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Vineyard Mountain
Gazette
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A Main
Story…A1 Classified
Ads…A2 Weather…B2 B
Gardening
Nature…B1 Cooking…B2 June
11, 2001 Issue
#9 4
Days till school is OUT |
Bonsai Plants By Claire La Mont The
Crassula originated in China and Taiwan, but now is not too hard to
find at a gardening store. The Crassula is also called the Jade tree
or Money tree. This bonsai tree is almost impossible to kill!
Just don't water it too much.
Watering: Allow
the soil to become almost dry before you water it again. Water less
in the spring, fall, and winter. Temperature: 41 to 100 degrees. Light: Full
sun or semi-shade.
Soil: 30%
organic 70% grit (fine gravel). Re-pot just before spring every 2 to
3 years. Pruning: Pinch growing tips to maintain shape. Prune
branches at any time while the tree is growing. Where to buy:
Garland's Nursery in Corvallis has a good selection. A small plant
costs between $30.00 and $50.00.
For more
information on the Crassula and many other Bonsai's see the Bonsai
Survival Manual By Calin Lewis. Find More Info at: www.absbonsai.org
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Gardening/Nature
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Help Our Songbirds, Buy Shade Grown Coffee SONGBIRDS
- Hummingbirds, swallows, warblers, orioles, tanagers and other
native and migratory birds. Back in the 1970s, when Jackson Browne
and Bonnie Raitt became notorious for spearheading benefit concerts.
The latest Browne/Raitt benefit, held in Seattle was in support of
a cause that is impossible to boil down to a simple slogan. In a nutshell:
Songbirds that migrate to parts of South America have found their
winter homes destroyed by coffee farmers who try to increase their
yield by growing in fields instead of forests. This upsets the natural
balance and threatens the ecology. The cause, then, is a drive for
"sustainable" shade grown coffee -- to raise public awareness
in order to bring about subtle economic pressure. With this in mind, the concert was intended
to raise money and awareness for The Songbird Foundation, founded
by singer (and longtime Browne/Raitt compadre) Danny O'Keefe. "This isn't an easy thing to explain,"
O'Keefe said before the show. "But once you understand the idea
of sustainable coffee, the whole idea is transferable to other things."
He follows this with warnings of what can happen without sustainability,
but doesn't advocate boycotts or mass demonstrations. Instead he says
that education and networking are the keys. "When I started this
organization I followed the first rule of nonprofits: Call on your
friends to help you," he says.
These friends include Browne and Raitt, along with modern bluesman
Keb' Mo'. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4) |
Weather
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| A2 |
Classified
Ads
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| B2 – Cooking Pig Picking Cake II |
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Ingredients 1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix 1/2 cup margarine 4 eggs 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, with
juice 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping,
thawed 1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple with
juice 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla
pudding mix 1 cup chopped pecans 1/4 cup flaked coconut
Directions 1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees
C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round baking pans. 2.In a large bowl, combine cake mix, margarine,
eggs and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat for 3 minutes with an electric
mixer. 3.Pour into 3 - 9 inch round cake pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick
inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow cooling. 4.To make the filling: In a large bowl,
combine pineapple and juice with pudding mix. Stir in pecans and coconut.
Finally, fold in the whipped topping. Spread between cooled cake layers.
Chill in refrigerator
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B1 |
Gardening/Nature (Continued)
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The ForestCoffee, a small tree-shrub, has been traditionally
grown under the canopy of high forest trees. This tradition is currently
under severe threat. Over the last several decades years, throughout
the coffee growing regions of the Americas, farmers have been removing
older, shade canopy coffee trees and replacing them with new high-yielding,
sun-tolerant varieties. This new full-sun farming system increases soil
erosion and requires constant doses of fertilizers and pesticides. Of
course it also mean the old forest trees must come down to clear the
land. Every year in Central America and Mexico
millions of acres of tropical forest are destroyed. The Caribbean islands
that host migratory birds are mostly deforested. The reason that more
birds have not become extinct may be because the birds found refuge
in traditional shade coffee farms. In Mexico, biologists found that
shaded coffee has considerably more birds (more than 150 species) than
other agricultural systems, and compares favorably with natural forest.
The shade coffee farms are providing some of the last remaining forests
in Latin America. Shade-grown coffee benefits from the overstory
of tropical rain forest trees by drawing from the natural nutrients
abundant in the forest. The trees are nitrogen fixers, which enriches
the soil and reducing the need for chemical fertilizers. The birds help
control destructive insects that would otherwise require the application
of chemicals. And finally, in addition to hosting hundreds of species
of birds, the trees are also home to many other species of wildlife.
The following are other animals who rely on shade-grown coffee forest
for their survival: Howler Monkeys, Iguanas, Leafcutter Ants, Ocelots,
Peccaries, Pumas, Red-eyed Tree Frogs, Spider Monkeys, White-tailed
Deer, and Wild Goats.
The
Birds Many of the birds populating North America
each summer spend their winters in 'Coffee Country' in Northern Latin
America. Traditional coffee plantations provide some of the last remaining
forests of this region, providing essential habitat for the birds. Hummingbirds,
swallows, warblers, orioles, tanagers and other native and migratory
birds find a safe haven in the remaining forests of shade coffee plantations.
Studies in Colombia and Mexico found 94-97% fewer bird species in "sun
grown" coffee plantations than in "shade grown" coffee.
Most birds find food and shelter in the canopy of the shade coffee plantations,
while there is very little food and shelter in sun grown coffee plantations. Find more Information at: www.songbird.org (Story from Songbird.org and Rolling Stone) |
Please send any comments or questions to:
Cory
La Mont
Or See me on the Web:
cory@redthermos.com