trees

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National Herbalist Day

Hail Brave Hearts

Enjoy the nutrition of the land and the many medical marvels that it reveals.  It’s a new day dawning for the Herbalist.  A day of worthy mention.  National Herbalist Day!  Wow!

The subject matter is superb.  Now that spring is here, the welcome backyard medicine cabinet is opening it’s doors.  New spring teas from fresh shoots, leaves and plants.  Lovely.  Fit for any larder, the beautiful abundance of natural goodness is in your yard.

The most obvious, killer weed, that notorious Dandelion.  Awesome!  The nutritional value of this plant is a keeper.

Plantain, St John’s Wort, Daisy and many more.   A special day for those of us, who seek natural remedies for those aches and pains.  I’ve been lucky with Nettle, Red Currant, Apple Leaf and Rose Hips, but these are just a few of the many natural wonders of the wild world.  Home made salves and soaps, fragrance and tea.  Natural healers to boost energy, to calm, to induce sleep, to improve circulation and help achy joints and achy pains.  Your garden is an Earthly delight.  Those pesky weeds, so hard to get rid of , might freshen your breath, improve your eyesight, add luster to your hair and make it shine.  The self indulgent gardener might even find a cure for what ails themselves.  There are many good gardening books which will help to plant an herbalist garden.

But are natural remedies important?  They are, if you want them to be.  Do they actually provide cures?  Yes, they do.

To quote Chris Dalziel at Jobillee Farm.  who has a  book Growing Abundance, the Garden You Harvest in a Week.

Monday is National Herbalist Day!  It’s a day to acknowledge the herbs that keep us well, help our gardens grow better, make our food taste better, and give us abundance.  Its also a day to recognize the herbal mentors in our life.

Who taught you about using herbs in the kitchen, the garden, and the apothecary?  Did you learn from a mother, a grand parent, a neighbor? Are you self-taught from books and the internet? Did you take a class? Or are you just beginning to learn about herbs as an adult?

Learn about Plantago major — Plantain

I love teaching children about herbs.  My 2 year old granddaughter knows to look for plantain (Plantago major) if she gets a bee sting or a mosquito bite.  “Plantain” comes from an old French word meaning “sole of the foot”.  It grows in compacted areas, where the footprint of humans or animals have compacted the soil.  Its a healing plant for the soil as much as it is a healing plant for us.

Often plantain is the first herb that people learn to use.  It can be an “a-ha” moment, when you hand them a leaf and tell them to put it on the “ouch”.  Relief is fast.

I’ve had the privilege of introducing plantain to tough motorcyclists, stung on the hand while riding, hikers, farmers, beekeepers, wee toddlers, and grumpy teens, mowing a lawn. Plantain is just one of the many gifts that God gives us to nourish and heal us.
In The Forest
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In The Forest

Hail Brave hearts

Ah, the forest.  The adventure is sweet.  It captures us as environmentalists, athletes, artists and nature seekers.  Fabulous forest, for beauty, for shelter, for warmth.  The myriad of species that inhabit these lands.  The wild lands.  The massive tracts of lands for trees, vegetation, wildlife and us.  The forest holds its secrets, prime fishing holes, a hidden lake, vast meadows of wildflowers, a campsite, a trail, a precious sought after climb, the view.  This is a wonderland to us.  So much to see, so many trails to follow, so much room to explore.  Our hearts sing.  The day is long, the journey rewarding, the wilds lands treat us to so much earthly pleasure in Gods wonderful, always outstanding, creation.  The joy is magnificent.  So much simple pleasure, so much to learn and so much knowledge to share.

The ever changing forest, from spring beauty, to awesome autumn, from warm summers evenings, to cold winter trekking.  The forest brings us a continual challenge of skills and expertise.  Paddle the pristine lakes, kayak the whitewater, drift in quiet solitude of the still waters.  Listen to the sound of the great wild as it echoes across the land.  This is the forest, with all of the wonders that it holds.  All across the surface of the forest there is  a secret hiding, to be found only by  those who know what to look for.  The experts who have the knowledge of herbal remedies.  Here in these trees lies the medicine cabinet of the  land.

