The News Today

The news today is so sad, it's driving me to distraction. For some reason the idea of 8 rare Siberian Tigers starving to death, along with countless other zoo animals in a China Zoo, just makes me weep for these confined innocents. I quickly left that article only to find another. This time the article was about Kenya opposing a 'one time' ivory sale as poaching soars. To read about the useless death of these elephants is more than I can bear. So I picked up the local paper, The NorthumberlandToday.com, which is a SunMedia paper, whom I am not fond of and now our local paper is filled with cr-p from all across the country instead of local news and editorials. It trashed all of our local papers and clumped them all together with their tabloid junk and it's hard get a decent editorial about local news.
The paper I picked up to read is thrown at the end of my driveway, which is thrown at the end of every driveway every Thursday whether you want it or not. Apparently there are a lot of people who do not WANT this paper as on my walks I find it in ditches all over my routes. I think they should be charged with polluting and littering, there is a $5,000 fine for that here in Northumberland. Back to the 'local paper' - it had an editorial from a female MP from Saskatchewan who wants the Long Gun Registry sacked. Eeeeeegads, have we gone mad? She states that it cost up millions or billions and that it is an infringement on the rights of law abiding Long Gun owners. I don't think so, guns are a problem and this registry helps the police track guns, the use of guns and helps them solve crimes. The gun registry is used daily by police to aid in crime reduction, solving crimes and track guns. The police want to keep the registry! We are a gun crazy world, kill anything world. Farley Mowat once said a long time ago, in the 70's if I remember correctly, that 'soon there will no wild animal on the planet living that is larger than a bread box'. I would love it if he were wrong. By the news today, I am desperately afraid he may be right.

Adobe Oven

I want one of these in my backyard! I am outside as much as possible and to think that I could be cooking outside would, well this could maybe anti up the productivity in that department. Last summer I ate well, very well from my kitchen garden in the backyard, but that was it, I ate while I was in the garden! The thought of going inside to prepare the food and possibly cook it, that takes all the fun of it out of the experience. So everything was consumed pretty much raw and went directly from the vine to my mouth! What has happened to me since I moved to a village. Have I lost all sense of social decorum? It appears so.

Eggplants in Containers

This morning in the paper there was an article about growing Eggplants in containers. Great article, I had done this several years ago and can attest to it's productivity. The reason I did it though was because the foliage of Eggplant is well, it makes me weak. I love it. These lobed leaves are something  from ancient Rome or the Cradle of Civilization. Then to top it of you get these lovely purple fruit, bonus!! Here is photo I took of my newly planted Eggplants, these I had planted @ Mom's. Remember they like the heat and sun, just make sure you water them late in the day or early evening so they can soak up all the water before the next morning.

Annuals......

The other night I attended a meeting with speakers who were speaking about their garden. They announced quite proudly that they grow 'only perennials, no annuals'. The way they spoke it was like they were dissing annuals. Well, I beg to differ. I love annuals with perennials and think that they have a lot to offer the perennial garden. In fact, many people who I respect, who are great gardeners, designers and just the expert woman who likes to get down and dirty in the garden would agree with me.
I think if you restrict yourself to growing 'just perennials' you are limiting yourself, closing the door on opportunities of visual delight and a bounty of fragrance. Also annuals bring a host of pollinators to your garden which is a benefit for any farmer or crop grower.

For The BiRdS - Again!

Since birds are under attack so often, yes attack. Crows were blamed for the spread of West Nile virus, buildings and windows are constantly 'popping up' and smacking our winged friends. I have decided today will be about making your property 'bird friendly'. There are many things you can do for the birds. You can plant flowering trees and shrubs that either have nectar or berries for the birds. Look under my 'pages' sidebar for a list of things to plant for birds in Northumberland. Different species of birds will nest at different heights, so it is important to have varying woody plants in your landscape.
Hazel Bird, who was totally dedicated to birds and all forms of wildlife had a bluebird line that she started in the 1960's. She noticed a sharp decline in the bluebird population in Northumberland and started bulding bluebird houses because of this decline. At the peak of her programme there were over 400 boxes in Northumberland Forest. She was awarded the prestigious Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society Conservation Award. Now, because the bluebird population has been re-established thanks to Hazel, it is no longer needed here.
So one person can make a difference......

