Green Living For Your Home And Family
Wow! What A Winter!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m sure ready for spring. This winter has been a long haul – but spring is just around the corner, and I’m looking forward to getting out and spending some serious walking time. It’s nice to live in an area with nature trails galore, so now that we’ve had a major snow melt it’s time to get out and enjoy the scenery. An exercise bike and a rowing machine help when we are house-bound, but that’s not nearly as much fun as getting outdoors and enjoying nature again.
The robins are starting to trickle back, and soon it will be time to put up the hummingbird feeders and clean out the bluebird houses. The bluebirds are becoming more scarce every year, until now it is only on rare occasions when we see any, but we always like to be prepared. When we built our home on 80 acres of about half-wooded property, we had a huge variety of birds, including towhees, killdeers, swallows, whippoorwills, catbirds, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, and more – none of which we are seeing now. We’ve basically been organic gardeners for the whole time we’ve been here, so I believe we have done our part to keep our little part of the world green.
March is a good time to start seeds here in zone 5, so they should be ready for the garden in late May. Any time now, the fruit trees can be sprayed with organic bug spray. This is a bi-annual chore, but last year we purchased a 14 gallon sprayer that fits on the back of our 4-wheeler and runs off the battery. That sure beats the hand-held sprayers we have used for all the previous years. We grow apple, peach, plum and pear trees here, and also have a few grape vines. Our biggest problem with the fruit trees and garden is from the wild deer. We have a 6 foot fence all around the garden and vineyard to keep them out. For the fruit trees that are not fenced, I tie rags on the branches and dip them in deer repellant liquid. That seems to work quite well. Many people have claimed that hanging mesh bags filled with human hair is a good repellant for deer. I guess that would work okay, if the deer were not accustomed to human scent – which ours are.
Fitness Tip: Use a heart monitor to keep track of your heart rate while exercising, as well as your progress in your fitness goals. Some exercise machines come equipped with heart monitors, or you can purchase one that you can use for almost any exercise regimen. The best ones come as a device that straps around your chest to record your rates, and a wrist-band to read the results. Remember to drink plenty of water while exercising. Now, get out there and get moving!
Healthy Recipe:
Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snack
Whisk together:
¾ cup fat-free all natural plain yogurt
1 tbsp. Vanilla Whey Protein Mix
sweeten with Stevia to taste
Add:
¾ cup fresh or frozen raw fruits and/or berries
Mix and enjoy
Approximate nutrition value: 185 calories, 28.5 gm carb, 0 gm fat
