This is inspiring and an example of what we can do as a community.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/25/solidarity-fridge-spanish-town-cut-food-waste-galdakao

A very simple solution helping many people!

Israeli Home Device Turns Trash Into Biogas Fuel

Very encouraging article about chefs proactively working to reduce food waste.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/zero-waste-restaurants-five-star-dining-on-leftover-scraps-1434386371

Help eliminate food waste. Write your legislators. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Food Waste (HBO) https://youtu.be/i8xwLWb0lLY via @YouTube

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/almost-half-americas-food-go-waste/

Why does almost half of America’s food go to waste?

Roughly 40 percent of food produced in America never makes it to the table. Whether it rots in the field, is trashed at the supermarket, or thrown out at home, NPR’s Allison Aubrey looks at why good food is being discarded, and what can be…

PBS.ORG

Neti the Yeti Saves His Mountain is available online at Reach and Teach in hardback,  Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble in hardback and e-book and at the following stores:

China

Garden Books 325 ChangLe Road 200031 Shanghai tel: 021-5404-8728 http://www.bookzines.com

United States

Arkansas

Melinda’s Coffee Corner 3901 Highway 7 North, Hot Springs Village, AR 71909 tel: (501) 984-5393

Garvan Gardens 550 Arkridge Road  Hot Springs, AR 71913 tel: (501) 262-9300 www.garvangardens.org

California

Reach and Teach 178 South Boulevard, San Mateo, CA tel: (415) 586-1713 https://www.reachandteach.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1714

Illinois

The Book Cellar 4736 North Lincoln Avenue #1  Chicago, IL 60625 tel: 773-293-2665 www.bookcellarinc.com

TownHouse Books & Cafe 105 North 2nd Avenue  St. Charles, IL 60174 tel: 630-584-8600 www.townhousebooks.com

Oklahoma

Best of Books 1313 NE Danforth  Edmond, OK 73034 tel: 405-340-9202 www.bestofbooksedmond.com

Hastings 2300 West Main St.  Norman, OK 73069 tel: 405-329-5527 www.gohastings.com

Nevada

Northern Nevada Trading Company 341 South Bridge Street, Winnemucca, NV 89445 tel: 775-625-2233

Tennessee

Book Juggler 548 S. Main, Memphis, TN 38103 tel: 901-249-5370

The Booksellers 387 Perkins Extd  Memphis, TN 38117 tel: 901-683-9801 www.thebooksellersatlaurelwood.com

Check out the Internet of Elephants, which is dedicated to using IT solutions to help in wildlife conservation. Please visit the website and sign up for the newsletter (at the bottom of the home page).

http://www.internetofelephants.com

 

 

From Green Child Magazine:

Growing your own food is the most gratifying and rewarding act on the planet. Starting food from seeds is easy, inexpensive and fun.  But planning a garden can be daunting and many gardeners do not know where to start.

“Planning a garden starts with choosing what you love to eat,” says Farmer John Fendley of the Sustainable Seed Company. “Your garden is the ultimate grocery store because it’s convenient and tailored to your taste. But there are a multitude of other benefits to gardening such as saving money, eating healthier foods and burning calories.”

Farmer John suggests starting with these 10 simple vegetables to grow from seeds for beginners to have success in the garden:

1. Beets
Beets are cool weather crops that do best after the harsh winter cold and before the mid-summer heat. They can also be grown when planted in the late summer for a fall harvest. Perfect conditions for bountiful beets include soil at around 60 degrees F, plenty of water, and all the sun they can get.

2. Radishes
Radishes are a great choice because they grow quickly and easily in both the spring and fall. They can be ready to eat in less than a month from the time you plant seeds.

3. Peas
“Nothing beats peas for growing with kids” says Farmer John. Both shorter and taller varieties like to climb. Plant peas early in the season in well-draining soil on both sides of a trellis, by the time it gets warm, you’ll be shelling away.

4. Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is rich with vitamins and minerals and is a low-maintenance green.  It is more frost and heat tolerant than other greens. Sow the seeds directly into well-composted manure, add water and watch them grow.

