Does your backyard need a rain garden?  These lovely little features are a great way to utlize the runoff from your roof and reduce the amount fo water entering sotrm drains.  Big or small, rain gardens also help to reduce water pollution by trapping sediments and excess nutrients before they hit waterways.

So what’s wrong with rain runoff?  Rain is natural, right?  Yes, rain is natural but the stormwater runoff and water pollution that occur in modern societies are anything but natural.  In fact stormwater runoff is responsible for 70% of the pollution that hits our waterways.  This pollution is in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals that are applied to people’s yards, cars, fences, and homes. Even if you don’t use these chemicals, you can probably bet that one of your neighbors does.

 A rain garden can help keep the rain where it falls so that it does not wash these pollutants into the nearest stream…making your yard part of the solution, not part of the problem.  Why are rain gardens better than just your average yard of grass?  Lots of reasons…less mowing and upkeep for starters.  Rain gardens are also better at absorbing runoff more efficiently- as much as 30% – 40% more then a standard lawn. By capturing rainwater in a rain garden, holding it and then slowly releasing it into the soil the rush of a large storm can be slowed and cleaned – 

quickly, neatly and naturally

.

Ready to get started?  No matter where you are in the country, click over to , a great website that will help you plan and prepare your rain garden.  Next, talk to the folks at your local greenhouse to find out which native plants would work best in your rain garden.  If you live in the Midwest, Northeast, or Southeast, you can also pick up one of these handy  for info about precisely which plants to plant in your area.

Here are a few more excellent sources of info about rain gardens:

 (.pdf)

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So, I was sitting outside with my family yesterday when my husband and I suddenly heard a very loud buzzing sound.  We looked up and saw a swarm of bees.  I don’t mean one or two bees…I mean a real bona fide swarm of bees.  I didn’t stick around to count them one by one, but I guarantee it was in the hundreds. 

Of course, we hightailed it out of the yard in a jiffy and continued to watch from the windows as the bees took over our yard.  Within about 5 minutes, we could see that they were starting to gather on a pine tree that is both very close to our house and very close to the kids’ play area.

One Google search later, and I’m now ashamed that I ever had such a thought.  My husband said it best…it’s an honor to have these bees in our backyard.  

For starters, these bees aren’t here to stay.  They are actually resting as their scouts head out to find a new home.  And this method of swarming is vital to the survival of bees in general.  

Most importantly, bees are not very likely to sting while swarming…they are gorged with honey and preoccupied with finding a new home.  They are also at their most vulnerable because they don’t have a home and need to conserve energy until they find one.

The whole premise of bee swarming is actually incredibly fascinating.  For more details, I contacted bee experts around the country.  Jacqueline Freeman of Venersborg, WA teaches students about swarming and other bee behavior at  Here’s what she had to say about bee swarms:

“It’s something I WISH people knew more about.

Swarming is what bees do to create a new hive. It’s how they create another bee family.

A hive will swarm when everything in their hive is perfect. There’s plenty of honey, baby eggs laid, pollen is ready to feed the larvae, and the bees have left a few new queens in eggs ready to hatch so there will be a bee-mama ready to start laying more bee eggs. The old hive leaves everything ready for the new hive to grow a strong bee hive. Really, it’s remarkably generous of them, isn’t it?

When the hive swarms, about 2/3 of the bees and the old queen leave, but before they do, each bee gorges herself on honey so she’ll have enough food in her to last the few days it may take to find a new home. A bee in a swarm is full of honey (drunk on honey is what we call it) and very peaceful.

Swarming bees are very unlikely to sting anyone, they’re at their very gentlest, because they 1) have no home to protect, and 2) are too drunk on honey to feel worried. We’ve collected swarms  by lifting clusters up with our bare hands. Sadly they are also at their most vulnerable and many get picked off by birds in air, or are harmed by humans who think they are a danger.

Last year I saw a 12 year old boy on the side of a road with a swarm in a bush and he was spraying them with poison to kill them. There was no reason for this. The bees were no danger to anyone where they were. If he’d left them alone, they would have moved on as soon as they found a new home. Instead he killed them, a terrible loss to us all.

The swarm takes off from the hive and finds a tree or bush where they can hang in a cluster. As soon as they’re settled the scout bees take off and look for a new home for them. Each time a scout returns to the swarm with a suggestion, she brings other scout bees with her to see what she thought might make a new home. Good places are anywhere dry and protected, like in an old hollowed out tree or something that resembles that kind of area.

