WELLNESS FOR PEACE: Things to Do to Have an Energy Efficient Home By Spaces Contributor

1. Upgrade Appliances Whether you’re remodeling a kitchen or laundry room Energy Star appliances should be on your to-buy list. These stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers have been certified to save energy without sacrificing features or functionality. 2. Low-Flow Shower Heads By installing low-flow shower heads in bathrooms, you’ll conserve hot water and lower your hot water costs at the same time. 3. Wall-Mount Toggle Switches By investing in wall-mounted toggle switches, you can cut off the power to the electronics, like TVs and computers, when you’re not using them more easily than having to pull various cords out of wall sockets. 4. LED Bulbs An easy project to tackle, switch to LED lights in your lamps and overhead fixtures throughout your home. 5. Increase Insulation Add insulation to your attic or increase the amount in your walls to eliminate excessive heat loss or heat gain. 6. Update Windows If you currently have single-pane windows, replace them with new ones that are double-paned or insulated. They redirect ultra-violet rays and control how heat comes through the windows. 7. Seal Ductwork Older homes may have bad air flow with the culprit being leaky ductwork. Improve the home’s comfort by sealing and insulating ductwork. 8. Under-Floor Radiant Heat Besides being more efficient than most types of heat sources, radiant heat can also come from a variety of sources including gas, oil, wood and solar. Allergy sufferers love this because it doesn’t blow small particles into the room. 9. Solar Water Heating System Because the sun is technically free, your water heating bills should decrease from 50-80% with a solar water heating system. Pro.com is a website founded in 2013 by service industry entrepreneurs and former Amazon executives to simplify home services -- especially research on contractor fees and qualifications. Source: https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/9-smart-projects-for-an-energy-efficient-home-175808681.html

WELLNESS FOR PEACE: Tips For Growing Your Own Food In Your Garden by Sarah Z. Wexler

