David Coyote

Come join us in Niagara Falls Ontario Summer Solstice Gathering and meet your "Family" of fellow Light BEings. June 21, 22, 23 2002 Any day or all 3.

Garden
of Light

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~oOo~ GREEN THUMBS UP~oOo~
**************************


WELCOME------Green Thumbs Up is a saying myself and a few friends 
have started
using as a reminder of doing our part in saving OUR planet.
 ‘EVERY LITTER BIT HELPS’ is a
reminder on the trash cans here in many cities in Canada.

In the early 70’s while walking up Yonge St in Toronto I shared a 
candy bar with 
a good friend. The street was ankle deep in litter after a long 
weekend without the 
presence of street cleaners. I tossed the wrapper on to the street 
and my friend Ron picked 
it up and put it in a litter box.I said ‘Are ya nuts, the street is 
covered with garbage.’ 
Ron replied, ‘I might not be able to make this planet better, but I’m 
sure not gonna make it 
worse.’ I never forgot that and over the years have become more 
conscious of how each of 
us as individuals, and collectively as a group can really make a 
difference. It was a 
long time before I began using the recycle bin, but eventually I did 
and it feels good. 
Compost goes back into the soil, table scraps are put out for birds 
and animals and I use 
recycled materials wherever I can. I remind people to shut off their 
cars rather than 
idling and wasting gas and creating more pollution and I ride my 
bicycle when I can or walk 
to the store rather than using my motorcycle. So I am doing 
my ‘litter’ bit and that 
makes me feel good that I am helping OUR planet and wish to share 
with readers little 
tips and tricks and things we can do in helping heal our planet. FEEL 
FREE to share your 
ideas by e’mailing me at the link at page-end.

***ECOLOGY***

*THE IMPORTANCE OF HEMP*
************************

Quoting from Book 3 ‘Conversations with God’ by Neale Walsch.

 Trees take carbon dioxide out of the air, using the carbon portion 
of 
this atsmospheric gas to make carbohydrates--that is to grow. (Nearly 
everything of 
which a plant is made including roots, stems, leaves-even nuts and 
fruits which the tree 
bears--are carbohydrates.)

Meanwhile, the oxygen portion of this gas is released by the tree. It 
is the 
tree’s ‘waste matter.’

Human beings on the other hand, need oxygen to survive. Without trees 
to convert 
the carbon dioxide, which is plentiful in your atmoshpere, into 
oxygen--which is 
NOT-you as a species cannot survive.

You in turn release (breathe out) carbon dioxide, which the tree 
needs to 
survive. Do you see the balance?

Further on ......... On just one issue for instance. Why not grow 
hemp and use 
it to make paper? Do you have any idea of how many trees it takes 
just to supply your world 
with newspapers? To say nothing of paper cups, carry-out cartons, and 
paper towels?

Hemp can be grown inexpensively, and harvested easily, and used not 
only for 
making paper, but the strongest rope, and the longest lasting 
clothing and even some of 
the most effective medicines your planet can provide. In fact 
Cannabis can be planted so
inexpensively, and harvested so easily, and has so many wonderful 
uses, that 
there is a huge lobby working against it.

Too many would lose too much to allow the world to turn to this 
simple plant 
that can be grown almost anywhere.

This is just one example of how greed replaces common sense in the 
conduct of 
human affairs.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hemp grows wild in the area of Ontario I live in. I am not referring 
to 
Marijuana, which does not, as it is a tropical plant. Hemp contains 
such a tiny amount of the 
psychoactive drug that it is not classed as an illegal drug, but was 
still made illegal by 
the U.S. goverment and Canada followed suit soon after, back in the 
days of ‘Reefer 
Madness’. (A movie made about the dangers of Marijuana that was 
totally blown out of 
proportion).

Hemp ‘grows like a bad weed’ to coin an expression. The seed is a 
power-full 
food. Once the fibres have been removed the remains can be 
manufactured into a wonderful 
bedding for animals and in fact the Queen uses it for her horses and 
says it is the best 
bedding there is. Licenses have been issued for cultivation in Canada 
and after watching 
a documentary on a grower and processor of the plant, it gave me a 
good feeling to 
see such a prolific, useful and marvelous plant no longer being 
classed as a ‘criminal.’

