There is no single answer as to when to take arms against Varroa and subject the mites and the bees to an onslaught of chemicals. But in our area, now is the time that decision has to be made. Temperatures are warming to the point where Formic acid and Thymol miticides are becoming effective, and it's nearly [...]
Author: Gary Rondeau
Powering Down in an Age of Irrational Politics
The politics of pain that is the fashion these days offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance a power-down agenda that will become a necessity in the years ahead. The defining characteristics of the Great Recession, and the Great Depression of the 1930's, are very high unemployment rates while interest rates remain very low. High unemployment [...]
Quadricycle Fun
UPDATE: Check out our replacement vehicle, the DateTrike! For all the alternative bike builders out there, if you get inspired and build something similar, please send me a note and a picture! There is nothing like a trip to Burning Man to open your mind to the endless possibilities of human-powered transportation. The main mode [...]
Battling Blackberries
This is the time of year I go after the invasive plants that live among the big trees on our lot. The worst offenders I have to deal with are English ivy, Himalayan blackberries, and English holly. None is fun, but the blackberries put up the best defense, and despite wearing gloves, by the end [...]
Vanishing Bees
The warm stretch of weather last week provided an opportunity to look in on the bees. Two of my three hives are doing well, with bees filling at least a full brood super and generally a healthy appearance. The other hive, the one that was strongest last year, is suffering. It appears to have the now all-too-common symptoms of [...]
Catabolic Collapse?
It's not every day that someone is willing to stick their neck out and tell you exactly when all the malaise and despair of the modern era started, but that's pretty much what John Michael Greer did in a recent essay. The date he picked for America's pinnacle moment, 1974, coincides with the Arab oil embargo, oil price [...]
Squash Seed Saving
Now is the time to be eating all those winter squash harvested in the fall. For squash seed savers, this is the opportunity for quality control and seed selection. Easy control over the selection process is one reason squash seed saving is so much fun. Squash eaters know that there can be large differences in quality from [...]
Dynamic Climate is Lesson of Ice Core Records
Made by God, immutable, perfect and constant, our world has always been the way it is now and will always be the same. Perhaps it is a human desire for order and predictability that is at the root of such traditional beliefs. But pesky facts get in the way. Fossils provide evidence for creatures that [...]
Long Season Crops
I am finding long-season crops more and more satisfying to grow. Shade in my garden doesn't matter as much once the trees have dropped their leaves. And the pace of activity imposed by the slow vegetables is more forgiving if I miss a week or two when planting or harvesting. I define long season varieties to be [...]
The Gift of Good Giving
Gifts lubricate the informal economy and build relationships in our local community. Sometimes it's a pick-up truck, maybe it's eggs or fresh milk, perhaps helping a friend hammer down a new roof, but for me now it's often my honey. As soon as you start giving food, things, and labor to your friends and neighbors you are [...]
Squash Practice 