Brummet's Conscious Blog

Backyard Habitat  The Kootenays are filled with passionate gardeners and farmers but few are aware that there are amazing programs and how-to instructions that help people green their yards, roofs and balconies while creating diverse beauty and habitat for native and migrating creatures. One of the programs, the Backyard Habitat Certification, honours and celebrates those who have created a diverse backyard habitat with different types of landscaping, water sources, gardens and trees that provide food or habitat for bees, butterflies, bats, birds, and frogs and humans. Dave and Lillian had the honor of being awarded this certification for their Grand Forks home. “When we purchased that double corner lot, it had been a rental for a long time. When we looked into the history of the property we learned that many years ago it belonged to a back yard mechanic and before that it had been the site of a repair yard for the railway that used to exist there at the turn of the cent...

Garden Gifts for Men  * Today's article was edited quite a bit by the owner of this blog, Lillian Brummet but was originally written by Greg O'Sullivan who invites our readers to visit his gardening guide for further insight on garden gifts for men. http://mygardeningguide.com The more macho male may pretend he has no interest in gardening or using gardening equipment - it is, however, a fact that most men do take pride in their gardens and enjoy working with both innovative tools and basic equipment. Gardening gifts for men cover the whole spectrum from the man with green fingers, to the man who just potters in the shed, to those who simply cook on the barbecue. The range of gardening presents for men available in hardware stores, garden centres and on-line can be mind boggling so it is best to choose a gardening gift for a man which is practical, affordable, and appropriate to the size of the garden and suits his personality. Making your choice based on...

Your Office In The Garden * Today's article was written by Dwijen Borah who invites you to learn more about building sheds, garden plans and designs via his site: http://www.shedplansdesigns.net . When you think of a home office, does a garden office come to mind? Well, it's possible and even fun to build your own workspace while enjoying your garden at the same time. You can start by purchasing a sturdy and safe shed and then decorating and organizing it to your liking. You can create an open shed without doors or a closed door shed that has windows so you can look outside your window at the garden while you work. Look through interior design magazines or on home decor magazines to get ideas for your shed for the home office. When constructing your cozy office for the garden, you should use wood flooring because it not only looks inviting and rustic, but it is also environmentally friendly. There are all kinds of wood flooring and wood finishes to...

Cleaning day for me ...ugh. That is always the challenge, isn't it? Trying to find the balance between managing the existing business activities while reaching for growth in skills, techniques, contacts and opportunities - while somehow balancing the home life, getting all those pesky chores done. lol Over the last 10 days or so in between work and other obligations, we were able to construct 3 raised garden beds in 2X6 board frames. Eventually there will be 8 beds (as I mentioned the other day) ranging between 3X14 and 3X16 (feet) in size.  We have, as you are likely aware, a 3-bin compost system that we have been using to conditioning our heavy clay soil along with other organic material such as lawn clippings, leaves and kitchen waste. The third bin in that system is the most composted and that is the one we've been emptying into the two beds, and while the soil is a lot better then what we started out with it is still very clay-like, so we have added a bag of peat to eac...

-- Quote of the Day --  “Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.”  ~ Thomas Jefferson -- Poetry Month --  April is poetry month so I've plans on publishing a few poems throughout the month... here is another one for your enjoyment... this one will be included in an upcoming poetry book expected to be published later this year. To find more of my published poetry check out the book Towards Understanding. Opportunities to Create Positive Change Our global society must decide today Whether we will live in a sustainable way. Will we be a locust species, Leaving nature in little pieces? Or will we spread wings to be Stewards like the bumblebee? We are a species, who in essence Have survived by physical senses. Yet we can change our self, And change the world. Struggling for isolation Living by definition Yet there’s unity in our di...