Trees sway softly is the swirling winds, birds call and animals scurry away.  Flowers nod and wave their heads and beckon us to enjoy our day.  In this fabulous forest, there’s something for us.  It’s in the trees.   Healing trees, nurturing trees, trees that hold the secret to natural remedies and cures.  There are many.  The mighty spruce, with it’s vitamin C, provides a healing tea which  is the  one that cured the early explorers of scurvy.  This is just one, there are many more.

10 Medicinal Trees That Heal Virtually Everything – Off The Grid News

The bountiful forest gives us many things.  It gives us a captivating wonderland to explore, a bountiful world of healing cures and natural wisdom.  The forest is alive with so many precious treasures.  Animal life and vegetation galore!  An array of colour and light, a pleasure to our senses and a quiet in our stressful lives.

For the gardener, a tree could hold the cure to an ailment, a remedy of homemade cleverness.  Perhaps a cup of tea could save your life.  Choose wisely oh dear ones, these same trees have cured us for centuries, save them and protect them.  The forest is more than just trees, it is yet another garden of earthly delight, filled with food, medicine and healing, health benefits.

Come to the forest, oh awesome human, where the trees give us shade, adventure, the quiet wilderness and a healthy life.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 25, 2021

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In The Forest

Hail Almighty Human

Scream, as the terror is with us.  Strike a match, ignite the fire, burn and burn and burn.  We watch in helpless  horror as the forest fire rages.  Pillars of smoke and flame that engulf the trees, lay waste to the land, destroy our hopes and kill our lives.  The shock, the death, the despair.  No more fire, we scream in fright, as one of the worst years for forest fires is now starting to pass.  It was everywhere.  The smell, the cold, the choking fumes, hundreds of kilometers away and still it affects us.  The sky is a fog, the mountains vanish, the sun is gone and the light is dim.  Properties gone, their fortunes fade, one deathly blunder and our lives are changed.  Sometimes forever, sometimes for years, the horror of fire leaves a wake filled with tears.

Fighting against it, fighting the odds, the perils of a task so immense to complete.  Save our homes, save our lives, save our destiny, try, try, try.  The screams of terror, as it all lays to waste, the burden to rebuild, to be strong in it’s face.  The plight of the people, as smoke fills the air, of all of life running, to save what it can.

As the autumn is coming,the fall colors are hear, hoping that snow will make everything clear.  The cold and the wet, the snowfall might do it, put out the fires that humans can’t manage to.  The constant struggle, the constant fear, this has been one of the worst fire records, of all years.

The forest succumbs, it takes lives with it, those too tired, too slow, too young, too old.  The toll of the fire is much more than property.  The loss of the forest, the loss of the land, the goodness and value that go hand in hand.  The life supporting forest, that we all need and love, is the doom of the wild, when it burns to dust.  Gone is the wild song, the singing, the praises, the love of joy, of living, that saves us.  When the world is quiet, there’s a sound no more, the sound of hearts beating to build and restore.  The sound of the quiet is a deafening tone, of mountains without life, where all is just stone.

http://naturecanada.ca/what-we-do/NatureVoice/endangered-species/know-our-species/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqvzSpuW81gIVAZF-Ch060wN5EAAYAiAAEgLx__D_BwE

The quiet, too quiet, it reminds us of something.  This is the great planet, full of life and living things.  They should be talking, we should be listening, to hear a slither, a crack, a croak, or a twitter.  Here in the quiet, there isn’t any talking, no one to hear them, they run from something.  Even without fire, smoke is in the air, it’s too much for many and the quiet is result.  A world without the great wild is a world without care.  No songs to sing, from birds out there.

The elk now call, they start to rut, another life cycle, in a forest, with luck.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 23, 2017

Early Spring
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Early Spring

Hail, you brave almighty ones.

Praises, you awesome ones, praises to this great good Earth.  The warm spring days welcome us.  Come out of your houses and feel the warmth of those special sun shining rays.   The spring, with it’s special power, it’s newness, it’s creation, it’s splendor.  It is beauty that we crave and beauty surrounds us .  The joy of living, of life on the planet, of the simplicity of warm breezes, cool lakes, shelter from trees, magnificent flowers.  The joy in their hearts as the nesting birds sing, the fondness of animals as they gaze at their offspring, the brilliance of flowers as they burst from their buds.  The magic of the planet casts it’s wondrous spell and spring has captured us once more.