I have researched Hemp on the Web and it’s use as a medicine goes 
back thousands 
of years. Marijuana is now legal with a doctor’s prescription for the 
use of it (In 
Canada) and it does wonders in relieving the nausea that comes with 
chemotherapy use and
science is ‘finding’ many new uses for it, which herbal ‘doctors’ of 
old have 
known of for thousands of years.

A search on Hemp or on Marijuana + Medicine will net thousands of 
sites with
information. I am not advocating the usage of a drug but I am for the 
use of 
Hemp--- and for Marijuana as a medicine.


GREEN THUMBS UP---- Feel Free to use this expression and share the 
site but 
please
FEEL FREE to help our planet.
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~RECYCLED TIRES IN THE GARDEN
*****************************

We have a large problem on this planet with so many Automoblile 
Tires. Some
are being ground up and used in manufactured products such as door 
mats. There are a
few things I know of that can make use of them.

Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers and such can be planted in *Tire Hills*. 
Place
the tire on the ground and fill it with soil and plant as you usually 
do. Push the soil into 
the tire cavity, cover it with a piece of dark green or black plastic 
and punch some 
holes through it for air and for the rain to get in. Garbage bags 
work great for this--tuck 
them into the tire cavity as well, cut an X in the plastic and plant 
your seeds or plants. No 
work and happy plants with warm “feet”. No need to dig the sod 
underneath but loosening
the soil helps to aerate it and loosen the soil for easy root growth.

POTATO TOWER
*************

-- Plant the same as above and as the plant grows add
another tire and more soil. (acidic soil for potatoes)
 Keep adding more tires till the plant flowers.
When ready to harvest remove the tires one at a time or tip the whole 
thing over. You
will be amazed at the amount of potatoes one plant can grow. Saves 
garden space and
though you will soon ‘tire’ of the jokes from your friends you will 
be helping the 
planet and have a great conversation piece as well. Tires can be 
painted with exterior paint. Be
imaginative and use different colours for striped towers or use a 
colour that
blends with the garden.

COMPOST BIN
***********

--As with the Potato Tower above just keep adding tires and
compost. A gabarge can lid or a circular piece of plywood for a top 
makes it look nice and
keep the critters out. The heat from the tires warming in the sun 
assists the composting
process and if you wish to turn the compost pile it’s a simple matter 
to tip it over and
rebuild it.

DECORATIVE FLOWER BEDS
***********************

-- Many folks cut the rim into fancy shapes and
paint tires with exterior paint. I have never cut them but used them 
as a base for a
raised flower bed, painting them and adding rocks, driftwood, bark 
etc. Use your
imagination--rocks can be placed around the outside to make a 
beautiful circular rock garden. Use
black plastic as explained above to eliminate weeding.

Everytime we recycle or reuse something we are helping our planet and 
there is a
bonus.
That bonus is the good feeling from helping instead of making things 
worse. Also
it saves money and the gas and time going to the store and standing 
in line. If you have 
a good
recycling tip send it in and I will post it.
*********************************************

*POPCORN PACKING*
******************* 

Is your business using Foam Packing Chips?
***************--Would you like to save money and help our Planet?
***************--POPCORN-biodegradable packing product-& tasty too.
A few years back I read of a company looking for an alternative to 
foam packing
that was biodegradable and the equivalent price of Foam Chips which 
are
expensive and last for thousands of years. This company shipped 
delicate
instruments and used many thousands of dollars a year of this 'stuff' 
and the
owner being conscious of helping our Planet checked it out. After 
discovering it
worked as well or better than foam chips he purchased a Popcorn 
Machine,
bought Popping Corn in bulk and placed it in the shipping room. He 
saved a lot 
of $$$$$$$$, the factory smelled nice and the employees got to eat 
all the Popcorn
they wanted.(low calorie without butter, and high fibre) He put a 
little note on 
each parcel asking the customers receiving the product to put it out 
as compost or 
use it as mulch in flower and vegetable gardens. He got reports back 
that some birds
and squirrels really enjoyed it and as the boxes were clean he 
occasionally saw
his employess munching it. So, to his note he added that his 
employees now
wore plastic gloves when packing and the boxes were new and the items 
packed
in plastic bags--thus making the popcorn edible at the receiving end 
as well.

If you use foam chips or packing or your employer does-- Why not 
print this out
and show it to your boss! More $$$$$ too--when the factory is closed 
on the
weekends you could rent out the Popcorn Cart or machines to Vendors 
at Flea
Markets and such and in no time the Popcorn Machine will have paid 
for itself.
You help the environment and save money and Popping Corn makes a nice
rhythmn to work to. POP POP POP POP all the way to the bank, makes 
you feel
good inside and $$$$$$$$$ too.

