nature
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A Sweet August: Extracting Our First Honey
Just three months ago we had yet to get our first beehive. Now, we’ve got a massive colony, a bunch of very heavy honey boxes and it’s time to extract. It’s been a bit overwhelming to have just the one hive and see how all the changes occur. A few weeks ago we nearly lost… Continue reading
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Lettuce Protector
One of the things I love most about our no-till permanent beds is the abundance of life that is embedded in the field. While harvesting lettuce this week, baby Gray Treefrogs were jumping from Romaine to Romaine. I was lucky enough to get a really amazing photo at about 7:30AM. These little Lettuce Protectors and… Continue reading
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Everything Covered
On a hike in Nopiming Provincial Park, the forest floor was covered in mosses and lichens. Likely because of this wet season we have been having, the forest floor ecosystem was lush and vibrant. Something that is really noticeable in a forest like this is how many layers there are and how nearly total the… Continue reading
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Swallows & Honey
For the past few weeks, we’ve been treated to quite the display as we are working in the field. The sight of two Tree Swallow parents flying about all day and the sounds of hungry hungry Tree Swallow babies was really captivating and a joy to see. When I left for a couple days for… Continue reading
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Under The Canopy
This week I was able to get away from farming for two days and went camping in Nopiming Provincial Park. The heat had finally arrived and after going non-stop since the end of April, with the cool season we’ve had the heat hit hard and fast. There’s no point to getting heat exhaustion this early… Continue reading
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Learn By Doing
It’s been two weeks, and our beekeeping mentor couldn’t make it. So, into the hive solo we go! My favourite (and preferred) way of learning is to just do it yourself. Go for it. Get in there. How else are you going to know? Books are great, YouTube is great. But there comes a point… Continue reading
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Rain, Heat, Choices, Repeat
We’ve spent many of the recent years in memory extremely stressed, – especially in springtime – with lack of moisture. Seeing nothing but suns and scorching heat in May and June coupled with wildfires and smoke from out-of-province gave a really grim feeling to most work days, running around trying to keep up with irrigating… Continue reading
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My First Beehive
On Monday, something super exciting happened…I got my first honeybee hive! I’m super excited to go on a new journey with an entirely new learning curve. The biggest reason I’ve wanted to keep bees is that I think it will connect me to nature and the surroundings in a much deeper way. Watching and listening… Continue reading
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The Beauty of Flight
Something that consistently blows my mind about the natural world is flight. There are no pilots, no training programs, no fossil fuels, yet capable of feats and actions that no amount of engineering can solve. One of the things I love most about nature is that the human equivalent for what nature already designed always… Continue reading
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Build It And They Will Come
I’m so excited! It took less than 24 hours since the Tree Swallows first returned and I put up the nest boxes. There have been several pairs flying around the field and checking out each box. It’s really a very satisfying feeling to plan to provide a home for a specific thing, build what will… 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 