Glorious days of sun filled splendor, rays of shining gold sent to us from heaven.  The lights is with us for hours  now, the dark of winter is cast aside and the joy of spring fills the air.  Fragrant gardens, song filled skies, colorful meadows and deep secrets hiding in the forest.  It is the season of growth and birth.  A season of wonder and delight.  The Earth spreads the word to us, welcoming us into it’s great wonder.  It is the beauty of this great planet, that brings us so much joy. Joy and discovery.

Those same old trails change each day, a new bud, a  new animal track, viewpoints, water rushing, an early spring with so much to see.  The water entices us and we’re swimming in April.  So much goodness, so much sport and  so much fun.  It extends our lives by weeks this year, everything is early.

An escape from the bustling city to the quiet of the spring filled country, a dazzling day on a mountain bike, exertion and strenuous activity to liven the muscles and tone the body.  This great country’s past time of escaping to the beaches, the trails, the forest, the mountains, the campgrounds, the parks and the great wild.  Escape to the wonder of the natural world, the world filled with surprises and unexpected pleasures.  A roadside pull off with big horn sheep playing close by, a view of an eagle with egrets on its nest, that great  horned owl peering at us as we walk along the trail. The views of spring time meadows, of glaciers and mountain tops, of long endless grasslands and still pristine lakes.  We protect all of this.  This is ours to keep.  Our cherished escape to the great beyond, the fabulous parks , the wilderness and the joy of being.  That wholesome success of a day of play, of the unpolluted water and the clean, pure air.  Those days that take your worries away and fill your lives with that sense of wonder.   More, we want more. More of this life of athletic fun, of hikes and photos, of swimming and riding.  More of those rugged climbs to test our endurance and strength.  We want more.  More of this vast land with it’s unique species and more of the beauty of our scenic wonder.  More of the wonder of the natural world and more of the healing of this great divine. This is our awesomeness, these special, protected places, these is our secrets, that we quietly share.

We are old here, but we are still young.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 11, 2016

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Some Luxury

 

Hail Bravehearts

Hail and hearty the adventure awaits the bold and daring and the ambitious ones.  Skills to survive, to conquer it all, to bring peace and prosperity to a fragile new colony.

The great wild awaits, with it’s luring call.  Venture forth, oh great human.  Come into this great wild land and reap the rewards of this new world.  Come, entices the forest, come to this viewpoint and see my wondrous beauty.  Come, calls the wind and I will show you how to live.  Come to the new colony, to this brave new world.

The sun shines in glory and golden rays sparkle through the trees.  It is springtime and the air is filled with the cheerful song of nesting birds, thriving insects and birthing animals.  Fragrant flowers fill the forests and meadows and the spectacular colour of their beautiful petals brings smiles.  Hope.  It is upon us again.  Hope for success this time.  It is spring.  Hard work and toil should pay off with success this time.

The sap is running, it’s maple sugar time.  The sap of the maple sugar tree can be boiled into a delicious product of sweet tasting syrup.  Syrup, candy, cookies, butter.   A new tradition, a new culinary delight, a new culture in cuisine.  Come, calls the wild land, fill your buckets with this sweet tasting goo.  The sap of the tree is honey or sugar to the new settlers.  Joy  from the wild, since this is a delight that is easy to harvest and delicious to eat.  Maple syrup eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits.  A whole new cuisine based on the sweet delight of the maple sugar tree.  Now the joy of cooking is ours, in the great new land.   A treasure, a gold mine, a product of tasteful delight that gives the new settlers an item for trade.  Food, prosperity, luxury.  Oh brave new world, there is real wealth here.  Live and thrive in the great new land.

http://wildblueberries.net/maplehistory.html  a history of maple syrup

Harvest the riches, the abundance and the gold.  Tap the stream of sap, of the maple sugar tree and be rich.  A prized product from the forest, maple sap, maple syrup, maple sugar.  This centuries old industry developed another uniqueness in the new world.  Unique fur traders, unique sugar maple.  An identity is being born.  A connection to the land and to it’s people.  A connection of trade and business.  Something new to send back to the old world of France. There is nothing like it in Europe.  Interesting.  Curiosity and intrigue develops.  What of that great land across the ocean.  What else is there in that vast frontier?

