Aronia Buds

In the last few days I noticed the buds of my aronias have turned red. I'm worried that this means they are breaking too early.

At least it is clear that all three are currently alive and well despite the fact that they were not in good condition when I planted them last fall.

(Aronia arbutifolia)

They do look nice in red.

Worm Home

The worms' new home arrived yesterday, and I set it up last night. It seems silly spending as much money as I did when I could have made something myself... but life is always a trade-off in this way, and I have several other projects I need to complete now. So I chose the Worm Factory: http://www.cascadewormbin.com/wormfactory.htm

I bought it from All Things Organic: http://www.allthingsorganic.com/Products/worm-factory.asp (They have good customer service.)

I had read elsewhere that the bin was made from recycled plastic, but now I find that only the black version of the bin is recycled. The Terra Cotta version is made from food grade plastic (that's good in other ways). It would have been nice to know before I bought it.

Instead, I have an illustration of the difficulty of trying to be an environmentally conscious consumer. I didn't have all the facts before I made my purchase. I couldn't find the manufacturer's website until I had the item in my possession, so after the fact I have more info about what the product is made out of. Why aren't the retailers highlighting the fact that there is a recycled version?


In cat news, comfort zone for cats (aka the Feliway diffuser) arrived today and we plugged it into a wall socket in Cally's room. This product releases the same pheromone that happy cats release when they rub their cheeks against things. It is supposed to help cats feel safe and comfortable. I will report back later if she seems calmer.

I'm an AOLCP

A week ago, I skipped my Taiko class because I was sick, and because the next day was the last day of the Organic Land Care Course that I was taking from NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association)

Instead of engaging in fun and vigorous drumming, I stayed home curled up under a bunch of blankets and a cat (Peanut), and reviewed the course materials.

The next day I felt pretty icky, but still was able to stay with it enough to learn a few things from the morning lectures. The accreditation exam was at the very end of the day. Despite being sick, I was one of the first to finish (what?), and I felt pretty good about how I did.

Today, I feel really good about the results:
"Congratulations! You've passed the NOFA Accreditation Exam with a 98 (our top scorer ever by the way - and the only one you got wrong was that chickweed is a winter annual, not velvetleaf) and you are now a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP)!"

Yay!
My mother-in-law tells me that people tend to perform well on tests when they are running a slight fever. Lucky me!

On the other hand, Today I was back in Taiko class, and I was terrible! Well, I'll probably catch up.