Category Archives: All

All, Plants, Pests, Rescue

Get Rid of Flies in Compost and Other Places

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A Green Drinks member mentioned that she did away with her compost pile because she couldn’t stand the flies that hovered around it constantly. I had some time to look into possible fixes for this and found an interesting solution, one that the Discover Channel says has a scientific basis for working: hang plastic bags filled with water – and a penny – where you want the flies to be gone from. The bagged water’s reflection affects flies’ eyesight in an odd way and they don’t want to fly near, so they stay away.

(added 110710) Learned yesterday that a similar recommended technique is to hang CDs so they waft around, floating in the air. Flies apparently also have trouble with the light refraction they disperse.

Abuse of public trust, All, Urban, Water

BP’s Oil Spill Is All Cleaned Up Now, Right?

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Last night I argued with a friend who claimed that environmental damage is now under control in the United States, and offered the BP oil spill as evidence of how well environmental disasters are being handled, and their impact minimized. This is so not true, but it’s not enough to say so – it must be proven, so here are a few facts:

A post from the NY Times’ Green blog about the BP oil spill published on its anniversary in April shows that the associated problems have far from ended.

“Nearly 2,000 responders are actively working in the gulf to aid in the ongoing recovery efforts. We continue to hold BP and other responsible parties fully accountable for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused. We’re monitoring seafood to ensure its continued safety and implementing aggressive new reforms for offshore oil production in the gulf so that we can safely and responsibly expand development of our own energy resources. And E.P.A. Administrator Lisa Jackson is leading a task force to coordinate the long-term restoration effort based on input from local scientists, experts, and citizens.”

Law firm Beasley Allen publishes news on its website and has this to say about Dead Zones in the Gulf caused by the oil spill

Marine Biologists have issued a grim forecast for Gulf shrimpers and fishermen in the wake of the BP oil spill: the 2011 “Dead Zone” in the Gulf, they predict, will likely be the largest on record, choking some species of sea life and hindering others from properly migrating and developing. The implications of a super-size dead zone, estimated to grow as large as the size of Delaware and Maryland combined, could be huge . . .

While the BP oil spill isn’t directly responsible for the Mississippi River dead zone, the 200-million-plus gallons of oil and the millions of gallons of toxic chemical dispersants that BP dumped into the Gulf have caused a dead zone of their own. Scientists have found several square miles of Gulf sea bed blanketed by oil untouched by hungry microbes.

Pictures taken during submarine excursions to some of the oil-choked areas showed crabs, starfish, coral, tube worms, and other creatures smothered to death under thick blankets of oil. Highly toxic gases released from the well and noxious soot from the burning of oil on the surface have deepened the devastation. The effects of Corexit, the chemical dispersant used by BP to break the sludge into smaller particles, are still largely unknown and widely feared in the scientific community.

Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district, adds these sobering thoughts: “Chris Jones, the brother of Gordon Jones, one of the 11 workers killed the night of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, delivered some of the most powerful and touching testimony I have seen in my 36 years in Congress.”

Congressman Markey also points out,

We now know BOPs (blowout preventers) don’t always work, even when they’re used correctly. We know the oil companies still don’t have full response capabilities, even if they’ve given their top hat a new coat of paint. And we know that the recommendations of the bipartisan spill commission haven’t been put in place.

Yet Republicans in Congress and the oil companies are still pushing for more drilling with less safety. This is the sort of willful ignorance and speed-over-safety mentality that led to the BP spill in the first place.

Other chilling reports showing that the effects of the BP oil spill are far from gone, can be found by googling “bp continues working in the gulf”.

I’d like to leave readers with hope for a better future: please keep in mind that current sweeping changes in ecology and climate are not natural occurrences – they are entirely due to man’s intervention. And, we are consuming much more of planetary resources than are available. The good news here is that as we are creating the problems, we can change our behaviour and begin to fix the world. As Jaime Cloud reminded my family recently, there’s “just enough time.”

All, Plants, Pests, Rescue

Banish Fruit Flies

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Q: Some fruit flies have taken up residence at my house. I don’t want them to be fruitful and multiply. Does anyone have any good (preferably inexpensive) methods of getting rid of them before they become a real problem? Thanks, MG

A: Ivan says – There is an easy an inexpensive solution: in a small bowl pour about 1/8 cup red wine, add in a couple of drops of dish detergent and place this near where the fruit flies are congregating. The soap breaks the surface tension of the liquid so when the fruit flies are attracted to the smell of the wine they can’t coast on its surface and when they alight to drink, they fall right in.

Of course, you have to discard whatever rotten fruit or veggie called them into your kitchen in the first place, otherwise they’ll never go away. In my family’s kitchen when we can’t visually spot the source of a fruit fly gathering we start looking in cabinets for rotten potatoes or onions. Good luck!

