Ecology
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2 for 2: Overwintering Honeybees
Still in the first year of beekeeping here! It felt like a big test, to see if I could successfully overwinter the bees. On a nice day recently I went in for a check, removing the R10 and R20 insulation that was (hopefully) keeping the bees stable all winter. And right away we saw good… Continue reading
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Toxic By Default
We received notice from our RM of all the wonderful chemicals that may be applied during the season, a run-of-the-mill PSA. It proceeds to list 9 different herbicides and 4 pesticides. At the bottom of the PSA comes the kicker: if you don’t agree, you have to write a physical letter to the provincial government… Continue reading
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Book Recommendation: Finding the Mother Tree
I’ve had this one on my reading list for awhile having read some of her scientific work in the course of learning about plant’s symbiotic connections with microbial life, and I cannot recommend this one enough: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard published in 2021. The journey to discovering trees and forests’ connections with… Continue reading
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No Light Without Heat
Last fall I wrote a post titled Science Will Win, around the time a collaborative journalistic investigation revealed a group lead by a former Monsanto PR executive were compiling a database of people connected to or involved with work that was critical of pesticides, GMOs or advocates for various forms of organic agriculture. There’s an… Continue reading
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Book Recommendation: A Sand County Almanac
‘Tis the season! …reading season! This is a great one from a naturalist, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. Aldo’s prose and storytelling is the star here, with beautiful passages detailing the natural movements of animals through the seasons. It was published in 1949 and not only does it stand the test of time,… Continue reading
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On Canada’s Lax Pesticide Oversight
Many a time have I heard something along the lines of if it wasn’t safe, the government wouldn’t approve it. There has been exposed a global lobbying and sabotage effort by chemical companies to ensure the continued flow of their products and profits which I wrote about this past fall. But this issue keeps gathering… Continue reading
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The World Happens On The Molecular
The five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. These are the ways in which humans perceive the world. We can further single out sight as a sense that likely does more to influence us over all the others. If we can’t see it, we don’t believe it. Or we do see it, and refuse… Continue reading
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Finality of Winter
Each season there is a point at which you can no longer do field work. That day has come and passed, and with it, the 2024 season is over. Humans do many things that are not tied to seasons, or seasonal changes. In my opinion there is great value in tying our actions to seasons… Continue reading
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And Suddenly, It All Made Sense
A beginner beekeeper is going to make some mistakes. This first-timer made one about four weeks ago and, instead of catching the mistake and correcting for it, it took sheer luck for the light bulb to go on. At the end of August was when the nectar stopped flowing. After all that time learning how… Continue reading
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Science Will Win
Back in January I wrote a piece detailing the absurd reliance and insistence on widespread chemical usage in agriculture. There is something I would like to draw attention to: a stunning collaborative journalism piece titled “Revealed: the US government-funded ‘private social network’ attacking pesticide critics“ exposing the lengths to which the chemical industry will go… Continue reading
About Graham
Graham is an ecologist-farmer from Canada working on educating about the wonders and beauty of the natural world, and how we can design biodiverse food production systems.
Complimentary Blueberry Juice 