Baby Chicks

The new baby chicks are here! The hard part is we are keeping ours at a friends house a couple of days until the weather warms up a bit. We have to keep them outside due to allergies and even with a heat lamp it would be stressful for them. We are hoping to pick them up on Thursday though. In the meantime, we are getting things ready for their arrival. I love baby chicks. They are so cute and fun to watch grow. I can't wait until ours are here so we can watch their antics.

Do-it-Yourself Classes

A friend and I are planning on some do-it-yourself classes that we will offer through our church. We are simply going to gather some people in one of our homes and talk/demonstrate a topic of choice. We are not doing this to make money or to be the expert but to share the skills that have been given or learned by us in order to live a more sustainable life-style. Many of our friends have asked us it we could to teach them how to do many of these topics. Some examples are canning, food preservation, cheese making, wine making, gardening 101, composting and others. We will gather, everyone will bring a simple appetizer to share along with a beverage of choice and we will spend an afternoon or evening learning how to live a more sustainable life style while having a nice social time with some friends.

Have people been asking you to teach them how to do something? Gather a few people, make it a social time and help spread the sustainable lifestyle.

Happy Valentine's Day

Earthworms

This week in the homeschool Biology class I teach we talked about earthworms. Earthworms are a valuable member of our ecosystem and a great garden help. You can always tell healthy soil by how many earthworms you turn over in a shovel scoop. Earthworms can be called nature's little "rototillers". Their feeding habits enrich the soil and their movements aerate the soil. Here is a basic description of how these things work.

Earthworms suck in soil through their pharynx (mouth). After the soil is sucked into the digestive track, it then is stored temporarily in the crop. From their it travels to the gizzard where it is ground up into smaller bits. Next, it goes into the intestinal track where digestive enzymes are added and the organic materials it needs for its nutrition are absorbed into the body. Like our digestive system, waste products then continue through the intestinal system and are excreted out the anus. Yes, worms poop and that is part of our soil make-up. They also have small organs which act like kidneys. They take the waste products from the food being digested and excrete it through the skin (yes, worm pee). This process helps the soil break down matter into a substance that plants can then use for their energy production (photosynthesis or biosynthesis).

By "eating" soil, worms loosen the soil in front of them which makes it easier to dig forward in their movement. It also loosens the soil's particles which allow it to absorb water and oxygen that plants need. Worms don't just tunnel in one layer of the soil. They are always moving up and down between layers. This mixes the nutrient rich soil (where plants and other things are decaying) at the top with the mineral rich soil deeper down. This makes an ideal mixture for plants to continue to thrive. Without earthworms in the ecosystem, soil would no longer be fertile and able to support plant life.

As you can see, earthworms are a valuable member of your healthy lawn, compost, flower beds and garden. Without them, soil fertility soon disappears. They are a very important gardening friend.

World Hunger/Clean Water

A friend of mine shared this video on facebook today. A must see for all. It will make you think.

First World Problems being Read by Third World People

Cold Weather

I have to admit that I enjoy a little cold weather. Kentucky seems to get just the right amount for me. I love the cold and snow but not for months on end. The best part of the cold though is the fact that it kills off the bugs and weed seeds to make the next gardening season a little easier. The past two winters have been unseasonable warm around here. In fact, last winter the season forgot to show up. The downside to this is that the summer bugs have been more abundant because they did not die off during the winter. So enjoy that cold snap, spend some time with your family or doing that task or hobby you seem to never have time for during the growing season.

Recycling Church Flowers

At our church when altar or other flowers are past their prime and not wanted by the person who donated them, I recycle them for the church. Our Pastor saves them; I bring them home and then add them to the compost pile. The containers are saved and used by me at a later date or donated to Good Will. This helps divert things from the landfill and adds to my compost pile. This is an easy thing people with compost piles can do and help reduce, reuse and recycle. Find out where "unwanted" altar and other flowers go at your church. Volunteer to take them home and recycle them yourself.