There are plenty of good reasons to grow your own vegetables: you’ll spend less at the grocery store, you’ll know exactly what went into growing them, and you’ll have a sense of pride every time you enjoy that just-plucked-from-the-stem tomato. “You’ll have a great variety of fruits and vegetables, and they taste so much better than anything from the store that’s been sitting on the shelves for days after it was picked,” says Suzy Hancock, general manager at Portland Nursery in Oregon. It’s true — you’ve never tasted a carrot so sweet or a cucumber so crisp as the ones you eat right from your own garden. Here’s her advice for starting your own successful veggie plot at home. 1. Build raised beds. Pick a part of your yard that gets full sun (that’s four to six hours a day), and construct — or buy pre-made — raised beds. They’re easier to weed and warm up faster than the ground, so you can start planting earlier and get better results. It’s also easy to attach hoops to a raised bed that you can cover in case of cold nights or pests like moths or birds. 2. Fill with good soil. Buy potting soil and mix in native soil from the yard as well as compost, mixing so the ratio is half compost, half soil. Mix in a dry organic fertilizer, which is good for long-term feeding, like E.B. Stone Organics Sure-Start, though you’ll still need to add compost every year to replenish your soil. Since vegetables like a close-to-neutral pH soil, buy a pH testing kit at the nursery and see if your soil is neutral. It’s often too acidic; if so, add lime. 3. Wait for warm nights. In spring, it’s generally safe to plant greens (lettuces, spinach, kale, Swiss chard), cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and peas. Plant other veggies too soon and you could kill your starters, so hold off until nighttime temperatures stay above 55 before planting peppers, tomatoes, and squash. The most cold-sensitive plants are melons and cucumbers, so plant those last, only when you’re fairly sure temps won’t dip again. 4. Plant the right fruits and veggies. Corn isn’t good for a small space, since it takes a lot of room and doesn’t produce much. Though plant starters are often sold in six-packs, don’t be afraid to scrap some or give to a neighbor; one zucchini plant is likely all you need because it’ll produce so many. Raspberries and mint are both invasive, taking over a whole garden if they’re planted, so use containers to keep them separate from the rest of your plot. Fennel doesn’t do well when planted next to veggies and tends to die. Generally, look for dwarf or bush varieties of plants, which don’t take up a lot of space even when they’re fully grown. A genius hack: buy grafted plants (often done with tomatoes), which are two varieties of the fruit or veggie growing from one plant, so you get double the variety without taking up twice the space. 5. Sequester your alliums. Alliums including onions, chives, shallots, leeks, and garlic are so much more fragrant and delicious from your own garden, but they tend not to play well with others; they can have negative effects on artichokes, asparagus, many kinds of beans, lettuces, and peas. Plant your alliums in separate containers or at least two to three rows away from its foes and it won’t be a problem. 6. Stagger your returns. Plant a mix of vegetables that mature over different time frames. That way you’ll have a steady stream of produce over the whole season, rather than so much ripening at once that you’re scrambling to use it all before it goes bad. The little plastic sign that comes with the plant will tell you the average number of days before it matures; at the nursery, look for a mix of traditional and early-maturing plants to spread your haul throughout the season. image 7. Consider companion planting. This is a technique of pairing plants together that can benefit from being near each other. For example, basil generally thrives when planted next to tomatoes or peppers, but not as well when its neighbors are beans or cucumbers; find the whole list of happy plant pairings here. Generally, root vegetables like radishes, beets, and carrots do well when planted between leafy greens, since the root veggies take up a lot of space under the soil, while lettuces don’t have very deep roots. 8. Follow spacing guidelines. The plastic signs that come with your plants will give a guideline of how much “personal space” each needs from the plants around it. Rather than thinking you’ll get more veggies if you just pack more of them into your raised bed, crowding them in can reduce air circulation, leading to pests like aphids. If the plant’s instructions say three inches, give it at least three inches, and consider it room to grow. 9. Plant flowers, too. No, you’re not going to eat them, but flowers like marigolds are more than a pretty touch. Though it’s a myth that they keep bugs away, marigolds actually do help your veggies thrive by attracting beneficial insects to your garden. 10. Close up shop. After you’ve harvested your crops and you’re putting your garden to bed for the season, get rid of dead foliage to avoid pests, then cover with a thick layer of compost. Or, plant beneficial cover crops like vetch (in the legume family) or beautiful red-topped crimson clover; when you turn it under in the spring, it will add nitrogen and other nutrients to your soil — making for an even better garden next year. SOURCE: https://www.yahoo.com/food/the-10-tips-for-growing-your-own-food-in-your-118376985826.html

WELLNESS FOR PEACE: How to Start an Organic Garden and Keep It Healthy by Martha Stewart

