Ecological Gardening

 

High yielding, low maintenance vegetable gardening that's perfect for our modern-day lifestyle

When we think of organic gardening and permaculture we tend to conjure up images of bearded warriors dressed in overalls who dedicate their lives to working long days in their vegetable plots.  Whilst this may be a wonderful way to live your life, it doesn't suit the average suburbanite with a full-time job and a hefty mortgage. 

Growing food is typically seen as either an art form or damned hard work.  It's no wonder that very few people produce enough food to feed their family.  But what if a technique came along that was so easy and so prolific that even the busiest corporate executive could grow a significant portion of their family's food in less time than it takes to drive to the shops.  Ecological gardening just might be the answer.  In my experience, it's the ultimate modern-day convenience vegetable plot.

An ecological garden is an ecosystem made up of edible plants, and it behaves in exactly the same way as a natural habitat.  Over time, you become more of an observer than a gardener as you watch Mother Nature do most of the work. 

The wonderful thing about nature is that she works tirelessly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Nature follows very simple laws and works in the same way, on any system, anywhere in the world.  To understand ecological gardening, observing natural ecosystems can provide us with the answers we need.  A natural ecosystem is made up of thousands of living and non-living components all coexisting in a given area.  Each living component occupies its own niche space and the role of the niche space is very important to understand when creating an ecological garden. 

Let's look at an example.  Imagine a giant rainforest tree crashing to the ground after standing tall for hundreds of years.  Such a large tree would have filled an enormous niche space.  Lying in the soil, hundreds of dormant seeds spring to life, desperately fighting for their opportunity to occupy the best real estate in the forest - the empty niche space.  The niche space is quickly filled and harmony is restored. 

When we look at a traditional vegetable garden with this type of insight, what we see is a very unnatural system.  There is very little diversity and a lot of empty niche spaces.  Nature enforces her will on vegetable gardens in exactly the same way she does a rainforest, and this means that empty niches spaces will be filled as quickly as possible.  However, in a traditional vegetable garden there are no desirable seeds waiting to fill the niches spaces, so weeds fill them instead. 

The solution to this problem is to create a garden that has tightly filled niche spaces so that weeds don't have any opportunities.  We can achieve this by using a planting arrangement that mimics a natural ecosystem.  This type of planting arrangement also creates a range of highly protected micro-climates.  This ideal growing environment causes your plants to last much longer.  Greens don't bolt to seed as soon as a hot spell hits and cold sensitive plants are more protected as well.  The planting arrangement also creates a natural form of pest management. 

Managing an ecological garden is different to managing a traditional vegetable garden.  With an ecological garden, there is far less to do.  As you become the observer and allow nature to take over as head gardener, you will notice that the garden is in a continual state of gentle change, just like a natural ecosystem.  It can be difficult for the traditional gardener to stand back and observe, as many of us instinctively like to control things.  This style of gardening calls for a great deal of faith in natural laws.

Absolutely everyone from farmers to inner-city townhouse dwellers can create an ecological garden.  It may seem strange, but if you have never grown food before then you are, in some ways, at an advantage.  Like all industries, the gardening industry can get stuck in doing things a certain way and most seasoned gardeners will inevitably over-work the garden.  As a species, human beings prospered when we learnt to cultivate food using tilling and other traditional agricultural methods, so it's difficult to turn back to where we came from - nature.  It might even feel like a step in the wrong direction.  But if we can let go of our need to control every living thing on the planet, and start to work with nature, we actually gain more control by being able to grow food more efficiently than ever before.  It's a paradox - but it works!

Growing food is not hard work, especially when you have nature helping you 24/7.  A small area can provide you with a bounty of food, saving your family thousands of dollars per year.  Most of us don't have much time to spend in the garden, including me.  I only invest around eight hours per year to growing my food, and although I live on a small farm, I only use a space of around 6m x 6m.  That's an area that could fit into many suburban backyards several times over.  The most wonderful thing about this method is that I know I can ignore my vegetable garden for months and it won't miss a beat.  So, if you believe growing food is only for tough, bearded warriors with a lot of time - think again.  Ecological gardening could be just the thing for you.

 

Jonathan White is a self-employed environmental consultant and landscape designer.  He is the author of an eBook and video package that shows the reader exactly how to set up and maintain an ecological garden.  For more information about ecological gardening, go to: freshfoodgardenguru DOT com

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Ecological Gardening- what is it?

 

The term Ecological Gardening seems to be gaining popularity.  But what is it?  My experience with Ecological Gardening started many years ago.  You see, I have always been a fence sitter.  As a teenager I could never make my mind up whether I wanted to be a horticulturist or an environmental scientist.  And sometimes I'm still a little unsure!

Fortunately, I have been able to gain qualifications in both.  My specialty is in growing food using ecological principles.  But I'm not talking about some sort of alternative hippie technique.  I'm talking about sound scientific principles.

In my experience, the study of natural ecosystems will reveal everything we need to know about growing food.  Natural ecosystems are generally diverse and there are a number of intricate interdependent relationships occurring between the living and non-living components at any given time.  Put simply, each component relies and benefits from its interaction with other components.  They fuel up on each other, causing the system to be able to sustain itself.  If one part of the system gets 'out of whack', the whole system is affected.

When studying a natural ecosystem, such as a diverse pristine rainforest we find that there are many living components co-existing in a given area.  Each of these components occupies a niche space.  If a component, let's say a plant, is removed by an animal eating it, we are left with an empty niche.  An empty niche provides an opportunity for another life form to fill the space.  In natural ecosystems, nature does not tolerate empty niche spaces.  Once the niche becomes available, there will be a whole host of willing opportunists ready to fill that space.  Dormant seeds, sometimes decades old, will spring to life and quickly try to occupy it. 

The same thing happens when we are trying to grow food.  In any agricultural practice, such as a vegetable garden, there are always empty niche spaces.  And remember, nature doesn't tolerate empty niche spaces.  So weeds will try to fill the empty niche spaces.  Weeds are very good niche space fillers.  They are the ultimate colonizing plants.  So as we can see there is no difference in the way nature works, whether it is in a pristine natural ecosystem or a vegetable garden.

Ecological Gardening aims to create a system where nature works for us, and not against us.  It is actually quite easy to have a weed-free vegetable garden.  You simply do one of two things.  Firstly, you avoid having empty niche spaces.  And secondly, you make sure there is something desirable to fill niche spaces, should they become available.  That's just one simple example, but Ecological Gardening can easily prevent a number of problems from ever arising. 

My experience with Ecological Gardening has been phenomenal.  I have been able to combine natural weed management, soil ecology, pest ecology and crop management into a very simple and easy method.  In fact, I have been able to create a garden that requires very little attention and produces far more than a traditional vegetable garden, simply by applying sound scientific principles.  And from the incredible results that I have achieved, I can say, with absolute certainty, that Ecological Gardening is the way we will be producing food in the future.

Jonathan White is a self-employed environmental consultant and landscape designer.  He is the author of Food4Wealth, an eBook and video package that shows the reader exactly how to set up and maintain an ecological garden.  It is available at food4wealth DOT com

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How to restore our basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil

 

How to restore our basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil

The breakdown of our food growing systems poses one of the biggest threats to our survival.  Our existence depends upon our agricultural systems, but what do our agricultural systems depend on?  The answer: water, air and soil.  These basic elements support all life-forms and without them, life as we know it cannot be sustained.  

