May 1st. May Day. Beltane. Not much celebrated in the western world after the mid 20th century because Soviet Russia aka USSR used it for military parades. Remember those photographs of missiles and tanks rumbling down Main Street Moscow? That was the May Day Parade. The Novelist and Poet Margaret Atwood used it as a…
A real life example. An entire community in England has rallied around this simple idea and changed their world. Take a moment and watch this.
You read Part I, you have your bin, now what? Time to assemble! What you need to get started that was not in the box with your bin. Newspaper for shredding and lining the bin. Eggshells A cup of finished compost or worm castings. Water A big tub or bucket to mix things in. Two cups of kitchen…
I know you want to start a worm bin and compost much of what you are currently landfilling. Earth Day is coming up and everyone wants to save the planet, so why haven’t you done it already? The barriers to getting started come down to four things: Time: Taking less than thirty minutes in the safety…
There is something which happens to us mid-January. Almost a form of insanity which creeps into our lives, specifically mine. The moment the first Seeds of Change catalog comes in the mail. The Winter ritual of perusing seed catalogs and planning of the beds begins. Dreaming of the perfect garden. Exotic vegetables, fruit, and berries filling…
I could barely sleep last night because of this. Manifesto alert, proceed at your own risk. Everything we post about here on Backyard Ecosystem. Everything underlying the movement toward greening our cites over the last several decades. The very title of the excellent book written by Erik and Kelly over at the blog formerly known as Homegrown…
Several years ago we acquired a shop-light with OTT fluorescent tubes to use for seed sprouting and growing seedlings. OTT lights were specifically developed to provide a more natural light spectrum and seemed like a good idea for seedlings. The fixture was incidentally installed next to the computer and was oftentimes my light source when I sat at the computer. I quickly realized sitting at…
Pictured above are four options, an open pile (with pitchfork in the foreground), a commercial bin (with a Nuc – a small beehive for swarm transport sitting on top), a leaf mould pile (behind the movable wooden fencing), and a plastic garbage can containing weed tea. If you want to buy or build a compost bin,…
Backyard Ecosystem began as an expression of my determination to make a difference in our own backyard. Literally and metaphorically making a difference at the micro level of my yard and to operate at macro level of treating the entire planet as something I am an integral part of and whose destiny is shaped everyday by what I do in my corner of the world.
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