Hello Spring!

After a long, cold winter, Spring is finally in her way. This is a great time to start helping your garden to wake up. You can prune some of your trees and bushes, pick up garbage or debris that made it's way into your space over the Winter, and get serious about planning what you are going to grow this year. Instead of getting rid of branches and logs, it's a great idea to pile them in a corner of your yard. They will become a habitat (and hiding space) for a wide variety of animals.

Much of the time, when discussing lawn care and gardening, people are focused on keeping wild animals away. However, bio-diveristy is an essential (maybe THE essential) element in living sustainably with the Earth and in turning your backyard into a healthy ecosystem. Creating shelter and hiding spaces for wildlife is an important way to help heal the Earth. It will also help your gardens to flourish. After all, toads love slugs, birds love grubs and insects, snakes love mice, spiders love insects of all kinds, and bats love mosquitos. Work with nature not against it!

Generally, the more wildlife that visit your natural spaces the better. It is a great idea to also give them some sort of water source and even create a patch of dirt for the dust baths that are enjoyed by many animals.

Our task as humans at this point in our existence is to figure out how to live with nature - as an harmonious part of ecosystems. It's not just a task - it's an urgent need. There are many things you can do to help work towards this in your own life - beginning with your garden!