Once the scouts decide on a good location, the news of the new home spreads and the swarm lifts as one and flies to it.  A swarm may sit in its temporary location for 20 minutes or they may be there for up to three days (though that’s more unusual). In the meantime the scouts are busy looking until they do.

If a hive doesn’t find a new home within that time, they are in great danger because they are subject to weather, predators or, scared humans finding them and killing them.

I hope you write a good article about this. The more people who know what a swarm is doing — and that a SWARM IS NOT INTERESTED IN HARMING ANYONE — the better. The bees are, as most everyone knows, having a very difficult time right now and the salvation of the bees lies in saving these wild swarms so they can grow stronger.

If someone sees a swarm here’s what to do:

1. Leave it alone. The scouts will find a home soon enough and likely within a few hours the whole swarm will be gone.
2. Call your neighbors to come see this ever-more-rare occurence. Some worry that in just a few years, bees may die off and there will be no more swarms.
3. If the swarm needs to be moved, call a local beekeeping group (look up the county extension service, they’ll know who they are) and someone will come get them. I do this all the time in our area, southwest Washington and the greater Portland OR area.
4. Do NOT harm the bees.  I tell people to stay ten feet away and just watch. Or stand further away and use binoculars. It’s an amazing thing to see.  Good idea to cordon off the area until they move away if the hive is in any danger from people.”

Photo by Don Savedge

Finally, spring has sprung!  Are you ready to plant so seeds with your little ones?  You don’t need a bunch of store-bought seed starters and supplies to grow plants indoors.  Here are some great seed starter projects that use recyclables instead.

Newspaper

Take a sheet of newspaper and fold it in half so that it’s about 6-8 inches long.  Wrap the newspaper around a soda can, fold one end over to make the bottom, and voila…instant seed starting pot.  The best part is that when the seedlings have sprouted you can plant the whole thing in the ground…the newspaper will eventually decompose.

Eggshells

Another quick and easy way to grow seeds indoors is to use use clean, empty eggshells as a seed starter.  Save the egg shells from your next omelet and rinse them out with a gentle cleanser and water.  Store egg shells in their carton, fill with top soil and plant seeds inside.  When the seeds start to sprout, plant the egg shell (with the plant inside) right in the ground.

Cans/Cartons/Tubes

Need ore seed starter pots?  Raid your recycling bin and use metal cans, yogurt containers, waster bottles, milk cartons, egg cartons, toilet paper or paper towel tubes to do the trick.  The cool thing about using these recyclables is that your kids can decorate them to hold their new treasures.  Punch a few holes in the bottom of your recyclables to allow water to drain, fill with soil, plant and seed, and watch it grow.  When it comes to plant, gently remove the plant from the container and place it in the ground.

Photo by tonyolm

Chickens are the ultimate recyclers

by Christine Heinrichs

What’s greener than chickens? They consume kitchen trim and garden waste and turn it into eggs. Their manure can be part of a green garden program. They are the Companion Animal that Gives Back.

Even if you live in town, you may be able to keep a few chickens. In rural areas, there are few legal restrictions. Of course you will want to keep your chickens healthy, clean and safe. Check local regulations.

In urban and suburban areas, legal restrictions may limit the number of chickens you may keep and whether you can keep roosters. Hens will lay eggs whether a rooster is available or not. However, you won’t be able to hatch those eggs, because they won’t be fertile.

Many breeds of chickens have been developed over the years. Modern meat hybrids are not well suited to small flocks. They are bred to gain weight rapidly and do little else. Leghorns are known as egg-laying champions, but the commercial breeds are, dare I say, rather scrawny. Traditional breeds are a better choice for small flocks. Choose a breed that appeals to you. They come in all colors and sizes. Full size chickens, called Large Fowl, will lay larger eggs. Bantam chickens are one-quarter to one-third the size of large fowl and lay tiny eggs. All are delicious and good to eat.

Cochins are large, fluffy chickens with soft feathers that lay brown eggs. Ameraucanas lay blue eggs, a delightful novelty. Polish chickens have big topknots and lay white eggs. Decide what you want. Online resources include www.feathersite.com and my blog, http://poultrybookstore.blogspot.com. My book, “How to Raise Chickens,” includes a chapter on traditional breeds. The Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities publishes a Breeders Directory to help you find breeders near you.