Slowly, but slowly, the colony increases.  Slowly, but slowly, it ignites the fire of imagination.  Yes, they will come to Canada, even if forced by royal decree, they will come.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

May 31, 2016

 

It’s Only a Tree
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It’s Only a Tree

Good Day Bravehearts

The forests of our country are a milestone of preservation. Intact lands, intact lives, intact preservation. The delicate balance of satisfying the needs of competing interests while we grow and prosper, but still fulfill the needs of the great land. The earth cannot survive without the large expanse of lands and environmental protection has called us all to be watchful of the contamination and ruin of the earth. Another mountain of preservation destroyed, another hard fought victory to win. It only takes a few minutes to destroy, what has taken a milenium of earth years to build. A forest, brought down by over harvesting. The balance of the environment overturned. The delicate marshes and the songs of the birds, happily existing in the structure of an ecosystem, so uniquely contrived and so exquisitely orchestrated. The balance of life in the land of the great wild.
The fabulous wild, where the predators roam and quietly, stealthily stalk their prey. A harvest of the weak to strengthen the strong, and to cull the over abundance of grazing and browsing prey. The forest needs the predator, to save it’s new growth, and to take a stand for the preservation of large landscapes.
The balance is superb! The forest thrives and the lives of the living, fill their world with the earth songs of their making.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0 The Most Amazing Thing About Trees.

The joy of the wild as it sings the song of the earth to us, the great human. Save us! Only in saving the great wild, will the human be able to save themselves. The preservation of the forest, for our own clean air, for oxygen, for shade, and the protection of the soil. The trees are a necessity. Food, shade, warmth, air, environmental protection and decoration. The varieties are immense and all so different. Large and small with canopies for shade, or strength for wind protection. A tree, such a common plant, so needed and so fragile.
Our houses, from their wood. Furnishings, flooring, cabinetry, whole fields of study from the common tree. Carpentry, logging, forestry, massive business enterprise and international trade. Wealth from wood, paper from by product, our logging industry employs thousands.
Hail to the almighty human, for ingenuity and invention. Your awesome minds and clever imaginations save you there, but lack of foresight is the curse of the human.
Oh brilliant ones, you cannot stop your thinking. The wide expanse of knowledge becomes you and the perpetual motion of time turning to wealth propels you. No poverty there. A world without end. It has to be.
So, brave hearts, as the world turns and another day is upon us, the call from the wild is more urgent and compelling.
Come! calls the great land. Visit and explore. Come to the luxury, to the beauty, to the serenity of the wild! Come to the adventure, to explore and discover. The earth sings, oh great human, don’t be the last.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
July 1, 2014

Breathe
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Breathe

Good morning, you awesome human

Breathe! Do you feel it? The breath you take, filling your lungs with life giving oxygen. No small miracle to dismiss or ignore, the life giving oxygen passes through your airways into your lungs and saves you once more. Breathe! The powerful breath of life giving force that sustains you.
They say that there is less oxygen in the world today. That the force of the natural world has declined and that the air that we breathe is no longer as fresh and nutritious as it once was. Air, with nutrient rich oxygen that fills our bodies and blood stream with it’s vital life force. Air, that rejuvenates our brains and fills the mind with nutrient rich oxygen. Air, so commonplace, so taken for granted, so needed and precious. Air, a simple natural substance that we die for.
In the world, the deforestration of the forest has hacked its way to less wildlife habitat, less jungle and forest, less vegetation and less air. Air pollution contaminates the air we breathe and causes disease.
The great planet, with its intricate web of life, looses it’s diversity as species cry in mortal danger from habitat loss and planetary destruction.
The polluted waterways suffocate the aquatic species that call it their home. The raging torrents of rain, fill the lakes and contaminate the soil with polluted droplets of water. The rich bio-diversity of the planet declines and the numbers of species fall to dismally low levels. The awesome, creative planet is plundered, and it’s richness of life forms perish, in the assault of human over population. 7 billion. 7 billion, and rising.

