Monday, March 23, 2009

JOHNNY APPLESEED


JOHNNY APPLESEED

No one is really sure if our planet is changing because of CO2 emissions or because we
cut down the Amazon forest and sent it north where lumber is needed more, thus changing
the planetary weight distribution or if the planet is slowing down and wobbling because of
magnetic field fluctuations or other changes in the universe.

We do know, through various calculations, that 6 trees off set about one ton of CO2.

In Australia they estimated that each person produces approximately 13 tons of CO2 per year when the allowable rate is only 2 tons per year at most.
So if the calculations are correct, each person should be planting about 78 trees per year to neutralize our carbon out put.

So what do we do?


The best thing to do is to go out into your environment and see what trees grow naturally in your woods and
bring home seeds from these trees because they will be the easiest to adapt to the environment you live in.

The next step is to plant them in your yard, in some cool out of the way place.
Once the seedlings are large enough to survive on their own, with a good root system, go out and plant them
in safe areas where they have a chance to survive.

In British Columbia we have lots of Douglas Fir and pine cones galore.


Collecting them is fun in early spring and if you leave them in the sun to dry, they will open up and expose plenty of seeds.
You can then collect the seeds and plant them outside.

Sometimes you may use a zip lock bag to put pots in so that when you water them the soil does not dry.
The humidity will stay in the bag and keep the soil moist.
It usually doesn’t take long for them to sprout and then you can open the bag and treat them as normal seedlings.



This a great project to do at home and so easy and watching these babies grow gives you so much joy.

Once they are large enough (6-12 inches), they make fine gifts for all occasions especially when new babies are born. As the child grows, so will the tree and you will always know how old it is.

Protecting our environment doesn’t have to be so difficult if we just learn to enjoy it in a non destructive way
by replacing what we take out of our soil.

As I know we have many bikers crossing the country side, this is a very good thing for them to do.
Just hang a bag full of seedlings over your shoulder and stick them into the soil,
along the routes you travel, preferably, just before it rains, when you stop to take a break.

Every one can become a Johnny Appleseed, who planted seeds in 6 states before he died,
If nothing else, these trees will grow to provide free air conditioning to our overstressed planet.

In Toronto they found out planting trees on high rise roofs to be very beneficial both for the air and peoples health .
So………. become Legends in your own right, think green and have some fun planting.

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