NEWS, GARDEN MUSINGS & ECO-FRIENDLY GARDENING TIPS
Make Your Own Herb Salt
Make your own herb salt and you’ll never have to wait for an occasion special enough to dip into such a costly condiment. Read how Karen Bussolini makes fast and easy herb salt with cheap, organic herbs that she grows herself.
Encourage Self-Sowing Plants to Go Forth and Multiply
Fertile, self-sowing, open-pollinated plants are full of genetic diversity and food for pollinators. They often charmingly appear in places we’d never think to plant them.
A Perennially Changing Garden
I love the way everything about my sunny sideyard garden changes throughout the growing season. And I love the act of artful (and occasionally ruthless) tweaking.
Reduce Artificial Light at Night
Moths are drawn to light. They exhaust themselves flying toward strong security lights and die or get picked off by predators (bats, birds, rats, mice). More than 60% of invertebrates are nocturnal. The Xerces Society’s advice on being thoughtful about night lighting to help fireflies helps a lot of insects - and saves energy too.
Which Native Plants Support the Most Life?
How do we support resilient local food webs? Entomologist Doug Tallamy notes that caterpillars transfer energy into the food web better than anything else, so we need to increase their numbers. Dr. Tallamy's research shows that some native plants are more ecologically productive too, that 5% of our native plants make 75% of the food that drives food webs.
Restoring Insects to Our Landscapes – Every Yard Counts
Curiosity about how things really work in nature led me to world of environmental scientists who deal in facts, not just feelings. The more I learn from them, the more I know that what we do at home makes a difference (positive or negative) and that every yard counts. Entomologist Doug Tallamy has given substance and urgency to the importance of restoring insects to our landscapes. He speaks eloquently on “Restoring the Little Things That Run the World” (i.e. insects).