All, Plants, Pests, Rescue

Ladybug Swarms In Spring

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Q: Our house is suddenly full of ladybugs, they are everywhere! As harmless as they seem, it’s starting to get kind of creepy. Any ideas as to why this is happening, and is this something that needs an exterminator or can we do something about it ourselves? Thanks, EE

A: Ivan says – Let the ladybugs be. They’re looking for a place to hibernate for the winter and lay their eggs. These are the good guys. They eat garden pests, and they lay their eggs near where pest eggs already are, or may be laid. So ladybug babies will eat the bad babies when springtime comes.

If you let them be, they’ll help you, and you’ll have a happy garden when the weather turns nice after winter.

The End.

All, Food, Plants, Pests, Rescue

We Need Honey Bees – Don’t Kill Them!

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greenpeacebeesIf you find honeybees in your backyard or near your business and want to get rid of them, think a minute before picking up the phone to call an exterminator. Call a beekeeper instead! Some beekeepers will remove beehives in order to save those bees.

We need honeybees to pollinate plants so the food we eat will grow, but thanks to mass poisoning by pesticides and habitat destruction there are less bees available for this job than ever before. Fortunately, there is a growing community of local beekeepers who treasure these creatures and want to protect them.

Don’t try removing the hive yourself, as this can be dangerous.

Here are tips for finding a beekeeper who can remove your hive:

  • Do an internet search or check the Yellow Pages for Beekeeper or honey.
  • Contact your County’s Agricultural Extension Service. Although the Extension Services are affiliated with state agricultural universities, Extension offices are typically housed within a county building or park.
  • Ask your fire, police or health department. They may have lists of beekeepers who will take unwanted bees.

In the New York/New Jersey area, find registered beekeepers through:

Resources
American Beekeeping Federation:

Abuse of public trust, All

Walmart Exploits Us

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People I know are “liking” Walmart on Facebook – eww. Friends, Walmart is truly the “evil empire” – there’s nothing about them to like. In the US, Walmart promotes consumerism, underpays workers, exploits women and children, intentionally destroys local economies. In China, it negotiated contracts for workers to earn half of the 34¢ an hour considered a living wage there.

More at http://wakeupwalmart.com and http://walmartwatch.org

All, Food

Bergen County selling compost bins for $53

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Bergen County, N J is making it easy for residents to recycle yard and food waste by setting up a backyard compost bin in their backyards. This summer, Earth Machine™ home composting bins are being sold by the BCUA for only $53.00. This bin retails for over $100 at home improvement stores. The Earth Machine™ can be used to compost fruit and vegetable scraps, crushed eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds and filters into mulch for your lawn and garden. Compost creates a rich, all natural soil nutrient for landscapes, gardens, and houseplants. Compost also enhances the ability of soil to retain moisture and can reduce your reliance on chemical fertilizers.

Buy your bin at the BCUA’s one-day compost bin sale on Saturday, June 25th at Bergen County Campgaw Mountain Reservation, 200 Campgaw Road, Mahwah, between the hours of 9:00am – 2:00pm, rain or shine. Or, by appointment at the BCUA facility. Payment is accepted in the form of check or money order. NO CASH! At the Mahwah sale, information will be provided on composting and recycling, and additional compost materials will also be available for sale.

To buy your bin at the BCUA office, call 201-807-5825 and push option 4. Low-cost rain barrels are also available. Visit BCUA.org for more information.

All, Food

About Mulch & Compost

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This resource will be updated to include new information as we find it.

Mulch is organic material on its way to become compost. Compost is fully decomposed mulch which has turned into really healthy soil. Compost is mixed with existing soil or spread on top to provide extra nutrients for plants, and mulch is laid on top of soil to create a barrier that helps keep soil moist. Over time, mulch used this way will itself degrade into soil.

Members of the Garden Web forum have this to say about the mulch v. compost debate:

The only advantage to adding a wood mulch over compost is to further suppress weed development. Compost tends to be a rather fertile seed bed and while a good layer of compost will suppress any underlying weed seeds, it simply provides a a very hospitable habitat for germinating windblown seeds. The good news is they are usually extremely easy to weed out as compost is generally quite loose and fluffy.

Otherwise . . . compost is just as efficient a mulch as bark or wood chips in moderating soil temperatures and conserving moisture and far more efficient in releasing nutrients. With any mulch, you need to apply 2-3 inches — any less will not have the same effectiveness and more is just a waste.
. . .
Any material you place on your soil to 1) aid in “weed” suppression, 2) aid in moisture retention, 3) aid in controlling soil temperature, and 4) aid in adding organic matter to your soil is mulch. I have no idea why some people distinguish between mulch, compost, and other stuff, or why people get so confused over what is a soil amendment and a mulch (the same material can be both).

