Connecting with nature

Are there fewer pollinators and other insects this year in your yard?

Many of us in T County and across N. America, have noticed this. Habitat loss, we all said, and chemicals. Too true! From Science Daily.com, 2 September '20. Talk with your neighbors ... Food-web threats from common insecticides North Carolina State University: Researchers have argued for curbing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides. In light of emerging evidence showing how a commonly used class of insecticides can spread through the environment to pollinators, predators and other insects they are not intended to kill, researchers are warning about the potential for widespread environmental contamination. In an opinion in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from North Carolina State University and Pennsylvania State University argued for curbing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides by discontinuing the practice of applying them preventively on crop seeds, since the practice is in wide use in the United States and has been found in one study to benefit a small fraction of crop fields. They argue that reducing this and other common [...]

By |2020-09-10T14:31:58-04:00September 4th, 2020|Categories: Connecting with nature|
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Should we send our garbage to another community or keep it here? The county commissioners will probably decide this in October. Ask candidates this Thursday at the forum!

This is a call to action! As you know, John and I create about 1 bag of trash a year.  This is our third year accomplishing that and it has changed our life.  It has changed the way we eat, the amount of stuff we buy, and made us rethink any purchase we do make.  A lot of this was possible because we learned how to divert our food scraps from the landfill.  It reduced about 40% of our trash and others have shared they have experienced the same impact on their waste stream. I recently received a campaign email from two county commission candidates and asked about the landfill decision.  This is what I was sent in response: There will be a county commissioners workshop at 4pm on September 2 to receive a comprehensive report on the question of opening a new cell at the Landfill. No action will be taken that day but commissioners will have to make a decision fairly soon, probably in October. I [...]

By |2020-08-24T11:36:33-04:00August 24th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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Eating Consciously Podcast: Systemic racism and how I participate

John and I have decided we need to learn how we support systemic racism.  We decided to start by looking at our food choices and that led us to ask a team of individuals in our community if they would help us learn about the impact of our food choices have on others.  We also asked if they could guide us based on their expertise.  Thus started the project Eating Consciously. We decided to start a podcast with the project as a way to bring people closer together in our socially-distanced world.  This is the second episode of the podcast and it goes over an hour.  I interviewed Naeema Muhummad of the NC Environmental Justice Network.  It was a tough interview to do.  The stories she tells, and there are many, are hard to hear.  Every part of the interview touched me and it made it difficult to cut out parts of the conversation.  It is well worth a listen, in my humble opinion. Naeema invited us [...]

By |2020-09-10T15:41:32-04:00August 21st, 2020|Categories: Connecting with nature, Eating Consciously, Essential workers, Food, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Podcast|
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PREP for the end August potting party for fall veg give-aways!

First - are you starting extra fall veggies for us to give away, in cooperation with Hunger Coalition, in Rosman and Brevard? Or do you know people who will give us starts? Ask soon! Here's a learning option, if you are undecided to take on the fall garden ... Online Seminar:Keep Your Vegetable Garden Growing into the Fall Saturday, August 15, 2020, 10 a.m. to noon by Master Gardener ℠ Volunteers of Buncombe County Presenter: Alan Wagner, Buncombe Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer Vegetable gardening does not have to end in September. You can plant a fall garden and extend your growing season with a second harvest into the fall/winter. Photography ulrich22/Shutterstock Click here for full details and to register on Eventbrite for this free program.

By |2020-08-09T15:16:03-04:00August 7th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Eating Consciously|
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Pig Bucket

Susan Lefler shared this dear story of the pig bucket and using food scraps.  Thanks Susan for sharing. Since “plague” is now a constant theme in our lives, it’s seems logical to begin my pig feeding history with my childhood in North Carolina before polio vaccine was available. People were vaccinated against small pox and so polio had become the scourge and fear for families. I have not double-checked to see if polio outbreaks were seasonal, but I remember the drama occurring in the summer. My parents were both employed by the UNC Chapel Hill, my mother as a reference librarian, my dad as head of the university’s Audio Visual Bureau. When they had to make a work-related trip anywhere that might attract crowds (I especially remember Cherokee being one), I spent the time with my mother’s parents who farmed in Rockingham County near Reidsville, NC. In addition to necessary trips, since my parents worked full time, I often spent weeks in the summer on the farm. Although [...]

