Month: February 2012

wood and veneers

When I buy furniture, and right now I am accumulating desks in the basement for work stations, I only buy real wood.  Most furniture is particle board (or chipboard) covered with a wood veneer or melamine based overlays.  Veneer furniture is  cheaper to make than real wood furniture and the veneer looks more impressive (at least to the untutored eye).  But it is not as resilient - it appears sturdy but when relocated it is prone to chipping and, once the veneer is chipped, you see the particles Read more [...]

responsibility to animals

I had a good time at the Georgia Organics annual conference - its 15th and my 7th.  The Friday workshops and farm visit and the Saturday educational sessions were excellent and the two keynote speakers have national repute and lived up to expectations.  At my breakfast table on Friday morning was an organic livestock farmer.  I asked him a question which was triggered by the assistance I am providing to two ailing chickens:  "What do you do when one of your animals get sick?"  His answer was Read more [...]

the beginnings of spring

The next couple of days I shall be at the Georgia Organics annual conference held this year in Columbus GA, south of Atlanta. This shall be my 5th year of attendance - my first few years I learned a lot and with each year there is less new information but I enjoy meeting other growers and learning from them. I was torn between doing a permaculture design course or the conference and have not ruled out a PDC for the future. Shiitake mushrooms I picked about 15 mushrooms today.  Just as well Read more [...]

water

I think we take water for granted but should not. Friday's Financial Times (Feb 17, 2012) reports that "Chinese officials have issued a stark warning over growing water shortages saying the situation is worsening every day and that more than two-thirds of cities are affected". Texas last year had the driest year on record, but the good news is that the drought may be receding and only 14% of the state is now in "exceptional drought" compared with 41% 3 months ago. In Georgia we continue with intrastate Read more [...]

the Bees seem ok

The past few days have been warm - at 4pm today (Friday) the temperature is 68 deg F with a slight wind. I have noticed the bees busy at the entrance to the hive and a number of bees helicoptering in front of the hive (i.e going up and down in front of the hive). They do this to memorize the hive so they know where to return. This is good news for me since it means these are new field workers and therefore there is a functioning queen. I am assuming the older bees who overwintered do not need Read more [...]

fungi – growing mushrooms

My woodland has so many naturally occurring mushrooms that I am again inspired to grow my own mushrooms. I say again because when I first purchased the woodland it had no access road and I had to cut down a number of trees including oak trees to gain access to the interior where my tractor building now stands. At the time, I cut the trunk of one of the oak trees into 3ft logs and drilled and inserted shiitake mushroom plug spawn and placed the logs in a valley on the north side of a rise where it Read more [...]