The Old Folks Home

[tntchix]

I took my wifes elderly aunt and uncle out to a buffet last week. The waitress asked if we were all senior citizens.

It hurt.

Really hurt.

My silver stripe in my hair gets me the movie theater senior discount 20yrs early

Can't. It makes me cry that you've hit spring and I'm still in perpetual winter. Someone please find the White Witch and make her stop.

*searching now*

Thanks for all the opinions on GMO. I appreciate the replies and glad it did not bring out fanatics

By the sheer numbers of meals eaten that contain GMO products, I think safety is proven but the loss of biodiversity in seed is a major concern. Its not dissimilar to the history of chickens in the 20th century. It will be up to the small farmer and backyard grower to keep the genetics alive.

As far as labelling goes, I dont see the need to label as GMO foods but those that are non-GMO should use it in their marketing.

I find it interesting that BT corn is genetically modified to contain the number one organic pesticide used today.

I also think that while Monsanto has a lot to answer for regarding business practices, the appeal of having less herbicides in our food is appealing.

I tried not to go fanatic - I think I did ok. Btw, have you seen this yet? http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf

I'm pretty sure those two things are mutually exclusive.

I'm in the middle of cutting out fabrics for a pink and purple butterfly shaped quilt. I think it's time to start playing some death metal to even out the pink happiness in here.

May I suggest Evac Denied? (cousin is the guitar player)

 

[Peep_Show]

Cool about the bees and providing them additional forage, Latestarter. One of our apricot trees bloomed VERY early this year and was laden with pollen-happy bees. I like to think the local honey sold at the farmers market and village store have a little bit of joyful goodness gleaned from my yard trees. I've been working at alternatives to spraying just bee'cuz.

 

[perchie.girl]

On a completely random note... I know some of you have or want bees. There's a national thing going on right now sponsored by Bayer.

"Let’s grow 50 million flowers and increase forage areas to ensure bees have access to the food they need. Each seed packet of 200 seeds gets us just a little closer. Share a post about how you helped bees using the hashtag #FeedABee. For more information, please visit FeedABee.Bayer.us."

If you would like a free packet of flower seeds, please visit the site. Here's a report passed on by one of our bee club officers:

"FEED a BEE" CAMPAIGN FAR OUTSTRIPS EXPECTATIONS

Bees fascinate people and nearly everyone we encounter wants to do something to improve bee health. That’s why we launched the 'Feed a Bee' campaign to plant 50 million flowers this year.

I’m happy to report it seems our goal might be a little low! We officially launched the campaign last week and this week it seemed to go a bit viral. It was featured on a site operated by the Today show. By this afternoon, we had reached 15 million flowers! That’s more than 5,000 seed packets that have been requested from around the country. The 'Feed a Bee 'website has had more than 50,000 unique visitors this week alone. Wow! Thanks to all of you who have shared this effort. If you need more information, visit www.feedabee.com.

I already ordered my packet and brought the flower total to 25,679,866

Xeric plants that live wild on my property... with the exeption of the bottle brush. All are BEE and humming bird attractors.

Bottle brush




Bird of paradise



Mesquite Mine after blooming


someone elses in bloom



Paloverde These have Green bark so even in the winter they are beautiful.
They tend to be shrubby but you can turn them into small trees with judicious pruning.

I have seen groves of them and they are full of the sound of bees.... AND humming birds... LOL.




Desert Willow I have this exact color but there are much brighter ones.


a rich redish fusha





deb

 

[Alaskan]

My Mom has a desert willow in her yard... but she is in wet Texas, so it has grown HUGE, and she has had t whack it back pretty hard.

 

[tntchix]

I have decided to go no lawn unless it's clover and dandelions. We gotta save these bees. Not sure I want Bayer's seeds though. They are one of the biggest problems with the bees.

 

[perchie.girl]

I have decided to go no lawn unless it's clover and dandelions. We gotta save these bees. Not sure I want Bayer's seeds though. They are one of the biggest problems with the bees.

Rosemary is a good one for bees.... and so useful. How about an Herb garden front yard.

deb

 

[Alaskan]

bees love clover and rosemary

 

[ozexpat]

I tried not to go fanatic - I think I did ok. Btw, have you seen this yet? http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf

I find it interesting that given the worldwide use of round-up tone would expect more evidence of cancer if it was a serious carcinogen.

The IARC process determines the potential for a compound to cause cancer, but not the likelihood and as such, cannot give

There may be concern for a farmworker that use the spray routinely and without adequate protection but in the quantities you and I would consume in our corn flakes

Cancer.org website has a list of all IARC type 2a carcinigens. They include shiftwork, and deep frying.

I am not trying to trivialize the risk, i am just putting some persective on it. The non-gmo fanatics are going to sure run with the report. In a week there are going to be new conspiracy theories and people putting roundup into the same evil bucket as formaldehyde, plutonium, mustard gas and benzine.

 

[ozexpat]

Cool about the bees and providing them additional forage, Latestarter. One of our apricot trees bloomed VERY early this year and was laden with pollen-happy bees. I like to think the local honey sold at the farmers market and village store have a little bit of joyful goodness gleaned from my yard trees. I've been working at alternatives to spraying just bee'cuz.

I would love bees

one coconut tree can support a hive and we have 270 trees.

our issue is that the coastal location causes the bees to swarm too readily

 

[vehve]

I'm Felix from Finland. I like building stuff and composting. We have handful of chickens and are expecting a litter of bunnies.

Oz, what do you think of modifying for pesticide resistance so that you can pump even more round up on your crops? I think that's the most scary part.