Earth Day on the Farm

In Garden, Field and Yard

• Use a rain barrel. The typical roof on a house can direct as much as 200 gallons of water into its downspouts during a ¼-inch rain shower. In other words, they’re not just cute art projects anymore—they’ll help us save up one the farm’s most precious resources. You can find already-assembled rain barrels at many garden centers and online, or you can make your own (you’ll find step-by-step instructions in the March/April 2009 issue of Hobby Farms magazine).
  
  
• Decrease the size of your lawn by 25 percent. Need inspiration, read a book about the benefits of natural grasses and plants--and even so-called weeds. Here's a suggestion; this book is by an author who loves to see a mix of greens in her lawn: A Weed By Any Other Name: The Virtue of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant (Beacon Press, $23.95).
  
  
• Plant a tree; make sure tree placement and type are appropriate for your region and for your property (i.e., avoid planting certain trees near electrical wires).
  
  
• Avoid chemicals; instead, try one or two new ways to keep the bad bugs away from your crops.
  

In the Kitchen (And At the Store)  

• Eat food grown locally.
  
  
• Eat the food you grow.
  
  
• Eat food grown with care, like grass-fed meat products.
  
  
• Incorporate a new heirloom vegetable, fruit--or even animal--into your menu items.
  
  
• Buy in bulk when possible to avoid foods with excess packaging, whenever possible.
  
  
• Eat the greens all around you; let nothing go to waste.
  

In the Home

• Reuse and recycle: You've already come up with a TON of ideas for resuing items on our message board. Review the list and see how you can reduce your shopping list this week.
  

In Your Community 

• Consider joining (or starting) and urban or community garden and/or start a victory garden and share the
  harvest.
  
  
• Take a reusuable grocery bag (or three!) on your shopping trip today!