Beneficial

Photo from the Facebook page of
the Historical Soceity of Princeton

Saturday I ventured to a picturesque Historical Society of Princeton gem called the Updike Farmstead. It was built in 1696 and is located near a Revolutionary War battleground. I wish I had brought my camera but I had gone to learn about growing vegetables from the manager of the Princeton Farmers Market, not to sightsee.

Here are some of my notes:

• Get your soil tested to learn its composition and pH levels
• Add compost to your soil for organic matter
• Well rotted manure smells wonderful
• Don't mulch with wood chips because they decompose slowly and add acid to the soil (those are good things in Colorado)
• Mulch between your vegetable rows with a layer of newspaper covered with hay
• The more worms in your soil, the healthier it is
• Don't use chemical fertilizers or weed killers -- they're petroleum-based and kill beneficial organisms and nutrients
• There are no worms in the adjacent field where they grow GMO corn
• There are adults who still don't know about Monsanto and its plot to flood the planet with its RoundUp ready genetically modified corn and soy beans
• And most importantly, start small
• Pick a manageable area and get to know your soil
• I'm definitely going to have to scale back my ambitions
• The Boulder Farmers Market is much admired

Then, on my evening walk with Chili, I came across a bunch of those solitary ground nesting bees that I had learned about a week before. I just saw the nests. The bees must have been busy polinating early blooming flowers. The nests look exactly like what I used to see annually in Boulder with hundreds of bees swarming aroung little holes in the ground between the trail and the fence behind the Wonderland Lake Ranger's Cottage.

I have always enjoyed watching the seasons change on my walks with Chili. Now, in a new place, with growing knowledge and awareness of what I see, the benefits of our daily exercise are even more special.