Pick your own berries this summer

Prof. Cricket loves any chance she can get to go outdoors. She would just love to be a farm dog and romp around outdoors all day long. This summer, even if you don't have your own garden, you can get out of doors and have some fun picking your own berries. Dessert never tasted so good as when you picked the berries yourself.

I remember when my daughter was little we picked berries with our church group. It was relaxing to get out of town (we lived in Seattle) and see the rural areas. Plus, it was an social event for our church group. Kids of all ages think it is great fun. Later, at the church, people made strawberry shortcake.

If you are near Duluth, Minnesota try Finke's Berry Farm. The strawberries are ripe at their farm in Carlton. Be sure to phone ahead. The farm is located at 2331 Co. Rd. 4. Call 384-4432 or see finkesberryfarm.com for more information. Raspberries will be ripe later in the month or early in August.

Get creative, join together with others in your area to have a jam making party.

Greens, radishes, spring onions, and other fresh foods are available at farmers' markets now.

If you are in the Duluth, Minnesota area check out the Association Sustainable Farming Association's website for a list of area markets, including locations and times. (http://www.lakesuperiorfarming.org/FarmProductsDirectory.aspx)


More information will be posted on the Slow Food Lake Superior website, http://www.slowfoodlakesuperior.org/.

Church members work together to prevent water pollution from the runoff of parking lot

With beautiful Lake Superior in the background members of the First United Methodist Church in Duluth, Minn. swept of the winter's collection of sand, gravel and salt.

Even the bags used to collect the debris were recycled.

This April members of the First United Methodist Church aka "The Coppertop," wore work clothes and brought brooms to the Sunday service. It was time to sweep the sand, silt and salt off the church's parking lot before the spring rains sweep away the grit thus adding it right into Lake Superior which, by the way, the city uses for drinking water.

The church's sustainability committee thought up the idea. The sustainability committee met and worked on a weekday evening to get a head start. The following Sunday members grabbed their brooms and joined in. A dinner was also provided. It was stressed that anyone could join at the dinner, you didn't have to participate in the sweeping.

The activity succeeded in stopping some pollution and demonstrated to the congregation that we are able to take steps on our own to help the environment. It was also an educational activity for anyone attending church or reading the church bulletin or newsletter.


Visit this site to learn more: Lake Superior Streams.

Dogs' use of outdoors as bathroom affects our water

This photo is fromDuluthStreams.org

Until recently, the only reason I picked up Prof. Cricket's dog-doo was as a matter of courtesy for my neighbors. I thought it was unsightly, a hazard to people who might accidentally step on it. It wasn't until Marnie Lonsdale a Duluth, Minn city employee and Project Lead, City Administrative Lead, Stormwater Plan Links came to visit my United Methodist Women's circle earlier this year that I realized that dog waste is a health hazard. It gets carried by runoff water into everyone's water supply hurting humans, lakes, rivers and aquatic life.

"But wild animals poop in the woods in nature," you may say. This is true, but we human's have more pet population in a small land area compared to the population of animals in the wild. It is estimated that 40 percent of Americans own a dog. In Duluth it is estimated that 125 dogs live within a square mile.

Your dog's business is everyone's business
I am embarrassed to admit that I never saw the need to pick up dog doo in my own yard if I didn't feel like it. I thought it was my yard and my dog's business was no one else's business. I thought that the rain dissolved it and it "biodegraded" and returned to the land. I was wrong. Bacteria from pet droppings ends up in the water supply.

This spring I was walking Prof. Cricket when I met an elderly couple who were so upset by the the piles of dog doo in front of their house that they had shovels and were flinging the excrement onto the street. This was actually making the situation worse. Cars were driving over the excrement and it was taken by the water of the melting snow straight to the storm sewers and into Lake Superior.

It is important to pick up the dog doo to prevent contamination of water. But if you read Prof. Cricket's previous post about mummifying our garbage in landfills, you might wonder whether or not the dog doo biodegrades even if you use biodegradable bags. Biodegradable material relies on microbial action for degradation. Microbes require moisture, oxygen and elevated temperature for survival. Landfills are designed to exclude moisture and compaction reduces oxygen. A majority of dog waste bags end up in landfills. A brand named Mutt Mitt labels itself "degradable" and says, Mutt Mitts include additional degradants and will degrade even in a landfill.

Flushable bags
Some bags are designed to be flushed down the toliet. I would double check with the city or the person in charge of your spectic system before doing this. Here are some companies that sell flushable bags: The Flushable Bag™ and Handicapped Pets

Dog doo composters
If you live in suburbia you can even purchase an underground doggie doo composter. Check outDoggie Dooley , Pet D Posit or a City Farmer site


Different cities handle this question in other ways. Here are the options in Duluth: • flushed down the toilet (be sure to pick out rocks and sticks first) • put in the trash or • buried in your own yard. If you want to bury pet waste, make sure it is in a hole at least 6 inches deep, away from vegetable gardens and water sources, and in permeable soil (not clay). Do not add it to compost piles.

Go ahead and eat out, just avoid disposable dishes

My husband and I don 't eat out that often, but last night we were both really hungry and he was craving a hamburger. He wanted a Wendy's burger. I am trying not to create a demand for mass marketed beef products. He told me if we went to Wendy's I could order a salad. He was correct. But I knew that it would be served on a disposable dish with disposable utensils.

We ended up going to Perkins. He got his hamburger. I order my salad.
It has been ages since we have been out to eat. We both got what we wanted. We didn't use any disposable dishes. I did NOT push my "no non-grass-fed beef" beliefs on my husband, and we left the young woman, (who is probably working he way through college) a nice tip.