As we enter the holiday season I want to share some small things that I am thankful for,  I believe that the welfare of all of us is deeply linked to the health of our natural world and to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Among the most important of these are the pollinators, including the honey bee, One of the hardest working little creatures in the world, the honey bee never stops for most of its short 122 - 152 day life. Not only do they pollinate our crops but they also produce honey, the elixir of humanity.

One example of the symbiotic relationship between crops and their pollinators is the almond growing industry.  Between February and Marhc of each year, almond trees bloom and bees forage among the blossoms for nectar.  When they do, they pollinate from tree to tree and each blossom they pollinate produces an almond.  After the almond season, the beekeepers move their bees across the U.S. pollinating more than 90 other crops and making honey as they go.  Thirty three percent of our global food production relies on pollinators.

​However, the increasing use of pesticides, such as glyphosate products, and the encroaching of the land that pollinators need have critically affected both the number of bees and the health of the bees.

I am not a commercial beekeeper, but I want to do my small part to give bees a safe and healthy place to land on their pollinating way.  To do that I have taken a portion of my yard and planted it in succulents and lavender and other colorful plants to attract the bees  I don't use any fertilizer or pesticide. This not only supports the bees but conserves on my water use and yard maintenance.They seem to like it and I enjoy watching them buzz from plant to plant.  

We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive and where all things work together positively in the cycle and balance of life.  Enjoy planting a bee happy succulent garden with your children and feel good about helping Mother Earth as she helps us!

I love trees instinctively; they are beautiful and just looking at them gives me a peaceful feeling. But they are also among the most important contributors to the wellbeing of our planet, particularly when we are worrying (or should be worrying) about the warming of our world.  

What is the relationship between trees and global warming?  One of the most important gifts that trees and the forests gives us is something that we desperately need, oxygen. They help complete the earth's balance as they capture greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and give off oxygen to feed our lungs, grow our plants and clean our air and water.  It is a perfect cycle for life on earth.

What are some of the other uses of trees?  They hold the soil and combat storm water runoff and  they reduce erosion, flooding and pollution in our waterways.  Many species of wildlife depend on trees for habitat and trees provide food, protection, and homes for many birds and mammals. 

When we clear forests, however; we cripple our best ally in combatting climate change.  Trees offset what we produce through our industrial uses, burning of fossil fuels and our staggering use of gasoline in our cars, trains, buses and other forms of transportation. Cutting down trees  creates more atmospheric clogging emissions because, as they are felled, they release all the carbon that they have stored.  When they are left to rot or are burned they create even more carbon emission.  

We have been rapidly cutting down trees around the world to make way for growing crops.  Yes, we need farmland to feed the people of our world, but we need environmentally planned farming.  We do not need more burning of the rainforest or bio-invaluable resources.  There are many forms of sustainable and eco-friendly farming that we can use such as:

• Permaculture, a food production system which mimics how plants grow in natural ecosystems. ... 
• Aquaponics & Hydroponics, the use of water in small spaces to grow crops densely
• The use of renewable energy resources like wind and solar to provide power environmentally
• Crop rotation and polycultures where several harmonious crops grow together 

To maintain a healthy world, we need to protect our existing trees and also plant more trees.  Climate warming has helped to fuel the fires that have burned our forests in unprecedented events. We need to mitigate these losses.  Many countries have extensive tree planting programs as do some areas in the United States.  As little as $90 will plant 900 trees annually, enough to remove as much carbon dioxide as is annually generated by the fossil fuel use of the average person in the U.S.

As with all of my environmental blogs, I read books and research on the Internet and I encourage you to do the same to learn more about the benefits of trees.  The subject of global warming is serious but we have many possible solutions to mitigate its effect.  Trees are among the easiest and best.

Why not plant a baby tree today to give Mother Earth a living "crown of green" and make our planet a little healthier?