2014 Calendar

[jack]

Originally Posted by dapjwy

Well, glad you are around. It is nice to see you posting.

I'm glad something rekindled your interest in attracting wildlife.

As for vegetable gardening, each year I try to do better than the year before. Just yesterday, I raked a lot of leaves over to use on the vegetable garden as I prepare it for winter. Despite my continued interest in creating native habitat for wildlife, I am choosing to put the leaves on the garden beds instead of adding them to smother the area that I'm trying to establish as our woodland. Maybe I'll use half of them in the woodland.

Now, with your post of today about picking up bagged leaaves at the curb of a person's house, you may have begun the process of having enough leaves for both the veggie garden and the planned woodland...

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by jack

Now, with your post of today about picking up bagged leaaves at the curb of a person's house, you may have begun the process of having enough leaves for both the veggie garden and the planned woodland...

I hope so!

Actually, I'm using the leaves from our yard in the vegetable garden...and I scraped up some more for a top-dressing on the cardboard smothering area. The bagged. Leaves will finish off that area, and I'll start smothering other areas. I'm sure I can spare at least two bags for one section of the woodland. If I get more bags in the coming weeks, I'll add more to the woodland.

I'm getting ahead of myself; I'm starting to imagine that I'll be able to smother a large enough section that I'll actually get a good start toward the meadow project that I always say I'll finally start "next year". I've said that for two or three years now. Lets hope I'm not fooling myself.

I really want to thank you, jack, for planting the idea of collecting bagged leaves in my head...and thanks to those who have posted about laying down cardboard too (you were one of them, too, if memory serves). The idea is likely to finally get my project off the ground.

[havalotta]

We still need a cover, how about some suggestions?

Have you looked into the desktop photos as I've suggested? ~North American Natural Areas Desktop Wallpaper~

[linrose]

Yes I have, one problem is the 16:9 aspect ratio, that doesn't work well with the 8 1/2" x 11" calendar format. There would have to be cropping for width. I had that problem with equil's October photo. I'll take a look at them again to see if there are any in a 4:3 or 3:2 format that will work.

[havalotta]

I don't know what you're referring to as a 16:9 aspect ratio....Its size? As like in an 8x10 or 3x5?
I'd go in and pick one...Ask the person if they'd mind you doing a bit of a crop on it and use it.

[linrose]

As I understand it, it's the way digital cameras use the width to height ratio when taking photos. Old cameras used the 3:2 ratio, the newer micro 4/3 cameras like we have use a 4:3 ratio with options for 3:2, 16:9, and 1:1. It doesn't matter the size of the photo, just the ratio of width to height. Now with widescreen LCD monitors the 16:9 setting works if you want to use the photo for a desktop wallpaper so I see where Sage was going with that.

I had to figure this out myself while trying to size photos for the calendar. I've always used the 4:3 ratio as a default. Since we have the same camera all you do is press the menu button and the aspect ratio is the second choice on the screen. Without getting too out there on the math it's like this, in a 16:9 photo, the height is 56% of the width, in a 4:3, it's 75%, in a 3:2, it's 66%. So for the calendar at 8 1/2 x 11, the height is 77% of the width which is closest to the 4:3 ratio.

Now don't get me going about cropping cuz that just stirs up another can of worms!

[havalotta]

No worm stirring please. They bruise too easily.
I was just wondering if that 16:9 ratio meant "one in the same as".... a photo cropped to a 16 inch by 9 Inch?

[linrose]

No, not the same thing. It's an internal camera thing.

OK, no more worm stirring! I like to let sleeping worms lie!

On another note, I thought that like in books, covers should represent the theme, and the inside chapters the components of the theme. In our case, Wildlife Gardeners is our theme. So perhaps both flora and fauna should be represented on our cover. While natural areas are widely represented in the desktop wallpaper thread, there aren't too many with both, also where does "gardening" come in? Am I being too literal here?

Yes, I guess I am. Anyway I'd like to see fauna in the photo at least (do you all agree?). Fauna in someone's own garden, even better. Birds, butterflies, insects, mammals, whatever. I'll go through runners-up for the year to find some, meanwhile the clock is ticking so I gotta get this wrapped up. I need all of you to help me get this done, thanks for all your help so far!

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by linrose

On another note, I thought that like in books, covers should represent the theme, and the inside chapters the components of the theme. In our case, Wildlife Gardeners is our theme. So perhaps both flora and fauna should be represented on our cover. While natural areas are widely represented in the desktop wallpaper thread, there aren't too many with both, also where does "gardening" come in? Am I being too literal here?

Yes, I guess I am. Anyway I'd like to see fauna in the photo at least (do you all agree?). Fauna in someone's own garden, even better. Birds, butterflies, insects, mammals, whatever. I'll go through runners-up for the year to find some, meanwhile the clock is ticking so I gotta get this wrapped up. I need all of you to help me get this done, thanks for all your help so far!

I'd skip the gardening aspect (my gardening goal is to make things look natural, not like a garden), but I agree it would be nice to have some kind of fauna on the cover.

Time is running out and the Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I'm guessing this is not a very practical idea, but here goes: What about a contest? Everyone could post one (or possibly two) photos to be picked for the cover. Not sure how to judge (if you are not willing, that is)--maybe a poll?

[Rebek56]

Please put me down for a calendar. I've been busy with papers and the presentations arranged by our student environmental group and come back to find that I've missed 392 messages?!?