Will We Never Learn?

Will we never learn? I came across this article today about a herbicide that infects the lawn to the extent that the grass clippings cannot be used to make compost. Is that insane or what? What a stupid idea.

The only good thing I read in the article was that Imprelis apparently not sold "down south" because we don't have the right kind of grass. One good thing about enduring this awful heat I suppose.

Join Me Thursday Night

Last week I was elected by default (i.e., no one else wanted to do it) to appear on Paul Dowlearn's Gardenline program to talk about the Friends of Lake Arrowhead State Park Thursday evening. If you would like to know more about the organization, please watch, Thursday, July 14, 7 PM on cable channel 15.

Red River Sierra Group Meeting

For Sierra Club members and others interested in environmental topics, the local Red River Sierra Club group will meet Tuesday, July 12, 7:30 PM at Atlanta Bread on the corner of Maplewood Avenue and Midwestern Parkway.

Article on "Ecosystem Gardening"

This is really a follow on to my post a few days ago about working to make our new yard more wildlife-friendly. If homeowners can do it, why not businesses, cemeteries, schools and churches?

I came across a website I think will be of interest to readers. Why not talk to your employer, pastor, etc. about making the empty lawns around most public buildings more ecofriendly? After the intial planting, I'm willing to bet that for most organizations, the maintenance costs would be less than the regular mowing, trimming, watering and fertilizing of the typical lawn, and would have the added benefit of attracting wildlife.

Note the 5 pillars:

• Sustainable gardening


• Soil health


• Water conservation


• Remove invasive plants


• Plant native plants

Great Idea!

I found a story on a great grocery idea out of Austin. I hope they are successful! Regardless, show grocery stores that less waste in packaging is important to you by considering the amount of packaging in your shopping decisions--and let them know.

It's a Start

When we moved into our new house, I was a little bummed because the yard just wasn't the best for birds and butterflies. So, one of the first things my husband did for me was to set out the bird bath. With water and a feeder, the birds have been coming to the yard--white winged doves, mostly, but also house finches, blue jays, robins, western kingbirds, cardinals, Inca doves (once) and red-bellied woodpeckers. So not a huge variety, but it's a start.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband dug up the area for me to put flowers around the birdbath. I am trying to stick with natives that are drought/heat tolerant and preferably plants that attract birds and butterflies. My hummingbird feeder has seen no hummers--there just aren't enough flowering plants around to bring them into the neighborhood. Anyway, I planted some lantana, blue mist flower, turks cap, pigeonberry, and red ruellia. Some are perennials; others annuals that will self-seed.

So we begin. It will be a multi-year project to make the yard as pretty and as wildlife friendly as I would like, but you have to start somewhere.

What are you doing to improve the habitat in your yard?

A Downer and An Upper

I was looking to experiment a little in the kitchen while my husband is gone and went to Sunshine Natural Foods to look around. I haven't been there in a while and boy what a change! The store is now half the size and very little of it is food. I was very disappointed. What they do have is replicated by United Supermarkets, which is probably why they downsized--it is hard to compete with United since it went into the organic lines. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to try to carry a lot of specialty things that United doesn't sell.

However, I was looking for some tahini to make hummus and ended up at the International Market in the little strip mall on Southwest Parkway and Fairway (Caesar's Pizza is probably the best known of the stores there.) I have been meaning to stop in and finally had a reason. I found my tahini, but also found a lot of spices and other items used in Middle Eastern, Indian and Oriental cooking. It isn't a big store, but check it out. The store doesn't open until 11:00 AM, so plan accordingly. A lot of interesting items and some fresh produce--not a lot, but some. First place I have seen mung beans for a long time.

I used to sprout mung beans, although I prefer alfalfa sprouts. There would be something that would be wonderful for Sunshine to carry--alfalfa seeds for sprouting. Have you seen the price of alfalfa sprouts in the store? They are great on sandwiches and salad. Never made your own sprouts? It's easy. I found a good YouTube video that shows the process. Give it a try!