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Gardening

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Homesteading-book review

Homesteading, it’s a buzzword that means different things to different people, back in the day, it meant getting land for free as long as you lived on it and improved it for x number of years. It was a way to get people to move west (in the USA), back when travel was slow and painful, even dangerous.

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Grow your own tobacco – book review

Tobacco PlantsA while back, I had some trouble with the government about buying cigarettes from outside the country (USA), it is WAS perfectly legal (at the time) to order cigarettes for import into the USA for personal use. I assure you that the cigarettes I ordered WERE for personal use, I did not trade, sell, barter or in any other way distribute these cigarettes. After receiving a threatening letter from the Dept of Homeland Security, a very scary thing to find in your mailbox, especially for a law abiding citizen! I decided that I needed to find a better way to get smokes without having to pay an arm and a leg, or having the threat of the government over my head. I found an alternative way, it’s legal and it should be doable by nearly anyone.

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Make Your Landscaping Green

Green or natural landscaping ,also known as native gardening , is when you use indigenous plants in your residential or commercial landscaped gardens. These plants can include local ones such as grasses, ground-cover, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees, as well as using boulders, rocks and locally found material to border theses plantings. Making the landscaped area and the surrounding natural environment blend seamlessly is an important aspect of green landscaping.

Before making the move to change your landscaping to a greener design, you should look into changing your current practices of your existing landscape. Look for ways to reduce your use of power tools. Use mulch, sometimes available from local landfills, to conserve you water needed for your plantings. Making a compost pile to process organic waste and reuse as fertilizer in your gardens. Use natural enemies instead of pesticides to rid your plants of insects, see the EPAs’ integrated pest management for more information.

Now before running to your local nursery or garden store for local plants to use take the time to actually asses your property and the needs you have for it. how much sun and shade does it get and where. What is your soils type(s) and where is your drainage, or do you need more/less drainage. Make a rough plot map that shows your homes’ location including doors, walkways, patios, driveways, etc. Make note of neighbor concerns such as views you wish to keep or cover, noise reduction, privacy issues, etc. Make sure buried utilities are noted, most communities have a service to help with that, as well as overhead lines. Plants that you wish to keep should also be marked and their full height, and known characteristics and needs. Don’t forget to mark your directions of , south, east, and west as well as slopes and their direction and degree.

Once your map is complete now think of what use(s) you want from your land. Do you have children and wish to incorporate a play area or pool, have dogs that need a run, want to grow some or all of your own food, need to store a boat or RV, need additional buffers for privacy, noise or wind, and any other concerns or desires you can think of.

Now you need to research your local environment. What plants are native, which plants work well together, what plants meet your needs. Going to local parks and nature centers and walking through them will give you ideas of your likes and dislikes. Local park service may even have clinics or talks to help you. Use the internet and research your zone. The EPA website has dedicated sections to each geographic zone and how to green landscape there.

Time for putting it all together on you map and then start buying your new plants. Once your plan is completed go for it. All this work will pay …

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Make Plans to Visit DC This April

Have you been thinking about visiting Washington DC to see the sites, enjoy the great entertainment, talk with your representatives, advocate for a better environment, or maybe just join in on some interesting events, then this April seems to be the time to do it.

  • The Alliance to Save Energy will be hosting its’ Great Energy Efficiency Day for 2008 on Wednesday, April 16th. It will be held on Capitol Hill at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-50, from 8:00am – 3:30pm. It was first held in 2004 and is propertied to have become a “must attend” , drawing more than 400 stakeholders from different sectors, such as industry, business, government, academic, media and public interest. It is designed to be a “discussion” on the need for, and benefits of, energy efficiency. This event will feature leading voices in energy and energy efficiency, addressing current and timely issues and provide insight from Capitol Hill itself from congressional members. This is a free event but you must register as space is limited. The Off-Grid Home is planning to have a presence there so if you can’t make it we should be reporting about it shortly after the event, if all goes as planned of course.
  • April 19 is Children’s’ Day at The Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park. This is a chance to learn not only about colonial farming but organic farming with your children. You also will be able to hike through the park and purchase seedlings from the museum garden. They are offering free membership to 25 visitors. This event is free for members.
  • The Earth Day Network will be sponsoring Earth Day on the Hill on Sunday, April 20 as well as events in 7 other US cities. The event at the National Mall is to be their flagship event and as such is scheduled to include A-list celebrities as well as elected officials/candidates, community speakers, and major musical performances. Educational displays and voter registration is also to be included. They are hoping for hundreds of thousands participants for their combined events in DC as well as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas and Miami. These events are being sponsored by Chase and produced by Green Apple Festivals, they are FREE to attend. They are encouraging everyone who can to walk, bike or even row to an event near them to show your support for dealing with global warming.
  • Earth Day Network is also calling for a day of action following these events. On Monday, April 21 they are asking for Americans to contact their elected officials and let then know how important improving our environment is to us. If you are in the US you are able to call the White House at (202) 456-1111 and/or Capitol Hill at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your elected official. Their goal is a million calls, I
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