ANYONE ELSE HAVING IDEAS OR SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS-- I WOULD
BE HONOURED TO SHARE IT ON THIS SITE AND WE HELP OUR
BEAUTIFUL PLANET
E'MAIL LINK BELOW
******POP*****mmmmmm*****POP******mmmmmmm*****POP******


*ROAD KILL*
++++++++++++
*********
June 29,2000

We live in the country and for so many years I have seen dead 
critters on the
road or on the side of the road-- victims of Road Kill. I would often 
think ‘These silly 
animals coming out on the road at night and getting blinded by car 
lights and hit by
vehicles’.

How wrong I am. ---Racoons, Skunks and other critters spend most of 
their time
looking for food especially when they have young ones to feed and 
when we unknowingly
toss bits of food on to the highways we are setting them up to be 
Road Kill 
Statistics.

Often when you see a dead Racoon there are two of them as the mate 
goes to
the one that is ‘down’ and gets killed too. I don’t even care to 
think about the little ones 
left behind dependent on their Mother’s milk and not old enough to 
fend for themselves.
Theirs is a sorry fate indeed and this is not part of Nature’s Plan 
as Litterbugs are the
perpetrators.

Please throw litter into a litterbag and if you don’t consider 
leftover food 
scraps as litter but rather compost then it’s a simple matter to toss 
them off the highway where
the critters can eat in safety. 

EVERY LITTER BIT HELPS to clean up our planet and one piece of edible 
litter
properly disposed of can save the life of one animal or more looking 
for a 
snack.
***************************

 
^i^ EVERY LITTER BIT HELPS^i^ 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


*** LOW WORK GARDENING METHOD ***
*********************************
You CAN grow an organic garden in LESS time than you spend standing 
in line buying veggies or going to the market with very little work - 
basically planting and harvesting with no digging, a minimum of 
weeding and watering-using the Black Plastic Mulch Method. 

*****************************
I call this the ‘No Work’ method but there is a bit of work involved. 
I have
successfully grown veggies without turning the soil, doing a minimum 
of weeding
and very little work exept planting and harvesting.
****************
Back in the early 60’s while travelling down a secondary highway I 
stopped at a
veggie stand where an old fella displayed some of the nicest 
cantaloupes I’d 
ever seen and most were close to the size of soccer balls. When I 
asked him his secret he 
said, “black plastic, they love it”. Having been a regular type 
gardener and worked on 
some farms I paid little attention until about 1993 when I started 
using this method.

Black Plastic Mulch has been used for many years to increase 
production and 
decrease labour with a variety of farm crops. Where there is drought 
and little rainfall 
it is a blessing indeed and the labour savings outweigh the cost of 
the plastic by far.
**************
I experimented with tilling the soil, just loosening the soil, and 
doing nothing 
to the soil and found there was not a lot of difference in food 
production as long 
as the soil was fertile and covered with black plastic mulch and 
compost was placed in the 
starting holes’.. In trials done alongside one another with regular 
gardening and plastic 
mulch gardening, the plot with the plastic mulch often produced two 
to three times the 
amount of produce and thats with no weeding, watering, or digging. 
The sod under the 
soil would compost and become food for the worms and countless 
millions of soil 
bacteria and microscopic insects. This in turn became food for the 
plants and in a years 
time the soil could be picked up by the handfull just by thrusting 
your hand into it. 
*******************
The questions I’m asked most often are along this line.

 “How does the rain and air get it in” ? 
“Don’t you have a lot of problems with slugs and insects? 
“Isn’t the plastic too hot for a lot of plants? 
“How long does the plastic last and is it  expensive”? 
Doesn’t the soil stagnate and smell under the plastic”? 

That’s why I’m writing this,
For years many people have been fascinated by this method when they 
see 
it working. I have had Tomato plants 4 feet in diameter and covered 
with tomatoes 
when the neighbours’ were scrawny with a few tomatoes during a 
drought one summer.

This is very convincing when seen as proof of the method. When I tell 
them I do 
no weeding, watering or digging they want to know more! So I’m 
writing this to share a 
method that makes gardening a lot of fun instead of a lot of drudgery 
and after the 
first  year,the plastic is down and all you do is Plant and Harvest. 
No chemicals to 
buy, and by the way the plastic is cheap, costing around 50 dollars 
Canadian for 2000 sq. ft. which  is two and a half cents a sq. ft., a 
very low price to produce food with little 
work. If you don’t want a garden this size nor have the room for it 
you can always share it with a  friend or two. I have seen it in 
smaller rolls since the writing of this article. Use 6mil as anything 
lighter tears too easy and won't last as long. 

