CLIMATE CHANGE: a term that represents possibly the biggest threat to human survival. Ironically, this threat is also seemingly the result of human activities.

GLOBAL OIL CONSUMPTION and natural gas consumption are at record levels and continue to escalate as more countries strive to modernize their societies. In the United States alone, we consume 19 million barrels of oil every day. That is equivalent to nearly 800 million gallons of liquid energy a day or 291 billion gallons per year.

Though the progress of the state of West Virginia has been reliant on the sacrifice of its natural resources, this land was once populated by those who were actually concerned with the preservation of the nature they relied on entirely for their survival. Until this day, the state still bears the mark of its indigenous history in the names of natural landmarks like the Kanawha River, named after the Kanawha tribe of Native Americans, and the Monongahela River, which means “falling banks” in the tongue of the Delaware tribe that came to occupy this land as well.

To give your garden “good till”, work in a few layers of compost from your pile every spring. Organic matter in the soil makes it easier for water, air and roots to penetrate; it also holds nutrients and moisture which your plants will eventually use.