Green Thinking for the Average Joe » plants http://www.ecojoes.com Green mess, eco-friendly experiments, and environmental news mess Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:14:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Take the Arbor Day Tree Survey and Win Free Coffee http://www.ecojoes.com/take-the-arbor-day-tree-survey-and-win-free-coffee/ http://www.ecojoes.com/take-the-arbor-day-tree-survey-and-win-free-coffee/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:24:37 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=1168
Survey con robot
The good ol’ Arbor Day Foundation©™ is giving away a year’s worth of free coffee to the first 50 people to finish their tree survey! The chance to win is low, but the prize is high. Daddy like those odds.

After you take their survey, you’ll be given an opportunity most people only dream about – the chance to donate your hard-earned money (“skrilla”, as it were). Even ol’ EcoJoe broke a long miserly streak and donated to this worthy cause.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/take-the-arbor-day-tree-survey-and-win-free-coffee/feed/ 11 The Reindeer of St. Matthew Island http://www.ecojoes.com/the-reindeer-of-st-matthew-island/ http://www.ecojoes.com/the-reindeer-of-st-matthew-island/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:15:10 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=1020
What follows is a strange but true tale about overpopulation and bad natural resource management. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story (tosses dust into fire)

The Tale of St. Matthews Island

Move your mouse arrow over the image, and depress the key to view the image.

Does that first panel look familiar at all, perchane? Maybe a little something like THIS

Anyhoo, the moral of the story is, if people don’t manage their natural resources wisely, they could end up like them dead reindeer. Unless we find more islands to move to. In conclusion, reduce, reuse, and recycle.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/the-reindeer-of-st-matthew-island/feed/ 6 How to make Compost Lasagna http://www.ecojoes.com/how-to-make-compost-lasagna/ http://www.ecojoes.com/how-to-make-compost-lasagna/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:10:04 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=941
Hey, lasagna! Who doesn’t like that? But there’s a special ingredient in this lasagna: compost. ¡Delicioso!

Compost lasagna is not something you eat, believe it or not. It’s basically a really easy way to soup up your garden’s soil. It’s called “compost lasagna” because, like lasagna, it’s built up of layers.

Also called “sheet composting”, it’s a great way to reuse your kitchen waste instead of sending it to the landfill. It’s best prepared in fall or winter, so let’s get to making this compost lasagna, shall we?

Compost Lasagna Ingredients

  • Compost – old vegetable waste, used paper towels, etc.
  • Old Newspapers – previously perused papers
  • Gumption – undefinable
  • Garden – spot of ground where you want a garden



Alrighty, once you’ve gathered those ingredients, here’s whatchu gotta do:

Get a Garden

Any space will do. Speaking of a garden, here’s one now.

Layer 1: Newspapers

This layer should be cardboard or a few layers of newspaper. It’ll kill off grass and other plants that’d otherwise compete with your poor, defenseless garden.

Here’s Charlie Stray Cat helping with this step:

Layer 2: Compost

This layer provides lots o’ nutrients for your future plants. It’ll decompose into rich, dark dirt.
Get ready for some hardcore shovelin’ action!

Eventually, it’ll look something like this:

Layer 3: Leaves

Rake you some leaves up. Steal some from your neighbors. Whatever it takes to get those precious, precious leaves. This layer will rot and help hold everything down.

As you can see above, the compost lasagna may stick up a bit. Don’t fret though, by the time spring rolls around, it should’ve rotted nicely into some primo, loamy soil.

That’s it, just three easy steps. If you’ve got this far, wait ’til spring, plant your garden, and watch it take off like Jack’s beanstalk!

If you DO make compost lasagna, let me know how it goes!

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/how-to-make-compost-lasagna/feed/ 6 Free Rainforest Alliance Sticker http://www.ecojoes.com/free-rainforest-alliance-sticker/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-rainforest-alliance-sticker/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:21:06 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=757
rainforest-sticker
Do you like rainforests? Do you want to show your support for keeping them around?

If you answered “Heck yeah” to both these questions, then you’re in luck. Simply glide your mouse pointer over THIS LINK and click it with all your might.

Just remember, the sticker won’t help out the rainforests. All it does is show you care ’bout them; the rest is up to you, good sir/madam.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-rainforest-alliance-sticker/feed/ 0 Free Dr. Seuss Lorax Activity Book http://www.ecojoes.com/free-dr-seuss-lorax-activity-book/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-dr-seuss-lorax-activity-book/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:57:28 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=715
Hot dang, it’s been nigh on a month since I last posted on here, back when perhaps the greatest human being of all time went to go join the Great Spirit in the Sky.

