Eco Gardening Summer Tips

Summer is upon us and we have a formidable invasive bamboo problem in our backyard. If that wasn't enough, the weeds have teamed up with the bamboo and now pose a threat to the free world as we know it! As my hubby threatened to reach for that bootle of RoundUp, I was faced with the opportunity to investigate a new frontier: safe gardening practices. From building a healthy soil to water conservation, there are a few simple things to take note. Read all about it in July's Green Notes.

We're No. 904!

A couple of months ago, Designarchy applied to be part of the Humane Society's Urban Sanctuary Program. We just set up a tiny garden at the end of the driveway, about 5' x 12', with a birdfeeder, a bird bath, flowers and even some nesting fibers. We have a plum tree overhanging the yard as well. We put gardening paper a couple of inches below the surface so as the seeds got dropped by the birds, they would sprout and surprise us with whatever plants they were. It's been a lot of fun to watch the birds splashing their wings in the bath, or watching the squirrels perfect their acrobatics to get to the feeder. This past month, we were certified as Urban Wildlife Sanctuary Property #904.

On Assignment

Designarcy is working with SFROMP (San Francisco Rescued Orphan Mammal Program) in their development of marketing materials. We're starting out with a brochure that outlines their work and their efforts to rescue injured urban wildlife, to provide care, and to promote education in our communities. SFROMP trains volunteers to care for wildlife as well, and we will be doing that next year, as our backyard is not set up for that yet. To find out how you can help or learn about urban wildlife, check out www.sfromp.org

What's in my 3%

I was listening to Living On Earth, and there was a story about the Bonobos, a species of apes that are genetically similar to humans (99.4%) and exist only in an small area south of the Congo River in Africa. They have incredible social behaviors, like chimpanzees, but are peaceful creatures and live in matriarchal societies. Due to civil unrest, logging and hunting, their population is at the brink of extinction. The local population has always been respectful of the apes, but foreign workers in the logging community are told to go into the forest and hunt for their own food, so they eat these animals. The Bonobo Conservation Initiative is working on a refuge for them. Check out their work at www.bonobo.org

When you receive a Word document that is just plain text and you need to print it out, you can select all text, and size it down. You can also go to Format and change the margins. It's amazing how many pages you will save. Most people can still read 8 or 9-point type, as opposed to the default setting of 12 points. And why in the world do I need 1" margins anyways?