Grow Earth-friendly, tasty veggies
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7/9/10
9:06 AM
Page 1
Home
HOME-SELLING TIP
Handling renegotiation If a buyer is attempting to renegotiate the terms of the sale, ask yourself a few questions: How far will you go to keep the sale together? What will you bend on? Know your priorities and be willing to make small concessions to achieve bigger goals. — Trulia, trulia.com
DID YOU KNOW? Hard water can affect how well your dishwasher cleans. To determine the hardness of your water, contact your water company.
HOME HELP IMPROVEMENTS
Is a skylight right for you? Skylights can improve energy efficiency, brighten low-light spaces and provide much-needed dimension to a wide variety of rooms. ■ Skylights that face north usually provide steady illumination without absorbing or releasing too much heat. Those that face south will provide extra heat in the winter to reduce heating bills but may retain extra heat in the summer. East-facing skylights provide the most light and heat in the mornings, while west-facing installations do the same later in the day. ■ Add a blind or shade to your skylight to reduce undesirable heat during the summer. ■ Heat-absorbing tints, UV protection and lowemissivity coatings increase energy efficiency and reduce fading in carpeting and furniture. — Home Depot
Look for organic products when planting your vegetable garden. ARA PHOTOS
Grow Earth-friendly, tasty veggies
WIKIMEDIA
BACKYARD BUDDIES
Donate your old binoculars If you've upgraded your binoculars for bird-watching, you might wonder what to do with the old ones. Many birders keep their old optics on a closet shelf just in case anything happens to their new ones, but if your old optics are in usable condition, you may want to put them to work. Donate your old optics to a local nature center or birding club, or to an organization such as the American Birding Association's Birder's Exchange, or to Optics for the Tropics. Both organizations send binoculars to researchers and educators in Latin America and the Caribbean. Information about Birder's Exchange is on the ABA website at www.americanbirding.org/bex, and about Optics for the Tropics at www.opticsforthetropics.org. — www.allaboutbirds.org
How to create a greener garden here was a time when it was the norm to go out in the yard and pull fresh vegetables up from the soil. At some point over the years, we moved from the goodness of homegrown vegetables toward processed foods and microwave dinners. Now consumers are becoming more aware of the financial value of growing their own vegetables, and how doing so can bolster the health of their families and of the Earth. Vegetable gardening might sound intimidating, but new methods can make your thumb greener than ever. Combined with good old-fashioned growing techniques, your garden can be healthy and yield a good crop with less effort than you'd imagine — all while being ecofriendly. Here are some tips for a garden that is doubly green:
T
1
Water, water everywhere, but not too much A fine balance needs to be struck
when it comes to watering your vegetable garden, especially during drought conditions. You want your plants to get adequate moisture, but overwatering can be bad for plants and a wasteful use of a precious natural resource. Because it's better for both your crops and the environment, careful water usage is essential to being a truly green gardener. Installing an irrigation system is a good way to keep water usage at the ideal levels. Plus, you don't have to plan a schedule around when you need to water. There are user-friendly, affordable kits that connect to your outdoor spigot. Timers can also make the job of watering even easier. Keep in mind that it's best to water in the early morning, when the sun is lower in the sky, for 30 to 60 minutes, every other day.
2
One man's garbage is another's fertilizer Ever feel guilty about throwing
out vegetable and fruit peelings, rinds or scraps? Your intuition might just be telling you that there's a better way to handle those leftovers. Composting is a great way to make use of organic matter that might otherwise just get thrown away. Building a compost heap is relatively easy, and it will keep on giving back to your garden and the environment. The four necessary ingredients for composting, according to California's "CalRecycle" program, are nitrogen (from sources like grass clippings or those throwaway veggie scraps), carbon (from sources like sawdust or twigs), water and air. Once your compost is at the ideal level of decomposition (it will be uniformly dark brown and crumbly), spread it on your garden to give plants a nutrient boost.
An irrigation system set on a timer will keep you from wasting water in your garden.
