Elixers Of Death

I found this reading very concerning. I wasn't  sure what was used as pesticides but arsenic was certainly not high on the list. Other popular pesticides include  chlorinated hydrocarbons. which are altered methane particles. One of the particles created is called DDT. which was at first thought not to be hazardous to humans since it was used to kill lice on soldiers. However this substance is  poisonous when in contact with oils and is stored in fatty substances such as the intestines. Humans are exposed to this chemical either directly in vegetation which has had contact with DDT or through a less direct way.  Hens that  eat food dusted with DDT eggs have concentration of DDT as dose cows milk. Another scary fact is that these poisons can pass through placenta, damaging babies before they are even born. Chlordane (another pesticide) is highly poisonous, in one case 25% industrial solution was accidentally poured on skin and the vitem was poisoned in 40 minutes. Aldrin causes sterility in animals and is a very real way humans could become extinct. The worst pesticides are  Organic phosphates super poisonous such as Parathion. It is extremely concerning to think that these highly hazardous substances are being sprayed carelessly all over the world, to kill weeds and pests. Humans were able to survive previous to the chemicals, however these chemicals that were supposed to help us prove a very real threat to the extinction to our entire race.

A Compost Success Story

The greenhouse and an aquaponics system sounds really great and I will be looking forward to seeing that when we go to Windermere on the 9th. I also liked that the cafeteria uses that food and herbs from the garden. Its nice that the gym classes were incorporated with picking up the compost materials. This really makes  the whole school involved and interested the garden effort. I've only read a little bit about the Leadership program at Windermere but it seems really focused on uniting the community, different grades and  the school through common goals and challenges. It would be nice to see if a program like this could work at west van.

Red Worm Composting

Basically worm composting is keeping worms as "pets" to help break down materials into nutrient rich soil. Worms can be kept in boxes (wood works best) and about 2000 are needed for 1 pound of organic waste. Bedding must also be provided as well as grit so the worms can break down matter. Worm composting is a bit more work then other composts as you've got to worry about the well being of the worms and keeping the environment beneficial to them (not to wet, dry, acidic, with to much bedding or not enough etc). These composts are also pretty smelly; the article stated that "foul odours and fruit flies" are a common problem. However I like that the material is being broken down in such a natural way and by keeping worms you are helping the environment. The article said that red worms are the best to use as dew worms often die. I wonder what other worms may be used and which ones are better suited to different kinds of wastes.I don't think that I will personally keep worms but it seems pretty interesting. My favorite compost so far is still the Bokashi compost.

How To Make Leaf Mould

A few weeks ago we collected leaves in garden club to make leaf molds and I remember seeing the leaves that were a year old and that they werent as broken down as I may have imagined. Leaf mold does  not use green and brown organic matter like normal compost does and it takes longer to break down.  The video suggested collecting leaves after a rain fall or when they are damp to aid the decomposition process. It also said that a handful of bone meal may help as leaves are low in nitrogen. It advised against using glossy leaves and gum based plants as the leaves take too long to break down and instead a variety of deciduous trees. I thought it was interesting that pine needles can be used to make an acid leaf mould. I'm not 100% on the uses for leaf mould but i assume that it is used to put nutrients in the soil and cover plants during the winter season.

Bokashi Compost

Bokashi solves my previous issue with the bad smells associated with compost. I have never heard of this and its seems pretty cool. Bokashi is anaerobic fermentation process that uses a special Bokashi mix which consist of wheat bran, molasses and effective microorganisms to break up organic matter. The liquid that seeps from the compost or "compost tea" can be used as a fertilizer for plants. I also read that this "tea" can be used to treat fungal aliments on the human body but I defiantly would not drink it. Bokashi seems pretty good but it takes a bit more effort then normal compost and the material is more "fermented" then rotted. It also can be used to eliminate bad oders elsewhere in the home.  The Bokashi compost must be kept airtight and requires a few weeks to properly ferment.

General Composting Tricks for the North Shore

Bacteria need three things to survive: food, air and moister. For food brown carbon rich material and green nitrogen rich material are necessary. It is also important to put equal amounts of each in the compost bin. The stuff in the compost gets weighed down over time so you have to punch holes through it or use a “wing digger” to re-oxygenate it. The video also said that the bin may get too dry in the summer so you have to water it sometimes. My main complaint about composting is the terrible smell. Kitchen scraps are often used for compost and I absolutely hate opening the cupboard where the garbage is to be greeted with a nice rotting compost smell, which hangs in the same cupboard. It is also a pain to be running outside every five seconds to throw things in an outdoor composter, especially in a rainy place like Vancouver. If there was a way to put some sort of material (maybe baking soda?) in the lid so it didn’t smell so bad that would be really great. Then again I may just be being a princess.

WILL THE CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD BE DISMANTLED?

I found this article a little confusing at first. First I had to do some back ground reading. I wasn't totally sure what the Canadian Wheat Board really was. Basically it seems like the Wheat Board is where all the grain is sold to by farmers. I wondered if the price of wheat would go up if there was more competition in buying. I don't really think that is a positive thing. I understand why farmers would vote against having a wheat board if they think they could get more money from a private buyer although this may not be good for everyone else. I personally believe in keeping world wheat prices low. Other countries such as the US have raised world wheat prices and it may be argued that this was a catalyst behind uprisings in other countries. I also don't think the plebiscite was valid if only 56% of farmers voted.

