"If every home would replace 3 light bulbs, that would be equivalent to taking 3 ½ million cars off the road," says Environmental Defense’s chief scientist, Bill Chameides. (U.S. News & World Report, 12/25/06)

The initial cost of making the switch from incandescent to CFLs (compact fluorescents) can be from 3 to 10 times the price you usually pay for light bulbs, but in one CFL’s lifetime, you can save over $30 on your electric bill and 2000 times the bulb’s weight in greenhouse gases. If indoor bulbs are switched, the fluorescents put out much less heat than incandescent, reducing energy used for cooling systems and reducing fire hazards as well. CFLs use between one fifth and one third of the power of incandescent equivalents. Lighting accounts for about 9 to 20 percent of a home’s electricity, projecting an estimated 12% savings on the bills.

It's easily understood, that removing colored marbles from a large jar reduces the marbles in the jar, and continually removing marbles, without putting any back, will eventually empty the jar. Conversely, taking more of one color than the rest of the colors will deplete that color much more quickly. To make an analogy, consider each marble represents a specific soil nutrient, based on its color, that is, all red marbles represent a specific soil nutrient, all blue another, etc. We now have a jar full of different colored marbles or in this scenario, various soil nutrients.

The best time to harvest most vegetables is in the morning while the dew is still on the plant. This is when the sugar concentrations are highest. After the harvest: dig, rake and remove remaining plant matter. For those who live in a milder climate, you can reseed lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, greens, spinach, carrots and peas for a late season harvest.

Last spring, I finally got the chance to cultivate my first garden. I rent a place by the lake, and my landlord gave me free reign over the modest-sized, empty flowerbed directly in front of my apartment. I immediately saw the artistic potential in this endeavor, and spent weeks dreaming up ideas and planning exactly what I wanted to do with this blank canvas of dirt.