Sunday, July 29, 2012

Great Gardening Resource for North Florida

Hey guys.  Hope you have had a good weekend. 

I just want to share a resource that I just discovered.  It is the Bradford County Florida Ag site.  Here is the link to it. http://bradford.ifas.ufl.edu/vegetable_gardening.shtml  Great gardening tips and planting calendar for the whole year. 

In the next few days I will be giving you some info on a low cost mosquito trap and show you how to make your own laundry soap at home.  So, check back or sign up at the right side of the page for updates.

Friday, July 20, 2012

10 Things You Can Do To Help Save The Bees

Today I was listening to  The Survival Podcast (http://www.survivalpodcast.com/) with Jack Spirko.  He was interviewing Phil Chandle "The Barefoot Beekeeper".  (http://www.biobees.com/) If you have an interest in beekeeping go check out the podcast it's episode 944.

I have wanted to start a hive but I can't do it on our property now.  But I always want to learn so I began to look at Phil's website.  Really good stuff.  He has a free download of how to make a top bar beehive.  Go check it out and download it. 

As I read through the site, I came across a article that I want to share with you.  Phil wrote this-10 Things you can do to help save the bees.


Bees are in trouble, and it is mostly because of us. We have destroyed much of their natural habitat, we have poisoned their food and in the case of honeybees, we have used and abused them for our own purposes while not giving enough attention to their needs and welfare.

Honeybees have been evolving for a very long time – the fossil record goes back at least 100 million years – and they became remarkably successful due to their adaptability to different climates, varied flora and their tolerance of many shapes and sizes of living accommodation. They became attractive to humans because of their unique ability to produce useful things, apparently out of thin air: honey, wax and propolis.

Until the nineteenth century, they were kept in pots, skeps, baskets and a variety of wooden boxes intended more-or-less to imitate their natural habitat of choice, the hollow tree. With the invention of the 'movable frame' hive, the second half of that century saw an exponential growth in commercial-scale beekeeping, and by the time motor vehicles became widely available, beekeeping on a widespread and industrial scale became a practical possibility.

Since then, bees have been treated in rather the same way as battery hens: routinely dosed with antibiotics and miticides in an effort to keep them producing, despite the growing problems of diseases and parasites and insecticide-treated plants that have led to the emergence of so-called 'Colony Collapse Disorder', especially in the massive beefarming operations in the USA.

It doesn't have to be like this. Some beekeepers have realized that, if bees are to
become healthy enough to develop resistance to disease and the ability to adapt to pests, then they have to be treated differently – and not just by beekeepers.

Here are some things you can do to help the bees:

1. Stop using insecticides - especially for 'cosmetic' gardening
There are better ways of dealing with pests - especially biological controls. Modern pesticides are extremely powerful and many are long-lasting and very toxic to bees and other insects. Removing all unnecessary pesticides from the environment is probablythe single most important thing we can do to help save the bees.

 2. Create your own Bee-Friendly Zone
By doing two simple things – avoiding synthetic insecticides and herbicides, and creating habitat by planting bee-friendly flowers – you can create a Bee-Friendly Zone as small as a windowbox or as big as a public park, a whole village or neighbourhood. See www.beefriendlyzone.com for details.

3. Read the labels on garden compost - beware hidden killers!
Some garden and potting composts are on sale that contain Imidacloprid - a deadly insecticide manufactured by Bayer. It is often disguised as 'vine weevil protection' or similar, but it is highly toxic to all insects and all soil life, including beneficial earthworms. The insecticide is taken up by plants, and if you use this compost in hanging baskets, bees seeking water from the moist compost may be killed.

4. Create natural habitat
If you have space in your garden, let some of it go wild to create a safe haven for bees and other insects and small mammals. Gardens that are too tidy are not so wildlife-friendly.

5. Plant bee-friendly flowers
You can buy wildflower seeds from many seed merchants, and they can be sown in any spare patch of ground - even on waste ground that is not being cultivated. Some 'guerilla gardeners' even plant them in public parks and waste ground.

6. Provide a site for beehives
If you have some space to spare, you could offer a corner of your garden to a local beekeeper as a place to keep a hive or two. They will need to have regular access, so bear this in mind when considering a site.

7. Make a wild bee house
Providing a simple box as a place for feral bees to set up home is one step short of taking up beekeeping, but may appeal to those who want to have bees around but don't want to get involved with looking after them.

8. Support your local beekeepers
Many people believe that local honey can help to reduce the effects of hayfever and similar allergies, which is one good reason to buy honey from a local beekeeper rather than from supermarkets, most of which source honey from thousands of miles away. If you can, find a beekeeper who does not use any chemicals in their hives and ask for pure comb honey for a real treat.

9. Learn about bees - and tell others
Bees are fascinating creatures that relatively few people take the trouble to understand. Read a good book about bees and beekeeping, and who knows - you might decide to –

10. Become a beekeeper
It is easier than you might imagine to become a beekeeper - and you don't need any of the expensive equipment in the glossy catalogues! Everything you need to keep bees successfully can be made by anyone with a few simple tools: if you can put up a shelf, you can probably build a beehive!

Phil Chandler is the author of The Barefoot Beekeeper and has a busy discussion forum for natural beekeeping on his website at www.biobees.com.

So, here is a challenge from the St. Augustine Outdoorsman.  Let's develop bee friendly zones on our property.



Monday, July 16, 2012

Bicycle Garden Plow

Hey folks.  Welcome to a new week.  I saw this today and wanted to share it with you.  May be a easy and inexpensive way to have the garden plow you have wanted for the upcoming fall season. 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Pastor Sentence To 60 Days For Holding Bible Study

Check out this link to the article.  http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/161988-man-sentenced-to-jail-for-hosting-bible-study-in-his-home.html

This stuff is crazy.  This is the same city that arrested my friend Bishop Rick Painter of Cathedral of Christ the King for ringing the church bells.  What will the government do next?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Compost Bins Coming Soon


Today my friend Clayton Duke gave me the last two pallets that I need to build my first Compost Bin.  This weekend I will begin to build it and will upload some pictures of it.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Prepping? That's What You Call It?

Today Joe will look at the word prepping. So watch the video and see what he has to say.