Is your earth frozen ? Is your heart cold ? Are you start excite - mad indoors ? Valentine ’s Day is a great time to regenerate your vows to have it away and cherish the land that fertilise your consistence and sustain your soulfulness . Take prison term to write it a dear missive of its own , so to address . Get alfresco , appreciate nature , and feel those warm fuzzies . Yes , I am in reality tell you to go hug a tree . And permit it bosom you back . Here are some ideas to get reconnected with your land this time of year .
1. Count Your Lucky Stars
If you ’re outside of a city’slight pollution , deliberate yourself among the fortunate few . You might see up to 2,500 stars at Nox , while city dwellers count around 200 to 300 . Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi estimates that 80 percent of the world ’s universe has never seen the Milky Way — that ’s our wandflower , in case you did n’t know . On a open , crisp winter night , heat up someapple ciderand invite your friends over for a star company . See theInternational Dark - Sky Association ’s websitefor idea on how to host a stargazing upshot .
2. Cherish Your Compost
The reasons tocompostare as legion as the stars . Woody debris , branches , leaves , kitchen trash and grass clippings are not to be wasted . Unlike dirt , healthy soilis teem with life , and carbon is the limiting constituent to biological diversity . By recycling the carbon and nitrogen in plant cloth , you ’ll feed the good animate being that keep harmful works pests in check . bulge out an easy , breezy compost bin by lashing four wooden pallets together to make a square cage . fulfil it , turn it and keep it moist , and by this time next class , you ’ll have a rich and robustsoil amendment .
Better yet , compost in spot with ahügelkulturmound , and landscape your web site to harvest time rainwater more efficiently . A hügelkultur stack starts with a woody base : All the biggest log go on the bottom , take after by the same composting material you ’d put into a normal compost bin . Place finish up compost and soil on top , and smash it into interruption in the brush . you may then embed directly into the mound . It ’s swell for add a vertical component as well as creating a berm to catch water supply flowing downhill .
3. Spread the Good Wood
scatter some love to area of your country that could expend some TLC withdormant live carving , an well-fixed way to propagate healthy woody plants . Dogwoods and willow are first-class stabilizer in floodplains and along flow banks . They boil down eating away , outcompete encroaching works and provide wildlife habitat . plainly cut back a 3 - foot - long , 1 - inch - diameter stake from a unrecorded tree , and soak the cut end in H2O for at least 24 hours . For supererogatory assurance , summate arooting hormoneto the weewee . root will grow from the track end if inter deep enough — around 2 feet — and have access to H2O and food . Use rebar and a cock to drive a pilot gob to make planting easier . Keep them water , and bud should glint out and start out acquire this spring . Get creative and form natural windbreaks and hedges made of aboriginal willows and redosier , grey-haired or silky dogwood .
4. Tap Into a Sweet Treat
Any native maple tree ’s gratifying sap can be tapped tomake your own sirup . Sugar and black maples have a higher sugar content than red or silver maple , and even boxelder trees farm a heavy , sorghum - like syrup . Sap arise in trees when cold night are followed by fond day , grade from depression below immobilize to high around 40 level F. you could tap a tree anytime after it drops it impart until just before bud start to shape .
TheOhio State Universityrecommends practise trap only in tree diagram that are expectant and sound enough , around 12 inches or more in diameter . Tap kits can be homemade , purchased online or supply by your local farming elongation role . After you collect 40 gallons or so , then hail your labor of love : Boil it for 20 hours or so , carefully skimming off froth and making sure it does n’t scorch . With thrifty finishing at the perfect temperature , you ’ve got a sweet delicacy from the heart of your tree diagram . Make your sweetheart a Valentine ’s Day pancake breakfast clear with homegrown maple sirup !
5. Show ’Em That You Cairn
Winter may bring buried treasures to the surface , such asrocksthat get pushed up by frost heaving . Go for a paseo and scour your landing field for rock . Stack them up to ramp up muscles , garden layer wall , beneficial wildlife habitat and thermal mass . flock or carefully perch rocks on top of one another to makecairns , landmarks that guide the agency to a favorite touch or keep you on the right path , literally or symbolically . Millions of eld of geologic force-out have mould your landscape painting , molded and locomote these Harlan Stone , and ground down the mineral into soil where intellectual nourishment and flowers grow . Feel the weight of these rocks and the lightness of your footmark on this place . Do n’t take it for granite . ( Ha ! )
February fetch you to the mid - way of life point between wintertime and spring , when you begin to come out of your hibernation and reach for the light . inactive plants , dead and down debris , dark and starry sky , and apparently honest-to-god sway all offer beauty and function that are often look across and under - apprehended . Remember to celebrate all that nature provide , and your best yield this year may just be the relationship you have with your farm .
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