Category: Interacting with nature

remediation

This is not about environmental remediation, just correcting a few deficiencies in my nu trac environment. Bees When I split the hive a few weeks ago by taking bees and frames from hive 1 and creating a new hive 2, I noticed that hive 1 had no brood and apparently no queen.  In addition to the new queen I purchased for hive 2, I ordered a second queen for hive 1.  The second queen and several attendants arrived in a queen's cage last Friday from an Alabama beekeeper. After again confirming Read more [...]

observation and analysis

I used to think observation was the key talent.  On trips through the Kruger game reserve in South Africa my siblings and I competed to spot the lion, cheetah, leopard or unusual game first.  On a river boat trip through north Australia we competed to be the first in the launch to spot the saltwater crocs ("salties") lazing on the banks.  And for such contests a sharp eye was all that was needed. But in my interactions with nature, observing the discordant object is only the first step.  Understanding Read more [...]

wildflower seeding

Last fall I collected a large quantity of wildflower seed and stored it in a cloth shopping bag.  Now that I have planted out my tomatoes and with rain in the offing, I decided to sow the seed - cosmos, sunflower, marigold and zinnia.  I was gifted two old cultivators - they are 5 feet wide and connect to the three point hitch at the back of the tractor.  The tines are spring tensioned.  I have a 60hp tractor which typically would pull a larger cultivator and so I had to make some adjustments Read more [...]

splitting the bee hive

I acquired my bees in spring 2010 and am now in my third year with the one hive.  I decided it was time for two hives and there are several ways to go about this.  Rather than buy a "package" or "nuc" I wanted to propagate my existing bees.  After all, they have survived two winters, gave me 4.5 gallons honey last year and appear very healthy and have not needed any medications.  So the genetics are good and, what I should have done, as suggested by a commentator, is used a queen cell in the Read more [...]

bees – “The Lost World of the Kalahari”

I have been spending time with my bees - recently did my first split (split the one hive into two separate hives) and will soon do the first honey harvest of 2012.  So, with bees on my mind, I want to include some excerpts from an engrossing book written in 1958 in South Africa by Laurens Van Der Post titled "The Lost World of the Kalahari" about the Bushmen. The Bushmen loved honey and used a special herbal smoke to drug the bees before he dared reach for the honey because "the wild bees of Read more [...]

growing oyster mushrooms

The oyster mushroom is one of the easiest to grow.  Available free on the internet is a +300 page handbook on oyster mushroom cultivation which has as its central premise that: "Mushroom cultivation has been evaluated as an effective means for poverty alleviation in developing countries due to its possibility of low cost production, high profit and quick return".  A handy insight into mushroom growing around the world. I purchased grain spawn grey dove oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) in February Read more [...]

hand watering

All my irrigation is from harvested rainwater.  I used to pump the water from the main storage tanks to an elevated tank near the growing area but since this tank was only  a few feet off the ground and the water was moved by gravity, it trickled slowly from a hose.  And so I gave up and installed water lines and bubblers and let the water do its own thing at its own pace.  An unsatisfactory result, since I wouldn't notice when individual bubblers clogged and, more importantly, I missed out on Read more [...]

summerizing the coop

Before I get to the coop, a quick update on my "Spring activity" journal.  I mentioned that pokeweed is an unwelcome visitor, difficult to extricate because of its long thick taproot.  In permaculture "the problem is the solution" and it occurred to me that the taproot, like that of comfrey was performing a valuable function mining minerals two or more feet below the surface.  But this seemed inadequate justification for its presence until I noticed that it, and it alone, has been attacked and Read more [...]

something new every day

I learn new things every day.  If I was an attorney I would be studying up on the impact of new legislation and recently decided cases.  An accountant - the impact of new GAAP and the merging with international standards; a business executive - new moves by competitors as they strive for competitive advantage.  For me, my classroom is observing what's going on around me. In my post of February 23 I noted that one of twelve muscadines (grape vines) I transplanted did not survive and I provided Read more [...]

spring activity

We have had a warm March to date here (latitude N34 22'52"), 50 miles north of Atlanta, with several days breaking 80 F. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of growing activity. My Kiowa blackberry has begun to flower and the American elderberry I bought last year, which looked anemic throughout the year, is leafing strongly.     Some of the blueberries are in flower - most of my blueberries are rabbiteyes, which have a lower chill requirement than the highbush variety. Read more [...]