Scarborough highrise a death trap for birds - thestar.com

When I saw those towers going up, I knew this would be a problem. We are on Lake Ontario, birds migrate across the lake, they are exhausted by time they cross and then they fly into a huge building because it looks like sky.

Scarborough highrise a death trap for birds - thestar.com

It probably was the Mosquitoes NOT the Birds

A study just released from John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health states that it was probably mosquitoes and not birds who spread West Nile virus.

Goofing Off

I am playing around with the header on my blog and having fun with it. Let me know what you think if you like it or not.
Also, last night after submitting my observations on the night sky for the 'Globe at Night' project (Sky & Telescope) I decided to look at the map to see my recorded observations. I noticed that someone in the area of Yarker is also doing this. I wondered is this Terrence Dickinson one writer of night skies who grabbed my imagination on the Milky Way years ago? He lives in that neighbourhood. Maybe I will drop him a line and ask. After that observation I decided to check out all of Canada, it seems that there 20, yes I said 20 of us from Quebec to British Columbia who are submitting their observations. I always belong to the minority group of people. ONLY 20 and not one in any eastern Province. I will have to check the map again tonight and maybe, just maybe because last night was Saturday night they were all out on the town!! I will let you know what I find. I just can not believe that their are only 20 Canadians interested in doing this survey for Globe at Night.

Northumberland Land Trust

The motto of Northumberland Land Trust states "Preserving Northumberland County - One Acre at a Time".  Their mandate is to 'establish, maintain and manage protected areas' and their Mission is to 'Preserve the natural, historical and cultural heritage of Northumberland County'. It was founded in 2004  and their press release at the time states 'The Northumberland Land Trust, a new community based organization has been established to work for the conservation of the natural areas, watersheds, forests and wildlife of Northumberland County.  The Land Trust is a non-government, charitable organization and it plans to partner with other agencies, community groups and landowners with similar aims.
It was the Willow Beach Field Naturalists who in 2001 began to understand that we need an organization such as a Trust to protect these important areas in Northumberland and the Northumberland Land Trust was created. 

Orion it's stars & The Backyard Birds!

Globe at Night is happening now, it started March 3rd and continues until March 16. You don't have to do it every night, so don't get tied up in knots about it. Me the nut-bar, I am doing it every night. You can observe the stars at night from your location and record what you see or don't see. This is all in aid of recording light pollution in our skies. Within an hour of posting your observations you can view your record on the map. It gets you outside and looking up;-)
I just checked my posts for The Great Backyard Bird Count and what you submit is shown by lists (birders luv lists) and also a map. I looked at the lists and my records were much the same as everyone else's, except the morning I had over 100 gold finches at my feeders all at once, talk about a party. The cat flew in the door! It was interesting and wonderful see on the map how many people in Ontario that actually did participate in this count. Check it out even if you did not participate, it's fun and interesting, in a birders sort of way........

Healthy Lawns

Today I wrote about healthy lawns, look for it in the pages section in my side bar.

10:30-11:30 p.m.: Create incentives for students to go green - thestar.com

Even if our Federal Government does not see the value in Green, it's good to know that the up and coming University students do.
10:30-11:30 p.m.: Create incentives for students to go green - thestar.com

Hume: Privatizing not the answer - thestar.com

I love reading what Chistopher has to say and feel that this is something worth reading.

