by Judith Warrington, JRA Communications Coordinator
Here’s a resource worth conserving: your money. Consider these suggestions for conserving water, enriching your garden and saving money.
Create a compost pile. Why put vegetable peelings and rinds down the garbage disposal when they could be a source of nutrients for your garden? Fine Gardening offers this equation: Every pound of “garbage” down the disposal = 8 gallons of water and vegetable matter. Most garbage disposals use approximately 4 gallons of water per minute. Instead of using extra water to flush fruit and vegetable waste down the drain, create a compost pile or purchase an enclosed composter. You’ll have free organic material to enrich your garden soil.
Mulch. Mulching plant beds helps retain moisture in the soil, meaning less watering is needed. If your locality offers free mulch for pick up, take advantage of it. Rake up your pine needles and use them as mulch around your acid-loving shrubs. Whenever possible, leave grass clippings on your lawn to decompose instead of bagging them. You’ll be adding nutrients for your lawn. If you do bag your grass clippings, add them as green matter to your composter or compost pile.
Collect coffee grounds. Save the grounds from your morning pot of Joe or ask your favorite coffeehouse to save their grounds for you. Many shops already bag up their used grounds for gardeners! Check for them by the door. Used coffee grounds are great for your garden, make a good addition to your compost pile and earthworms love them.
Install a rain barrel. Using a rain barrel means “free” water if you pay utilities. If you have a well, this type of rainwater harvesting will help conserve water in case of a drought later. Either way, using a rain barrel helps lessen the amount of polluted runoff coming off your property.
Start a plant exchange. Spring and fall are good times to divide overgrown plants to give them renewed vigor. Set aside a Saturday afternoon when gardeners in your neighborhood can bring their extra plants on one location. Swap plants and offer growing advice. While you’re at it, set a date for next fall’s exchange! It’s also a good way to recycle your black plastic pots. Check with your local nursery or hardware store to see if they if they accept used pots for recycling.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Founding of James Fort, May 14, 1607
By Judith Warrington, JRA Communications Coordinator
After more than a three-month sea voyage, with stops in the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico for provisions, 103 men and boys and 39 crew members , representatives of the entrepreneurial Virginia Company of London, made landfall on the shore of what would become Virginia. They named their landing site Cape Henry, in honor of their king’s eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales. It was April 26, 1607. But this was only their first stop for the weary Company. The windswept shore gave little protection from the elements or the native inhabitants.
Sealed orders from the Virginia Company were opened and read, and the group was directed to find an island for their settlement site, a location that was both secure and defensible. After exploring the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and not finding a suitable location, the group’s three ships, Discovery, Susan Constant and Godspeed, sailed up river. About 60 miles inland from the mouth of the Bay, a swampy island on the river’s north shore offered the best location for the construction of a fort that could be easily defended against attacks by enemy ships. (The possibility of an attack by either the Dutch, the French, or the especially the Spanish, was perceived to be as great a threat as an attack from the indigenous population.) As it turned out, attacks by mosquitoes were to take the biggest toll on the settlers.
On May 14, 1607, on this swampy island, James Fort was founded. The settlement and the river were named for King James I of England. James Fort became Jamestown and served as the capital of the new colony until 1699 when the colonial capital was relocated to Williamsburg. Today, 404 years after the Virginia Company decided to build a fort on the James River, America’s Founding River continues to spark the imagination and admiration of those of us who live along its banks.
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After more than a three-month sea voyage, with stops in the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico for provisions, 103 men and boys and 39 crew members , representatives of the entrepreneurial Virginia Company of London, made landfall on the shore of what would become Virginia. They named their landing site Cape Henry, in honor of their king’s eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales. It was April 26, 1607. But this was only their first stop for the weary Company. The windswept shore gave little protection from the elements or the native inhabitants.
Sealed orders from the Virginia Company were opened and read, and the group was directed to find an island for their settlement site, a location that was both secure and defensible. After exploring the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and not finding a suitable location, the group’s three ships, Discovery, Susan Constant and Godspeed, sailed up river. About 60 miles inland from the mouth of the Bay, a swampy island on the river’s north shore offered the best location for the construction of a fort that could be easily defended against attacks by enemy ships. (The possibility of an attack by either the Dutch, the French, or the especially the Spanish, was perceived to be as great a threat as an attack from the indigenous population.) As it turned out, attacks by mosquitoes were to take the biggest toll on the settlers.
On May 14, 1607, on this swampy island, James Fort was founded. The settlement and the river were named for King James I of England. James Fort became Jamestown and served as the capital of the new colony until 1699 when the colonial capital was relocated to Williamsburg. Today, 404 years after the Virginia Company decided to build a fort on the James River, America’s Founding River continues to spark the imagination and admiration of those of us who live along its banks.
View archived articles >>
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