If you can’t hatch chicks yourself, acquire birds as chicks. Local sources are best. You can check them out most easily and go back to them with questions. Chicks raised with frequent human contact will be very tame. Many make excellent companion animals. Some have been used as therapy animals in hospitals and nursing homes.

Chickens can be kept in a coop with a yard, or allowed out in the yard to scratch and forage for seeds, greens and bugs. You’ll want to fence them away from landscaping you don’t want destroyed. A chicken tractor may be the solution for you. It’s a movable shelter and fenced area that allows the chickens to work over a small area, cleaning up weed seeds and bugs and working their manure into the ground. When that spot is cleaned up, move the tractor to another place.

If you keep them confined, the manure you clean out can be composted and turned into high quality fertilizer. It sounds nasty, but cleaning the chicken coop gives you quality time with your birds.

Don’t depend on forage for complete nutrition. Supplement your birds with chicken feed. Toss them salad trimmings, weeds from the garden and other greens. Well-fed birds in good health lay more eggs.

Consider showing your birds. Many schools have 4-H and FFA programs that can help kids get started. You as the parent may have to be the leader you are looking for, though. Not all extension agents and school advisers know about poultry. Be the change you are looking for.

Poultry shows offer more than ribbons for the best birds, although it’s nice to get that recognition. Showmanship events give young poultry keepers a chance to tell judges about their birds. I’ve seen kids as young as four years old do a great job, hugging birds they love in their arms. Poultry judges are a great group of understanding teachers who tailor the challenge to the child. High school students can be very sophisticated and knowledgeable. Quiz Bowl events challenge them to think on their feet. Look Alike contests are an outlet for creative fun.

You can have as much fun and get as involved as you want with chickens. The variety of color, shape and size is endless. Organizations are available to help. Get started today.

Christine Heinrichs is a Green Parent and author of How to Raise Chickens (Voyageur Press, 2007) and the soon to be released How to Raise Poultry which will be available in April 2009. Read more from Christine at her blog, http://poultrybookstore.blogspot.com.

Fall Fertilizing

With fall in full swing, it’s time to starting think about fertilization…for your lawn and garden that is.  Why now? Fall fertilizing nourishes and strengthens your plants’ and lawn’s roots.  And stronger roots will give them a stronger base on which to thrive next spring.  Many of the fertilizers you find in the store are of the chemical variety and while they may force your plants to grow, they are actually quite harmful to the environment, especially the waterways in which they will eventually runoff.  For help in finding organic fertilizers that are good for both my yard and the planet, I turned to Harold Enger, franchise support director of training for , and Certified Turfgrass Professional.  Here are Harold’s fall fertilizing tips for green parents:

There are numerous choices now available to the average homeowner when it comes to selecting an organic fertilizer.  It is not as simple as going to the local hardware store and picking up the a bag or two of the most popular brand of fertilizer.  Part of the decision making process is determining the source of the organic part of the fertilizer.  You can purchase fertilizers that are derived from compost, humus compost, compost tea, fish, poultry waste, manures, bio solids, seaweed, molasses, fulvic acid, humic acid, etc.  Regardless of the type you choose, there are a few considerations you should think about before completing your purchase.

1. Test your soil to determine what it needs. Soil tests can range in price for about $25.00 to several hundred dollars.  A basic test will provide a pH level and often the amount of amount of nutrients that are available in the soil.  The more complex tests will provide such things as the Cation Exchange Capacity, micronutrient amounts, per cent of organic matter, and the amount of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, molds and fungi present in your soil.  Understanding and interpreting the results is as complex as you think it is, so be sure to choose a lab that can provide recommendations based on the results.  There are many fine soil testing labs, so do an Internet search on soil testing labs in your state.  Follow these recommendations when determining the amount and type of products to apply.
2. Look for products that have the symbol.  According to their website, “The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) is a national nonprofit organization that determines which input products are allowed for use in organic production and processing.  OMRI Listed-or approved-products may be used on operations that are certified organic under the USDA National Organic Program.”
3. Review the product label before purchasing.  Some organic products require a large quantity of material to be applied to meet soil test requirements, which can cost a lot more than you expect.  Also look for special application equipment that may be needed to apply the product.  Finally, check the odor.  Some products, especially the manure and fish based products can be rather pungent.

Win This Compost Tumbler!

Did you know that food scraps make up over 12% of the US waste stream?  According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away more than 25 percent of the food we prepare, amounting to about 96 billion pounds of food waste each year! Yikes!

For starters, it sounds like as a nation we need to be more conscious about the amount of food we purchase and prepare to minimize waste.  And when we do need to toss out food scraps, we can do it in a way to reduce the impact on the environment.

No matter where you live, autumn is a great time of year to start a compost pile. Compost piles break down food scraps (like vegetable peels, bread crusts, and egg shells) into super-rich, super-usable fertilizer for your flower beds and garden.  There are tons of resources out there that cover the composting process inside and out. Basically, to get started you will need 2 types of ingredients:

• Carbon (shredded newspapers, cardboard, and straw)
• Nitrogen (lawn clippings, food scraps, and weeds).

Combine them together and before long you’ll have compost. If you’re feeling lazy you don’t need to do anything else (but wait and wait). You’ll have usable compost by next year even if you never touch the pile again. If you’d like things to move along a little more quickly, you’ll need to turn the pile and add a few drops of water every few weeks. Enclosed compost bins can help keep your pile neat and organized.

Personally, I have a compost tumbler, a self-contained composting unit that you simply spin every few days to mix. I love it because it makes composting neat and easy and even my kids like to give it a spin!  So I’m really excited to be giving one away today!  That’s right, thanks to Clean Air Gardening, one lucky winner will get the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler delivered to their doorstep, just in time to take care of all of those autumn leaves!

There’s 3 ways to enter:

1. Subscribe to The Green Parent via RSS or Email. If you’re already a subscriber, just leave me a comment below and say so!

2. Join The Green Parents Forum (already a member? leave a comment below!)

3. Spread the word about this contest via Twitter, Stumble, Digg, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Leave a comment below each time you do one of these things...each comment equals one entry. The winning comment will be chosen by Random.org. Remember…US residents only.  Contest ends 9/30!

And the winner is….

Here are your random numbers:

13

Timestamp: 2008-10-01 16:32:42 UTC

Congrats Tavia!

This year we decided to start a very small garden. We began with tomatoes, herbs, arugula, and lettuce. After a few weeks, I read that you could plant whole potatoes and decided to plant some. Just this week, we decided it was time to check on our potatoes.

When we originally planted our potatoes, we took one organic, red-skinned potato, cut it into four pieces and dropped them in the ground (actually, my little one dropped them in). This week, more than three months later, we pulled more than 20 red-skinned potatoes out of the ground. The activity was fun, entertaining (each time I found a potatoes in the ground, my little girl would squeal in excitement then place it in her collection bucket), educational, and uplifting.

She remembered when we planted them just a few months ago and felt so much pride for those potatoes anytime someone came to our house. She would show them the garden and gravitate to the potatoes that she had planted. She loved watching the flowers bloom when they came, and watching them die (when the summer sun got too intense). Often times she would call them tomatoes (since the two plants look so similar and the two words are very close in a toddler’s vocabulary). Come to find out, the two plants are actually from the same family, so she’s even smarter than I thought!

Once we finished digging up all those potatoes, we headed inside to prepare supper. I found another great use for those old toothbrushes!

We scrubbed, slices, and baked with fresh rosemary (from our front yard) and ate with our local dinner. The greatest part about this was that my little girl and I were in the entire process together – from planting to eating we participated together and partook of the work together. It actually reminds me of “The Little Red Hen.” The entire project required no batteries, energy, water (because it came from our rain barrel), or pesticides (we organically garden). What a gift for my child and for me. We spend countless hours together, gardening, talking, and sharing in the process of spud to table.

A full-time mom and writer with a background in Marketing, Michelle Andrade seeks to change the world one kid at a time. Native to Nashville, Tennessee, Michelle has a wonderful husband, 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old Doberman-hound mix (rescued 2004). She dreams of living differently than the over-commercialized, wasteful society she is often compelled to compete in. Her thoughts, dreams and ambitions for a green, greater world can be read daily at .

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Kids and Gardening
by Susan Harris

Gardening, that greenest of endeavors, is seeing big increases in popularity lately, with sales of seeds having shot up by about 50% this year. While the demographic showing the most growth is people in their 20s, school gardening is also on the rise – because it teaches kids about nature and food, while getting them outdoors and physically active.

But this is a blog for parents so let’s talk about kids, parents and gardening. My own life-long passion for gardening started because my mother got me involved in HER garden – growing food, growing the wildest, most colorful (even tacky) flowers I chose, and paying me real money for helping with the weeding.