In nature, food grows as part of an ecosystem.  An ecosystem is an ecological system that is made up of many biological parts, or components, that all interact with one another.  These components are mostly made up of organisms such as plants and animals.  They feed on each other and depend on each others' presence to survive.

Just as plant and animal components are dependent on each other, basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil - are also dependent on each another.  For example, the flow of air affects rainfall and rainfall affects the flow of air.  In addition, life-supporting systems are dependent on the components and vice versa.  For example, soil is created by plants and plants are created by soil.  In summary, components are dependent on life-supporting systems and the life-supporting systems are dependent on components.  However, it gets even more complicated than that.

Within the basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil - there are sub-systems.  If we take a look at water, it can be broken up into many sub-systems, including: rainfall, surface water, ground water, humidity and transpiration.  It is not necessary (or even possible) to understand everything that's going on within an ecosystem, however it is very important to understand this:

Each and every component, system and sub-system is important in running the overall ecosystem.  When you disturb one, the others start to fall apart.

Humans once lived as part of ecosystems.  We were just one of many ecological components within an ecosystem.  We were also part of the food chain; sometimes preyed upon, but mostly a predator.  When we discovered cultivation we discovered many advantages, such as being able to grow staple crops in relative density.  By clearing an area of its natural components we have been able to increase the quantity of a single, useful component such as a commercial crop. 

A typical farming operation strives to eliminate as many ecological components as possible so that a predetermined yield of a specific crop can be obtained.  For example, a farmer sows 10 acres of wheat and expects to achieve a yield within a certain range.  If it's a good year he will achieve the upper end of the range and if it's a bad year he will achieve the lower end of the range.  This offers him a relatively secure livelihood and he can live his life in accordance to the money he makes from his predetermined yield.  It makes perfect sense from an economic point of view.

However, this only works when the basic life-supporting systems are working, hence, adequate water, air and soil.  The problem is that these basic systems are part of an ancient ecosystem that is long gone.  The soils that we now grow crops in were part of a natural ecosystem and the millions of components that once existed were a critical part of keeping the basic life-supporting systems healthy and functioning.

By stripping the land of natural components we start to see the degradation of the basic life-supporting systems - water, soil and air.  When a large number of living components are removed, these natural systems break down because the components and the systems are interrelated.  As a diversity of plants and animals are replaced with a single species of crop, we start to see effects on the way the basic water, air and soil systems operate.  Water moves faster and is not filtered by a variety of plants.  This usually lowers the ground water and leaves the surface hotter and drier.  The hotter surface moves the air in different ways causing rain clouds to travel away from the area causing localized drought conditions.  Overall fertility is lost from soils as water moves out of the system at a greater rate.  The temperatures are hotter in summer and colder in winter as there are fewer plants to thermoregulate the area.  Rainfall becomes more unpredictable as the air current is affected by hotter ground temperatures.  It eventually gets difficult to grow the commercial crop.

Modern-day human intervention can offer short-term solutions, but cannot fix the cause of the problem.  Irrigation from bores cannot provide a sustainable solution to the breakdown of the water system.  Irrigation only lowers the ground water further making the problem even bigger than it was.  The use of groundwater is not a bad practice in all cases, but it doesn't fix the root problem.  Likewise, inorganic fertilizers will not repair the soil systems.  If a soil is being leached of nutrients due to water passing through it too quickly and hungry hybrid crops feeding on it, it will not be repaired by adding more minerals.  The same forces that are depleting the soils are still happening, so the soils will continue to become depleted.  Inorganic fertilizers cannot restore soil structure and cannot build new soil, like a natural ecosystem can. 

Commonsense will tell you that if there are no natural soil-building systems in place and soils are being lost and degraded, then fertilizer dependence must increase.  Year after year more fertilizer will be needed to obtain the same yield.  Remember, the farmer depends on a predetermined yield to fulfill his lifestyle, but now there is a greater cost to maintain that yield, in the form of store-bought fertilizers.  As costs increase, net profits decrease and eventually the whole operation becomes economically nonviable.  When you add market instability and retail competitiveness to the equation, you can see how difficult it would be to survive as a farmer.  The solution, so far, has been to cut the amount of human labor on farms because they are the most expensive part of the operation.  This is done by increasing the size of the operation and the equipment.  Large conglomerate companies can grow crops over thousands of acres, tended by very few humans.  In ecological terms, this means less diversity over a larger area, which means less natural components and less natural systems in operation.  Of course, the result is that the basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil, will be ruined at a quicker rate.  Surely that means that even these massive operations will eventually become too costly to run. 

The only way to keep an ecosystem alive and healthy is to make sure the basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil - are intact.  This applies to any patch of land, whether it's a native forest, a farm or an urban garden.  Every ecosystem is just a smaller part of a larger ecosystem.  In fact, the whole planet could be referred to as a single ecosystem.  What we do on a local level may only cause a tiny effect, but if a significant number of local people start doing the same thing, then it will cause an effect on a slightly larger scale.  If this is replicated on a big enough scale, then eventually, our actions can affect an entire planet. 

There is no buffer that can protect you from the global breakdown of the basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil.  However, you can cause an effect on your immediate surroundings.  To restore our basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil - we need to increase the number and diversity of biological components.  Diversity is the answer.  Remember, an ecosystem has millions of components, systems and sub-systems operating in a given area.  These systems need each other for their survival.  We can add diversity to our backyards and farms in the form of plants and animals.  Once we start to add biological components, they will start to support more biological components.  The addition of biological components, in the form of plants and animals, will start to build soil.  This in turn will slow down the flow of water and keep it in our property.  Trees and other plants will reduce and capture water lost from ground evaporation, mulch soils and create niche spaces for more life-forms.  Your property will be better regulated in terms of temperature and humidity.  It will be cooler in summer and warmer in winter.  This, in turn, helps the plants to yield more, creating more biomass and better soil.  There will be more opportunities for life forms and the basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil will be more supportive and better able to meet your needs.  As these basic systems become healthier, more sub-systems will appear.  Systems within systems will start to rev up and biological components (plants and animals) will increase in number, diversity and health. 

To give you an idea of how this may look in real terms, imagine this; a backyard that had a massive number of edible and non-edible plants of differing size, shape, habit, colour and form.  Also, imagine a diversity of domestic and wild animals, native and introduced, edible and non-edible.  Now, try to imagine a system where these plants and animals coexist in a way that they fed each other and, at the same time, create surplus food for humans.

Using a mixture of edible and non-edible plants is important.  Not everything within the system should be directly consumed by humans.  Non-edible plants create the structure that supports the edible species.  They should be planted in sensitive areas such as hilltops and drainage lines and in strips along contours on slopes.  They act as water filters, native habitats, climate controllers and soil builders.  Edible plants fill in the spaces only after the basic supporting structure is in place. 

Ecosystems are in a constant state of change and so are sustainable food growing systems.  This makes it very difficult to predetermine the yield from year to year.  The system needs the freedom to change as the components and systems evolve.  This is the most difficult part for humans to understand.  In our current way of farming we strive to make each year the same so that the yield can be predetermined, even when the conditions are changing.  Sustainable agriculture calls for a massive faith in natural laws and absolute respect for the basic life-supporting systems. 

I have seen many agricultural systems, but very few sustainable ones.  I have even seen several organically-certified farms that are practicing agriculture in a way that is depleting the basic life-supporting systems; soil, air and water.  Rather than buying inorganic fertilizers, they simply purchase organic fertilizers.  These organic farmers have little understanding of natural systems and just operate in a similar way to traditional farmers, only their job is more difficult without the use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.  The food they produce may be free of chemicals, but they are slowly killing the basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil.   

