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Living Green
When packing and sending holiday gifts, a few simple practices will help you reduce waste and save money. Reuse your bubble wrap and packing peanuts if you have them, or create waste free filler by running paper shopping bags through a strip-cut shredder to create long strips that will cushion your gifts and then can be easily reused or recycled. You can also shred your 2009 calendar pages or old catalogs and phonebooks.

Second Chance Garland: This idea is easy enough for kids to complete after you’ve made the initial cuts. Make rings with a sharp box cutter by cutting cardboard tubes (from paper towels, TP, or gift wrap) into one inch sections. Poke holes in the rings using a sturdy large-eye needle or nail and thread with ribbon. Place one ring inside the other and run the string through each ring leaving a space between each ring to get the desired length.

By Thomas J. Lee

Mulching is a simple, water and labor saving addition to any garden whether it be a vegetable garden or your perennial bed. It will prevent your garden from drying out too fast, thus reducing the water it needs, and will prevent weeds from consuming your garden. Mulching is replicating the graceful process of nature in the fall, where the trees lay a fresh blanket of leaves to cover and protect the soil. One can mulch an existing flowerbed, a vegetable garden, or an area that will remain fallow for the season to help build the soil.

Two basic types are mulching as a top dressing, and sheet mulching. Mulching as a top dressing is an excellent way to add nutrients to your soil and give the ground a nice even appearance. Sheet mulching makes a thicker layer and is a good way to block out weeds and build new layers of soil. Both are easy to do and are very beneficial for the health of your garden soil.

How Much one might ask, well I’ll tell you just how to mulch. What you will need; compost (such as Bumpercrop or Black Forest compost) newspaper or cardboard, and straw, or grass clippings.

MULCHING AS A TOP DRESSING

1.) Simply spread some compost, or decomposed forest humus on the ground.
If you have plants already planted surround the base of the plant with compost.

SHEET MULCHING

Begin by laying out your newspaper or cardboard over the surface of your garden. Cover the garden with a nice solid layer of paper, this is designed to block out any weeds from growing. (You can wet the paper as you lay it down to help it stay in place.
Then add an even layer of compost on top of the paper. This will provide organic nutrients and help hold the paper down.
Finally add a layer of straw on top of the compost. This will help retain moisture and give the ground a nice even appearance.
This method of sheet mulching can be repeated on otherwise poor soil to build it up. Earthworms will come eat the mulch and deposit fresh castings, which are great for any garden!