http://www.wizetime.com/trees-it-takes-22-trees-to-produce-enough-oxygen-for-you-to-breath/

The great forests that swept the massive landscape are harvested and vanish in the wake of plunder. Plunder for wood, for clearing the land, for penetrating the tangle of un passable vegetation. The forest lies at the brink of its own starvation. Fewer trees, less vegetation, the wild flowers nod their brilliant heads and their abundance declines with over picking and habitat loss. Fewer flowers, less fragrance, less colour and life in the forest. Another trampled flower, too delicate to withstand the weight of an intruder. Trampled, crushed, gone.
The brilliant earth, cast it’s creativity as far as the eye can see. Streams and mountains, forest and plains, the painstaking effort to fill the planet with life and wonder.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm what is a tree worth?

Awesome planet, of wonder and life, your forests thrive with the wealth of the living. Trees for oxygen, animals to protect the wild places, flowers for the beauty of the earth. So powerful! The creative energy of the earth is the life force that saves us. Awesome planet, so wonderful to behold.
Still, the needs of the human are high. More hunger, more habitation, more pollution, more space for us. The forest can’t sustain the needs of the human. Too many bodies, too many stomachs to fill, too many lungs for air.
What is a tree worth, in dollars and sense? For the amount of air that we breath in a lifetime? So commonplace, not a penny to charge and worth more than all of the money that your bank accounts can provide.
Air. Clean, unpolluted air is provided to you, by the great planet, free of charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4 movie The Right to Breathe.

Air, oh awesome human. Fresh, clean air. It’s to die for.

written by Dr Louise Hayes
June 13, 2014

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Earth tranquility message

Greetings you awesome human.

Tread lightly on the great planet, it is a living organism. The soil beneath your feet is alive with microorganisms, earth dwelling creatures, roots and seeds. The soil is filled with life and the nutrients to create life. The great earth is alive!
The earth breathes the oxygen of the air that it creates from it’s splendid plant life and envelopes itself in a cover of protection called the ozone layer.
The water that we drink is full of nutrients. The water itself sustaining so much life. The life of oceans, rivers, lakes, cities, towns, forests and pasture. Water for life. Drink the pure water, it runs in our veins and keeps us alive. Us and the planet.
Breathe the fresh air. The necessary oxygen fills our lungs, our bodies and our minds. Fresh air for our brains and bodies. Fresh air for the living creatures of the planet and fresh air for the planet itself.
The earth breathes, through its thousands of trees, it’s lush forests and its innumerable plant life.
The living Earth with it’s life forms, sings the daily concerts of the joy of creation. Live, almighty human, calls the joyful planet. Hear us as we reach out to you. The crickets, the frogs, the birds the wolves. The call of the planet reaches to you, in the buzzing of bees, the whispers of the wind and the scented gardens of meadow flowers.
Hear us, oh great human, sighs the great planet, as it speaks to us through it’s wondrous creations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGEHYY8c8VM tranquility Earth message

The carpet of grass beneath your feet protects the rich soil from too much disturbance. The grasses as a home to many and a food source to many others. A simple life form, grass, so necessary, so commonplace. A cover of life, to protect another cover of life.
Soft grass to protect the soil from the scorching sun, the drenching rain and the drying wind. The soft grass beneath your feet, a carpet of green to play in.
The endless adventure of the earth.
It whispers to us in our minds. Here awesome human, come into my playground, sighs the great planet and feel the great joy of my living. Another step into adventure as the earth calls our names. Venture on, almighty man, into the brilliance of lush ecosystems, deep caves, ocean depths, skies and mountain tops. Come into the adventure, to awaken your senses. This I bring to you, oh great human, the adventure of your lives.
Don’t plunder, no war, no destruction. This perfect place, the unexplored spaces, for each of us, in every generation.