Building up and protecting soil

I learnt al lot of interesting facts in this reading. Its incredible to think that over 9 billion organisms can be  in one table spoon of dirt, which is more then human population of earth. I was aware that only a small percentage of the earth was suitable for humans to live on but I had no idea that only 18% of earth has arable soil. This seems a miniscule faction for our growing global population. I read about nitrogen fixing organisms and how they help change the nitrogen into a usable form for plants and about how carbon holds everything together. I thought it was surprising that there is twice as much carbon in the soil as in the air. Humus is greatly responsible for fertile soil and a lack of this organic material can lead to lower qualities of soil. I thought the part about the fall of ancient civilizations due to quality depletion of soil was interesting. I have read about the Fertile Crescent (or not so fertile crescent as it ended up) before. This path seems to be the destiny of the whole world if changes aren't made soon. I didn't realized erosion was such a huge issue; not only to farm-able lands but the fun off in the oceans as-well. The idea of "dead rivers"because of pesticides collected in erosion is very scary. Worst still was the part about farmers getting cancer and other diseases due to toxins. It was nice that this article ended on a positive note; wind barriers seem like a logical solution to wind erosion, as well as organic fertilizers to improve soil and reduce toxins. In conclusion it seemed like the most important solution was the interest of the average person in buying organic food and growing their own food responsibly. 

                          

Growing Garlic

I had no idea there were so many different types of garlic! I think we tried to grow garlic at home a few years ago, and I remember the flowers were purple and really pretty but I don't think we ever got any bulbs. The reading said that the seeds must be taken care of properly and the ph balance of the soil is essential. Garlic can be planted in Autumn after the first hard frosts, but should be well covered with mulch. There is still time to try planting garlic so I might try that again at home. In retrospect the place we planted the garlic last time didn't have a lot of drainage (also important, to avoid rotting)  so that may have been why they didn't do so well.

Winter Crops in BC

I thought that Vernalization (a technique of tricking the seeds into thinking they have already experience winter by putting them in the freezer) was pretty cool. I also thought it was interesting that alot of the vegetables are sweeter after a frost, for example parsnips. I didnt know that it was actually beneficial to have plants in the ground over winter as then they can flower sooner and have stronger root systems. Last week we packed leaves to cover some of our plants that will be in the ground over winter. I wonder what variation there is between covering plants with straw or leaves or other insulators. 

Bee Keeping

Bee Foraging Behaviour

Wow, I found this fascinating! Bees are for sure a lot smarter then I anticipated with languages, internal clocks, solar compasses and odometers built right in. I was shocked especially about the bee language.  I never really knew how bees communicated with each other and to learn that they not only make special noises but also understand “numbers” and direction was incredible.  The “internal clock” bees possess was also surprising to me. I would be interested (along with a lot of scientists) to know how this really works.  It seems like higher level thinking to be able to compensate for the movement of the sun in relation to the time, I think some humans would have a bit of trouble with that.  Next time I go into the hives I will certainly be looking for some “bee dancing”. I also want to know more about the great migration bees take! I really felt like that video left us at a cliff hanger.

Harvesting the hard way

OH MY! I was extremely nervous for Tete! Although I really liked that video I am still a little concerned about how he got back down….

 Other Hive Designs

I thought that the Top Bar Hives were really beautiful. I liked how they were so simplistic. I thought it was amazing how the combs fall from the bars in such a beautiful and interesting ways. Definitely some inspiration for some sketchbook pages there.  However, as a clumsy person I can see myself being faced with disaster when having to extract the bars so carefully. I was surprised to learn that the Greeks had Top Bar Hives hundreds of years ago and that the proper ratio between bars is 1 and 3/8s of an inch. My dad will absolutely be interested in building a Top Bar Hive and I plan to find out more about their construction, although they don’t look too difficult (famous last words). I personally thing that the Langstroth Hives are more affective because they offer more support to the combs as well as better ventilation. After seeing the pictures of the Greek hives I wondered what difference in design may exist in other bee-keeping areas of the world.

Langstroth Hive Design 

I saw the video for this reading but it looks like im going to have to get a copy of “The Bee Keepers Handbook”! I am completely new to everything about bees so this video was a lot of information. I learned that the place where the queen lays the eggs is called the Brood Chamber (which makes sense), the bees always store the honey in the boxes above the eggs and that the bottom screen is for collecting mites. I had quite a few questions about the structure after watching this video; mostly questions about how they were first invented. So I did some more research on Langstroth Hives and I feel like I pretty much understand how they work now.

Bee Lifecycle

I grew up on Microcosmos so I’ve watched the life cycle of a bee a few times but I never really had a grasp on the times. It seems to be pretty quick considering the massive changes taking place. I was astonished that a bee born in the winter lives so much longer than one in the summer! I thought the different “bee food” was really interesting for example bee bread and royal jelly. I have heard of Royal Jelly before and lots of lip balms and heath stores sell it but I wasn’t aware that it was formed in the head glands of worker bees! Yikes. I was wondering if we would be able to see royal jelly one day?

Bee Yard Safety

I thought it was really interesting that what you ate affected the bees so much. It was also surprising to me that bees are so sensitive to your emotions! For example if you’re stressed or shaky from being hungry. I have only been stung once and used vinegar to take the pain away but I thought it was cool there was so many other ways to take away the sting. I was wondering why the man in the video didn’t get stung when he handled the bees and if they can get to know you better so they won’t sting you.  It said in the reading that bees don’t like black, I wondered if they were responsive to other colors? I think for my first time I’ll stick to white just to be on the safe side. I’m a little bit nervous about going to tend to the bees for the first time but I will take ALL the safety precautions and see how it goes.