Good to Know

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED  Since we are all part of a delicate and balanced ecosystem containing plants, animals, and non- living organisms, what happens at the bottom of the food chain, ripples to the apex.  We humans sit at this apex.  We are all connected and we all depend on one another for all our needs-our very survival.  A perfect example of how we humans are all connected with wildlife, harks back  to Chairman Mao of China.  When he ruled supreme in China, he had observed sparrows landing in farmers’ fields and devouring the crops.  So being woefully uneducated about the balanced food chain in the web of life, he issued an edict that every citizen would be paid, for every sparrow killed.  With a population of close to 2 billion, in no time at all, the defenseless, little birds had been decimated!  Since we learned in grade school about the food chain, we can all predict what happened next.  After the sparrows were cruelly eliminated, there was an explosion of bug

GREENING YOUR WALLET-    An eco-friendly all purpose cleaner 1.  Fill an old  spray bottle half way with white vinegar 2. Fill it the rest of the way with water, but be sure to leave room for the final ingredients and for shaking 3. Drop in 3 drops of eco-friendly, phosphate-free liquid dish soap * Shake before use. Store out of direct sunlight * Can be used on counter tops, sinks, ovens, fridges, floors, windows, mirrors, toilets, bathtubs, doorknobs, walls, and upholstery. You can put some in a travel spray bottle and bring it with you to use as a hand sanitizer. You can spray it on the inside of shirts that carry body odour smell.   This stuff can be used just about anywhere!  Not only is it better for your health and your environment, but it's CHEAP!  Each bottle works out to about 30-50 cents.   It is also very safe to use around small babies and pets.

    INCREASING BIODIVERSITY OF  OUR  GREEN SPACES  In 2019 when I went on a 2000 km road  trip exploring and enjoying the great variety of vistas in Ontario and Quebec, I noticed the majority of  homeowners and  municipalities  continue to focus on creating static monocultures of clean- cut Kentucky lawns. In many places in the country, I observed acres and acres of mown lawns with no spaces left to growing   according to the whims of Mother Nature,   thus providing food sources for our precious pollinators.  Maybe, just maybe, Mother Nature knows best!   Why we need to make bold changes to our landscaping practices   v   our precious pollinators, for their continued survival,  need  a variety native and non-native flora growing in meadows-like areas- the greater the variety the healthier and more robust the pollinators v   there is a dire need to  increase nectar-brimming flora as the UN ( 2020)  announced a decline of 90 % in our bumblebee population- with their fat

c GREENING YOUR WALLET-A DI FFERENT APPROACH TO GARDENING  I normally read the Star every morning and I was really touched about the disturbing picture of a man from one of the many countries facing starvation.  He declared that in order to stop the horrible pain in their stomachs the poor in his country have been reduced to eating dirt with a bit of sugar and oil.  It got me thinking about all the arable, fertile land that home owners have covered with green almost useless Kentucky grass, perennials, annuals, shrubs and a few trees. In the past my approach to my green space had been developed on the principle that since we had banished wildlife with our urban sprawl the very least we could do was to make our backyards wildlife- friendly by creating as many wildlife habitats as possible.  And I have done this by creating woodland with a diverse and lush understory, log piles (chipmunks love this), planting native and indigenous trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses.