Robber fly - Nature photographer Thomas Shahan specializes in amazing portraits of tiny insects. It isn't easy. Shahan says that this Robber Fly (Holcocephala fusca), for instance, is "skittish" and doesn't like its picture taken.

Nature by Numbers (Video)

"The Greater Akashic System" – July 15, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Lightworkers, Intent, To meet God, Past lives, Universe/Galaxy, Earth, Pleiadians, Souls Reincarnate, Invention: Measure Quantum state in 3D, Recalibrates, Multi-Dimensional/Divine, Akashic System to change to new system, Before religion changed the system, DNA, Old system react to Karma, New system react to intent now for next life, Animals (around humans) reincarnate again, This Animal want to come back to the same human, Akashic Inheritance, Reincarnate as Family, Other Planets, Global Unity … etc.)

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle

Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle
American zoologist played by Sigourney Weaver in the film Gorillas in the Mist would have been 82 on Thursday (16 January 2014)

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Karinda Garden encourages household composting

Ani Suswantoro, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Lebak Bulus, S. Jakarta

On a Saturday morning in early January, Sri Murniati, 63, a former Health Ministry official in East Java, spoke on compost making to a group of participants at a workshop. Her husband, Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, 72, who was forestry minister from 1993-1998, accompanied her.

The training workshop was conducted in an open, thatched-roof hut in their nursery, where birds sang and the breeze blew. The couple's nursery, Karinda Garden, is in the Bumi Karang Indah housing complex of Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, where they sell medicinal plants, flowers, seedlings and of course, compost.

The lush Karinda Garden, where flowers bloom year-round, is testament to the benefits of fertilizing with compost. In the background is the Djamaludin residence. (JP/Ani Suswantoro)


"In big city like Jakarta, with more than 12 million inhabitants, waste management is very crucial. It is not the government's responsibility alone, but ours as well," Murniati told the participants.

"Roughly, Jakarta waste is 65 percent organic, 25 percent recyclable and 10 percent dangerous and poisonous waste. If we can take care of our organic waste, the government's burden will be lighter. The money allocated to treat waste can be used for other purposes," she said.

Murniati has heard various reasons people have given as to why they do not compost: that they are too busy,disgusting, they already pay for waste collection and that they can buy compost instead of making it.

"However, the main point is concern for the environment," she stressed.

When this theory segment was over, Djamaludin escorted the participants to inspect the phases of composting.

"Correct composting will not create a foul odor at all, but will smell like the original material (fresh soil)," he said.

"We have filled this nursery with flowers, so that it will look colorful to impress visitors and to show them that composting does not mean an ugly, disgusting job, but an easy and valuable activity," Djamaludin told this writer after the course.

The Djamaludins moved in 2000 to the Karang Tengah area of Lebak Bulus, where they were disappointed to discover that quality compost for their gardening was unavailable. There, they also observed that vegetable hawkers discarded much organic waste, and were thus prompted to try composting themselves.

The couple researched information on effective and efficient composting until they stumbled across the Takakura Magic Basket, created by Japanese-born Koji Takakura.

Since then, the environmentally conscious couple have shared their experience with others, in the hope that they also would compost to care for the environment.

To date, more than 4,000 participants, ranging from kindergartners to professionals from various institutions, have participated in their biweekly composting workshop.

"I am very happy when, upon completing the workshop, people really start practicing what they have learned. I sometimes call them to check their progress," said Murniati, to which her husband Djamaludin responded by smiling and nodding in agreement.

For more information and to arrange a composting workshop with the Djamaludins, phone (021) 75909167.


Simple steps to composting

Facts

  1. Takakura composting utilizes aerobic microbes, which need water, oxygen and correct temperature; frequent mixing helps supply oxygen.
  2. Correct composting generates warmth and moisture when mixed.
  3. Microbes need carbon-rich materials -- dry, coarse, rich in fiber and are brown in color (dry leaves, dry grass, rice hull, corn husks, sawdust, straw) -- as energy source
  4. Microbes need nitrogen-rich materials -- have high water content and usually are green (vegetables, fruits, kitchen waste, egg shells, used tea leaves, coffee grinds) -- to propagate
  5. One part brown material mixed with two parts green make the best compost
  6. Correct compost smells like healthy soil


Takakura composting

  1. Prepare Takakura Magic Basket
  2. Use mature compost (6-8 kg) as compost starter
  3. Cut small pieces (2 x 2 cm) of organic waste (fruit peels, egg shells, garden and kitchen leaves, rice, vegetables); discard broth in food for composting; do not use bones, shrimp or leftover meats/animal products in compost -- they attract flies
  4. Make a well in the starter, put in waste in and mix
  5. Cover basket to warm mixture and prevent flies from laying eggs
  6. Optimum humidity is achieved when compost mixture is damp, but produces no dripping water when squeezed. Add rice hull or dry leaves if compost is watery, or sprinkle on a little water if compost is dry.
  7. Stir regularly 2-3 times a week. Do not add more waste to a full basket -- remove the mixture to a bigger composter to add waste.
  8. Compost is ripe when its temperature, appearance and smell resemble soil: in about eight weeks

Tips

  1. Get the entire family involved
  2. Put a pair of scissors on the dining table and get everyone to cut up their share of waste
  3. Place Takakura baskets in several strategic areas in/around the house; those who enter the area are responsible for mixing the compost

-- Ani Suswantoro

No comments: