aspirations.

Anyway, in thinking through 2015 and looking toward 2016, I decided that I needed to include one or two goals relating to living more sustainably. I have been doing that the last few years, so this is nothing new, but if I don't include it as one of my goals for the year, then I'll lose focus.

One event that has me really looking at this area a little more is the recent decision by Progressive Waste to stop single stream recycling in Wichita Falls. This means there really isn't a good place to recycle plastics. I have heard Wal-Mart will take most plastics. I am going to check that out and if so, that will be a help. However, wouldn't it be better to reduce at the front side? So my focus for 2016 is going to be to reduce trash. We do reasonably well at this already. We were putting out 1 curbside trash bin a month because we could put most of our waste either in our own compost bins, the city's organics recycling and the single stream recycling. The amount of waste we are putting out has jumped dramatically--mostly in plastics, although there are some metal food cans. I can see that if I don't take control, the amount of trash we put out will double. That's not acceptable. That means I need to look for non-plastic packaging options and ferret out recycling options. I am going to try to can more--I can now, but not enough to make a big dent in the metal cans going in the trash. I can reuse my canning jars.

So that is focus #1.

The next item is this blog. I post fairly regularly to the Facebook page, but have been woefully lazy about this blog. However, many people who have access to this blog do not have Facebook accounts. I can always share the link from the blog to Facebook, but it would be difficult for blog readers to check Facebook posts. I plan to still do a lot of sharing of interesting articles to the Facebook page, but will do a better job of having some more detailed information about topics of interest here.

Lastly, I plan to do more gardening. This is another carryover from previous years. I have a good-sized garden for a residential lot and I have been gradually introducing permaculture. I haven't been very disciplined about it though. So I am going to finish my permaculture course on line and raise a higher percentage of my own food this year. Good exercise, better tasting food and at the same time, removing more of the environmental toxins from our family.

So those are my 3 sustainability goals for 2016. What are yours?

Pollinators Workshop Coming Up

Yours truly will be presenting a pollinators workshop at River Bend Nature Center on September 23, from 6:00 - 8:30 PM.

I'd love to meet all of you, so come on out. My goal is for you to be able to leave the workshop with ideas for your yard that will help these vital and under-appreciated animals. Although most people think of bees when they think of pollinators, we'll be covering more than just bees.

Wichita Falls Community Garden Open...But Not!

A very good turnout for this opening

The big event in Wichita Falls recently was the ribbon cutting at the new community garden on the east side of town on November 14. (Yes, I am just getting around to posting about it.)

The Community Garden opened just in time for Stage 4 of the drought plan--no outside watering. But at least the garden is in place, ready to go.

There are some really neat things about this garden I wanted to highlight.

Note the demonstration rainwater harvesting system. The reservoir isn't big enough to allow watering these beds, but the point is to show people how much water can be gathered from such a small roof area.

Storage shed, sink and demonstration rainwater barrel

Looking down the row

Beds for disabled--great idea!

Beds raised especially high will be convenient for those who have mobility problems getting low to the ground. For some reason I had never thought of this. When I saw it, all I could say was, "well, duh!" Great planning...disability shouldn't prevent people from being able to garden a small area, like these beds.

Composting bins

And then I found the composting bins. I am assuming the citizen volunteers running the garden have an idea of how they will get the compost turned....but so glad to see it. Now all we need is some MULCH! These beds are going to turn into bricks without some cover in the summer.

If this garden takes off, the City is interested in placing other community gardens at other places.

Why are community gardens important? Yes, they provide an opportunity to grow fresh produce. It also provides a way for those new to gardening to learn from those with experience. It creates a sense of community by getting people out of their houses and into a common area where they can get to know one another. Community gardens can also fulfill social needs and those of us who garden also know it's a good physical activity and stress reliever. So many great things can come of this--I am looking forward to seeing it succeed.

Miscellany

I have several short things today, so thought I would just spit them all out in one post instead of doing separate posts for each.

I bought some garden seeds this week. I am still harvesting food from my garden from the fall planting and am getting ready to start some plants for the spring garden. It won't be that long before the chance of frost is pretty low.

Spinach still going strong

Small green tomatoes ripened nicely

Broccoli almost ready for harvest

It sure is nice to make an omelet using fresh spinach picked just that morning with tomatoes from the garden (in this case, ripened on the counter from green tomatoes picked just before the one freeze we've had.) I still have parsley and kale producing from the plants I harvested from weeks ago. Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower heads are still growing.

Green leaf lettuce

Kale about ready for a second harvest

Lettuce and spinach are also still producing. Interested in starting some seeds yourself? Here is a basic how-to from Mother Earth News.

Although I have some herbs still in the garden and one lone basil plant on the windowsill in the laundry room, I will be starting several more plants this weekend and next week. Some to incorporate into the landscape and some to put into pots. Although this author is in a snowbound location, her hints for growing herbs indoors are pertinent to everyone, so I thought I would share the link.

Remember I said before I wasn't able to find alfalfa seeds for sprouting in town? I did find a good online source for sprouting seeds and ordered some alfalfa and broccoli seeds. The seeds arrived within a couple of days, even though I didn't pay for special shipping. I am getting ready to start some. The seed price was very good--the shipping doubled the price. However, when compared to the price of buying the sprouts at the grocery, it's still a super bargain.

