The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) recently announced the country’s 11 most Walk Friendly Communities based on factors related to safety, mobility, access and comfort.
11 Most Walk-Friendly U.S. Cities
May 9, 2011 By 2 Comments
Soil pH Test at Home
May 9, 2011 By 1 Comment
The spring has come and you are excited to get growing! Eager to start, you buy some seeds or plants from your local nursery, and start reading up on how to care for them. Somewhere in your research, you learn that your plants are going to be happiest at a pH between 6 and 7. so what does that mean? Today we are going to talk about the seeming mysterious term: “pH”.
Are We Losing the Honey Bee?
May 7, 2011 By 2 Comments
Many environmentalists are preoccupied with proving that global warming isn’t a hoax, but there is another important issue to focus attention upon as well. It’s time to be concerned about the honey bee. The UN has noted serious collapses in populations across the world. Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa are all seeing honey bee numbers drop. It’s not a gentle downturn either. The falls are sudden and significant.
Vermont: Universal Health Care and State Distributed Cannabis
May 6, 2011 By 3 Comments
Lost this week amid the deafening cries for the bloody corpse of Osama bin Laden, is the fact that the state of Vermont has passed a single payer universal health care plan for all of its residents. On Thursday lawmakers in Vermont’s State House approved the final version of their universal health care bill on a 94-to-49 vote. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has stated that he will sign the bill into law.
In addition to accomplishing the gargantuan feat of providing a viable and affordable health care model for the entire country to emulate, this week Vermont’s lawmakers have also cleared the way for the enactment of the state-licensed distribution of medical marijuana.
Tender Young Fava Beans Feed Your Soil and Your Soul
May 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
Fava beans are a fantastic cool weather cover crop used to improve soils by many gardeners and farmers. But in my garden we grow them every year to eat them as a seasonal spring delicacy. We can hardly wait as we watch the pods getting bigger and bigger as the weather warms in the spring. The tender favas are wonderfully buttery — try them boiled for a few minutes, drain them and add a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and perhaps some lemon juice. My favorite way to eat them is to make a simple but delicious warm bean salad, just by adding fresh chopped tarragon from the garden, diced red onion and cooked baby potatoes.
