Tag archives for Trees
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Phenomenal Friday Fact
Palm trees grew at the North Pole about 55 million years ago.
The Earth is an amazing planet. As we celebrate Earth Day this April 22, consider the changing environment and take steps to protect it for the future.
Check out books and movies about nature and the environment.
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Helping the planet is a big part of what our world trip is all about and that’s exactly what we did this past week.
We helped get a hydroponics farm started. This farm will be a model for the local villagers so they can start their very own self sustaining farm. Hydroponics is a type of farming that uses a third of the water needed in an average farm and it is covered by a tarp so the elephants and rhinos don’t smoosh it.
Everest with a baobab tree.
The farm is set right next to a beautiful flood plain (the sunsets are epic) and the property is home to trees that have lived for thousands of years. Speaking of trees, one of my projects while we were there was planting trees that will one day be just as amazing as the others. There was one great granddaddy called a baobab on the property. It was so big; when I saw it my mouth dropped open.
All of the villages throughout Botswana have their own chief who controls a certain amount of land. We had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting with the chief of Katchikow, we called it “Catch a Cow.” In the meeting we discussed starting a hydroponics farm in his area. He seemed to be all for it and said that it was god’s plan that the project we were helping with had come to his area.
Another problem the village people face is the destruction caused by wild animals such as the elephant. Elephants will walk through and destroy their crops, trees and huts in just one night. The cheap and easy solution is to soak rope in chili water and put it up around their fence and it will keep the elephants and other wild critters away.
It is crazy to think that the garden is their life, where as for us it is really something we do for fun. We take for granted that we have other options if our fruits and vegetables don’t grow. It will definitely be something that I will think about a lot more when we go home.
The difference we made by just sharing some new simple farming methods is astonishing. Our hope is by teaching these new methods they will double their crops and their income.
It was a fantastic week and it always feels good when you know you are making a difference in the world. I hope to continue to “make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race…”
A tree with birds in it.
Phenomenal Friday Fact
Phenomenal Friday Fact
The tamarisk tree was brought to the United States in the 1800s as a decorative tree, and it was also used to help stabilize the soil on rivers. The tree has thrived in the southwest, crowding out native trees. For many years, biologists have removed the invasive trees by digging them up or using herbicides In 2001, land managers began releasing imported salt cedar leaf beetles in an attempt to help stop the spread of the trees (tamarisk trees are also called salt cedars).
The beetles are doing their job more effectively than expected and have migrated up to 100 miles away from where they were released. Scientists are now concerned that species that have gotten used to the tamarisk trees may have trouble adjusting when the trees are gone. One example of this is the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, which prefers nesting in tamarisk trees even when there are other native trees available.
Read more about this invasive species problem on National Geographic News.
Iggy Arbuckle has tried a similar trick to eliminate invasive species in the Kookamunga! Watch the video on National Geographic Kids.
Read more about invasive plants on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Phenomenal Friday fact!
People flush about 27,000 trees’ worth of toilet paper down
the drain every day.
The next time you’re shopping for house
products with your family, consider buying toilet paper made from post-consumer recycled content.
Read Zipper’s Green Tips.
Photograph by Paul Kipping, My Shot
Let’s celebrate planet Earth today and vow to be better stewards of the environment! Over the past 40 years, people all over the globe have participated in projects to bring attention to issues such as pollution and come up with solutions that everyone can support, like cleanup projects and tree planting!
As part of an Earth Day project last year, 100 Bulgarian students participated in a school and park beautification project led by a now Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Alison Bell of Alpharetta, Georgia (in pink shirt below). Students planted over 350
donated trees and plants.
They also cleaned up trash from the town, school grounds, and park.
Play a Peace Corps Challenge game and solve issues like volunteers.
Photographs courtesy Peace Corps
Did Squirrels Eat Your Jack-O’-Lantern?
An article published in The Washington Post on Sunday says that squirrels are eating things that they usually don’t seem as interested in, such as leftover Halloween pumpkins and trash. What’s going on?
It seems that there are fewer acorns available for squirrels to eat this year. Last year oak trees in the Washington, D.C. region dropped many acorns. This year there are fewer acorns than usual, possibly because of weather. People from other areas have also reported fewer acorns. Without the usual acorn supply, many squirrels may starve this winter.
