Antibiotics Inhibit Plant Growth

Studies continue to confirm what environmental agencies and waste management specialists have been worrying about all along: that the antibiotics and other chemicals in our wastewater is leaching into water tables throughout the United States, affecting people, animals, and even plants with unforeseen consequences. This latest article from Discovery News brings our attention to the silent victim of human waste: the Plant Kingdom.

Antibiotics Inhibit Plant Growth : Discovery News

We are all connected. Let's not forget that. Without plants, there can be no humans. Don't flush medication down the toilet: make sure it is sealed and properly disposed of. Don't throw your CFLs or batteries in the trash. Use less, live more.

Welcoming the Newest Earth Lodge Team Member

Earth Lodge welcomes the newest addition to our team:

Jocelyn Sophia, 8 lb 15 oz, born Jan 20 at 12:48 pm after a very easy and joy-full delivery. Appropriate, of course, since her name means "joyful wisdom."

Quiet, Easy and Warm. That's our baby.

One Day Old

Buying Seeds for Your Garden: A guest blog

(This is a guest blog by Maya, from her green healing blog, http://healinggreen.blogspot.com)

Having turned the corner through the dead of winter, our New England days are getting longer and everyone is dreaming about Spring and days that don't begin with a stoking of the fireplace. Seed and plant catalogues are a great way to feed the mind and soul during winter, with beautiful images of flowers and vegetables, herbs and exotic grasses. I recently found a great article from Mother Earth News that had links to seed companies all over America. This is a fantastic resource, because when you buy seeds locally you are accomplishing two things: you are supporting local business communities and your plants are more likely to thrive in your soil, having been bred for generations in that spot of earth.

When you are reading about seeds, you will come across the terms Hybrid (F1), Open-Pollinated (OP) and Heirloom. Hybrid seeds produce specially bred varieties that are often disease and drought-resistant, or have special production properties. They are also usually designed to create more seed buying and protect the seed company's economic interest in their stock, which means that they will not breed true: if you want the same plant next year, you'll have to buy the seeds again. If you try and use seeds you collected from the plant, they will grow into a different plant, generally with different fruit production, or not even germinate at all.

Open-pollinated seeds breed true, and are often organic or grown without pesticides. You can save seeds from an open-pollinated plant and expect the exact same plants the next year. Environmentally, they present a better heritage for our children because these seeds are dependable and safe. Heirloom seeds are generally considered open-pollinated seeds which have been growing true for over 50 years or plant generations -- these are the seeds of our grandmothers, and theirs. Some heirloom varieties are endangered, and I love knowing that I am preserving a little bit of istory by planting these varieties in my garden.Here in Connecticut, I chose to order from two companies. The first is Comstock, Ferre, which had many OP seeds to choose from, does a lot of their own growing, and is the oldest seed company in the United States. How cool is that?? The other is a small company just a few towns aways from me, in a really tiny town, actually, called John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds.

Another great resource for those of you who are serious about saving and using your seeds for next year is the fabulous book, Seed to Seed.

Saving Heritage Breeds (A Guest Blog)

(This post is a guest blog from Maya's personal blog, Healing Green.)

Heritage Breeds are farm animals that have been around a long time, and in general are not used by large scale agriculture. These breeds are dwindling due to commercial unavailabilty or viability within CAFOs, but they are vital to insuring the survival of farming in the future.

For example: the modern turkeys that are used on most meat farms and sold in most hatcheries have been bred to have such large breasts that the males can no longer mount the females to mate naturally: they must be artificially inseminated. Many of the most commonly sold chicken breeds on the market no longer care to hatch and raise their own young -- quite simply, the desire has been bred out of them. Many animals have lost some of their natural foraging and mothering instincts, along with natural disease resistance. Pigs on large operations are being born with poor leg structure, because the breeding sows don't get to walk or even turn around in their cubicles while they gestate, and no one is noticing or caring that their legs are weak and being passed on to their young.

