Al Homer, of the Hopi tribe from Arizona,  symbolically supports the Zapatista tribe of Mexico with his bandana covered face during  his trip across America. 

A few days ago, I came across a band of people walking down the Blue Ridge Pakway toward Blowing Rock, NC.  Some were sporting bandanas others waving flags.  I met them again on Hwy 321 near Boone.  Intuitively, I knew that they were marching for a cause and just had to find out about their mission.  Al Homer, kindly and graciously stopped to  fill me in on the details as speedy cars rushed by  to destinations unknown.   He told me that they are "THE PEOPLE" represented here by Hopi, Ootham, Dine, & Warm Springs tribes as well as representation from Switzerland.  Their trek began in San Francisco on February 11th for a 5 month, 4,400 mile walk across the country ending in Washington D.C. on July 11th.  Mr. Homer's  group is not the only one making this trip.  "There are other groups taking different routes representing different tribes and countries" all heading to one place -  America's heartbeat.  Here "The People" will converge presenting a manefesto of their concerns to our leaders urging them to recognize the issues that Native Ameicans face such as health issues, protecting sacred lands, soverignty and justice.  Mr. Homer also states that  our environment and "saving our Earth and its beautiful places like this area around the Blue Ridge" is of priority. 

We can learn so much from the native peoples who lived and current generations  who continue to live in harmony with nature. Leaders and laymen, let's listen to what they say, learn from them and spread the news!  

Have a safe trip, Al Homer and friends, I am glad you passed this way. Thank you for what you all are doing.  May you have success in this journey.  Let's hope we meet again!  ~nl 6/08 

One of my new garden clients said to me, “It’s like I’m going to have my own tree hugger.  I’m excited to be learning from you.”  I laughed and thought, “So me and my kind are actually in vogue now.”

I explained to him, how instead you getting rid of the old leaves, we would use all of them on his newly planted vegetable garden in the pathways, to limit weeds, and retain moisture.  It would also save him money on mulch or labor for weeding time.  We planted a vegetable garden for a shady garden, lots of greens and cool weather plants.  The family was intrigued and excited by their growth.  Getting back to growing some of one’s own food is a powerful connection to our earth and ourselves.

It is all about knowing nature, building a relationship with nature, and knowing what plants like for optimal growth.  It’s also about creating full circle systems…the dead (grass, leaves…) becomes new life as we turn it into compost.

My newly converted client was also surprised when I said we would not be buying one of those $250 compost tumblers.  Instead, a simple ordinary trash can with its bottom cut off would do just fine.  There are things to spend money on in a garden.  Good quality Compost is at the top of my list (which means compost delivered by truck not the sterilized kinds in bags).  Good soil is everything in a garden.

On the days I  feel hope for our precious little planet I think about the helpful, changes we are making, the discussions I hear people having, the awareness that seems to be growing.  On the days I don’t feel much hope I see the latest, greatest “Green” item that is making someone money and luring unknowing consumers into yet another purchase that costs more energy to make and get rid of than you actually gain from using it.

One of the simple things we all can think about is, “Energy in and Energy out”  meaning how much energy did it take to make the product, what actually went into making the item and what will happen at the end of the products life—the energy out?  Will the product just end up in a landfill?

Cooling the planet down means taking responsibility for our actions, our desires, and the products we use.  So what are you going to do today, this month, this year to help cool our planet, and enable a healthier equilibrium to be established?

Jasmine ShoShanna
Jasmine’s Gardens and Landscaping
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828-297-4677


The best quality compost was at www.rockwaterfarms.com .  But that is another story, one without a happy middle…

Charles Church also sells decent compost  828-265-7279

Thank you Jasmine for this report.  You are cherished in this world and we are grateful that you are here to help teach us how to nurture  the Earth and enjoy her bounty! ~nl 6/08 

 The 3rd Grade’s Garden at Two Rivers Community School Results in a Great Meal.

Kids like dirt.  Most of the time, kids and dirt together mean burying treasure or digging tunnels for toy cars or, on a bad day, throwing it at each other.  Generally, dirt has no place in a school.  But the third graders in April Hill’s class at Two Rivers Community Charter School  do a lot more than just play around in the dirt; they are growing a garden in it.

“We have planted lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet peppers, regular peppers and some other stuff,” said Calvin Keener, one of Mrs. April’s students. “We also had a worm bin where we put newspaper and compost.  The worms in the bin eat that stuff.  They poop it and it makes a very rich soil for planting.  It’s called Black Gold.”  That’s some interesting dirt!

The last week of the 2007-2008 school year, the third graders put 
their dirt and their garden to work and hosted some of their favorite adults at an annual Salad Garden Café.  The menu included pesto pasta, salsa, salad, and zucchini bread.  Best of all, all the recipes included food the kids grew themselves.  The children spent the morning before Café preparing the food, with just a little help from some grown-up volunteers.  All in a day’s work at Two Rivers, here, the third graders tend the garden in the warmer months and prepare two meals a year for themselves and guests.  One meal, TheHarvest Meal, happens in the Fall when the Third Grade harvests the garden which has grown during the summer break and was planted by the previous year’s third grade.  In the spring, the new class plants again, and enjoys the earlier fruits of their labor before the summer break at the Salad Garden Cafe.

Mrs. April uses the garden throughout her curriculum.   The garden  and the curriculum surrounding it are part of Two River’s approach to learning in which teachers challenge students in long-term “real world” investigations.  Students then present what they’ve learned in public.  Called Expeditionary Learning, this approach was developed by educator Kurt Hahn.  Hahn is also the founder of Outward Bound. For example, this spring, the Third Graders focused largely on plants.  Not only were plants what they studied in science, which would be an obvious place for a teacher to discuss plants, but plants were also the jumping off point for writing, stories, history, math problems and other classroom exercises.They talked about everything from nutrition to Thomas
Jefferson’s interest in agriculture.  At the Salad Garden Café, invited adults were treated to great food and then some.  The students also performed two pieces of reader’s theatre, one about naturalist John Muir and tne about past scientists who studied plants.  They had also published a book titled, Diary of a Plant, which they could give to someone special. And in order to get more plants growing, everyone got a bag of Black Gold to take home with them.

More information:
Located on Archie Carroll Road just outside Boone, Two Rivers Community School is a North Carolina Public Charter school which opened in the 2005-2006 school year and serves students from several High Country counties.   It is part of the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Network.

 Map showing Helium-3 on the moon

 Out of this world news...Mining helium-3 from the Earth's moon is looking like a possibility in the VERY near future. Helium-3 is more prevelant on the moon than on the Earth and could be a new resource for powering our ever escalating demand for, well, POWER!  There is a ton of chatter on-line about it so check it out for yourself and see what conclsion you draw from it all.  It can make you dizzy, very dizzy, so be prepared. Hmmm, got to wonder about the effects of this mining and, if nothing else, our view of the MAN ON THE MOON (yes there was a hint of sarcasm to that!) ~nl  6/08