Archive for June 8, 2009
Flying Objects Identified
by John Weckerle
Those of us who were out pounding rebar into the ground and setting soup cans on it (go ahead, ask us why – we dare you) this evening enjoyed a sight worth seeing – and those of us with a camera handy should always be happy to pass it on. The spectacular sight of a weather balloon illuminated by the setting sun is always worthy of note, but to have a jet pass so “closely” (from our point of view, of course) was a rare treat. We hope that somebody on the plane got a great shot of the balloon. We were actually going to post photos of this weekend’s full moon today, but we’ll hold them for a day or two given the uniqueness of today’s display. Want to know where it is now? Check out the NASA balloon tracking page! More photos behind the cut… »» Flying Objects Identified
Smoke In The Air
from Karen Takai, Sandia Ranger District, via Arlene Perea, Mountainair Ranger District
Hi all, As you wake up this morning you will notice a slight smell of smoke in the air. This smoke is coming from the Gila National Forest where the National Forest is monitoring fire for resource benefits.
In this case this fire is being used as a tool to bring fire back to the landscape while increasing protection for resources such as the Gila Trout, by reducing the potential for high- intensity fires that may burn if the fuel build-up remains untreated.
For more information follow the like to http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1667/.
We have received some rain but remember with the right conditions fires can start anytime so do not become complacent.
Just a thought this morning………… If this smoke was from something local would you have been ready to evacuate? What about your animals….What if you were in town…the Sheriffs Office would be closing the roads back to the East Mountains….who would get your family and animals out……..Would your property be able to stand against a wildfire….
It is a beautiful Saturday… take a few hours to do just one preparedness project to get you that much safer and defendable in case of a major incident.
Call if you have any questions or need information to get you prepared…KT
Note: Ms. Takai can be reached at (505) 281-3304, extension 120.
Grow Your Own – Boxing Day (Part Deux)
by John Weckerle
In our last Grow Your Own article, we went through the basic construction of a box for raised bed gardening (again, with a nod to Mel Bartholemew’s The New Square Foot Gardening). After writing that article, we moved the bed into place, leveled it, and mixed some soil. This new bed contains approximately one large wheelbarrow (alas, the last) of the soil given to us by Roger Alink of Wildlife West Nature Park last year, one bag each of composted cotton burr and chicken compost, one 2 ft3 bale of sphagnum peat moss, the last of the harvest from our household/yard compost bin, and a dozen or so shovels full of sand. The result is a rich and friable soil that is similar to the mix in the other two beds. We then added the grid to the top, simply attaching three pieces of lath in each direction using sheetrock screws and providing a visual aid to help us fit our plants into their square-foot domains. With all that done, it was time to plant and create the new critter control system.