Holsteins have been bred with overactive pituitary glands which stimulate exorbitant milk production that is results in milk laced with similarly raised amounts of growth hormone -- making more milk than an average family could ever drink in a day.

For these and many other reasons, a lot of people think its important to assure the survival of the "old" breeds which may not be super-producers but tend to be more disease resistant and better suited to life on small farms or homesteads. Smaller cows such as Jerseys and Guernseys are easier to manage and produce milk in quantities that are better suited to family use. Pigs that know how to forage are better suited to pasture life and may feed themselves for free, especially if you have great stand of oaks for them to rummage through. Baby chicks that are reared by their mamas grow up to be good mothers, too, eliminating the need to buy incubators and monitor hatching.

Life on a farm, even a small one, is a lot of work: why not choose animals that help out and simplify matters wherever possible?

Even scientists are getting in on the action. Check out this NY Times article about a heritage breed sperm bank: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/06frozen.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Winter Schedule at Earth Lodge

No classes and events at Earth Lodge for the month of January will be meeting.

Maya, our vice president, is expecting her new baby mid-month, and Sandra and the rest of the Earth Lodge staffers will be busy lending a helping hand, in addition to tending the animals and Earth Lodge throughout the cold and snow.


Events will resume in February:


Shamanic Journey Circle
The second Thursday of each month from 6-8 PM (2/11)
$15

Reiki Share
(2/12, 2/26)
This community-inspired Reiki Share meets every other Friday from 11am-1pm and is open to all Reiki practitioners, whether you are a Master or just beginning. $10 Donation for use of the space, which is regularly cleared, empowered and blessed by the healers at Earth Lodge.

Drum Circle
3rd Wednesday of each month, 6 Pm (2/17)
(FREE)

Animal Healing Clinic
3rd Saturday of each monthly, 2-4 pm. (2/20)
The time for each session will be a minimum of 10 minutes. Sessions are $10, as these are introductory demonstration sessions by Sandra, Maya and Lisa.

Dream Circle
4th Monday of each month, 6 PM (2/22)
(FREE)

Course in Miracles Circle -- FREE DEMONSTRATIONS
Sandra is conducting free sessions to demonstrate the planned Course in Miracles Circle - contact us to set up your 2-hour demo.

Please see our full class schedule for more details.

Creating the Best Life for Animals

I recently finished Temple Grandin's latest book, Animals Make Us Human. It's a really compelling book that covers a wide spectrum of interests. If you want to know more about how to keep your cat or dog happy, read this book. If you are interested in animal welfare for both domestic and wild animals, read this book. If you own or work in a slaughterhouse or eat meat, read this book. And if you don't eat meat and are an animal rights activist, read this book.

Temple Grandin thinks about animal welfare from all perspectives. She has designed the audit systems now in place for many slaughterhouses and used by places like McDonald's and Wendy's to ensure their product comes from humane sources, and humane devices to lessen animal trauma or fear in these places. Her top concern, at all times, is the welfare of animals. If we are going raise animals for consumption, companionship or entertainment (aka: farm animals, pets, or zoos) then we should at all points in the process be focused on ensuring that these animals are emotionally and physically in the best state possible.

Her previous book written for the public, Animals in Translation, focused more how language and sensory perception works in animals. It was a good book, but this new book is really groundbreaking, I feel, in being accessible to the public and touching on so many important concepts. My only wish is that she had focused a little more on backyard/small farm chickens, in her chapter on chickens, which focused primarily on larger operations. However, that is just because I have some ;)

Other chapters include Horses, Dogs, Cats, Pigs, Cows, Wild Animals, Zoos, What Do Animals Need, and Why Do I Still Work for the Industry?

So if you need a last minute gift for an animal lover, owner, farmer, lawyer or well, just about anyone, I highly recommend this book!

Earth Lodge Closed Until the 24th - Classes Cancelled

Due to flu and bronchitis running through our offices, we have temporarily closed and will not be shipping any orders this week until the 24th. All classes this week are also cancelled.\

We apologize for the inconvenience!

Blessings & Happy Holidays,
The Team at Earth Lodge