Extreme Sports website is under construction

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
October 23, 2013

Paint your palet
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Paint your palet

Still the wild calls us. It’s perfect hues. It calls to our instincts, our passions and our joy.
Here, almighty man, whispers the forest. Come walk my trails, into the secrets of my wooded landscapes. It is autumn and my continually changing attire is now ablaze in fall colour. My own berry harvest is ripe and ready. I fed your ancestors, they walked these trails, full of purpose and determination. Yes, mankind, you will survive. The negotiated peace prevails and you, brilliant one, have achieved your goal.
Your goal to prosperity, to the rugged landscape, to the great wild, to the pursuit of inner peace.
Hail, almighty man, for the great negotiation of a multi culture society.
The great Earth cloaks itself in the unrivalled beauty of its colourful landscape. The changing populations of flowers each with delightful colour and purpose. The early bold display arising from a winters sleep is soon overwhelmed by the spring blooms. Now it is fall, time to put it all away. Time to harvest the crops and to bring the abundance of the land into your home.
The Earth sustains us, as it sustains all of its creatures. The powerful bear, preparing for a long winters nap, will fill itself on the fall berries. Berries for the pregnant mother, berries for the tiny infant to be born next spring. All in a prepared cycle of life and living.
The powerful bear will sleep a blissful winters sleep, away from the curious, the elements and the cold. The wild land will provide a soft, dry den of quiet protection and the mighty bear will drift into a tranquil rest. The earth provided an abundant harvest and the bear will arise with cubs in the spring.
The changing seasons is a changing world for us as well.
The season of the harvest is a time of plenty.
No one is hungry here. No humans, no wildlife, no creatures. The earth provides for what it creates and the wild sustains the wild.
No plunder here. The immense landscape protects a tiny fraction of the populace of wildlife that the earth creates. This small tract of land continually provides for grazing animals, hungry predators and contented birds. The web of life and the interwoven dependence of life is fulfilled in some small, protected lands where encroachment is limited and hunting prohibited. These select few are an example of the biodiversity of the planet. One small area of pristine environmental integrity, set aside for the earth to decide.
In these small areas, the earth chooses the numbers and variety of the species of plant and animal life. Mankind is a visitor to these realms. These realms of abundance, no poverty, no plunder, no starvation here. These are the sanctuaries of the planet, no matter how large, they are too small. Too small for the vast numbers of fishes in the waters, too small for the vast numbers of birds in the sky, too small for the populace herds of ungulates and too small for the density of predators. Here, the earth lives, its populations thrive, it plants its seeds of joy, of regrowth of rebirth.
Almighty human, sighs the earth, I need more.
http://www.pccanada.com
http://www.nps.com

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
September 16,2013

http://www.bbcanada.com/10895.html
http://www.empowernetwork.com/?id=louisehayes

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Recycling

English: A picture of compost soil

English: A picture of compost soil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Feel the earth under your feet.  The life producing quality of the soil.  Rich in nutrients for our harvest, the soil is key to our survival.  Healthy soil, healthy food.  No pollution or contaminants for the earth

Our land fills are overflowing with recyclable debris.  Recycling reduces waste and increases our productivity.  It increases our ability to make use of used products and to turn discards into useful products.  It helps us to use our imaginations in discovering a purpose for items that would otherwise have been discarded to the landfill.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/recycling/?gclid=CIDhn_3Yz7cCFYo-Mgod32sAJw

The landfill is a nasty brew of toxins.  Although it may be possible to the cover mess with soil, burying toxins contaminates the soil and makes it dangerous for plantings.

http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/garbage_recycling/what-can-i-recycle.aspx

http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-recycling

Some of your recyclables are very good for the soil.  A composting bin where you can recycle vegetable food scraps, leaves, lawn cuttings and egg shells reduces itself to a highly nutricious black soil.  This soil is very beneficial to your garden and to the earth.  Even a small composter will help to reduce the amount of food waste that is dumped unnecessarily into our landfills.  Black earth is an expensive product to purchase.  That nutricious soil comes to you via your own discarded vegetable waste.

Since it is environment week, please consider the beneficial effects of recycling for yourselves and for the earth.  There are many products that can be recycled and reused.  A healthy, productive garden is only one of the many benefits of recycled materials.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 7, 2013