Anyhoo, some of you may be familiar with the Lorax, a fanciful creature who “speaks for the trees”, straight from the warped mind of Dr. Seuss, PhD. Here’s your chance to get a free PDF of an activity book featuring this true eco-hero.

Just CLICK ON THIS LINK to go and get your free copy of it! Go on, I won’t watch, honest I won’t.

Last, but not least, if you’ve got an attention span longer than mine, you may want to take a peek at this Lorax cartoon, which looks like it was made in the ’70s, based on my expert opinion.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-dr-seuss-lorax-activity-book/feed/ 0 Quick City Gardening Tips Right Before Earth Day http://www.ecojoes.com/quick-city-gardening-tips-right-before-earth-day/ http://www.ecojoes.com/quick-city-gardening-tips-right-before-earth-day/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:55:43 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=632
Kick off Earth Day by starting a neighborhood garden. Gather around a bunch of neighbors and locals, find a vacant lot, and help “green” it by cleaning it up and turning it into a majestic garden. Here are some great tips for community gardens…
City Gardening Wisdom
Hopefully those tips will aid you on your journey to your very own community garden.

From the incomparable Onion.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/quick-city-gardening-tips-right-before-earth-day/feed/ 4 Free Tomato Seeds from Campbells http://www.ecojoes.com/free-tomato-seeds-from-campbells/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-tomato-seeds-from-campbells/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:09:35 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=597
Free mater seeds!!
Here’s a quick way to get free tomato seeds from Campbell’s soup.

Grab a can of condensed soup from Campbell’s, and head over to this site.

Enter in the code it asks for, fill in your address, and voila, your free tomato seeds are on their way!

ALSO, while you’re there, click on the GROW button to donate.

That’s it for today; check back tomorrow for the Carnival of the Green, hosted by yours truly.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-tomato-seeds-from-campbells/feed/ 1 Free Wildflower Seeds – How to get Flower Seeds for Free http://www.ecojoes.com/free-wildflower-seeds-how-to-get-flower-seeds-for-free/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-wildflower-seeds-how-to-get-flower-seeds-for-free/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:29:25 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/?p=539 Check it out, y’all. Free wildflower seeds, get ‘em while they’re hot. Forget the boring homogeneity of an all-grass yard, amaze your neighbors with these here free wildflowers.

CLICK HERE to get them. Good luck, sir or madam.

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-wildflower-seeds-how-to-get-flower-seeds-for-free/feed/ 2 Plant a Tree in a State Park with the Click of a Button http://www.ecojoes.com/free-plant-a-tree-in-state-park/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-plant-a-tree-in-state-park/#comments Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:39:34 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/free-plant-a-tree-in-state-park/
Un arbol de dinero

It seems too easy to be true, but if you visit this site, you can click and drag a tree onto a state. When you do that, they’ll plant a tree in a park in that state. It only takes less than a minute, so por favor go to their site.

Here are their rules for planting trees:

Each family can donate up to five trees under this Program. Participants pay no money under this program. The donated trees will be paid for by Odwalla, Inc. up to $50,000 worth of trees.

Gadzooks, $50,000 of trees to be planted!!

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-plant-a-tree-in-state-park/feed/ 4 Free Ginormous Organic Roses http://www.ecojoes.com/free-gigantic-organic-roses/ http://www.ecojoes.com/free-gigantic-organic-roses/#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:04:06 +0000 ecojoe http://www.ecojoes.com/free-gigantic-organic-roses/
I got an email today tell me about some insanely ‘uge organic roses from Ecuador. Since they were organic and gigantic, I decided to check out. God dang they are huge. Here, just look at this picture:

The roses are about to claim their next victim... The lady in the red shirt is obviously terrified, and rightfully so. Her red shirt, meant as a sign of solidarity with the red roses, has only provoked them. These are probably her last moments alive; the roses will soon be feeding.

Click right about HERE to go enter the free giant organic rose giveaway sweepstakes contest, just in time for good ol’ Valentines’ Day. But please, be careful around them.

BEWARE…

]]> http://www.ecojoes.com/free-gigantic-organic-roses/feed/ 0