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Show Joy of composting by Heather Campbell, Conservation Issue Committee Ok, you've gone through the garden gar-den and trimmed up all the frost-nipped frost-nipped annuals, vegetables and perennials, raked up your leaves, given the lawn one last mowing, and done a little remedial tree and shrub pruning. You've been canning can-ning and drying lots of fruits and veggies and have big piles of peels, pits, rinds, and seeds to get rid of What to do? Here in northeastern Utah, we are blessed with wonderful rocky scenery, and usually pleasant weather. Unfortunately, these blessing bless-ing are a result of meager rainfall. Less water falling out of the sky means fewer plants growing out of the ground, which means that our soils are very thin, and very short of decomposed organic material, Utah soils typically have less than one percent organic material. Fertile soils from wetter climates have around five percent. Organic material, known as humus, is critical criti-cal to fertile soil and healthy plants. In a heavy clay or silt soil, the humus hu-mus helps to clump the fine grains so that water will drain more freely allowing better aeration and the spread of nutrients. In a loose sand soil, the organic matter helps to fill in the spaces between the soil particles, parti-cles, encouraging water to linger and hold its nutrients near plant roots a little longer. Humus feeds the many soil organisms, from bacteria bac-teria to earthworms, that each play an important role in making our soils healthy, fertile, and alive. To gain all these soil benefits, the basic ingredient is organic material. Which brings us back to your yard and kitchen waste. Rather than haul that stuff off to the already overburdened landfill, why not start a compost pile? In your backyard or garden, you can start a compact, inoffensive process that will provide pro-vide you with rich, fertile organic material to return to your soil. It's easy if you remember that good compost is a living process that requires re-quires a few simple things-carbon, nitrogen, moisture, and oxygen from the air. Here's how to start: Pick a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sun every day, is Gift off Tobacco is one of the most addictive addic-tive and harmful drugs known to man, yet thousands of Americans continue to use it. Health professionals profes-sionals have warned tobacco users for years about the dangers associated associ-ated with its use; as a result, many have "kicked the habit." For those who want to give up tobacco and need support, TriCounty Health Department (TCHD) offers tobacco cessation programs which address the needs of adults and teenagers who want to quit. The TCHD tobacco cessation program for adults covers all aspects as-pects of quitting beginning with skk ? se yji. ' .... ; . gm mm (435) 889"3759 f 528 West Main Vernal 789-2442 sh M 1 Partners in Recreation with Ashley National Forest XgKPK. W TM convenient enough that you'll actually actu-ally use it, and has a nearby supply of water. You can use a variety of materials to make a bin about 4 feet square by 3 feet high, or use one of many commercially available corn-poster. corn-poster. Start by piling your scraps and yard waste in layers. Every six inches or so add a thin layer of your garden soil to introduce microorganisms. microor-ganisms. Other good sources of microorganisms mi-croorganisms are alfalfa pellet or established compost. Avoid big branches (which won't break down in a lifetime), meat and diary products prod-ucts (which rot and attract animals), and animal waste. Some manure is OK. Try to alternate green layers (leaves, garden trimmings, kitchen scraps-all high in nitrogen) with brown layers (sawdust, small branches, wood chips-high in carbon). car-bon). Moisten the layers as you go. You want it moist, but not sopping wet, Let the pile sit for a few days. Use your spading fork or shovel to turn the pile and stir the different materials together. Let it sit some more. Turn your compost three or four times the first two weeks, once a week after that. Add water as needed. You should start to notice that your materials are breaking down nicely. If the process seems really slow you may need more water. wa-ter. If the pile starts to get stinky and heavy, it probably needs air. Hold off on the water for a while and stir more often. Your compost is done when it's a nice consistent color and texture, with a pleasant, earthy aroma. You won't be able to tell what it was when it started. You can have a couple of piles going go-ing side by side. One is your finished fin-ished pile, the other the one you're adding more materials to. When your main pile is ready, shovel it into in-to your garden beds as a soil amendment or mulch, then use the empty bin for your new material pile. See? Nothing to it. Building quality soil in the desert is an ongoing process. Frequent applications ap-plications of good quality compost is probably the best thing you can do to help build healthy soil. For more ideas about making compost, check the library's "Gardening" section