Composting 101

Get a high quality soil conditioner to improve your garden!

Reduce household waste by up to one third!

COMPOST!!

May 1-7 is International Composting Awareness Week!

What is compost?

According to the Compast Council of Canada, composting is a natural biological process, carried out under controlled conditions, which converts organic material into a stable humus-like product called compost. During the composting process, various microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, break down organic material into simpler substances. Composting is an aerobic process, meaning that the microorganisms require oxygen to do their work.

Benefits of Composting:

*Compost helps to maintain a healthy soil pH so that plants grow better

*Compost helps plants cope with stresses from drought and frosty temperatures

*Compost helps improve texture of soil

*Compost helps increase a sandy soil's moisture holding capacity
*Compost keeps earthworms content so that they can go about their work of aerating the soil

*Compost is a great source of plant nutrients

A special nod to coffee:

Coffee grounds fit the standards set by gardeners for compost materials. The grounds, when mixed with soil, release nutrients that make the ground richer and more acidic. Plants that flourish in acidic soil will be healthier since they can get the needed nourishment from the ground. If you have a good supply of coffee grounds, just spread them evenly in your garden. Your plants will reward you by producing robust blooms.

*New for Muskoka: Visit Oliver's Coffee (Bracebridge, Port Carling, or Bala) for your free bucket of grounds.

Worried about wildlife?

*Don't compost food scraps. Use a worm bin (i.e. vermicomposting) indoors instead. Or bury your food scraps directly in the garden, about a foot below the soil's surface.

*Make sure your compost pile doesn't smell. Strong odors attract pests. Odors in a compost pile are the result of anaerobic activity, which means your pile is compacted or too wet and air can't reach all of the materials. Be sure to turn it regularly to avoid this problem.

Not a gardener?

If you can't use the compost in your garden, you can still compost! Most communities in Muskoka offer curbside compost pick-up. If you just can't generate enough compost, some towns offer days where compost material is available for pick-up for use in your garden.

Want to know more?

Compost Coucil of Canada

Peterborough Green-Up Fact Sheets: a whole series on composting!!

Environment Canada: Composting Tips

District of Muskoka: kitchen organics

District of Muskoka: backyard composting

Green Action Centre (Manitoba) has some good information

How to Compost

Signs of Spring

Spring was definitely in the air this weekend!

What did you do to enjoy it?

Did you remember your camera?

Submit your photos to the Muskoka Heritage Foundation "Spring to Life" Photography Contest

I noticed some sure signs of spring when I was out during the past week:

The ice is melting and shifting on Lake Rosseau

New growth and buds on this Red Maple in Annie Williams Park, Bracebridge

The river is free of ice, most of the snow has melted, and buds are starting to appear on the trees in Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge.

All the details you need to enter the "Spring to Life" Photography contest can be found here or on the blog post from last week.

There are some great prizes! Deadline for entry is this Friday, April 8, 2011

Spring to Life! Photo Contest

Spring to Life! Amateur Photography Contest

A celebration of Muskoka’s environment and the global Earth Hour and Earth Day initiatives.

Frogs, toads, snakes, and turtles emerge! Photo Rebecca Francis

Scour your backyard, nearby lakes, swamps, woodlands, and neighbourhoods for the unique found-only-in Muskoka shot of the local environment as it comes to life after a long, sleepy winter.

What we're looking for are photographs that exemplify the signs of spring in Muskoka. What comes to mind when you think of spring? What feelings do you experience when "spring is in the air"?

Critters like chipmunks come out and robins and red-winged blackbirds return. Swollen buds take over the tips of branches and clothes can be hung on the line. For each person spring shows up in different, subtle ways. Photograph submissions should reflect your personal experience of the transition from winter to spring- and our enjoyment of that special time. The snow melts and we can once again see the forest floor. Ground covers sprout up and woodland pools foster lots of life. Photo: Rebecca Francis

1st Prize! An in-flight aerial photography lesson with professional photographer Paul Bennett. Visit http://www.paulbennettphotography.com/.

2nd Prize! A one-year subscription to the Wednesday edition of your choice, The Gravenhurst Banner, The Huntsville Forester or The Bracebridge Examiner.

3rd Prize! A one-year membership with the Muskoka Heritage Foundation and a copy of the MHF DVD entitled Life on the Edge: Stories of Muskoka’s Past.

Ducks and other birds return from their winter away. photo: Greg Francis

Criteria

• Open to amateur photographers


• Contest starts same day as Earth Hour— March 26


• Entries must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. April 8


• Email entry to events@muskokaheritage.org


• Photos must be at least 300 dpi and 8 inches wide


• To be eligible, submissions must include the name of the photographer and a brief description of the photo, including where it was shot in Muskoka


• 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize photos will be published in the April 20th, edition of Metroland’s local Wednesday papers (The Gravenhurst Banner, The Huntsville Forester, The Bracebridge Examiner) - 2 days before Earth Day!


• Winning photos will be published on the Muskoka Heritage Foundation website


• 
  
  Metroland Media Inc. and the Muskoka Heritage Foundation reserve the right to reproduce submissions

Get outside, take your shots, and enter soon!!

Sponsors

Wood Duck Adventure

Who lives here?

Introducing the Wood Duck!

(Aix sponsa)

{A male wood duck on the left and a female on the right}

photo credit: Randolph Femmer

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the Pileated Woodpecker and the importance of cavities. Wood ducks are one of the species that uses cavities made by pileated woodpeckers. However, wood ducks can also be induced to nest in artificial boxes.

Armed with this knowledge, an invitation from a landowner here in Muskoka, a cordless drill, a sharpie, and some wood shavings, a group of us headed out to see for ourselves if any nesting had taken place last spring on this property.

The incredible volunteers who accompanied me are none other than 3 of the Master Stewards from the Muskoka Stewardship Program. We were invited to this spectacular 100 acre property located in Muskoka to see if there had been any wood duck activity during the past year and prepare the boxes for this coming spring.

You see, wood ducks like to nest in cavities in wetlands because it makes it very difficult for predators to access their nests. These boxes are located in a 30 acre wetland. It's actually quite an amazing beaver pond. Normally inaccessible, the wood duck boxes had to be put up in winter and we needed the ice to be solid to change the material in the boxes for the coming spring.

Above: Paula unscrews the front of the box...you can see our shadows as we eagerly anticipate the contents of the first box!!

Female wood ducks often return to nest in the place where they were born. There is an increased chance they will use the boxes if they are not dirty from the previous year and also if the material inside is dry.

Our mission for the afternoon: clean out boxes, make observations on each one (amount of eggs inside, other animals that may have used it), and refill the boxes with new material. We also re-labelled the numbers on the 8 boxes from last year and assigned numbers to the 5 new boxes that were put up.

Inside each box the material is compacted down. There are often layers of broken shells and downy feathers. Notice the inside of the front piece that is sitting on the ground. The horizontal lines are carved in so the hatchlings can grab on to climb out before they fledge.

This box has quite a few shells and some feathers. In some of the boxes we could tell it was a wood duck because of the iridescent colour of the feathers.

A close up of the egg shell and some downy feathers.

Here is the crew, with our tools, in front of Box #5. Notice the oblong shape of the entry hole for the wood ducks. This shape is suited for them and is also big enough, but not too big. If you decide to put up boxes of your own, this is an important component. Also important is the forward slanted way they are affixed to the tree.

A beautiful day to get ready for spring and help the wood ducks have suitable nesting spots for when they return this spring. Perhaps we'll return next year to see how they did!

photo: Mike Sweet

Interested in building your own wood duck box?
Follow the same directions as the landowner whose property we visited!


Want to know more about wood ducks?
There are lots of websites:
Hinterland's Who's Who
House Construction Tips
Ducks Unlimited
The Wood Duck Society

Of Forests and Men

International Year of Forests on my mind...

Yann Arthus-Bertrand was appointed by the United Nations to produce the official film for the International Year of Forests. This film was shown during a plenary session of the Ninth Session of United Nations Forum on Forests (24 January - 4 February 2011) in New York. With the voice of Edward Norton.

International Year of Forests will be the theme for this years' Muskoka Heritage Foundation Award at the Muskoka Arts and Crafts Spring Members' Show. The show runs at the Bracebridge Sportsplex from March 25-27, 2011.