I like loose leaf tea. If you're a tea drinker, you know how much better the flavor is. Wichita Falls is not a mecca for tea drinkers, so if you like good tea, you have to order it from somewhere else.
I also like nice, fresh herbs and when experimenting with different foods, sometimes the herbs and spices from the grocery don't have enough variety. Although  I usually buy my teas from Harney and Sons, I came across the Frontier Natural Products Co-op web site recently that has bulk herbs and spices and loose tea, as well as some neat cooking gadgets. The tea prices are less, but I haven't purchased any teas from them yet to determine the quality.

Hope some of these articles and web resources will be useful to you.

Hope Springs Eternal

It seems if we are truly intent on living a more sustainable lifestyle and reducing the negative impact of toxic chemicals in our lives, then having a garden makes sense.

In early spring, I didn't realize we would be moving so I planted a few tomatoes and peppers at our other house. However, we did have to move. I tried to transplant my plants from the old house to the new, but poor soil at the new location, drought and extremely hot weather spelled doom for those plants.

I've decided to plant a fall garden. I've been told by practically everyone that they do much better than the spring gardens in this climate. I have been getting itchy to get started, but am trying to keep myself under control until the 100-degree days stop, but I can still get the bed prepared.

The previous owners of this house had an 8 x 20 ft plot laid out. We were told they used it, but after looking at the soil, I can't see how they managed to harvest much.

I had my husband add an additional 4 inches of board to the sides of the beds. I think raised beds have the best likelihood of survival. I am planning to dump in several inches of compost and at least 2 inches of mulch.

I'll keep you updated on my progress and success (or lack of it, as the case may be.) Do you plant a garden?

More Complete Information on the North Texas Water Symposium

Fred Hall sent me the agenda/registration for the North Texas Water Symposium so I wanted to share it with all of you.


Texoma Living Well With Less Water 2011
October 1
MPEC
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Registration $40 by September 1
Registration $55 between September 2 -16
No registration after September 16


Speakers:


Bryan Rupp, meteorologist: Weather Outlook Now and in the Future
Scott Calhoun, author of gardening books, Strategies for Water-saving Gardens
Michael Parkey, landscape architect, Drought Tolerant Native Plants for North Texas
Kevin Gustavson, OCC/WQ, Water Conservation with Xeriscapes and Rain Gardens
Dotty Woodson, Tarrant County Extension Agent, Irrigation Efficiency

I think we all recognize the importance of conserving water in our gardens and landscapes--this should be an interesting workshop.

If you are interested, you can contact the county extension office or a member of the local Texas Master Gardeners for a registration form or you can email me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com. I hope there is a large turnout for this event.

North Texas Water Symposium

A symposium on water conservation strategies for agriculture and home gardeners will be held on October 1 at MPEC. I am hoping to get the agenda and registration information today and will pass it on when received. This is an important topic; I hope a lot of people show up.

Gardening

One way we can all live more sustainably is to grow some of our own food. I added a few vegetable plants in the flower beds where we removed some invasives this past year. Today Jim Miller pointed me to an ad selling some heirloom tomato plants on Craig's list. Heirloom plants are open pollinated and grown in an earlier era. They come in many varieties not commonly seen now. Take a look at some of the varieties shown in the referenced ad, for example. They provide the opportunity to maintain some of the genetic diversity in our food crops, and give us the chance to experiment with more colors, flavors and textures than we can easily find in our stores. It's also a stick in the eye to Monsanto, which I am all for. I contacted Sherry and she is delivering some plants to me in Wichita Falls on Friday. You may be able to get your order in for this week. If not, she'll be back in town next Friday. Along with the tomatoes I already put it, I'll probably have more tomatoes than I know what to do with this year, but we'll see. The heat hasn't arrived yet. Now for some herbs.

Upcoming Classes

I received my Horticulture Newsletter from Tara McKnight at the County Extension Office and there are two upcoming events of interest.

One way we can live more sustainably is to grow some of our own food. The extension office is offering a FREE workshop on fall gardening on August 20. Here is the information from the newsletter:

Fall Vegetable Gardening
Date: August 20th, Thursday
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: MPEC, Room 8
Call our office to RSVP (so we can make sure we have enough handouts) at 716-8610. This course will cover: location of your garden, soil prep, weed control, insects, diseases, what to plant, mulching, watering and composting. If you have ever thought about starting a fall garden or already have one and are interested in learning more, this will be a great class for you.

Also, the next compost giveaway is coming up to help get that fall garden in shape. The only bad thing is this is the same day as the EcoFair--we must deconflict schedules better!!!!

City of Wichita Falls Compost Giveaway
Date: October 3rd, Saturday
Time: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Wylie Road Landfill-(West of Wichita Falls)
Cost: Free to Wichita Falls Residents who pay the $3 charge for the green recycle bins
*Must be a resident of Wichita Falls and have the $3 charge show up on your water bill. Bring your current water bill to the landfill in order to receive the compost. Bring a tarp! Must cover and tarp load before you leave the landfill.