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The hard labor has begun for preparing a bountiful garden. By following detailed information gathered from many different sources, hopefully this garden will be very successful. Today, we tilled the garden for the third time to ensure it is easy enough to work with and began to weed because the ground was covered in grass and weeds. Because “pet” manure is not good for a garden or compost pile, we also have fenced the garden away from the dogs. Finally, the area for storage of final compost was prepared today by digging out an area 3 inches deep and layering it with limbs.

Some of the techniques planned for this garden are: Companion Planting, Composting, Natural Pest Control, and Pattern Planting. These are some topics that will be uncovered and discussed in later posts. Here are most of the items that will be planted in this garden:

• Bell Pepper
• Carrot
• Cucumber
• Green Beans
• Lettuce
• Onions (White, Red, & Green)
• Potatoes
• Radish
• Spinach
• Squash
• Tomatoes
• Brussel Sprouts

Some of the herbs planted that will also make good companions to the above-mentioned items are: Basil, Chervil, Chive, Dill, Fennel, Garlic, Kale, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Savory.

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It this time of greening and saving the environment I have come up with a plan. I want to hire an organic farmer to grow local, in season vegetables for our family. I can’t afford to hire a farmer alone so what I want to do is get a group of people from the surrounding area and we could all pitch in and hire an organic farmer. Now I’m not saying that I want the farmer to do all the work. I want to form a cooperative group that is led by the farmer, each person in the group would spend some time working and learning how to grow organically. By forming a group of people we could give encouragement to those who need it and gain motivation from others in the group. What we need in American agriculture is a complete culture change. I think one of the best ways to accomplish that would be with structured support from a farmer and from those that are in the group.

Eating from a local source is undeniably good for the environment and a way to reduce the stress on the planet. As a teacher for the past 10 years I have observed many students that don’t know anything about where their food comes from or the processes that it must go through in order to make it to their plates. We have become disconnected from our food and consequentially the planet. In order to be effective at achieving sustainability we must take ownership of our lives and reconnect with the planet and each other.

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I have over the years become more and more disappointed in books stores in general, now this is not really the fault of the bookstore. My tastes have become very specific and books stores generally cater to what is popular, so I rarely find much in the way of reading materials at the store and I resort to making most of my purchases online. About three days ago I had the opportunity to go to a Hastings book store located in a fairly large college town and was pleasantly surprised by the selection of books available. I was even more surprised to see that many of the books were used. It was GREAT, not only was the selection vastly improved but the books were being recycled. I was able to find two books to bring home at a very fair used price. I am very glad to see a company changing into a greener way of doing business and will be happy to do more business with them in the future.

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GeeksOk is always trying out new things, our latest endeavor is a calender called “Orchid Obsession” and was made with twelve unique pictures of orchids. My mom and dad were the first to receive copies of the calendar and they say it is as professional as any that they have ever seen. If you need a calendar and would like to help support our geek habits you can get the calendar from our Lulu.com store

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So I have started my forth year as an amateur beekeeper, My results have been less than sterling to say the least. For the past three years I have dutifully followed the manuals and sought the sage advice of other beekeepers and the bees have all bailed on me.

At the beginning of this year my hive was empty so I bought a well established hive from a friend who has consistently had success with his bees. In the process of preparing for delivery I opened the old hive and was pleasantly surprised to find what appears to be a swarm setting up shop in my recently vacated tenement. You may ask yourself why do I persist in trying to keep bees

Well, It doesn’t matter if I get honey from the bees, though it would be nice. What is important is the role bees play as pollinators. Hey, the way I see it is bees are in crisis and need our help, and it behooves us to help. It is very important to support bee populations and provide them with a healthy environment. I have seeded parts of my property with clover and vetch which helps build soil and give the bees some munchies. I would encourage everyone out there to do something for the bees.

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