Zazel Loven is an organic gardening expert. Read on to find out how she keeps her soil nutrient dense and her plants happy without the use of any chemicals. Her first piece of advice: Keep it simple – the building blocks for an organic garden start from the ground up. I garden organically because I like to save money and time and don’t know how to garden any other way. Why would I spend time trying to figure out which chemical fertilizers and pesticides to buy when I can do what is best for my plants myself? Nourish The Soul The year I started my garden, I got a truckload of aged horse manure delivered by my local farmer. This, and other organic matter, added beneficial microorganisms that aerated the soil, allowing plant roots to grow and take in water and nutrients. The healthier the soil, the more it will fend off plant diseases and pests: It’s a win-win starting place for growing organically. Get your soil tested and ask for advice from your Cooperative Extension, which is a service provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you bring in a soil sample, the extension agent will (for a small charge) send it out for testing and then recommend which natural additives will boost the quality of your garden soil (if it is in some way depleted). Take advantage of the help it offers by reaching out to the Extension office in your area. To make your own fertilizer, start a compost pile for food scraps such as egg shells, mussel shells, and vegetable/fruit peels, etc. – no meat, please. You don’t need much room to start composting, and you can even buy a convenient contained compost bin that will keep out animals and diminish any unpleasant odors. To this pile, frequently add grass clippings and leaves, and turn the mixture with a garden fork. As it ages and decomposes, what you will get in return is a dark, rich soil we call “black gold.” My compost pile doesn’t produce a lot of this, but it makes me feel good to compost food scraps and green waste and watch it transform into food for the earth. Protect Your Soil If you live somewhere with a cold winter, it’s important to protect your soil from the elements. In the fall, since we are in New England, I rake up the leaves and let the leaf shredder cut them up into bits, which I spread all over the garden soil for the long winter sleep. As an alternative, you can buy a big bag of a cover-crop seeds, such as winter rye (an alternative to spreading mulched leaves on the garden). Rake the soil to loosen it, just a little, and then broadcast (toss) the cover-crop seeds all over the garden, using a rake to lightly work them into the dirt. Cover crops are a great method for improving the structure of garden soil. They are another way nature works to help us keep our gardens organic, plus they are lovely to look at. If I have planted a cover crop, and it’s not too cold, it will grow a little, then die back for the winter sleep, emerging as a field of green come spring. When the soil is warm enough to be planted, gently turn the crop back into the soil so as not to disturb it too much. Because I know the importance of fluffy, healthy soil, I don’t want to compact it by stepping, standing, or walking on the areas where the plants will grow. So, I have created pathways around mini-garden patches and raised beds that are a size I can easily reach into to pull the occasional weed or pluck a ready-to-eat tomato. Weeds are kept at bay in the paths by laying down old newspaper (black-and-white only) and covering it with wood-chip mulch – though you can make a pathway from bricks, flat rocks, or gravel. If you prefer grass paths, make sure they are wide enough to push the mower through occasionally. Seedless straw can also be laid on the pathways and around the plants (leaving room around stems). It looks great and keep weeds down. Add another layer of protection by surrounding your garden with a small fence, which will help keep out small, hungry animals. Practice Companion Planting There are two additional easy practices that work well in an organic garden: companion planting and planting in rotation. The science of companion planting is simple. Certain plants encourage each other by feeding the soil, while discouraging and confusing harmful insects. Native Americans knew the value of this, and most of us are familiar with the three sisters – corn, beans, and squash – a growing technique that was their gift to the early settlers. I always buy a few flats of African marigolds and plant these hardy beauties near my tomato seedlings. Herbs such as oregano and basil are also good companions, though some research is required to know which companions to plant. This convenient chart can be used as a quick reference tool for beginners. image Plant in Rotation When planning your garden, no matter how small, avoid repeat planting of the same plants in the same spot. For example, beans and peas are good for the soil, leaving behind nitrogen, which will make your leafy crops such as kale thrive during the following year’s growing season. A simple sketch each year will let you remember what was planted where and help discourage soil-borne diseases. Two more tips for successful growing: Drag a bag of fish emulsion or natural compost around as you plant, and throw a handful into each seedling hole or along a row that is ready for seeds. As you seed, make sure you leave room between plants for them to grow. It took me ages to stop planting too close together when seedlings are tiny: plants need air circulation to thrive. Learn to Love the Bugs A thrill for me as an organic gardener is seeing the life in the soil and garden, none of which seems to bother my plants. My garden is full of earthworms and lots of little beneficial insects going every which way. I take this as a good sign and take pleasure in watching the worms burrowing into the soil, aerating just as nature intended. Birds and rabbits are always stopping by….I grow enough lettuce for everyone, and I imagine the birds are hoping to find some seeds spilled on the ground. Growing organically also means welcoming creatures into the garden to do the work nature intended. So I grow a selection of flowers that attracts bees, and they are fascinating to watch. A few rows of sunflowers also bring wildlife to my organic garden, along with their majestic beauty. The bees love them, and in the fall, the birds fatten up for winter on the tasty seeds. To me, welcoming nature into my garden is a joy, and one of the many reasons I grow organically. Source: https://www.yahoo.com/food/organic-gardening-101-how-to-start-a-garden-and-117022616150.html