I have not seen the Black Plastic sold in pieces off the roll but I 
have used 
garbage bags (slit along the sides) and Co-ops and such sell it in 
narrower strips. A roll 
here is 20 ft X100 ft. I like the full sheet rather than strips. The 
plastic  woven mulch, that Landscape Suppliers sell is expensive and 
does not work well as the weeds and particulary 
‘Quack or Twitch Grass’ will come up through it. 

. The method does not work well with raised beds because they tend to 
dry out around the edges, but  planting in flat beds works great and 
I recommend beds as there is less soil compaction. Make the beds 
twice the width of a comfortable reach for you, so you can
reach the centre of the bed  with ease from either side.

 
****************************
ADVANTAGES OF THIS METHOD
===========================
MOISTURE IS RETAINED-- for plant use and also the sod composts under 
the plastic
enhancing bacterial growth. Worms thrive on the rotted sod, weeds and 
roots and
multiply rapidly. Did you ever pick up a large rock or some boards 
laying on the 
ground and see lots of worms?

COMPETITION of weeds and grasses for soil nutrients and water is 
eliminated.

WARMS THE SOIL--slightly for earlier planting and extends the harvest 
season.

ALLOWS FOR CLOSER SPACING of plants thereby increasing yields.

UNIFORM MOISTURE TO PLANTS--very important to Tomatoes virtually
eliminating Blossom End Rot due to uneven watering.

ELIMINATES STAKING of plants---and keeps the fruit clean as it’s 
sitting on the 
plastic.

HELPS TO PREVENT COMPACTION--especially when used with beds

KILLS QUACK GRASS-- the all pervasive, never ending bane of gardeners
everywhere.Cultivating soil with Quack Grass increases it by chopping 
the roots up which 
send up new shoots. For this one reason alone it is worthwhile to use.

ELIMINATES WATERING, WEEDING AND TURNING OF THE SOIL--many
experts say the soil should not be turned and advocate using 
a "Chisel Plough” 
which loosens the earth rather than turning it over, which upset the 
eco-system of the soil. The 
top soil should be on  top-soil as nature intended it.

SAVES LABOUR- INCREASES PRODUCTION and the veggies love it. 

In areas of drought and low rainfall this method can allow food 
production where irrigation 
water is not available.  Recycled plastic garbage bags and such can 
be used. It's a little more work weighting them down.  Clear plastic 
does not work as it has a greenhouse effect. Different colours are 
being experimented with having different effects on different plants, 
and increasing production with some.  
***********************

GETTING STARTED 
++++++++++++++++

As with any method there is the easy, the better and the best-ways to 
use it. I 
will explain each. If you have used this method please feel free to 
share tips with me.


BEST
*****
--is to start a year ahead of time, so the sod can rot. Soak the 
ground
and don't punch any holes. Seal the edges well and the following 
spring
you will have a humus rich soil.  

 If you already have a garden prepared and want
to switch to this method - Prepare your garden as usual adding 
compost etc, then 
soak the ground thorougly and cover it with black plastic weighing 
the edges of the 
plastic down with stones, clumps of sod turned upside down or boards.

If you are starting a garden for the first time I find it best to 
have it  ploughed
(using chisel plough)  or tilled  (just this once) adding manure or 
compost. Add whatever lime is needed, mineral supplements etc and 
follow directions above. 

The EASY method, if it is good soil is to soak the ground, having 
mowed and 
levelled  thedarea first and cover with the plastic as above. It is 
important to mow the 
grasses and the weeds to get the plastic as flat on the ground as you 
can. The weeds will keep 
on growing for a couple of weeks even with the plastic on top of 
them. Walk on the 
plastic to flatten them down. 

