Morning Mist and Rain on Mountain

101st One Earth Blog from Charleen Touchette
June 10, 2009
Mist, clouds and rain transform the mountains at dawn in Northern New Mexico. A gentle female rain drenches the thirsty earth, makes the pinon and ponderosa trees vibrant and softens the soil for new seeds and plants to sprout and thrive. Grateful for the beauty and life-sustaining gifts of earth and sky.
________________
One Earth Tip of the Day
Our indigenous ancestors tended and cultivated the land to create a cultivated forest by encouraging useful plants and weeding less desirable ones as they moved. They also created swales and moved earth and rocks to direct water to useful plants and trees and slow the erosion of soil into arroyos and down steep slopes and mountain sides.
We can do the same at home and on our hikes on the land. Just use your hands to clear out wells around young trees and plants you want to encourage to catch water and line with rocks. You can also use your feet to create swales to direct water to useful plants and slow the water flow down arroyos so it nourishes nearby plants and prevents soil erosion. You can also move rocks in the arroyos to build small obstructions to slow the flow of water during storms.
Little changes can help plants grow and slow down soil erosion down the mountains. The little changes I've done over 15 years of hiking up and down our mountain have made our land greener and our trees bigger than our neighbors. Little changes, but the difference is now visible on google.earth.
Love the earth like your mother. Listen and watch earth and sky and learn how little changes in the way we walk on the earth can make big changes to help heal our home.
_______________________
Another One Earth Tip of the Day
After an early summer rain is a perfect time to plant seeds, transplant seedlings and gently sculpt wet earth into dips and swales to direct water to plants and trees and slow down erosion of topsoil. Ever see children and puppies enjoy playing in the mud after a rain? Dig your hands into the wet earth to remember and recover the childhood joy of splashing in summer rain puddles and squishing wet mud between fingers and toes.
One Earth. Think About It.
__________________
By Charleen Touchette
TouchArt ltd
www.OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com