or contact the Utah State University Extension Office. better Biealfth commitment. In order for this program pro-gram to work, participants must set a goal to give up tobacco and be willing to attend the scheduled tobacco to-bacco cessation meetings. These meetings involve dealing with withdrawal symptoms, physiological physiologi-cal changes as nicotine levels decrease, de-crease, and overcoming temptation. Tobacco cessation for youth involves in-volves education regarding the health effects of tobacco use and motivating participants to quit. For youth, tobacco use is usually associated asso-ciated with peer influence. Young people are prone to use tobacco when they associate with others Treat Yourself to Fine Dining At: FLAMING GORGE'S MOST SCENIC RESTAURANT NOW voiJtirori Repmlblicaii CHioice For County Commissioner E j Paid political advertisement Movie to be Ashley National Forest During the next few weeks you may experience slight delays as you travel or recreate on the Forest. The Vernal and Flaming Gorge Ranger Districts granted a permit to Ice Cold Production of Easley, South Carolina to film scenes for a movie. The movie named "Chill Factor" will possibly highlight some of the beautiful scenery in this area. If you are planning to go to Massey Meadow, there will be set construction during most of the month of October. The west half of the meadow will be closed to public camping Oct. 28 through Nov. 6 for the actual filming. The Brownie Canyon overlook area will be used for filming helicopters heli-copters landing and then taking off again. This area will be closed to public camping Oct. 28 to 30. If you travel US Hwy 191 between be-tween Greendale and the Utah State Line from Oct. 20 to 27th, there may be come slight delays for filming film-ing at Dutch John Gap along the Flaming Gorge Dam. There will also al-so be some filming of scenery done from a vehicle along this stretch of Next week is first Earth Science week Next week hundreds of geo-science geo-science organizations around the country are joining together in celebration cele-bration of the first Earth Science Week. The event is organized by the American Geological Institute. The project's goal is to tell students and the general public about new opportunities oppor-tunities to discover earth science. Governors of almost 30 states have already issued Earth Science Week Proclamations and more are expected to follow. To find out what can be done to help with the effort contact Marcia Simmons, IPAMS public relations director at 303-623-0987. who use it. TCHD's tobacco cessation cessa-tion program for youth addresses the health benefits of quitting and how to stay tobacco free even when peer situations make it difficult. The benefits of quitting tobacco begin in the first eight hours, blood pressure drops and heart rate decreases. de-creases. Within 24 hours, the chances of a heart attack have decreased. de-creased. After 48 hours, sense of taste is restored. After one year, health is equivalent to that of a person per-son who has never used tobacco. TCHD encourages anyone who uses us-es tobacco and is trying to quit to call 781-5475 and ask for Judith Uphold. RED CANYON LODGE OPEN DAILY 889-3759 filmed on highway. This filming will be coordinated coor-dinated with the Utah Department of Transportation. There will be some scenes filmed on Flaming Gorge Reservoir and on the Green River. During these times you may be asked to delay your trip for a short time while the filming is completed. There will be a helicopter heli-copter flying low over the water filming scenery, and a boat landing near the Cart Creek Bridge. There will also be some filming done at Flaming Gorge Dam. For public safety there will be a restricted area, and the Visitor Center at the dam will be closed for five or six days around Oct. 21-27. There will be an area at Flaming Gorge overlook for visitors who would like to watch the filming. After the filming is completed all sets, prop materials and facilities will be removed. Any disturbance to the land will be revegetated and sites restored. If you have any questions ques-tions about the filming or any of the sites being used, please call the Ashley National Forest, 435-789-1181. DUAL RECLINING SOFA $ 493 beanbacTn f CHAIRS For 50 SOLID WOOD TABLE & 4 CHAIRS $144 t KfV Vale-A-Bralion"? h.im m Only! C k k k Celebrate Our 'Thursday '-mmr 4th rjT Friday Mr Anniversary v oNM- SATURDAY jS5J in 1 qp Vernal, Utah J computer desk Tpc. ( QUEEN A WPrinter Stand BEDROOM SLEEPER SOFA U $48 J SET I $398 Ji S V J Includes 5 Drawer V S -M t f OUEENSIZE S Chest-Headboard- f GLIDER '1 BLl guttIM MZ.t Dresser, Mirror DnrirD U) Ifl HEADBOARDS and Niqhtstand , M Hi diiu iNiynibidiiu Matching Ottoman Available Mr Hurry while selection is good LARGE $i 48 OTTOMAN DINING TABLE $48 FREIGHT DAMASEH FURNITURE OA II I 1 r , . r:-.: B'f II I I ,;.l.u,v uou mnvf 'SS rmin.ma 0 Aoya Vernal Express W Flowers on Main Street are doing f WOOD FUTON " Full size with color coordinated mattress Suggested Price $899 $399 BASKETS f 3 PC. 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