To make the world a healthier place is not difficult.  Even if you don't get the design as perfect as you possibly could, just the addition of a diversity of plants will create a positive effect on the basic life-supporting systems.  However, if you can get the components arranged in a way that they feed off one another to create a cyclic flow of energy, then you are starting to mimic a natural ecosystem.  As the site matures, the basic life-supporting systems - water, air and soil - will start to be restored.  That is when the system becomes self-sufficient and will provide excess food for humans, with minimal effort.  In fact, at that point, we will have returned to the past and, once again, be just another ecological component within an ecosystem. 

Jonathan White is a self-employed environmental consultant and landscape designer.  He is the author of Food4Wealth, an eBook and video package that shows the reader exactly how to set up and maintain an ecological garden.  It is available at food4wealth DOT com

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The Problem with Traditional Vegetable Gardening?

 

Traditional vegetable gardens require an enormous amount of hard work and attention - weeding, feeding and strict planting schedules.  There is also the problem of seasonality, allowing beds to rest during the cooler months producing nothing at all.  Then we are told to plant green manure crops, add inorganic fertilizers and chemicals to adjust imbalanced soils.  It takes a lot of time, dedication and a year-round commitment to grow your own food the traditional way. 
But does it really need to be that difficult?
Let me ask you this question.  Does a forest need to think how to grow?  Does its soil need to be turned every season?  Does someone come along every so often and plant seeds or take pH tests?  Does it get weeded or sprayed with toxic chemicals?
Of course not! 

Traditional vegetable gardening techniques are focused on problems.  Have you noticed that gardening books are full of ways to fix problems?  I was a traditional gardener for many years and I found that the solution to most problems simply caused a new set of problems. In other words, the problem with problems is that problems create more problems. 

Let's take a look at a common traditional gardening practice and I will show you how a single problem can escalate into a whole host of problems.

Imagine a traditional vegetable garden, planted with rows of various vegetables.  There are fairly large bare patches between the vegetables.  To a traditional gardener, a bare patch is just a bare patch.  But to an ecologist, a bare patch is an empty niche space.  An empty niche space is simply an invitation for new life forms to take up residency.  Nature does not tolerate empty niche spaces and the most successful niche space fillers are weeds.  That's what a weed is in ecological terms - a niche space filler.  Weeds are very good colonizing plants.  If they weren't, they wouldn't be called weeds. 

Now back to our story.  Weeds will grow in the empty niche spaces.  Quite often there are too many weeds to pick out individually, so the traditional gardener uses a hoe to turn them into the soil.  I have read in many gardening books, even organic gardening books, that your hoe is your best friend.  So the message we are getting is that using a hoe is the solution to a problem.

However, I would like to show you how using a hoe actually creates a new set of problems.  Firstly, turning soil excites weed seeds, creating a new explosion of weeds.  And secondly, turning soil upsets the soil ecology.  The top layer of soil is generally dry and structureless.  By turning it, you are placing deeper structured soil on the surface and putting the structureless soil underneath.  Over time, the band of structureless soil widens.  Structureless soil has far less moisture holding capacity, so the garden now needs more water to keep the plants alive. 

In addition to this problem, structureless soil cannot pass its nutrients onto the plants as effectively.  The garden now also needs the addition of fertilisers.  Many fertilisers kill the soil biology which is very important in building soil structure and plant nutrient availability.  The soil will eventually turn into a dead substance that doesn't have the correct balance of nutrients to grow fully developed foods.  The foods will actually lack vitamins and minerals.  This problem has already occurred in modern-day agriculture.  Dr Tim Lobstein, Director of the Food Commission said. "… today's agriculture does not allow the soil to enrich itself, but depends on chemical fertilisers that don't replace the wide variety of nutrients plants and humans need."  Over the past 60 years commercially grown foods have experienced a significant reduction in nutrient and mineral content.

Can you see how we started with the problem of weeds, but ended up with the new problems of lower water-holding capacity and infertile soils.  And eventually, we have the potentially serious problem of growing food with low nutrient content.  Traditional gardening techniques only ever strive to fix the symptom and not the cause. 

However, there is a solution!  We must use a technique that combines pest ecology, plant ecology, soil ecology and crop management into a method that addresses the causes of these problems.  This technique must be efficient enough to be economically viable.  It also needs to be able to produce enough food, per given area, to compete against traditional techniques. 

I have been testing an ecologically-based method of growing food for several years.  This method uses zero tillage, zero chemicals, has minimal weeds and requires a fraction of the physical attention (when compared to traditional vegetable gardening).  It also produces several times more, per given area, and provides food every single day of the year.

My ecologically-based garden mimics nature in such a way that the garden looks and acts like a natural ecosystem.  Succession layering of plants (just as we see in natural ecosystems) offers natural pest management.  It also naturally eliminates the need for crop rotation, resting beds or green manure crops.  Soil management is addressed in a natural way, and the result is that the soil's structure and fertility get richer and richer, year after year.  Another benefit of this method is automatic regeneration through self-seeding.  This occurs naturally as dormant seeds germinate; filling empty niche spaces with desirable plants, and not weeds. 

Unfortunately, the biggest challenge this method faces is convincing traditional gardeners of its benefits.  Like many industries, the gardening industry gets stuck in doing things a certain way.  The ecologically-based method requires such little human intervention that, in my opinion, many people will get frustrated with the lack of needing to control what's happening.  Naturally people love to take control of their lives, but with this method you are allowing nature to take the reins.  It's a test of faith in very simple natural laws.  However, in my experience these natural laws are 100% reliable. 

Another reason that traditional gardeners may not like this method is that it takes away all the mysticism of being an expert.  You see, this method is so simple that any person, anywhere in the world, under any conditions, can do it.  And for a veteran gardener it can actually be quite threatening when an embarrassingly simple solution comes along. 

I have no doubt that this is the way we will be growing food in the future.  It's just commonsense.  Why wouldn't we use a method that produces many times more food with a fraction of the effort?  I know it will take a little while to convince people that growing food is actually very instinctual and straightforward, but with persistence and proper explanation, people will embrace this method. 

Why?  Because sanity always prevails…

…eventually!

Jonathan White is an Environmental Scientist and the founder of the Food4Wealth Method.  For more information see Food4Wealth DOT com

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Easter Crafts: Easter Candy Sundae

 

To make this Easter treat you will need: a Sundae glass, Easter candy (Hershey's chocolate kisses, Easter chocolate eggs, or jelly beans in Easter colors), a stick candy, curling ribbons in Easter colors, pipe cleaners or thin stem wire, scissors and wire cutters.

Step 1. Find a Sundae glass you would like to use in your candy arrangement.

Step 2. Fill the Sundae glass with the Easter candy of your choice. I used milk chocolate eggs for my Candy Sundae.

Step 3. Put the stick candy, which matches the other candy colors, into the glass.

Step 4.

a) Prepare curling ribbons in Easter colors (pastel red, pastel yellow, pastel green, etc.). You can also use ready-made curl swirls.

b) Take a piece of pipe cleaner (chenille wire) or thin stem wire, bend it over the middle of the curling ribbons, twisting the two legs tightly near the ribbon. Curl the ribbons by pulling them over the edge of the scissors.

c) Insert the wired curling ribbons in the glass. Great job! Congratulations on your beautiful Easter Candy Sundae!

I wish you Happy Easter!

