GIGGLEMOOSE NEWS -- JUNE 2001 -- Greetings,
nature lovers!
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CONTENTS:
Bloom Town
NEW Gardening Articles
NEW Gardening Tip
Tick Facts
Time to Wind Your Sundial
Answers R Us
Suggested Link
From the Moose Man's Office
Visiting New Hampshire This Weekend?
We Need You!
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1. BLOOM TOWN
Hurray! Gardening season is finally kicking into gear! Hopefully, all of you who are planting gardens this year have already stuck your seeds or transplants into the ground (if not, you'd better live in a region with a lo-o-ong growing season) and are now starting to see some action. Even here in winter-heavy New Hampshire our garden is starting to come alive. Tomato plants have blossoms, pole bean seedlings are reaching up for their bamboo supports, potato plants are peeking out of their trenches, and we're already picking strawberries. It's become a regular "bloom town" around here!
Did you plant a garden this year? If so, are you planting vegetables, flowers, or both? Go to our home page at http://www.gigglemoose.com and cast your vote in our gardening poll.
2. NEW GARDENING ARTICLES
As you continue to weed and water throughout the summer, don't forget to visit our "Green Thumbs, Muddy Toes" section for a crop full of gardening tips and advice. Some of our newest articles teach you how to plant the perfect pumpkin and design a fun-filled storybook garden for children. Go to http://www.gigglemoose.com/gardening.htm
To further assist your gardening efforts, we stock a growing selection of products in the gardening section of our online Nature Learning Store. From botany curriculum to indoor garden kits to children's gardening gloves, we're continually on the hunt for exciting new products. Check out http://www.gigglemoose.com/gardening_gear.htm
3. NEW GARDENING TIP
Want to attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs to your garden? The friendly experts at the University of Georgia Extension Service remind us that the easiest method is to grow plants that these insects like. For example, you can use a mixture of crimson clover and hairy vetch as a cover crop. These plants provide predators with needed habitat while improving your soil.
4. TICK FACTS
Do you know how to properly remove a tick? Do you know which kinds of ticks are likely to carry Lyme Disease? If you live in an area inhabited by these pests, expert information is your best defense against infection and disease. And you'll find plenty of expert information within the in-depth article by a specialist at the University of New Hampshire. Read it here: http://www.gigglemoose.com/artcl-ticks.htm
5. TIME TO WIND YOUR SUNDIAL
Today is the day to set your sundial. At exactly noon on June 15, locate it so that the shadow falls on the 12:00 position.
6. ANSWERS R US
The nature questions keep coming in at Gigglemoose.com and we're doing our best to answer them all. The featured question this time around is: "How fast can a cheetah run?" Do you know? Discover the fascinating answer online at http://www.gigglemoose.com/feature_question.htm
7. SUGGESTED LINK
While we're on the subject of gardening, one Web site that you don't want to miss is the National Gardening Association's Kids & Classrooms Page at http://www.garden.org/edu/home.htm
8. FROM THE MOOSE MAN'S LIBRARY
Many of our nature-loving friends request recommendations for good environmental education resources. So starting with this newsletter, John Schlim (also affectionately known as the Moose Man) will pick out a personal favorite from the overflowing shelves in his library.
This time around it's the FANDEX FAMILY FIELD GUIDE TO TREES. Combining 50 individually die-cut cards with full-color illustrations, plus hundreds of intriguing facts, stories, statistics, and trivia, Fandex is the newest breakthrough in information-packed family publishing. First recommended to me by a dear friend, this wonderfully handy, hinged card deck is the easiest and most foolproof tree identification guide available. She suggested that my kids would love it---which they do---but they have a hard time getting it out of Dad's hands! Four visual keys display the leaf (in an unforgettable die-cut shape), bark pattern, distinguishing flower, seed or nut, and photo of each tree. So you just walk up to a tree you're trying to identify, fan the book open to find the matching characteristics, and voila! The bite-sized descriptions of height, shape, habitat, history, culture, and more combine to give a complete picture of North America's forest and backyard trees. To learn more about this little gem, or to purchase it online, check out http://www.gigglemoose.com/wrk12049.htm
9. VISITING NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEKEND?
On the off chance that some of you will choose this weekend to visit the New Hampshire seacoast (which is the smallest seacoast in the United States, I might add), we wanted to point out that the strange but lovable people behind Gigglemoose will be setting up camp at the Somersworth International Children's Festival. The highlight of our appearance is always our bargain table where you can find a wide variety of nature books at ridiculously low prices. For details of this event, click here: http://www.nhfestivals.org/scif.htm
You can stay informed of our upcoming appearances at http://www.gigglemoose.com/roadtrip.htm
And for those of you unable to find us at an event, you'll be glad to hear that our amazing discount books will soon be available online in our "Bargain Barn!"
10. WE NEED YOU!
A final request: if you know anyone who would
enjoy seeing this newsletter and learning about our Web site, please feel free
to forward it to them. Your continued assistance in spreading the word about
Gigglemoose.com not only brings new voices into our interactive experience, it
helps keep us around! :)
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All content is copyright by John W. Schlim Jr. or Gigglemoose unless otherwise
indicated.
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