World Ark Magazine - March/April 2008 - (Page 7) Go Time for GARDENERS Pantries once stuffed with canned tomatoes, homegrown potatoes and other garden goodies are coming up empty after a long winter, and it’s time to get fresh crops in the ground. National Geographic’s The Green Guide offers up these tips to help you work with Mother Nature to get a bumper crop this year. Fend Off Allergies The sneezing season is upon us, but many allergy sufferers dread the drowsiness that comes along with over-the-counter remedies. Here are some tips to help you get a handle on your allergies without drugs. • Avoid dairy, sugar, wheat and food additives, which can worsen congestion. • Eat spicy foods to thin and eliminate mucus. • Drink lots of water. • Exercise to strengthen your immune system and improve blood flow. Exercise inside your home if you need to avoid pollen and pollution. • Try yoga to relax your chest muscles and allow you to take in more oxygen. • Get a facial massage to promote drainage. Source: Fitness magazine Plan for your locale. Contact the nearest USDA extension office for free advice about the local climate. Experts there will tell you what will grow best in your backyard. Start with the soil. Ask your extension office experts if they sell soil-collection kits and provide analysis. Results of these tests can help you pick the best plants for the soil you’ve got. It will also give you clues as to how best to condition your soil for a successful growing season. And once you get those seeds in the ground, don’t forget to pamper the soil with a good coating of straw, hay, grass clippings or wood chips. Control pests without pesticides. Sometimes bugs can be scared away with “biopesticides” like red pepper and rosemary oil. And beer set out in small dishes will attract and drown slugs. Learn more about biopesticides by visiting www.epa.gov/pesticides/. GO GREEN U! Grist (www.grist.com), a popular Web site for environmental news and commentary, recently ranked 15 colleges and universities that make the grade when it comes to caring for the Earth. College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, is at the head of the class because all students there major in human ecology to study mankind’s relationship with the environment. Middlebury College in Vermont took the salutatorian spot because of its board of trustees’ pledge to make the school carbon-neutral by 2015. Third place went to EARTH University in Costa Rica, where students from 20 different countries study sustainable development in the tropics. www.heifer.org March/April 2008 | WORLD ARK 7 http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ http://www.grist.org http://www.heifer.org
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