If you want to quickly and easily learn how to make candy bouquets either to start your own business or just to be able to make amazing memorable gifts for any occasion, check out my valuable "illustrated" step-by-step guides "How to make beautiful candy bouquets for fun and profit" and "Candy bouquet designs".

Lana Glass

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Easter Candy Arrangement

 

Materials used for this candy arrangement: an Easter bucket, "Dum-Dum" pops or other lollipops, decorative Easter grass, curling ribbons of different colors, floral foam, a stuffed bunny, chocolate bunnies, bamboo skewers or lollipop sticks, hot glue, wired decorative Easter eggs (I bought them in Michaels Craft store), and Easter ribbon.

Step 1. Take an Easter bucket and fill it 5/6 full of Easter plastic grass.

Step 2. Cut the floral foam and put it on the top of the Easter decorative grass so it fits into the container firmly. Cut and insert filler pieces of foam as necessary. If the foam is loose in the bucket, you can secure it to the walls of the bucket with some floral sticky clay.

Or you can buy foam in the shape of a flat circle, cut it to the desired size and insert it into the bucket.

Step 3. Cover the foam with Easter grass securing it with floral pins as necessary.

Step 4. Set the toy Easter Bunny in the back of the bucket. If the bunny does not want to sit, you can attach a piece of a bamboo skewer to the back of the toy using a piece of clear packing tape or hot glue. The bunny is held in place with the piece of skewer inserted in the foam.

Or you can stabilize the toy bunny securing his legs to the foam using floral pins or hairpins.

Step 5. Make several candy flowers.

a) Prepare "Dum-Dum Pops" or other suckers and curling ribbons of different colors.

b) (Optional). Take a "Dum-Dum" pop and a piece of matching curling ribbon. Tie a small bow at the base of the pop (where the stick and the pop meet).

c) Using scissors curl the loose ends of the ribbon.

d) That is it. One candy flower is ready. Make several candy flowers of each color and flavor.

Step 6. Insert pops in light and dark green wrappers all around the edge of the bucket. Then insert the rest of the pops around the bunny.

Note: You can even put little bunny ears and a face on the pops.

Step 7. The next step is to add the chocolate bunnies to the arrangement.

a) Prepare chocolate bunnies, bamboo skewers or lollipop sticks, and clear packing tape or hot glue.

 

b) Attach the bamboo skewer/lollipop stick to the back of chocolate bunnies with packing tape/hot glue.

 

c) Insert these chocolate bunnies at the back of the bucket behind the toy bunny.

Step 8.

a) Take wired decorative Easter eggs and Easter narrow ribbon.

b) Tie an Easter bow around these Easter eggs and insert them in the foam so they will be in the bunny's hands as though he is holding them.

I wish you Happy Easter!

If you want to quickly and easily learn how to make candy bouquets either to start your own business or just to be able to make amazing memorable gifts for any occasion, check out my valuable "illustrated" step-by-step guides "How to make beautiful candy bouquets for fun and profit" and "Candy bouquet designs".

Lana Glass

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Candy Arrangement in a Sundae Glass

 

You will need: a Sundae glass, a piece of stick candy, Hershey's chocolate kisses of one flavor or several, Life Savers, curling ribbons, pipe cleaners or thin stem wire, scissors and wire cutters.

1. Find a Sundae glass you would like to use in your candy arrangement.

2. Fill the Sundae glass with the Hershey's chocolate kisses.

3. Put the stick candy of the matching color into the glass.

4. (Optional). You can put Life Savers candy on the top of the Sundae (they will form whipped cream) securing them in place with glue dots or double-sided tape as necessary.

5.
a) Prepare curling ribbons of colors that correspond with the kisses wrappers. You can also buy ready-made curl swirls.

b) Take a piece of pipe cleaner or thin stem wire and tightly wrap it around the middle of the curling ribbons from step a). Curl the ribbons by pulling them over the edge of the scissors.

c) Insert the curling ribbons in the glass. Your beautiful and tasty Candy Sundae is ready!

If you want to quickly and easily learn how to make candy bouquets either to start your own business or just to be able to make amazing memorable gifts for any occasion, check out my valuable "illustrated" step-by-step guide "How to make beautiful candy bouquets for fun and profit".

Lana Glass

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Can Anyone Start A Christmas Light Installation Business?

Christmas Light Installation is a business opportunity for anyone that is interested in making money fast. Whether you're looking for some extra money for Christmas gifts, a new job, a way to get out of debt or just a chance to own your own business, this kit is for you.

It doesn't matter at what stage you are in life or what your financial or educational Background is; this business kit can be your fast-track to financial freedom. I constantly receive emails from satisfied readers about how this business kit has helped start a successful Christmas Light Installation business or even help them increase revenue year after year.

I think it's a great fit for any of these people:
- Seasonal business owners (Construction workers, framers, painters, landscapers, pool cleaners, window cleaners etc.)
- People with no prior business knowledge
- Aspiring small business owners
- College and University graduates
- High school students
- Fund-raisers for community groups and sports teams

As you already know, this is a seasonal business, so you have the opportunity to make quite a bit of money in a short period of time. That leaves you with the rest of the year to live how you choose. I usually take four months off to travel and then run a landscaping business in the summer. You, however, can do whatever you want!

This is a great business for many reasons. I believe that Holiday lighting will not only help you earn the amount of money you need to live a healthy lifestyle, but will give you the independence to and the self confidence to do anything in life that you put your mind to.

I am living proof that the information contained in these pages works. It is tried, tested, and holds true. The ideas in this business kit will not make you a millionaire overnight. Chances are, it will never make you a millionaire. What it can do, however, is help you obtain a comfortable lifestyle with the freedom and confidence to live your life as you choose.

These are the aspects of the job that got me interested in the first place:
- It's a simple, structured business model that is easy to follow
- It's one of the fastest growing service industries in Canada and the United States
- It's an easy-to-follow system
- It's an opportunity that's available now with minimal start up costs

Earn $1000 Per Day Running A Christmas Light Installation Business!

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Could this be THE most important test of your life?

As tests go, this one is short.

12 multiple-choice questions and about 2 minutes of your time figuring out how to answer them.

And at the end of it?

A prediction about just how susceptible you are to THE most dreaded of diseases.

I am talking about cancer. The Big C as it is sometimes called.

Carolyn Hansen, fitness professional and nutrition expert, has put together a powerful little quiz that she claims will give you an unnerving glimpse into your future:

Click here to find out your Cancer Risk Number


Maybe you have wondered whether there are things you may be doing that are INCREASING your chances of having to deal with cancer in the years ahead?

Well, this is one way to get that question answered. And it only takes 2 minutes of your time!

And consider this. If there was an invisible sword hanging over your head and someone offered to show you how to step out from under it, wouldn't you want to take just 2 minutes of your time to see what it was they were talking about?


 

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The Cancer Coin Toss - Will You Come Up Heads?

If I told you that by the time you turn 65 years your chance of having contracted some form of cancer is one in two, or the same odds as flipping a coin and coming up tails, you would probably say "That can't be right... Can it?"

Unfortunately, those ARE the odds you are faced with. For some of us the odds are better, for others it is worse.

This begs the next question: "What can I do to change my PERSONAL odds of getting cancer?"

As it turns out, that is an excellent question. Because when it comes to cancer we DO have a say in how it might affect us in the years ahead. This is because a good fraction of the risk we assume in getting cancer is due to what we DO over the course of our lives.

This is to say that you are NOT born with a one in two chance of getting cancer by the time we retire.

No. Those odds are new. A century ago most people who lived to old age would die of slow age-related organ shut down. Heart attacks were rare, as was cancer. It happened. Just not in the numbers that affect us today.

The reason for the modern day epidemic of cancer?

Poor health. We are the most overweight, least fit segment of the human race that has ever lived. As a consequence, our general health has plummeted and we are paying for it.

You can find out your own personal odds of getting cancer by taking this quick 2-minute Cancer Risk Quiz, set up by Carolyn Hansen:

Click here to find out your Cancer Risk Number

Answer the dozen or so questions and see how you fare. The score will come back as a number between 0 (great expectations for a long life) and 10 (time to get your affairs in order).

Yes, it may be sobering to discover that you are an EIGHT on the scale and slated for an early departure. But it is not all bad news. Because a good deal of that risk is behavior-based. Changing your bad habits CAN improve your odds of living until a ripe old age.

The question then, I guess, is how bad do you want to live long enough to see your grandchildren have children themselves?

Click here to find out now...
 

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You have not yet made your first $900.00 sale? Why not?

 

I wake up every day and do the things I want to do.  I know that sounds crazy but I only work about 4 hours per week and earn over $1000.00 per week.  If you are in a position where you can buy what you want and never worry about money than please do not read this e-mail. 

I'm not going to tell you that the 4 hours is the easiest work on the planet but when it comes down to it… it's only 4 hours!   I spend those 4 hours making phone calls and meeting with business owners for 5 mins to discuss my business.

The rest of the week I enjoy the $1000.00 however I wish

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

I'll show you how to find these companies, get their business and how to advertise for free.

If you're sick of waiting for extra income, than please watch our short video that could have you earning big money just like I do.

Please watch our short video for proof that my system really works.

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

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How Much Money Can Someone Make Hanging Christmas Lights?

Each year, people spend over 400 million dollars on lighting services over the holidays. Over the last 10 years, the industry has grown tenfold. The beauty of the Christmas Light installation industry is that virtually anyone can do it. No prior business knowledge is required. I know high school students that make $12,000 or more in just 60 days. I believe that anyone can make at least $20,000 in the 60 days leading up to Christmas. Great installers earn over $100,000 during the Holiday season. What the industry offers is an easy to start business opportunity. Most aspects of the business are already taken care of and all you have to do is follow the steps that I outline in this business kit. It is an extremely simple operation to learn and apply. You can do it. Yes, you.

Hanging Christmas Lights is a solution to the dull 9-5 job. This business lets you be your own boss, work for yourself, and determine your own schedule. With over 7 years of industry experience, I have created a realistic business opportunity that has proved to be a success with anyone who takes the principles and applies them.

In this industry, you are simply selling a service that includes the installation and removal of Christmas lights on residential and commercial buildings and landscaping. Can it get any easier than that?

The difference that you make in this business is how you choose to sell your services. Many Christmas lighting companies differ in how they sell their service. Some companies only sell the installation service requiring customers to provide the materials while others provide the work with no warranty. Other full-service companies offer to provide the lights, do the install, give a warranty for the season and provide a take—down service at the end of the season.

I have found that the service that works best is one that combines all these variables together. I have built my business model on this principle. It is a model that that provides the lights to the customer, offers an installation before Christmas and removal of the lights in the following January.

Some Installation businesses offer to lease the lights to the client and then store them for the rest of the year. I don't recommend this model unless you have a huge garage or want to pay heavy costs to rent a mini-storage to keep your clients lights for the other 9 or 10 months of the year.

For more information on starting a christmas light installation business, visit:
Earn $1000 Per Day Running A Christmas Light Installation Business!


Title: Make More Money in 2 Months than others do Year-round with your own Christmas Light Installation Business
Body:

In my experience, I would say that most Holiday lighting companies are small (2-4 employees) and only have the ability to handle a limited amount of customers each year.

Once some installation companies establish core clients after their first year, many of them don't even market. Their business comes from previous jobs or referrals from current clients, which usually is made up of neighbors, family and friends.

Each holiday season, you will find that more calls come in than can ever be fulfilled. I have found this to be a very common complaint from Christmas lighting installers: too much business! I can't think of any other industry that has a problem turning down customers!
During the first week of December, things get really busy any calls start pouring in. I have found myself telling people that I can't leave my house for less than a minimum of $400. Lighting services are in such demand that people are really willing to pay an arm and a leg to have it done.

Growth is the goal and most important aspect to your new business. Be careful though because you don't want it to grow so quickly that you find yourself overwhelmed. This will only lead to a series of problems that will have a negative impact on your business. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Only make commitments that you can keep. Never say you will do something and not follow through. Your reputation is your most valuable asset and you should protect it at all costs.

Take this business one job at a time and don't be afraid to tell a client that you are booked.
Things tend to get very busy and there is only so much you will be able to handle on your own. It may be hard at first to turn down jobs, but be aware that there is always next year.
Keep a database of names, numbers, and email addresses. Even if you don't get to them this year, you will be able to contact them earlier in the season next year to ensure that they become a client.

Make sure that you take down as many details as possible about your clients and contacts. Names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, how they found you, job description, and price quote are all important to have in a database. The more organized you keep your business, the more efficient you become and the more profits you make.
You should have a good handle on your strengths and weaknesses as a worker and a business owner. If you don't, you will soon learn them.

Owning a business will teach you a lot about yourself. By knowing your skills and what you bring to the table, you will be able to take advantage of many opportunities that will make your business as efficient as possible.

Make $100,000 Hanging Christmas Lights! => Click Here!

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Is The Christmas Light Business Profitable?

According to several sources, the Christmas Lighting industry has had an amazing 1000% increase in growth over the last 10 years! I have been in this business for over seven years. I saw it when it was small and have seen it grow exponentially! Also, residential homeowners as well as commercial and professional business owners spend over a billion dollars each Christmas season for this service and its associated products. And, with the Christmas lighting industry being fairly new, this quite possibly will be the perfect 'add-on' service to your existing business. It is also the perfect business that can earn you enough in 90 days so you can either take the rest of the year off or run another seasonal business during the other
9 months of the year.

As a general rule, the installation season begins in early October focusing mainly on commercial properties. This is when you will start to look for leads and begin your installations. The season ends in mid to late January when you've finished taking down all the lights from your clients' homes and businesses.

Christmas light installation businesses can make more than $1000 per day per work crew during the season. Well-organized installation crews can make more that $2000 per day. It is also not uncommon for installers to earn upwards of $3000 in a single day when installing larger residential and commercial jobs. I recently managed to get a lighting contract with a local hotel. The quote I gave was for $3200. My light costs were $600 and I paid my 2 employees $160 each for an 8 hour day. Do the math. At the end of the day, I had over
$2000 cash profit in my back pocket and a huge smile on my face!

A smaller Christmas light installation business can easily expect to earn more than $20,000 in their first year of hanging lights as long as they have a solid business plan. Try to begin with the end in mind. I know of many midsize Christmas light Installation companies that make between 100 and 150 thousand dollars each year - in only 90 days! There is a ton of money to be made in this industry. You are providing an essential service that people will use year after year.

This Holiday light industry is the perfect add-on for seasonal businesses like, construction workers, window cleaners, junk removal services, landscape architects, painters, roofers, and framers. The main thing that attracted me to this industry is the fact that this business is extremely low risk. I have been able to use my current client database to create leads and get contracts. I have also been able to keep my employees during this season whereas in other years, I have had to lay them off and often they never came back because they found other work! This business changed all that!

The Holiday Lighting industry is one of the fastest growing service industries in the
United States, Canada, and the UK! Each year, the demand for this service increases. For some reason everyone wants to outdo their neighbors with a bigger and brighter display of lights. In a recent study, it was shown that the thing that people despised most about the holiday season was putting up the Christmas lights. People want the Christmas spirit without the hassle of putting up their own lights. This is where you come in and cash out!

This wonderful business opportunity is now more popular than ever and you are a part of it! The biggest benefit you have is the fact that this industry is still relatively young. It's new and you got in on the ground floor at the beginning. That means there is a ton of room for growth. There is also room for small business owners, like you, to make a ton of money in a short period of time. It's going to be some work, but once you get rolling, you are going to look back and think that taking the first step was the best decision you could have ever made.

Earn $1000 Per Day Running A Christmas Light Installation Business!

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The Big C - Something to watch - not live through...

OK, I'll admit that maybe I watch a little too much television.

But some of it gets you thinking about things you otherwise never would.

Like cancer. The Big C.

For 4 seasons Showtime ran a series by the same name: "The Big C".

It starred Laura Linney who played Cathy Jamison, a woman faced with her own mortality as she struggled to cope with a diagnosis of cancer.

The character Cathy, upon hearing that she had possibly just months to live, decided bravely to celebrate life

But she also had to deal with feelings of anger, depression, and every other emotion that comes with knowing that you may not be here this time next year.

Most people - me included - try hard NOT to entertain the idea that the odds of escaping cancer's cruel hand are NOT good.

Unfortunately, cancer is a subject that you cannot ignore forever. It has a habit of catching up with you.

In fact, according to Carolyn Hansen, you have about 2 chances out of 3 of contracting some form of cancer by the time you retire at the ripe old age of 65.

I don't know about you, but I intend to live a lot LONGER than that. Which is why when Carolyn alerted me to her Cancer Risk Quiz I had to take it:

Click here to find out your Cancer Risk Number


It only takes a few minutes to complete. Just 12 multiple choice questions that paint a rough picture of how likely it is that you WILL or WILL NOT contract cancer in the years ahead.

By the end of the quiz you'll receive an indication of whether your risk is LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH.

You'll also be given the option of receiving a more precise score from 0 through 10, and a personalized summary of just what your high risk behaviors are and how they affect your life expectancy.

You can find a graphic showing Carolyn's Cancer Risk Scale here:

Click here to find out your Cancer Risk Number
 

Fortunately these days a diagnosis of cancer doesn't mean it cannot be treated effectively if caught in time. Even so, it's not a disease that you ever want to have to deal with.

I'm not going to tell you what I scored on the test. But I will tell you that my number is a LOT higher than I would like it to be.

Hopefully that's NOT the case for you!

 

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So What's YOUR Cancer Risk Number?

Cancer is not a picky disease. It does not REQUIRE an unhealthy host to get started in your body. But it usually DOES require an unhealthy host to keep growing.

If you'd like to know whether your current lifestyle habits are pushing you towards a state of health that is conducive to cancer proliferation in your body, try taking this little two-minute test offered by Carolyn Hansen.

She calls it the Cancer Risk Quiz:

Click here to find out your Cancer Risk Number

This is NOT the kind of self-assessment that you want to fail!

Sure, we all know that if we smoke regularly we are increasing our odds of getting lung cancer. If we expose our skin to too much sunlight over the years we increase our risk of skin cancer. And if we are just plain unlucky and we inherit a genetic propensity to develop certain cancers we are already at risk no matter what steps we take to improve our health.

But often overlooked are lifestyle behaviors that can unnecessarily INCREASE ours chances of getting cancer. It is these "self inflicted" risk enhancing behaviors that so interest Carolyn. This is because these risks are ones that can be mitigated.

You can simply elect to "just say no" to cancer by KNOWING what those risk factors are and consciously avoiding the actions that lead to the increased risk.

For example, we all know that excess body weight is a marker for diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary disease. But having unwanted fat hanging around on your body also increases your odds of contracting cancer in later life.

That in itself may be enough to get you to think twice about hitting the junk food machine the next time you feel peckish.

If you visit the Cancer Risk Quiz page you will see a Cancer Risk Scale that ranges from zero (no chance of contracting cancer) all the way up to ten (fatal propensity). Unfortunately most of us will live in the range somewhere between 5 and 9. Not too surprising when you consider that about two thirds of the population WILL be faced with a cancer scare sometime in their lives.

The question is this: Will it happen sooner or later?

 

P.S. So, what's YOUR Cancer Risk Number

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Are You Still Not Earning Money! It’s been long enough!!!

I bet you that if you put in just a few hours with my help you can earn at least $199.99 by the end of today. 

Don't think that you can? 

Well if you feel that earning money is hard it's because you have not really took the time to listen to how my business runs.

 I work about 4 hours per week and spend the other 20 hours in total freedom!!!

I know that most people think it's hard to start a company and earn money instantly but they are so far from correct that it makes me sick.

 When I was younger everyone and their brother thought I was crazy for wanting the freedom of owning my own business.

Years later I'm spending 4 hours per week working and the rest is… whatever I want it to be!!!

  I'm going to show you how to start a flyer business and get your first big $900.00 sale in just weeks from day 1.

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

I'll show you how to find these companies, get their business and how to advertise for free.

If you're sick of waiting for extra income, than please watch our short video that could have you earning big money just like I do.

Please watch our short video for proof that my system really works.

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

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Have you Ever Heard of Passing out Flyers for money?

 

I'm not sure if you've had any luck finding a program that can produce big income quickly, but I have just the program for you.

I'm not going to tell you that you'll earn 100,000 per month mastering internet marketing, but I will tell you that earning $4,000 per month is very possible if you have the right tools.

I'm going to show you how I earn over $1000.00 per week simply passing out flyers for companies.

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

I'll show you how to find these companies, get their business and how to advertise for free.

If you're sick of waiting for extra income, than please watch our short video that could have you earning big money just like I do.

Please watch our short video for proof that my system really works.

Learn How To Earn 25,000 Per Week

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Better Balance = Better Surfer

 

Have you ever been watching a surf DVD and you see some pro bust off the lip, land on some awkward angle with his body bent backwards into the white-wash and yet some how he recovers and manages to stay on his board.

Don't you wish you could do that? That sort of recovery requires an insanely high level of core strength and balance. Lucky for us, you can actually train to increase your balance and in turn improve your surfing.

The following exercises will help you improve your core strength and balance so you can make more waves, perform better tricks and wipe out less.

There are two important components when it comes to surfing balance. The first of these is strong and stable leg muscles. Training your legs in isolation will iron out any weaknesses you may have in your leg and hip muscles and decrease the chance of injury.

The second component is core stability. This refers to keeping your body stable when other forces are trying to knock you down.

This first exercise is excellent for building your balance and leg strength.

 

 

This second exercise trains core stability specifically. The stability ball mimics the unpredictability of the ocean. In order to stay on the ball (your surfboard) you need to maintain your balance by using the core muscles of your abdominals, lower back and hips.

• First of all try balancing on both knees on top of a stability ball.

• Balance for 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

• Once you have mastered this try balancing on one foot and one knee.

• Do 3 sets of 30 second balances.

Once you can comfortably balance on a stability ball, you are on your way to having excellent core stability and balance. However there are a lot more exercises that you can do whilst balancing on the ball which will dramatically help your surfing ability.

