My Day Cooking for The Dwelling Place

My Day Cooking for The Dwelling Place

There are not too many days that move me as yesterday did. I had the opportunity to take part in an even sponsored by The Corporate Volunteer Council of Montgomery County (https://cvc-mc.org/) , an organization that Allentuck Landscaping Co. has been active in for many years. The event was to work with The Campus Kitchens Project at the Universities at Shady Grove (https://www.facebook.com/UMES.CK) to prepare meals for the families served by The Dwelling Place (http://tdp-inc.org/) . Our company and our customers had donated food to The Dwelling Place in the past so I was very pleased to be more involved

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A little background on these excellent organizations:

The Corporate Volunteer Council of Montgomery County is an organization that educates businesses on how to partner with and support non-profit organizations by helping create successful volunteer/charitable programs that positively impact the business, its employees and the local community.

The Campus Kitchens Project is a national leader in community service for students and is the future of hunger relief. It is active in 34 schools across the country. In many schools, the students work to recover extra food from their cafeterias. In the case of this chapter, the students in the hospitality program actually prepare the meals and distribute them. A true win-win stuation.

The Dwelling Place is a nonprofit organization that helps low income families in Montgomery County achieve housing and financial stability.

The afternoon started with a presentation by the head chef/instructor and students at The Campus Kitchens Project. They told us that they prepare 600 meals each month through monetary and in-kind donations, in all, 13,000 meals in the last 6 years. Very impressive. We also listened to the director of The Dwelling Place and learned more about their mission and challenges. We have poverty and people struggling even here in Montgomery County.

Next it was on to the kitchen. We would be preparing three different recipes for sixteen families of four. We worked in teams on the different recipes removing fat and bones from chicken breasts, cutting up broccoli, mixing ingredients and putting together the final meals to go into the oven. It was a lot of hard work but very enjoyable.

One of the nice things about the activity was the opportunity to get to know some of our fellow members a little better. I also got to be fully impressed by the students as well. These kids had their act together; they ran the commercial kitchen like seasoned (no pun intended) restaurant professionals and totally got the mission of service to others. I really enjoyed talking to them one on one and learning their stories and goals.

The day ended with a new group of volunteers who would be partnered with students to make deliveries to the families.

By the way, if you are interested in helping The Campus Kitchens Project, they are holding Dining With The Chefs on Monday April 21, 2014. It sounds like another fantastic event. Check http://tinyurl.com/moettsq or their facebook page for more information.

To learn more about Allentuck Landscaping Co.'s involvement in the community, please visit http://www.allentucklandscaping.com/our_community.html.

Allentuck Landscaping Co. is a leading landscape contractor in Montgomery County, Maryland

Benefits for Your Landscape Compliments of the Polar Vortex.

From Lawn and landscape Magazine:

Some good news for Maryland landscapes - there is a benefit to be gained from the polar vortex! Say adios to some bad pests. 

One upside to the deep freeze

INDUSTRY NEWS

Experts say the extreme cold temeperatures are a chance to kill off invasive species.

| January 9, 2014

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While some people were cursing a canceled flight or wishing they had donned an extra layer on Tuesday, when temperatures in the region took a deep dive, entomologists, foresters and naturalists were rooting for the mercury to drop even lower. That is because the extreme cold has the potential to beat back some of the invasive insects threatening treasured local tree and plant species.

“You do think, ‘Oh great, maybe some of those nasty insects are going to get zapped today,’” says Mark Fisher, director of conservatories and horticultural programs at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “It’s Mother Nature’s way of dealing with this issue.”

The insects, whether introduced pests like the hemlock woolly adelgid or native ones like the southern pine beetle, have weakened forests from Cape May, N.J., to Litchfield County in Connecticut. They are uncannily adept at surviving the winter, but most have a breaking point. And this week, that point was nigh.

“The lethal temperature for the woolly adelgid is minus 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit,” says Richard S. Cowles, a scientist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a state research center. “I was cheering a couple of days ago because most of the adelgids will be dying from the temperatures we saw.”

Dr. Cowles, an entomologist, admitted to rejoicing that temperatures for the early morning hours of Saturday had ranged from 3 degrees to minus 9 in the state. Then came another deep freeze on Tuesday. “At that temperature, ice crystals start forming in the woolly adelgid’s body, and it kills them,” he says.

But entomologists cautioned that once an invasive species has arrived, it is almost always a matter of managing the population, not eradicating it. Some will inevitably survive. Dr. Cowles said that the adelgid population could still rebound within two years.

An aphid-like insect, introduced to the United States in the 1950s from Japan, the woolly adelgid has killed hundreds of thousands of Eastern hemlocks in Connecticut alone since arriving there in the 1980s. The pest, about the size of a period, can pierce the base of needles and suck out the tree’s nutritional supply. The adult can survive the winter on a branch.

Extreme cold is a fortuitous management tool. But with a warming climate, it is one that scientists cannot count on. “The weather will give them a temporary setback, but as soon as the weather warms up, they will take off again,” says Jan Nyrop, a professor of entomology and senior associate dean of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

In the Pinelands in southern New Jersey, state foresters have been battling the southern pine beetle. The beetle can tunnel through a tree’s bark, eating a layer of tissue that supplies the tree with critical nutrients. Until recently, the beetles, which are native to the southern United States, did not survive north of Delaware, because of the cold. But that has changed as winters have turned milder.

The past century in New Jersey has seen a warming trend of 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit. More important than average temperatures in the beetles’ spread is the lack of periodic cold snaps in which the temperature plunges to minus 8 degrees.

The Pinelands have not experienced that kind of cold since 1996, and the first southern pine beetles were detected several years later. Whether the recent deep chill was enough to thwart their progress remains to be seen. The temperature for the past week in Chatsworth, N.J., in the heart of the Pinelands, reached a low of minus 7 on Saturday.

Ron Corcory, the project coordinator for the southern pine beetle with the New Jersey State Forestry Services, said that “sustained, very cold” weather was a powerful weapon. “We’re certainly optimistic that this will have some impact, but we won’t know until the spring,” he says. “We’d want to see a lot of green tops of trees.”

Emerald ash borers need even colder temperatures to succumb. The insects were first detected in 2002, after they arrived on wood pallets from China, and have since killed tens of millions of ash trees in more than 20 states. Studies suggest that temperatures must plummet to minus 30 degrees in order to achieve widespread mortality, and foresters and scientists in Minnesota and Illinois, where it was that cold this week, were hoping for a die-off.

But in New York, scientists were setting their sights on other targets. Amy Berkov, an assistant professor of biology at City College of New York, said she was hoping for some downward pressure on ticks, some of which spread Lyme disease. She recalled a field trip during the unusually mild winter two years ago when one of her students came back bearing a tick.

Dr. Berkov, who specializes in tropical ecology, said that she was warmed by this week’s cold. “Even though I work in the tropics, I like a seasonal climate,” she says. “I think it does tamp down some of these things that we’d rather not be seeing more of.”

Source: NY Times

You Deserve A Little Paradise

   You Need A Deserve Paradise

  

Wow. What a crazy few days it has been. What was supposed to be just an arctic clipper with less just a dusting of snow predicted developed into 6-10" of fluffy white snow, another arctic vortex (has anyone even heard of such a thing before this winter?) brought temperatures in the teens, and more school closings and delays! It is enough to make you long for a tropical island getaway.

  

Well, it is not too early to start thinking about creating your own backyard getaway. Nothing beats being able to step out your backdoor into your very own private oasis. Here are 6 things you can do to bring this to life:

  

1. Create a Picture Perfect Patio

A patio can be a hot slab of concrete baking in the sun--or it can be a welcoming extension of your home, calling you outdoors to enjoy cool breezes and fresh air. With a little planning, you can make your patio a comfortable seasonal room.

Patios are usually surfaced with brick or stone. If you opt for concrete, consider adding texture and color to imitate stone for a more natural look. Design the patio to be an extension of your home's style, and use planting beds, container gardens, and weatherproof furniture to decorate the outdoor space. 

  

2. Add an Outdoor Kitchen

  

If you grill at least twice a week from spring through fall and if you love eating outdoors, you need an outdoor kitchen. You don't need a fancy grill, but a countertop for food prep and conveniences such as closed storage and a separate side burner will greatly enhance your outdoor cooking experience. Add a refrigerator and sink to make preparation and cleanup even easier.

   

3.  Plan Outdoor Lighting

   

To enjoy your backyard getaway after the sun sets, include outdoor lighting. At its most basic, this consists of porch lights that illuminate access to the house and provide ambient lighting. For outdoor kitchens, you'll need good task lighting over the grill and work areas. For the dining and conversation areas, candlelight, wallmount downlights, or dimmable electric lamps create a relaxed mood. Steps and walkways should be illuminated for safety. You can also use accent lights to add drama and interest to the landscape and to highlight paths. Combine a mix of lighting sources to make your backyard getaway a magical place after dark.

  

4. Layer on the Amenities

 

Fountains, fireplaces, and fire pits enhance the beauty and usefulness of your outdoor rooms. Fountains add the soothing sound of trickling water and can serve as the focal point of an outdoor space. Fireplaces make a natural focal point and can help define space and provide privacy for an outdoor room. They're also a starting point for an outdoor kitchen. Fire pits, whether built-in or moveable, also serve to draw people together and can extend the usefulness of an outdoor living room into cooler weather.  

Finally, accessorize your outdoor rooms with garden statuary, weatherproof art (such as plates, garden plaques, or decorative wrought iron), and pillows covered in weatherproof fabrics. These touches will turn an ordinary patio or deck into a welcoming, personal space for outdoor living.

  

5. Dress Up Your Deck

Make your deck a destination by defining different activity zones within the space. Creating multiple levels carve out spaces for dining and relaxing on the deck. A pergola covered with luxurious vines and an abundance of plants in containers bring the surrounding garden up onto the deck and help blend the structure into the landscape. Potted gardens packed with seasonal flowers add pizzazz to brighten up any space. 

6. Ensure Privacy

Your outdoor room will feel more like an oasis if it has a sense of enclosure. Fences and garden walls ensure privacy for patios, but you can also use lattice, pergolas, and landscaping to define outdoor spaces and screen views of neighboring houses.

  

If the thought of these ideas do not make you yearn for warmer days we don't know what will. 

To see more of the paradises Allentuck Landscaping Co. has created, visit our Project Portfolio.

Give our designers a call or email today to get started on creating you very own backyard paradise. We can be reached at 301-515-1900 or info@allentucklandscaping.com.

Dogs in Funny Outfit Helpng Honeybees

Just thought this was interesting:

Beekeeping dog in 'astronaut' suit detects infected hives by smell

Michael Graham Richard
Science / Natural Sciences
July 12, 2013

© Josh Kennett

Bzzz bzzz woof woof

Bees are extremely important. We've been writing about for years about the various threats that they face (Margaret has a great timeline of bee articles between 2005 and 2013), and about various ways to protect them. But this story from Australia might be the most original yet, or at the very least the cutest.

On the photo above is Bazz, a black labrador that beekeeper Josh Kennett has trained to detect by smell a serious bee disease called American foulbrood. The Paenibacillus larvae caused by the infection are usually only visible under high-magnification microscope, but thanks to Bazz, that's not necessary.

© Josh Kennett

Microscope analysis might not be needed thanks to Bazz's nose, but the dog still had to be protected from bee attack to get close enough to sniff out the hives. That's why Kennett built this protective suit that makes Bazz look a big like a canine astronaut.

It's particularly important to detect American foulbrood infections early because there is no cure (yet), so the only thing that can be done is quarantining the infected colonies to keep the disease from spreading.

wikimedia / Shawn Caza/CC BY-SA 3.0

You can listen to a radio interview with Mr. Kennett here about his bees and dog.

Via ABC Australia

January Stuff To Do

January Stuff To Do    Yes, we know it is cold outside but that does not mean there are not things to get accomplished in the garden. Here are this months tips: Use this month to check your houseplants: divide and re-pot any pot-bound plants. Prune judiciously to create a compact, attractive specimen. Closely inspect houseplants. Remove aphids from houseplants with a mixture of equal parts rubbing alcohol and water and add a drop of dishwashing detergent. Apply this to troubled plants with a soft brush. Plan your vegetable garden and make a diagram drawn to scale before placing your spring order. Organize, clean, oil, and sharpen garden tools. A splash of bright paint on tool handles will make them easier to spot if misplaced out in the yard. Remember to supply fresh water and seed for the birds. Gently shake or brush off snow-weighted branches that have no support. Heavy snow cover protects evergreen foliage from windburn, but too much weight will break branches. Prune fruit trees now. Avoid walking over the same areas of your frozen lawn, or you may find bald spots in the spring. Plant lettuce in flats this month and harvest before it's time to start some of the later seedlings. Artificial light may be required, but the air should not be too hot. Finalize your landscape garden plans on paper (or better yet, call us and have our designers do it for you!).   Adapted from The Old Farmer's Almanac

14 Ways To Live More Sustainably

14 Ways to Change Your State in 2014

Reprinted from NCSU* Sustainability (Bruce's alma mater! - Go Pack!)

Posted December 29, 2013 by cwdavis3 & filed under All Blogs, Community,Planet.

These 14 actions will help you, NC State and our world be more sustainable:

Use a reusable water bottle.

They help reduce waste and they’re awesome (see our favorite reasons why).

Drive less, walk more to reduce your carbon footprint.

Both you and the world benefit when you start stepping. You reap benefits of more exercise while also preserving clean air and natural resources.

Eat more local food.

Nothing’s better than homegrown — both in taste and benefits to your local economy (read reasons why you can go loco for local food).

Take shorter showers.

You’ll save at least 2 gallons for every minute you reduce your shower time. Reduce your daily shower by one minute and you’ll save 730 gallons a year!

Use natural lighting instead of overhead lights and lamps.

Lighting accounts for up to 15 percent of all energy use, so hit the switch when you can to save energy.

Use reusable bags.

Why waste a plastic shopping bag when you can bring your own? Check out other reasons why reusable bags rock.

Grow your own kitchen herbs.

Nothing will make a dinner better than adding some homegrown herbs. Plus, indoor plants help improve your indoor air quality.

Pick up one piece of litter per day.

It beautifies our communities and ensures that loose trash doesn’t later interfere with waterways or wildlife.

If you are able, take the stairs instead of an elevator.

Think of all the extra calories you’ll burn while saving the electricity used by elevators.

Use dish clothes instead of paper towels.

You can use a reusable dish cloth over and over again instead of throwing away paper towels. It’s an easy way to save trees.

Turn up your thermostat in summer and down in winter.

Aim for indoor temperatures of 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter to cash in on the biggest energy savings.

Wash your clothes on cold.

Often the hot isn’t hot enough to clean clothes more effectively, so save some energy and click the temperature dial to cold.

Line dry your clothes instead of using the dryer.

You’ll use less energy and your clothes won’t shrink in the dryer.

Reduce food waste.

Up to 40 percent of food is trashed, so make sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your stomach when you’re picking your portion size. Get what you know you can eat so you’ll waste less food. Live on campus? Check out the real weight of campus food waste.