By |2020-07-27T09:24:58-04:00July 27th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Connecting with nature, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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Eating Consciously Podcast! Enjoy our first episode with Evan Parker

Help us celebrate as we kick off our first podcast!  We have started a new project called Eating Consciously and we are kicking it off by releasing our first podcast.  Our first guest is Evan Parker and he is a member of the Eating Consciously team that is helping us learn the impact our food choices have on others.  We really enjoyed the conversation with Evan and look forward to many more.  Thanks Evan! This Podcast, Eating Consciously was recorded July 5, 2020.  Evan Parker was interviewed by Kim Coram and John Wiseman.  We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.  

By |2020-07-06T15:34:20-04:00July 6th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Eating Consciously, Evan Parker, Growing food, Podcast, Use Food Scraps|
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Family fun and education

With social distancing being our new normal and having our grandchildren for 7 days we have taken this opportunity to teach them a few things in between their online schooling. We worked with them as we planted potatoes, asparagus, onions, and rhubarb.  We have a trail in our yard and they have hiked and biked it and recently we took them rock climbing for the first time on a small ledge in our yard.  We live on the continental divide and it is a wondrous place.  It backs up to Mountain Bridge Wilderness and it is wild. They have learned to make homemade noodles and pizza in our wood-fired pizza oven.  It is a joy to mentor them and spend time with them. We have also spent a lot of time on the phone checking in on neighbors and family.  It is nice to have conversations instead of text and emails, which we get occasionally when we drive to wifi access. I am deeply touched by the amount [...]

By |2020-03-24T15:00:58-04:00March 24th, 2020|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste|
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Family-friendly Moving to Zero-waste series announced at the Cedar Mountain Canteen

We are super excited to announce our family-friendly moving to zero-waste series with education for children provided by Pisgah Collective.  You can see the details here:  https://movingtoconservers.com/event/join-us-for-a-family-friendly-potluck-gathering-at-the-cedar-mountain-canteen/

By |2020-03-02T12:48:47-05:00March 2nd, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste|
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Not everything should be convenient

A friend recently mentioned a book she read, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I have made a goal to read more so I went to the library and checked it out. Robin is a scientist, a Distinguished Teaching Professional of Environmental Biology and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The book compares the scientific communities views on biology to those of her nation. It talks about the community between plants and humans and how they have evolved. It talks about the honor and gratitude they have for each other. She talks about going out in the Spring to harvest leeks. She uses a hand trowel instead of a shovel. While a shovel would make quick work of the harvest it would also shorten her time in the woods. She says, “Not everything should be convenient.” Indeed. In our convenience economy that is a soothing message to hear, more as a form of reinforcement than a new message for me. My husband John and I have changed [...]

By |2019-10-07T14:10:23-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|
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Rise and Shine hiking club

Connecting children to nature has been proven to improve their health and quality of life. The first time I heard universities were doing studies to see if children benefited from being in nature I was floored. I was in a meeting once with a group of MD’s who were reviewing the study. I told them I had been doing that study for years by taking children into the woods and such. The impact was obvious immediately to me. John and I spend a lot of time outside and we absolutely love sharing those experiences with youth. We have helped organize a hiking club at Rise and Shine for the school year and welcome those who would like to help us hike with the scholars. We hike most Fridays from 3:30 – 6 pm. If you would like to be on the notification list of hiking opportunities, please email us at [email protected] and let us know.

By |2019-10-07T16:26:48-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Help a Neighbor|
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