Hume: Privatizing not the answer - thestar.com

It's All About Water again

We have to protect our freshwater and it seems that our governments are not quite up to the job or they just don't get it. They are not doing enough and we need to take action on this right now or our children and grand children will suffer the consequences of our ignorance. This shames me because I was of a generation that was going to change the world. Instead we became a SUV driving, selfish 'me generation' instead of environmental friends I had hoped for.
What I don't get is, we have the largest resources of fresh water in the world

Ontario Headwaters Institute - Preserving Ontario's Headwaters

The OHI is a registered charity 'working to preserve the province's headwaters through education & community engagement'. This is a subject near and dear to me, you can read my post on 'Water - it's future & our Future' from my February 19th post on the subject.
The OHI is hosting seven Community Workshops on Preserving Ontario's Headwaters, it's free but registration is required in advance, just so they have enough chairs & coffee!
The seminar location that is closest to us here in Northumberland is taking place on Thursday March 25 at the Peterborough Public Library from 1 to 3 pm. It is being sponsored by Peterborough Green-up and the Otonabee Conservation Area.
This is important to us here in Northumberland because we do have so many aquifers, streams and wetlands flowing here in Northumberland. We are south of Peterborough and the water does flow south to our Great Lake Ontario from the north. If you drink water, cook with water or give water to your children, livestock, pets or friends you may be interested in this seminar.
Click Preserving Ontario's Headwaters to go to time and dates of the seminar.
Click Ontario Headwaters Institute to go to the home page of the OHI website.
The photo below is of the Ganaraska River at Sylvan Glen just north of Port Hope.
Cheers!

Vancouver Olympic Medal Bouquets

Those beautiful bouquets that were handed out to the medal winners at the Vancouver Winter Olympics were stunning and modern, no roses there, just a wonderful tight plethora of green. I found out from a friend just how truly wonderful these bouquets were, turns out they also had a hand in giving a hand to women in British Columbia who need a helping hand. I am copying here part of an article written by Amanda Ryder for Canadian Florist. Be sure to click on the video link at the end of the story.

Globe at Night

Tonight is the start of 'Globe at Night' 2 week campaign that records the brightness or darkness of our skies around the Globe.
Click: Sky & Telescope for article
and click Globe at Night to get started.
Go out with your kids tonight and have fun learning about our night skies, constellations & planets and turn off those outside lights unless you actually need them!!

Russian Space Objects for sale @ Waddington's

My brother just called and the auction I mentioned in a earlier post is getting lots of attention in the media. Today Sean fielded calls from The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Ottawa Citizen, CBC, Global TV, CTV news, Breakfast television (what is that?), NBC, Discovery Channel and NASA. Some Scientist from NASA was so excited about the items for sale and was eager to share that these items had never been seen in the west before. He also was able to fill in the blanks for Sean concerning some items. This would have helped Sean a month ago when he was writing the catalogue and then he would not have had to ask his sister to help him research and with some descriptions. Oh well, then his sister would have never learned about the Russian Space programme!! He is exhausted, he spent most of the day on the phone talking to someone about the Russian objects. Some one even told him it is in all the Russian newspapers and told him how his name would be translated so he could look up the articles online and see it for himself. What a hoot. So tomorrow he is in for Breakfast television interviews, then other television interviews all day. He is nervous, hates being in front of the tv camera (he has done Antiques Roadshow) and is not looking forward to it. Just ride it out Sean, it will be over at the end of the month.
So go to Waddington's online and check this stuff out.

Getting Ready for Spring

Now that I have my seeds in hand it is time to start some of them and I am looking forward to this process.
Yesterday I took a walk around the yard to look at the trees and shrubs on my property. Now is the perfect time to look at your woody plants to decide on shape and other pruning methods you wish to employ later. Most woody plants were put in last year by me, but some were here when I bought the property. You have to excuse my prejudices against the use of some trees and shrubs. One prejudice of mine is the Colorado Blue Spruce and I have one.

'The Belt of Venus' & 'Globe At Night'

The wonderful phenomenon named The Belt of Venus occurs at the end of the day, when the earth casts it's shadow on the horizon.
Read about it in Sky & Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/stargazing/84903812.html
Also,  in Sky & Telescope is another great article about the loss of dark skies and the growth of light pollution. The say it is one of the easiest problems to address on a local level. I wish I could do more without being rude to my neighbours who all (including the Church across the street) leave their lights on all night. What a waste of energy and they all could save money by either putting in motion lights or just turning out those lights.
If you like to participate in recording the brightness of your night sky read Get Ready for "Globe at Night'.
I am up for this!