3
Get growing — organically From the
moment you start planning a garden, think organic. The most basic — and fun — choice of all is deciding which plants you'll grow. Choose organic seeds and starters so that you know you're buying into an ecofriendly business venture. There's the added bonus of knowing that your plants won't be tainted with harmful chemicals. When it comes to maintaining your garden, you'll probably need things other than just compost. Look for products that are recognized as organic by respected organizations like the USDA or the Organic Materials Review Institute; you'll be able to find an ever-growing supply of products like pest repellent or soil amendments. — ARA
HOW TO
Hold a successful garage sale Garage sales are a great opportunity to make some extra cash, pass along unwanted treasures or simply create a social gathering for neighbors and friends. Here are a couple of tips: Time it right Plan around community events so you don't have to compete. Coordinate with neighbors to organize street-wide sales. Be inviting, but cautious
Greet guests as they arrive. Always monitor shoppers and keep an eye on higherpriced items, especially if they're placed near the road. — First Alert
Humidity, dampness can lead to plant fungus umidity makes heat seem hotter. There’s nothing good about it. The warmth plus dampness from rainfall and our watering are ideal for fungal plant diseases inside and outside your house. These range from the nearly harmless powdery mildew on leaves to severe blights, the killers that can wipe out your grass, roses and ornamental and fruit trees. I’ve read where watering in the evening is best. It makes sense that less water will evaporate than watering in the morning. The bad part of this is that by watering just before dark, you ensure the plant will be wet all night, a perfect harbor for fungi. You can cut down on this by watering earlier. The plants should
H
JIM HILLIBISH be dry come sundown. Circulating air helps dry plants before fungus takes hold. Leaving space between plants helps to take advantage of the circulating air. Most of us have perennial rye grass in our lawns. Watering at night is an invitation to pythium blight. It can kill all of the rye in your yard in a night or two. Check your yard in the early
morning dew. The blight looks like white cotton fibers laying on top of the grass. You’ll most likely see it start near pavement where the water collects. These blights are controllable with fungicides, but you can limit their spread by watering earlier. Mulches often arrive infected with fungus and one especially bothersome critter. Ever see brown specks on your siding and windows? If you mulched nearby, it is shotgun fungus at work. You can limit mulch fungi by mulching less. The layer-uponlayer of mulch over the years helps breed fungus. If you have it, skip every other year. Also, rake your mulch occasionally. This adds air, the fungal enemy. Fire blight attacks our roses and
ornamental and fruit trees. Its name comes from the damage to leaves. They turn bright red and soon die. In early summer, you may see oozing cankers on roses, hawthorns, ashes, cotoneasters and other plants. This is filled with the bacteria that causes fire blight. It can spread to other plants simply by rubbing with its neighbor. There is no control. The best defense is to prune the affected branches. These still can spread the disease, so dispose of them immediately. Jim Hillibish writes for The Repository in Canton, Ohio. Contact him at [email protected].
7/9/10
9:06 AM
Page 1
Home
HOME-SELLING TIP
Handling renegotiation If a buyer is attempting to renegotiate the terms of the sale, ask yourself a few questions: How far will you go to keep the sale together? What will you bend on? Know your priorities and be willing to make small concessions to achieve bigger goals. — Trulia, trulia.com
DID YOU KNOW? Hard water can affect how well your dishwasher cleans. To determine the hardness of your water, contact your water company.
HOME HELP IMPROVEMENTS
Is a skylight right for you? Skylights can improve energy efficiency, brighten low-light spaces and provide much-needed dimension to a wide variety of rooms. ■ Skylights that face north usually provide steady illumination without absorbing or releasing too much heat. Those that face south will provide extra heat in the winter to reduce heating bills but may retain extra heat in the summer. East-facing skylights provide the most light and heat in the mornings, while west-facing installations do the same later in the day. ■ Add a blind or shade to your skylight to reduce undesirable heat during the summer. ■ Heat-absorbing tints, UV protection and lowemissivity coatings increase energy efficiency and reduce fading in carpeting and furniture. — Home Depot
Look for organic products when planting your vegetable garden. ARA PHOTOS
Grow Earth-friendly, tasty veggies
WIKIMEDIA
BACKYARD BUDDIES
Donate your old binoculars If you've upgraded your binoculars for bird-watching, you might wonder what to do with the old ones. Many birders keep their old optics on a closet shelf just in case anything happens to their new ones, but if your old optics are in usable condition, you may want to put them to work. Donate your old optics to a local nature center or birding club, or to an organization such as the American Birding Association's Birder's Exchange, or to Optics for the Tropics. Both organizations send binoculars to researchers and educators in Latin America and the Caribbean. Information about Birder's Exchange is on the ABA website at www.americanbirding.org/bex, and about Optics for the Tropics at www.opticsforthetropics.org. — www.allaboutbirds.org
How to create a greener garden here was a time when it was the norm to go out in the yard and pull fresh vegetables up from the soil. At some point over the years, we moved from the goodness of homegrown vegetables toward processed foods and microwave dinners. Now consumers are becoming more aware of the financial value of growing their own vegetables, and how doing so can bolster the health of their families and of the Earth. Vegetable gardening might sound intimidating, but new methods can make your thumb greener than ever. Combined with good old-fashioned growing techniques, your garden can be healthy and yield a good crop with less effort than you'd imagine — all while being ecofriendly. Here are some tips for a garden that is doubly green:
T
1
Water, water everywhere, but not too much A fine balance needs to be struck
when it comes to watering your vegetable garden, especially during drought conditions. You want your plants to get adequate moisture, but overwatering can be bad for plants and a wasteful use of a precious natural resource. Because it's better for both your crops and the environment, careful water usage is essential to being a truly green gardener. Installing an irrigation system is a good way to keep water usage at the ideal levels. Plus, you don't have to plan a schedule around when you need to water. There are user-friendly, affordable kits that connect to your outdoor spigot. Timers can also make the job of watering even easier. Keep in mind that it's best to water in the early morning, when the sun is lower in the sky, for 30 to 60 minutes, every other day.