And sure enough, the advice I see most often for getting kids into gardening is to garden yourself, and enlist their help. Maybe teach them to help water or remove dead flowers. And when it comes to growing their first plants, offering big pay-offs are the ones that attract butterflies, those huge, fun sunflowers, and easy-to-start-from-seed edibles like radishes, lettuce, spinach and carrots, preferably foods they actually like to eat. More super-easy, fun plants for kids are spring-blooming bulbs. While full-size daffodils are challenging to plant, there are plenty that are easy – the small daffodils, any crocuses, species tulips, among others, all of which look great in pots.

And you know what’s easy and fun for the winter? Paperwhites!

Just place the bulbs on top of marbles, rocks or shells in a glass bowl, add water, and 3-6 weeks later their incredibly fragrant blooms appear – a welcome sight in the dead of winter.
But your kids may respond to another tack. One of my blogging partners, an obsessed gardener herself, writes about her kids turning to gardening as a way to make money:

I’ve been trying to get my kids interested in gardening for years. Every year, I set aside a piece of my vegetable garden for each of them, a bed about a yard wide and 18 feet long. Every year, they are tremendously excited to pick out seedlings at the nursery–and then instantly lose interest as soon as the stuff is planted.

Until this year, when they are suddenly gripped by the entire process of weeding, harvesting, planning for next year, questions of crops, varieties, growth rates, productivity, flowers versus food. Have they suddenly realized how ineffably beautiful the cycle of life is?

Nope. They’ve figured out that by setting up a farmstand in front of our house, they
can make hundreds of dollars over the course of the season selling the stuff they’ve grown. My youngest has her eye on a $90 American Girl doll, something her sport- and book-oriented parents would not buy her in a million years. I think the doll’s in the bag.

So would YOUR kids like to earn cash as junior truck farmers? The money’s never been better.

And here’s her story about how visiting a daylily nursery turned her oldest son into a hybridizer who’s creating and naming his own brand new varieties – how cool is that? So you never know what’ll turn them on, huh?

But whatever works, gardening for kids – or adults – is a way to connect with nature that doesn’t require getting in the car and driving to the mountains. And once you get hooked on growing plants, there’s no telling where that’ll lead.

Gardening Resources:

Kidsgardening.org: Great source, especially the Parents Primer.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorderby Richard Louv.

Susan Harris is a Master Gardener, gardening coach, writer and blogger. Visit Susan online at Sustainable-Gardening.com, Sustainable Gardening Blog, and GardenRant.

• Water Less: More plants die from over-watering than from under-watering, so think twice before you reach for that hose. Only water your lawn when it needs it (it doesn’t spring back when you step on it).

• Mow Less: Longer grass grows deeper roots that make it stronger, healthier, and less susceptible to weed and pest infiltration. Mow your lawn less and you will not only save yourself time and sweat, you will also save the planet by reducing the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides.

• Give Up The Junk: Replace your toxic chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers with “greener” solutions.

• Xeriscape: Xeriscaping, or choosing plants that are suited to the fuel moisture and soil conditions of your yard, can help you significantly reduce the amount of chemicals (and work!) required to make your yard look great. Plants that are native to your area will survive and even thrive in your particular climate without extra effort on your part. Check with your local nursery for suggestions.

Also, be sure to check out this post on starting your own compost pile:

Got Leaves? Get Composting!

With a motto of “Turning Garbage Into Gold,” New Jersey-based TerraCycle is making it their mission to “eliminate the idea of waste” by creating products that are made from and packaged in garbage. To date they’ve kept over one million plastic soda bottles out of the landfill by using the bottles to package their cleaning agents and organic garden supplies. It’s a unique concept, and one that can really help to change the way products are currently made and used.

The best part about this eco-capitalist initiative is that you and your kids can raise money for your favorite school or charity by helping the folks at TerraCycle collect the garbage they need to stay afloat. The company is currently collecting (and paying good money for) yogurt containers, drink pouches, energy bar wrappers and soda bottles. They’ll send you a postage paid box so that all you have to do is collect the trash and send it on it’s way. Sign up at TerraCycle to start saving the planet and earning some earth-friendly cash.

Wanna learn more about TerraCycle? Click here to check out TerraCycle’s lineup of unique and eco-savvy products. And check out this rockin’ video…