5. Beans
Like peas, most beans like to grow up. They can do well when seeds are planted directly into warm soil with something to climb. Beans are for beginners because most varieties produce for weeks and weeks if they are picked. Give them full sun and plenty of water at the root.

6. Lettuce
Lettuce comes in so many varieties that you’re sure to find one that meets your growing and eating needs. When it’s very hot, most lettuce needs shade. Since they grow close to the ground, they’re perfect to plant in the shade cast by taller plants like tomatoes and beans.

7. Spinach
Spinach grows well in cool weather. If you want a lot, you have to plant a lot. Harvest it like lettuce, either by picking the largest leaves or by cutting all the leaves back to about one inch. If you choose the latter method, spinach will grow back several times throughout the season.

8. Tomatoes
Start tomatoes indoors in February or March.  Once they’re in the ground in a spot with full sun, many varieties will be extremely prolific. For a strong root system, plant the starters deeply, burying the stem up to the lowest leaves as the roots need to develop a strong foundation. As the plant grows, water regularly and expose it to plenty of sunshine. Trim and remove weak leaves and fruit as it grows to allow for ripened fruit and leaves to flourish.

9. Cucumber
Cucumbers are flexible in their growing environments and can grow in containers, raised
beds, rows, or hills.  As long as there is warm weather, ample sunshine (6-8 hours per day), and lots of water, a cucumber will grow. One plant grows an abundance of cucumbers since they grow as bushes. Be sure to space the plants over two and a half feet apart if growing several plants in a row.

10. Basil
Farmer John thinks herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow from seed, but the most versatile is basil. It can be grown both indoors and out. Ensure that it gets plenty of light, at least 6 hours, natural or artificial, per day. Basil thrives in properly drained, nutrient packed soil and needs thinning maintenance at the early stages to ensure strong plant growth.

The selection available online for unique and delicious heirloom vegetables far surpasses anything found in supermarkets.  And when you begin to harvest and enjoy nature’s bounty, you’ll be well pleased at the money you save, and the amazing food you grew from seed.  So check out the estimated last spring frost in your area, and start your seeds…you’ll be very happy you did.

Here is a vocabulary list to help children as they are reading Neti the Yeti Saves His Mountain.

Announce (verb) – to make known publicly

Atmosphere (noun) – the mass of air that surrounds the Earth

Awe (noun) – an emotion of respect and wonder

Barren (adjective) – having very few plants

Bask (verb) – to take pleasure or enjoyment

Cease (verb) – to stop

Declare (verb) – to make known formally or officially

Dejected (adjective) – low in spirits, depressed

Despondently (adverb) – feeling almost without hope

Deteriorate (verb) – to wear away

Dingy (adjective) – dirty, unclean

Drifts (noun) – when referring to snow, a mass of snow piled up by the wind

Enormous (adjective) – a very great size

Exist (verb) – to be real

Fertilizer (noun) – a substance to make something productive

Furnace (noun) – an enclosure where heat is generated by using fuel

Gadget (noun) – a small mechanical or electronic device

Hatch (verb) – to emerge or break out of an egg; to devise or develop

Nonchalantly (adverb) – seeming to be unconcerned or indifferent

Organic (adjective) – involving the use of food produced naturally, without chemical fertilizers, etc.

Overwhelm (verb) – overpowering

Perplex (adjective) – filled with confusion

Plant (verb) – to put in the ground for growth

Plumes (noun) – long and featherlike

Pollute (verb) – to make unclean

Proclaim (verb) – to announce officially and publicly

Reduce (verb) – to bring down in amount or degree; to make smaller in size

Restore (verb) – to bring back into existence or use

Run off (noun) – something that drains or flows off

Sapling (noun) – a young tree

Strum (verb) – to play a stringed instrument by brushing the strings

Stubby (adjective) – short and thick

Valley (noun) – a lowland between mountains

Yeti (noun) – hairy, humanlike animal inhabiting the snows of the Himalayan Mountains