Compost can be used as mulch and the sun beats down on the compost and dries it out which slows the bacteria that are digesting it, . . . covering that compost with another mulch material, ie. wood chips, will help keep the compost more moist and the bacteria more active.
Does compost spread over the garden need to be covered with another material? It is your choice. Do you want to keep that compost moist and the bacteria more active or are you okay with letting the sun dry that compost out?

Gardens Alive has good information as well.

Composting How To

Basically, there are two methods for composting:

HOT – where you turn ingredients, introducing air and creating heat which cooks the compost and turns it into soil in several weeks; and
COLD – where you add to a compost pile but don’t turn its contents. You just let it sit and allow time to do its work. In about 2 years you’ll have good, composted soil.

The University of Minnesota provides a detailed tutorial on which items, and how much of each, you can put into your compost and illustrates how to use three types of compost containers. The report discusses using a trash can for composting and here’s a discussion about some of this container’s pluses and negatives. More on bins here.

Take Florida’s Online Composting Center free tutorial “Compost Happens!” for a comprehensive, step by step lesson on the hows and whys of composting.

Mulching

Mulching FAQ from Garden Web.

All, Education, Events

Fair Lawn Green Fair

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The Fair Lawn Green Fair takes place this Wednesday, May 18. We hope you’ll come out to enjoy all the interesting and nice exhibits.

2011 Fair Lawn Green Fair
Wednesday, May 18 2011 6:00-9:00 pm
Fair Lawn High School
14-00 Berdan Avenue
In the D Café (park behind the school and use rear entrance)
Cost: Free

At Fair Lawn’s 2nd Annual Fair Lawn Green Fair on May 18, visitors will tour Fair Lawn High School’s courtyard, see its rain garden and participate in hands-on presentations to learn how easy it is to build beautiful, native plant rain gardens in their own yards or install a rain barrel. Master Gardeners of Bergen County will show residents how to create a pest and odor-free compost bin, or pile, and there will be many other educational and fun activities for families and children.

Reusable bags and other items will be given away, free! The Wei is donating a rain barrel to be given away as a door prize. Rain barrel trainers Ari Wei and Adam Fahmi can install the rain barrel for the local resident who takes it home.

Pat LaRocco of Fair Lawn’s Rotary Club will demonstrate paper-pot making using soy-ink newspaper eco friendly enough to go straight into the soil along with the starter plants they contain. Ari Wei and Adam Fahmi, boro residents, high school students and rain barrel builders trained through Rutgers’ Water Resources program, will help demonstrate how to make and use mosquito-free rain barrels. One barrel made during the fair will be donated to Fair Lawn’s Community Garden, a town-supported initiative opening to residents this month – who will also have an information table at the fair – and a second rain barrel will be offered as a door prize. Lessons will be given throughout the evening on crocheting satchels with “plarn” strips made from disposable shopping bags. Other fair exhibitors include the boro’s Shade Tree and Historic Preservation Commissions, Bergen County Audubon Society, the NY-NJ Trail Conference, Garretson Forge and Farm, and Green Drinks.

Joan Goldstein, head of the Fair Lawn Green Team, fair co-sponsor together with Boro Mayor and Council, says, “We hope the Green Fair will raise environmental awareness by showing residents how easily they can implement small, sustainable, measures in homes and gardens which the whole family will enjoy helping to implement and maintain. The installation basics being taught at the fair will provide enough information for a family to get started right away with a composting, rain barrel or rain garden project of its own. I’m looking forward this summer to hearing about many yard and garden project successes!”

Rain gardens are attractive arrangements of native greenery and flowers planted in shallow depressions designed to collect water during a storm and dry out completely within 24-48 hours after it ends. They provide clean water to the planet in two ways: moisture gathered on the leaves of plants evaporates into the atmosphere, and water channeled underground is cleaned by soil as it makes its way down into hidden aquifers carrying water back to streams and lakes. Rain gardens are inexpensive, low-maintenance and provide exceptionally effective, natural cleansing of water that would otherwise enter fresh waterways untreated, along with chemical pollutants such as excess lawn nutrients, pesticides, drops of auto oil and anti-freeze.

At the rain barrel demonstration, visitors will learn how to build, install and maintain a rain barrel, which is a modified container placed under a gutter downspout that collects rainwater from a building’s roof. A barrel holds about 50 gallons of water that can be used for a variety of tasks including car washing, lawn and garden watering, and can be especially useful during summer water shortages. Collected rainwater also offers savings on water bills and helps prevent basement flooding. Rain gardens and rain barrels are both important components of a municipality’s stormwater treatment strategy, as they help keep pollutants away from roadside storm drains which funnel water directly into local freshwater rivers and streams.

Sponsored by the Fair Lawn Mayor and Council and Fair Lawn Green Team. For more information, contact Kimi Wei at 862-203-8814.