BETTER than this is to loosen the soil to get air into it. 
Just go in the depth of the shovel and lean the handle way back to 
lift the soil and break 
it up a bit to loosen it. I have grown cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, 
peppers, the cole family 
and countless flowers without loosening or digging the soil and all 
did very well in 
good soil. 
This was done just prior to planting time but the sooner you can get 
the plastic 
on the ground the better as it begins the composting process. 
I repeat -- the ground must be thoroughly soaked to a depth of six 
inches or more
or the sod will not compost. 
****************
Just prior to spring planting use a pitch fork or a garden rake to 
punch holes 
through the plastic. About a foot and a half between punctures is 
sufficient. This allows 
rain to enter and a bit of air. The plastic will be shiny when you 
first put it down and will 
dull down after a while. I throw shovel fulls of dirt, scattered 
around and after a few 
weeks and some rain it almost looks like dark soil. I had a dog who 
would leap over the 
plastic thinking it was water, I guess. You can cover the plastic 
with grass clippings, stone,
bark, etc. 
****************

You can get a head start on spring by placing clear plastic over the 
black 
plastic with a couple inches of space between them. Use sod or smooth 
stones or little blocks 
of 2x4s and seal the edges well. This creates a greenhouse effect and 
temps can get well 
over a 100 degrees warming the soil underneath. A trench about 6 
inches deep, dug 
around the perimeter enhances the soil warming even more creating a 
thermal break.
******************

The earlier the plastic is laid down the better. If you want to test 
this method 
out on a smaller scale slit a garbage bag down the sides, wet the sod 
good and try 
growing a couple of tomato plants and compare it to your regular 
garden. You can even grow
lettuce and radish around the tomato plants while they are small. 


I have used this method with flower gardens putting an inch or two of 
soil on 
top of the plastic after poking holes through it and it worked well. 
Weed seeds
in the soil will sprout but a good raking or hoeing a few times and 
you have a weed
free flower garden. 

 With existing perenials in clumps it is best to remove them and take 
all the weeds out and replant them especially with bulbs and corms.  
A little maintenance pulling weeds a few times
a year around the base of these plants and you will have a realtively 
weed free garden. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLANTING
*********
To plant bedding plants simply cut an X in the plastic and with a 
trowel or one of those 
bulb planters  dig a hole and add compost.  Pull the flaps back 
tightly and put a little 
soil around the plant to hold the flaps down. The better job you do 
with this the less
weed will find their way up. Now, you just wait till harvest and if 
any weeds find their way 
up nip them off with a pair of scissors. Don't pull them as you 
damage the roots of the plant. 

To plant seeds is a little more work if you still have sod 
underneath.  You need to make a flap in the plastic 
|_______________|  about 3 inches wide and as long as you want it. 
Using a space dig a trench and fill this with compost or good soil. 
Plant the small seeds along the edge opposite to the hinge and when 
they are up and inch or so pull the flap back and weight it down
with soil.  

To start larger seeds such as squash, cucumbers etc. use the same 
method as with bedding plants.  Cucumbers and Tomatoes do well 
started from seed and will often catch up to bedding 
plants. I soak them overnight in warm water to start the germination 
process. 

I mix plants in together when I garden mostly to confuse the bugs and 
I plant lettuce and spinach
close to plants that will shade them, so they don't bolt in the heat. 
You get more greens for a longer period of time. 

Invisible FENCE
*************
If Deer are a problem, *Bounce* keeps them away.  Yes, those strips 
you put in your clothes dryer- they don't like the smell. I put a 
strip or two in plastic Margarin containers, drill  quarter inch 
holes around the sides and a little hole drilled in the top with a 
piece of wire looped. Hang these around your garden ten to twenty 
feet apart and the deer stay out. If you put those containers on the 
ground before the little critters know you have a garden, the smell 
will keep 
many of them away. Once they have found your veggies the "invisible 
fence" doesn't work. 
   You can actually just hang Bounce in trees and it will work but 
every time it rains you have to 
replace it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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                                         ^i^ BE A GARDEN ANGEL ^i^
                                         **************************
(\o/) GROW AN EXTRA ROW IN YOUR GARDEN FOR THE FOOD BANK (\o/)
                                    ^i^ AND REAP THE REWARDS ^i^
                                                                   
(\o/)
                                            **************************
                        ~oOo~ GARDENING FEEDS YOU TWICE ~oOo~
                       ONCE IN THE GROWIN’ AND AGAIN IN THE EATIN’
                                                                 ~oOo~

               YOU ALWAYS HAVE MORE ZUCHINNI THAN YOU HAVE FRIENDS 
                
************************************************************


                             *EVERY GARDENER NEEDS A GOOD SENSE OF 
HUMUS* dc 
                               
***************************************************
If you have any questions feel free to email me  
davidcoyote@care2.com   Happy Gardening
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~