My friend Bill Witt is to blame for my thoughts about gardening at this time of year. The garden is planted. Tomatoes are already flowering, sweet onions are growing and so are other vegetables.

While most vegetable gardening takes place outdoors, this endeavor is not thought of as being the same outdoor interest as hunting, fishing and camping. However there are connections.

Buzzwords and catchphrases we should all incorporate into our lives these days include reduce, reuse and recycle. If each of us examines our lives properly, we are sure to find a few items we use in excess, which we are able to reduce. There are items in our lives we could reuse and we should recycle as many items as possible.

Some people takes these three works to extremes on both sides of the spectrum. On one side a person will drive 10 miles to recycle an item. The gas used does not justify the trip. Another person doesn't participate at all and will not recycle an aluminum can. We all need to hit a happy medium that fits our lifestyle.

Reuse

The reuse part of the equation involves old items made to serve a different purpose. An old broom handle is used for years as part of a broom to sweep the kitchen, and later to remove snow from the patio. The handle is removed when the bristles are worn short.

This round piece of wood could have been cut into foot-long pieces and used for firewood, reusing the handle as the word indicates. However, this broom handle's life can be extended. When cut to the proper length it serves as a security barrier for the sliding glass door or a support to hold a feed bin open when needed.

Recycle

The recycle portion is the easiest part of the trio. An onion is needed for venison stew that's cooked in a Dutch oven. The outside skin of the onion is cut away to be discarded. The inside is cut into chunks and added to the stew. The outside skin and ends are then added to the compost bin, which will decompose into a rich soil amendment or potting soil.

Other items added to the compost pile include spoiled apples, lettuce, potato and cucumber peels. No vegetable waste is thrown way. Grass clippings and tree leaves will help the compost pile grow and decompose.

The finished compost will be added to the vegetable garden adding nutrients needed by the plants. The compost pile also attracts worms, which are used when fishing for walleye.

Plant pieces are not the only items used in recycling. Many parts taken from birds and animals tagged when hunting are recycled. The hair from a deer hide is used to make the head of a muddler minnow fishing fly. A turkey feather is used to make the wing.

Pheasant rump feathers are used as the hackle for the many versions of a soft hackle fly, such as the Carey Special.

The pheasant tail nymph is constructed by using a few strands of a pheasant tail as the fly tail and these same strands can be wrapped around the hook to form the body of the fly. The legs at the front are also strands from the same tail feather, as is the wing case.

One white and one dark strand of hair from a moose hide are used to make the body of a dry fly imitating a mosquito. A clump of elk hair is used to make the wing of an Elk Hair Caddis dry fly.

Fishing flies are not the only parts of game birds and animals used in recycling. Of course the meat is considered recycled when eaten, which is the main reason for hunting.

The hide of many big game animals are suitable for tanning and are made into clothing, gloves, blankets and rugs.

Instead of using water as the liquid added to the slow cooker filled with an elk roast, the quarter pot of coffee left from yesterday works just fine. 

Reduce

Reduce is the one part of the trio which causes me stress. I have problems reducing the number of fishing, hunting and camping trips. Cutting down on campfires is out of the question, as I always have one built or am about to build another.  

I may be able to reduce a bit by making smarter use of items used in the outdoors. Instead of building a roaring fire flaming a yard high, the fire may be only 18 inches high.

Vegetable garden

Now back to the outdoor activity known as gardening. The vegetable plants growing in our garden will be used in the wild game stews and pot roasts cooked in the slow cooker.

Extra tomatoes will be dropped in boiling water, then in ice water to remove the skins. After coarse chopping, the tomato will be placed into a plastic container two cups at a time and put in the freezer. Carrots, onions and potatoes will also be saved for future use.

Bill Witt once told me there is nothing like throwing a venison burger on the grill, and while it is cooking, pick a tomato and pull an onion from the garden. Cut a slap of tomato and onion and place them on the hamburger bun with the burger.

Just the thought drives me to produce a fine garden and be more cunning when hunting.