For these exercises and more visit  totalsurfingfitness DOT com. Here you will find a complete functional training program designed specifically for surfers, which includes training for core strength, balance, cardiovascular fitness, upper & lower body strength and flexibility.

Clayton Beatty is the fitness expert behind Total Surfing Fitness, a website dedicated to functional fitness training for surfers. Clayton holds a BSc Degree in Human Movement and is a Qualified Exercise Scientist. If you would like to learn more visit his website at  totalsurfingfitness DOT com.

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6 Common Teacher Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

When you get a call from a school administrator inviting you to interview for a teaching job, how do you feel? Happy? Elated? Excited? Nervous? Scared stiff?

You don't need to worry about the interview if you're a well-prepared, qualified candidate. Preparing for a teaching interview is a lot like studying for a test. You can review commonly asked questions, think about what you'll say beforehand, and go in to do your best. If you're prepared, the interview questions will seem routine and familiar. You'll have answers on the tip of your tongue, ready-to-go.

Below is a list of six commonly asked teacher interview questions from my eBook, Guide to Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams. How would you answer each question?

1. Tell us about yourself.
This will be the first question at almost every interview. Just give a brief background in about five sentences. Tell them what colleges you graduated from, what you're certified to teach, what your teaching & working experiences are, and why you'd love the job.

2. How do you teach to the state standards?
If you interview in the United States, school administrators love to talk about state, local, or national standards! Reassure your interviewer that everything you do ties into standards. Be sure the lesson plans in your portfolio have the state standards typed right on them. When they ask about them, pull out your lesson and show them the close ties between your teaching and the standards.

3. How will you prepare students for standardized assessments?
There are standardized assessments at almost every grade level. Be sure you know the names of the tests. Talk about your experiences preparing students. You'll get bonus points if you know and describe the format of the test because that will prove your familiarity.

4. Describe your discipline philosophy.
You use lots of positive reinforcement. You are firm, but you don't yell. You have appropriate consequences for inappropriate behavior. You have your classroom rules posted clearly on the walls. You set common routines that students follow. You adhere to the school's discipline guidelines. Also, emphasize that you suspect discipline problems will be minimal because your lessons are very interesting and engaging to students. Don't tell the interviewer that you send kids to the principal's office whenever there is a problem. You should be able to handle most discipline problems on your own. Only students who have committed very serious behavior problems should be sent to the office.

5. How do you make sure you meet the needs of a student with an IEP?
An IEP is an "individualized education plan." Students with special needs will be given an IEP, or a list of things that you must do when teaching the child. An IEP might include anything from "additional time for testing" to "needs all test questions read aloud" to "needs to use braille textbook." How do you ensure you're meeting the needs of a student with an IEP? First, read the IEP carefully. If you have questions, consult a special education teacher, counselor, or other staff member who can help you. Then, you just make sure you follow the requirements on the IEP word for word. When necessary, you may be asked to attend a meeting in which you can make suggestions for updating the IEP. Your goal, and the goal of the IEP, is to make sure the student has whatever he or she needs to be successful in your class.

6. How do you communicate with parents?
This question will come up at almost every elementary school interview. It s fairly common in the middle school and high school as well. You might have a weekly parent newsletter that you send home each week. For grades 3 and up, you may require students to have an assignment book that has to be signed each night. This way, parents know what assignments are given and when projects are due. When there are discipline problems you call home and talk to parents. It's important to have an open-door policy and invite parents to share their concerns at any time.


For more teacher interview questions, I invite you to download my eBook Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams iwantateachingjob.com ). In it you will find 50 common interview questions and answers as well as practical advice for getting the teaching job you want.
 

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Workouts for Surfers

Wouldnt you like to be able to surf harder and longer, get more barrels, bust bigger airs and surf with more style? And wouldn’t you like to be able to accomplish this without even getting wet?

Surfing has reached a new level of professionalism in recent years, with pros opting to train harder and smarter in an effort to increase their performance out in the waves.

Mick Fanning’s rise to the top was driven by his dedicated approach to his fitness regime after a debilitating hamstring injury. Taj Burrow has personal trainer (Bra Boy - John Gannon) flown around on tour to keep him in peak physical condition at all times. Obviously fitness training for surfing is becoming more and more important to the top professionals.

So what can the rest of us mere mortals do to improve our surfing ability whilst stuck on dry land?

The secret lies in functional training.

What is functional training?

Most fitness programs created by fitness trainers are designed for bodybuilders not athletes. Generally these programs are generic in nature and do not tailor to the specific needs of the sport.

Functional training is working out using exercises that have movements similar to that used in the sport, in this case, surfing. It is basically training for a specific purpose.

From a performance perspective, functional training overloads your body whilst you are doing similar movements to that you would use whilst out in the surf. Your body then adapts to this overload and the result is that these movements are easier to perform whilst surfing.

There are many movements your body undertakes whilst surfing including paddling, pushing, squatting and twisting just to name a few. Therefore it is important any functional training program incorporates core strength, balance, upper body strength and lower body strength.

The following functional exercises are designed specifically to improve your surfing ability. All you need is a stability ball and a dumbbell or weight plate.

 

Clayton Beatty is the fitness expert behind Total Surfing Fitness, a website dedicated to functional fitness training for surfers. Clayton holds a BSc Degree in Human Movement and is a Qualified Exercise Scientist. If you would like to learn more visit his website at  totalsurfingfitness DOT com.

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Increase Your Paddle Power

Sometimes I wish I had an outboard motor on the back of my surf board so I could just zoom back out to the line up after a wave. Unfortunately such surfboard motors don't seem to exist, so there has to be another way.

The obvious way is to improve my paddle fitness, so the task of paddling doesn't seem like such an effort during a heavy session.

In the following functional exercises, I am going to show you how you can do just that. By increasing your muscle strength, you will be able to paddle faster and stronger with less fatigue, which means more waves and more fun!

Upper back and arm strength are important for surfers because we use these muscles heavily when paddling. The stronger these muscles, the faster you can paddle into waves.

The following exercise helps strengthen your upper back and arms, as well as helping to stabilise your shoulders. Having your feet on a stability ball means your core muscles will be working harder as well. If you workout at the gym this exercise can be performed using the bar on a smith machine.

 

The next exercise will help build your shoulder strength so you can paddle harder and stronger with less fatigue.

Incorporating these functional exercises into your training schedule means you will be able to paddle harder and faster than ever before. But beware… this means you may get more waves than your mates and they might not appreciate this as much as you…

To turn your whole body into a lean mean surfing machine, check out the Total Surfing Fitness training program. This is a functional training program designed specifically for surfers, which includes training for core strength, balance, cardiovascular fitness, upper & lower body strength and flexibility. Visit  totalsurfingfitness DOT com to download the program.

Clayton Beatty is the fitness expert behind Total Surfing Fitness, a website dedicated to functional fitness training for surfers. Clayton holds a BSc Degree in Human Movement and is a Qualified Exercise Scientist. If you would like to learn more visit his website at  totalsurfingfitness DOT com.

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Art Teacher Interview Questions

When interview committees and principals interview art teachers, they're looking for someone who can connect with the entire culture of the school. They're looking for a person who empowers students to create beautiful artwork, has a presence in extra-curricular activities, and can effectively manage students in a classroom full of messy, sloppy supplies. An art program is often the proud centerpiece of a school's curriculum and schools want to fill that position with the most competent art teacher available.

