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Chemical Free Lawns Our lawns should be kept chemical free, and mown less frequently. Rob Moir of the Ocean River Institute of Cambridge, MA has studied lawns and bees. He found in a study he conducted in Springfield MA this past May that “lawns mowed every three weeks instead of weekly resulted in as many…

One of my favorite hobbies is collecting old bird and wildflower guides. Perhaps you have a passion for this type of old book too. Recently, I was fortunate to be given a wonderful old pocket bird guide by a Westford friend. The book is titled Land Birds   Bird Guide: Song and Insectivorous Birds East of…

The Dinosaur vs. the Mammal This month we have been witnessing an ongoing battle between a dinosaur and some mammals, which reminds me of tales of the Jurassic era. Making a complex subject overly simple, here’s the way I learned it: about 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, tiny mammals had to…

Heat waves! Westford is experiencing a heat waves this summer, and so is much of the country, Europe, and other parts of the world. Some of us are fortunate in that we can turn on an air conditioner if we want to; not everyone is so lucky. But this ability to cool ourselves is putting…

What Good Is A Forest? What good is a forest? How do I count the ways? We know by experience, especially during the past year, how soothing and peaceful it feels to walk in a forest. We read that trees release chemicals into the air that help them to communicate with each other, but which…