Good to Know

  THE  MAGIC OF  FRAGRANCES FROM TREES Diana Beresford-Kroeger, a Canadain scientist points out in her book “The Global Forest “ on sweltering days pines (pinus) will emit an odour that is a medicinal mixture of various esters which has a stimulating impact on the breathing process. It is a natural antibiotic. It also  functions as a mild narcotic.  As well, the aerosols have an an anesthetic effect on the body making one feel relaxed.   The  forest of pines cleanses  the atmosphere.  Pine trees also absorb more carbon dioxide than any other tree!  The more pines we plant them better  the impact will be on reducing GHG’s  and consequently global overheating If you are thinking about planting trees on your property this please consider planting native pines.  

  No- Dig Gardening You can create a bird-friendly garden out of a lawn very quickly by using sheet/lasagna gardening techniques. Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till gardening technique. You can choose an area covered with thick sod. DO NOT DIG! Add layers of newspaper or cardboard (smother weeds and sod) compost, leaves, and grass clippings. You can add organic materials such as tea bags, fruit and veggie scraps, and garden trimmings. It can be made any time but autumn is ideal due to available fallen leaves - garden can break down all winter. If you choose spring and have no leaves, add topsoil and peat moss up to an about 10 cm (4 inches) Alternate green (provide nitrogen) layers with brown (provide carbon) layers. Brown layers should be twice as deep as green layer. Do not overwater garden as that will cause rot! Once your materials have decomposed into a layer of loose compost-like materials plant your garden. If planting shrubs you might have to cut a hole in the

  THE MAGICAL POWERS OF PLANTS-PECANS T he  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry report pecans contain more antioxidants than any other tree nut!                         Pecan nuts in fact rank among the top 15 foods with the highest levels of antioxidants                                                                                          *Adding a handful of pecan nuts in your diet helps decrease bad cholesterol and increase  good cholesterol, which in turn prevent stroke and coronary artery disease. *  Pecan nuts are fiber -packed, so help prevent constipation and reduce the risk of hemorrhoids and colitis. * Pecan nuts protect the human body from cancer due to the anti-proliferative properties of ellagic acid.                                                                  *They contain oleic acid, a fatty acid which has been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer .               They also reduce the risk of colon cancer since they help clean the gastrointestinal s

  RDUCING GREEN HOUSE  GASES –COMPOSTING As individual you can do something every day which may seem  insignificant but it can have a powerful impact on helping to reduce GHG emissions. Start COMPOSTING everything that you possibly can. There are close to 100 compostable items. Incredibly, 20 % of all methane gas can be prevented!  If you live in a City, where they have a Green Bin Program, your job is fairly effortless.  If you live in the country, checks on line to find out how to start composting in your backyard. If that is  not feasible, you can at the very least cut up banana peels and  feed them to your roses, crunch eggs shells and add them to your garden  soil, and add fruit and veggie peelings and tea bags to your  veggie garden. Due to their acidity, only feed coffee grounds to plants that like acidic soil like azalea, oak leaf hydrangea, and Colorado blue spruce. Why is composting such a big deal when it comes to global  warming/climate change, you m

  LEASHING CATS  A reader was wondering why Council is debating keeping cats  inside. Below is my response to all readers who might be wondering the  same  thing.  At first glance what you opinionated seems to make sense,  but I  would like to connect the dots for you.  When scientists placed cameras on cats and let them loose in  neighbourhoods, they were astounded at what they discovered!  Cats are serial killers!  They are carnivorous predators , who will kill  not only birds  but  other animal species, at every opportunity whether they are hungry or not.    They actually are an invasive species that wreaks havoc on the ecosystem and spread diseases.  Here in Canada alone, domestic cats  kills over  80 million  birds  and if you include stray cats that number sky rockets to over 190 million birds,  each and every single year.  Are you aware of the profoundly important roles birds play in  the web of life here on Earth?  First, of all they devour  500 billion tons