Interviewing is stressful for any candidate. My best advice is to be prepared with a complete teaching portfolio and to practice common interview questions beforehand. While you don't need to rehearse what you'll say word-for-word, it's not a bad idea to prepare yourself by thinking about your responses to general questions that will be asked.

Art teacher candidates can expect the common, general teacher interview questions:

- Tell us about yourself.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How to you integrate technology into your teaching?
- How do you meet the needs of special education students?
- How do you communicate with parents?


But, when hiring art teachers, principals and interview committees have high expectations and often develop more specialized questions. Below are some common questions (and suggestions for answering them) for art teacher interviews:

1. Describe some ways you present and display student work throughout the school and throughout the community.

Whether you like it or not, the art teacher is often responsible for setting the decor of the entire school. You'll likely be responsible for keeping the halls full of student work and updating displays on a regular basis. You'll be the one they turn to when they want a mural painted on the gymnasium wall. They'll run to your room when it's time to set up the annual display in the district office building. And, when the community art show comes around, you'll be the one that is expected to coordinate it. When it's time to create the yearly district events calendar, you know they'll be turning to the art teacher for a collection of high-quality student work samples. Art teachers have a HUGE responsibility outside of general teaching. You need to reassure the interview committee that you're aware of these responsibilities and are excited to take on these challenges.

2. Show us pictures of your work as an artist.

You should have your teaching portfolio with you at an interview. Since you're an artist, your portfolio should include pictures of your own artwork, in addition to lesson plans and student artwork. Be sure the works you show the committee are appropriate for a school setting. Don't show them your latest nude sketch or a violent scene. Keep the content of the material in your portfolio light, upbeat, and positive.

3. Describe some of the art projects your students have loved.

This is a simple question. Describe your "best work" as a teacher. In other words, you're looking to tell them about project that was engaging to the students, educational in terms of artistic development, and well-received by others when it was displayed. Pass around some pictures of this lesson from your teaching portfolio!

4. How can you make the most of a small budget for art supplies?

Many school districts can't offer you huge amounts of money for art projects. Explain that you're a natural bargain shopper. You'll always seek out the best deals on art supplies.

You should remind the interviewer of your no-waste philosophy. You don't let kids throw away big scraps of paper that can be used again. You'll try to unclog those stuffed up glue bottles, rather than throw them away.

Also, let them know that you can make artwork from simple, everyday household objects. Maybe you know how to make Christmas ornaments from light bulbs or you can turn empty soup cans into lanterns.

5. How can you connect your activities in the art room into lessons taught within other subject areas?

You can easily connect art to Social Studies by teaching cultural art. Example: If students are learning about Australia, you can teach kids to make Aboriginal Dot Paintings in art. You can also connect art to historical themes by making connections with art history. You can also tie into Reading and Writing by teaching kids to describe and critique artwork.

6. Why do you think art is an important part of a child's education?

This answer, will of course, vary from person to person. Some things you might want to think about: Art is a small, but important part of a well-rounded education program. Art teachers stimulate students' imaginations, by encouraging them to express themselves creatively. Art teachers develop students' self-esteem, by allowing them to discover other talents they may have that go beyond the rest of the school's curriculum. And art teachers help students to better accept the world in which they live by inviting them to view things in different ways.

7. Art teachers have a unique set of classroom management challenges because you see so many kids for such a short time-- what would you do when a kid is off-task, unmotivated, or not participating in a lesson?

The most effective way of avoiding behavioral problems is to keep students interested, involved, and engaged from the moment they walk into your room to the moment they leave. It is essential to have classroom rules posted clearly in your classroom. Routines are important-- kids should know where to sit, when to get materials, what the clean up procedures are. As the teacher, you must enforce the rules and routines consistently each and every day.
Hopefully, you use positive reinforcement to encourage the best behaviors. You praise your students' efforts often, and you offer constructive criticism in a positive way. When kids do misbehave, it's best to handle situations on your own, when possible. (Only the most severe cases of disruption or violence should be sent to the office.) Taking away privileges or responsibility is often an effective method for managing classroom behavior problems.

8. Art is an elective, which means you'll have to promote student interest in your courses. How will you do this?

This question is for candidates that are interviewing for high school art positions. The simplest answer to explain how you engage students in worthwhile art activities. The final projects come out so beautifully that students are proud of their work, see their talent, and have a strong desire to create more!

Happy interviewing!

For more teacher interview questions, I invite you to download my eBook Getting the Teaching Job of Your Dreams ( iwantateachingjob.com ). In it you will find 50 common interview questions and answers as well as practical advice for getting the teaching job you want.


 

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Why Aren't There Any Teaching Jobs in Michigan? Or New Jersey? Or Pennsylvania? Or New York?

Michigan is one of the absolute hardest states to find a job in. In fact, many areas in the United States have a surplus of qualified teachers and very, very few open positions to fill.

Why? It's the economy. The manufacturing jobs that were once the staple of the northeastern economy are going bankrupt and/or relocating in other countries, where labor is cheaper. (You can thank NAFTA for the job losses.) As high-paying jobs leave the state, young people with families leave to areas with stronger economies. Schools, therefore, need fewer teachers because there are fewer students.

The population in Michigan isn't growing much (if at all). The economy is dead. The state is getting less tax money as companies and people leave the state. And, yet, Michigan still has high-quality teacher colleges that pump out hundreds of candidates each year. The result: Lots of excellent teacher candidates in a location with no available jobs.

This trend isn't unique to Michigan. Similar teacher job markets exist throughout the northeastern United States, in places such as Upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

So, if you're in one of these tough job markets, what should you do? If moving is a possibility for you, you might consider relocating to places with stronger economies and booming populations like: Las Vegas, Arizona, Carolina, Colorado, and Florida.

If moving is not an option for you, you can still get a job; you just have to work REALLY hard to market yourself. Schools still need SOME new teachers, though certainly not enough to seriously decrease the huge supply. In order to land a job, you'll have to market yourself so well that you stand out as one of the top 2% of teaching candidates.

Suggestions:

1. After you've formally applied for a job through a district's human resources office, send a paper copy of your resume and a letter of interest to the PRINCIPAL of the school you want to work at. HR offices typically forward 10-20% of the candidates to principals and ignore the other 80%. Since principals usually have direct control over hiring, you need to make direct contact with them. If a principal is impressed with your qualifications, he/she can easily arrange an interview.

2. Teaching jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet typically have TONS of candidates applying. Your best bet-- call schools directly and ask if they'll be hiring in the near future. Most jobs aren't advertised heavily (because they already have lots of candidates). The jobs that ARE advertised heavily will have way too many qualified candidates -- which decreases your chance of getting the job. So, use the phone book to find those unadvertised jobs.

3. Be sure your cover letter is so good they won't pass you up. Do something to make it stand out-- color letterhead, bold faced key words, bulleted lists-- something. Have a great introduction sentence that catches their interest. If you're not a great cover letter/resume designer, have it done professionally. And remember: while good design can get your cover letter noticed, it comes down to high-quality content and excellent qualifications that will get you an interview.

4. Practice common interview questions beforehand. Typically similar questions are asked at all teacher interviews. If you practice beforehand and think about what you'll say, the questions will seem routine and familiar.


5. Here's a link to an eBook about getting teaching jobs. It has advice for finding jobs, tips to polish your cover letter and resume, common teacher interview questions and answers, and more. The eBook has enough solid advice to give you an edge over the other candidates. It can be downloaded at: iwantateachingjob.com


Best of luck to you in your job search!


 

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