11/24/13

When shopping at the grocery store, how you pack your reusable shopping bags can help you avoid cross contamination. Separate your purchases into four categories: frozen and perishable, like fruits and vegetables; meat and poultry products; fragile items, like eggs and bread; and nonedible items, like cleaning supplies and cosmetics. Designate specific bags for items in these categories. Keeping frozen items with perishables has a double-duty purpose: The frozen food acts as an ice pack to keep the fresh veggies chilled. Using color-coded reusable bags for category purposes is a simple way to keep everything healthy and free of cross contamination when you shop.

11/23/13

While it may seem like a kind gesture to put out apples or hay to feed deer during the cold winter months, it’s best not to. Deer instinctively shift their diet through the seasons, and they adjust to the winter months by slowing down their food consumption. Yes, they lose weight, but they are programmed to survive this way. If deer were to suddenly find plentiful food, the one-time meal does not help for long-term survival since supplemental feeding can put their entire seasonal feeding schedule off its normal course.

11/22/13

While winter is around the corner, warmer spring weather is just a few months away. If you’ve been thinking of starting a backyard garden, now is the time to get the soil prepared. Rake mounds of dead leaves over the area of lawn you plan to garden. Thick layers of fall leaves left in place over the cold winter months will kill the grass that’s under the leaves and degrade into beneficial mulch. In the spring, flip the soil with the decomposed leaves, and it’ll add organic matter and nutrients to the soil.