Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 21, 2023

11

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 21, 2023 

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges [www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]


Beautiful SINEAD 
and Family!

Here is a precious and 
super sweet little family! 
Sinéad, age 1.5, named 
after the well-known 
Irish singer, was res-cued 
from a kill shelter along 
with her sole surviving 
kitten, Rosie, hours before they were scheduled for 
euthanasia.

Sinéad is a calm, exceedingly affectionate and 
friendly young cat. She even sweetly accepted another kitten, Kev-in. She is great with 
kids and would love a home with one or more attentive humans (and their laps) to shower 
her with the attention she deserves. She was a sweet, loving mama, but now it's her turn 
to be pam-purr-ed! Her sweet daughter, Rosie, and her adorable “stepson,” Kevin, would 
love to stay with their mama. Can anyone consider adopt-ing all three? See more of Sinead 
on our website's "Teen and Young Adult" page, and more of Rosie & Kevin on the “Very 
Young” page at www.lifelineforpets.org.


THE URBAN GARDEN, PART 2

BUILD THE SOIL

One of the principles of agricultural ecology is that nature can take care of 
nature more easily the larger the plot of land happens to be. It’s a bit harder 
to have all these natural systems operating if you’re only dealing with a plot 
of land that’s about 40 by 20 feet, the size of our little garden. This meant 
that I had to give the little plot a lot more attention, at least in the beginning, 
until “balance” was found in that little area. 

 

I learned that – regardless of what I grew and where I lived – the health of the soil is the 
single most important factor in producing plants that are drought-tolerant, bug resistant, 
and able to survive in the greatest range of temperatures.

 

My next experiment in that small yard was to go to the grocery store and get boxes of old 
produce and just dig a hole here and there in the garden and bury the old vegetables so 
they’d decompose and enrich the soil. Simultaneously, I went to the local cemetery and obtained 
bags of grass clippings. I began to layer the bare ground around the base of the plants 
with liberal amounts of grass clippings. This was a thick layer, not a thin sprin-kling of 
grass clippings. The top layer would dry out a bit, but underneath, it stayed moist, softened 
the soil, and provided an environment where earthworms thrived as well as lots of other 
bugs thriving. 

 

With the layered grass clippings on the ground, I now noticed that the herbs and vegeta-bles 
thrived and grew well, and the bug infestation was at a minimum. Plus, I didn’t need to 
water as much. I continued to get as many bags of grass clippings as possible and mulched 
the soil. And I continued to bury old vegetables in the garden. I produced onions and tomatoes 
and Swiss chard and zuchinnis, and lots of herbs. I decided to skip the corn as they 
still seemed to require more work than I was willing to do to keep them bug-free.

 

I’m not sure that everyone would want to get boxes of old produce and just bury it in their 
garden space. That was part of my learning. I’d strongly suggest you have a compost bin in 
your yard and begin to make your own compost from kitchen scraps and yard trimmings. 
It’s not that hard, and you’d be surprised how well you can supplement your soil from what 
you are ordinarily throwing away.

 

Also, raise earthworms, which naturally enrich the soil. There are special bins that you 
can buy to raise earthworms, though I have always managed to raise them in dedicated 
compost bins or piles. They cannot tolerate all the heat generated by adding a lot of kitchen 
or vegetable scraps at one time, so you need to raise earthworms separate from your main 
compost area. Gardeners generally use redworms for composting because they reproduce 
rapidly and they tolerate a great temperature variation.

 

Years later, I was a regular guest on a popular gardening radio show, and the host start-ed to 
like my perspective, and kept having me answer his listeners’ questions. But I am not sure 
they liked what I told them. If they asked 
why their petunias didn’t grow well, I’d 
ask, Why the heck are you bothering with 
petunias? If they asked very specific ques-
tions about bugs on their plants, I always, 
always, always took the conversation back 
to soil. Improve the soil. A good healthy 
soil produces plants that are more drought-
tolerant, insect resistant, somewhat frost 
resistant, since all the “problems” are the 
result of poor soil. “Improve the soil” became 
my mantra.

Pet of the Week

 


 Tommy is a young Great Dane/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix 
who is excited to meet everyone! This big puppy is just shy of 
90 pounds, and he is 100 percent fun.

 Tommy greets everyone with a tail that wags his entire body. 
He’s so happy to see you that he may be tempted to bounce 
into your lap or try to give you a kiss, but the volunteers 
at Pasadena Humane have been working with him on his 
manners. It’s a work in progress, but we know he’s going to 
get it!

 Tommy has also been great around other dogs. He really 
likes to meet new dogs and if they’re interested in playing, 
he’s all for it! If not, that’s OK, too. He can read the room. 

 This happy pup is ready for whatever fun you can cook up!

 The adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include 
spay or neuter, microchip, and age-appropriate vaccines. 

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-
wellness exam from VCA Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information 
about how to care for your pet. 

 View photos of adoptable pets and schedule an adoption appointment at pasadenahumane.
org. Adoptions are by appointment only, and new adoption appointments are available 
every Sunday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. 

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by phone 
calls or email.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com