Background:
     Part of the focus for this class will be sustainability. This means taking care of the resources you have and using them at or below the rate at which they can be replenished. This also means actively working to prevent the loss of a resource. When you plant your garden the plants will draw nutrients out of the soil. In order to maintain balanced nutrients in your garden you must ad nutrients back to the soil for the soil to remain healthy. And this isn't just something limited to the scale of our farm.  To get an idea what this will mean on the small scale of our farm let's look at something much broader.

 

     Trees all around the world, and specifically in rain-forests, are currently being harvested at an unsustainable rate to meet the demand for products we all use. Many of these products are one form or another of paper. Trees contain natural fibers that are used to make pulp, but other plants also have natural fibers that can be used to make pulp. What is conventional and/or cheep is not always sustainable, but there are alternatives. In this activity I will show you how to make paper using nothing but household chemicals and grass clippings!