2
One man's garbage is another's fertilizer Ever feel guilty about throwing
out vegetable and fruit peelings, rinds or scraps? Your intuition might just be telling you that there's a better way to handle those leftovers. Composting is a great way to make use of organic matter that might otherwise just get thrown away. Building a compost heap is relatively easy, and it will keep on giving back to your garden and the environment. The four necessary ingredients for composting, according to California's "CalRecycle" program, are nitrogen (from sources like grass clippings or those throwaway veggie scraps), carbon (from sources like sawdust or twigs), water and air. Once your compost is at the ideal level of decomposition (it will be uniformly dark brown and crumbly), spread it on your garden to give plants a nutrient boost.
An irrigation system set on a timer will keep you from wasting water in your garden.
3
Get growing — organically From the
moment you start planning a garden, think organic. The most basic — and fun — choice of all is deciding which plants you'll grow. Choose organic seeds and starters so that you know you're buying into an ecofriendly business venture. There's the added bonus of knowing that your plants won't be tainted with harmful chemicals. When it comes to maintaining your garden, you'll probably need things other than just compost. Look for products that are recognized as organic by respected organizations like the USDA or the Organic Materials Review Institute; you'll be able to find an ever-growing supply of products like pest repellent or soil amendments. — ARA
HOW TO
Hold a successful garage sale Garage sales are a great opportunity to make some extra cash, pass along unwanted treasures or simply create a social gathering for neighbors and friends. Here are a couple of tips: Time it right Plan around community events so you don't have to compete. Coordinate with neighbors to organize street-wide sales. Be inviting, but cautious
Greet guests as they arrive. Always monitor shoppers and keep an eye on higherpriced items, especially if they're placed near the road. — First Alert
Humidity, dampness can lead to plant fungus umidity makes heat seem hotter. There’s nothing good about it. The warmth plus dampness from rainfall and our watering are ideal for fungal plant diseases inside and outside your house. These range from the nearly harmless powdery mildew on leaves to severe blights, the killers that can wipe out your grass, roses and ornamental and fruit trees. I’ve read where watering in the evening is best. It makes sense that less water will evaporate than watering in the morning. The bad part of this is that by watering just before dark, you ensure the plant will be wet all night, a perfect harbor for fungi. You can cut down on this by watering earlier. The plants should
H
JIM HILLIBISH be dry come sundown. Circulating air helps dry plants before fungus takes hold. Leaving space between plants helps to take advantage of the circulating air. Most of us have perennial rye grass in our lawns. Watering at night is an invitation to pythium blight. It can kill all of the rye in your yard in a night or two. Check your yard in the early
morning dew. The blight looks like white cotton fibers laying on top of the grass. You’ll most likely see it start near pavement where the water collects. These blights are controllable with fungicides, but you can limit their spread by watering earlier. Mulches often arrive infected with fungus and one especially bothersome critter. Ever see brown specks on your siding and windows? If you mulched nearby, it is shotgun fungus at work. You can limit mulch fungi by mulching less. The layer-uponlayer of mulch over the years helps breed fungus. If you have it, skip every other year. Also, rake your mulch occasionally. This adds air, the fungal enemy. Fire blight attacks our roses and
ornamental and fruit trees. Its name comes from the damage to leaves. They turn bright red and soon die. In early summer, you may see oozing cankers on roses, hawthorns, ashes, cotoneasters and other plants. This is filled with the bacteria that causes fire blight. It can spread to other plants simply by rubbing with its neighbor. There is no control. The best defense is to prune the affected branches. These still can spread the disease, so dispose of them immediately. Jim Hillibish writes for The Repository in Canton, Ohio. Contact him at [email protected].
