Bees...again

I really want bees at The Ranch.  Badly.  I think they would be a perfect addition to the farm program (I know I know I'm a broken record).

I found this interesting article about bees, and why we are losing them around the world.  We all know how important bees are, and we all know how we are loosing them.  
  

Mystery Solved: Here's what's killing bees

Researchers finally pin down the most likely cause of the insects' widespread collapse -- and the fix will not be easy.  

Honeybee colonies across the nation have been devastated over the past year, leaving scientists desperate to root out the cause. One team of researchers may have found the answer.

Colony collapse disorder, as it is called, has destroyed as much as half of the honeybee hives that farmers need to pollinate fruit and vegetable crops. As a result, some experts are predicting crop shortages and higher food prices.

But to fix the problem, you need to find the cause. A new study out this week points to the most likely factor: a combination of pesticides and fungicides that farmers use to keep crops healthy.

Those chemicals hurt bees' ability to fight infection from a parasite called Nosema ceranae, Quartz reports. The fungicides are particularly harmful because bees that ate pollen with those chemicals were three times as likely to get infected by the parasite.

The pollen the researchers collected for their study was from the East Coast and had an average of nine pesticides and fungicides. One sample, however, contained 21 chemicals.

Researchers still aren't able to say that those fungicides are the definite cause of bee death, but this is as close to an answer as we have at this point. "There's growing evidence that fungicides may be affecting the bees on their own and I think what it highlights is a need to reassess how we label these agricultural chemicals," the study’s lead author told Quartz.

If fungicides are the culprit, it would be a surprise to many farmers, since fungicides have to this point been considered safe for pollinating bees.

But the link is there. And what farmers do with that information could affect the survival of bees across the country.

Where Does the Time Go?

Seriously?  It's already Thursday.  And today marks my three month anniversary at The Ranch.  Geesh.  I feel as though I've been here forever.  Actually, yes and no.  Sometimes I feel that I'm still treated like the "newbie", particularly by one of the other Crew Managers.  I don't think he intends too, but it's a little irritating.  Don't you know I worked at The Farm for three years?  I understand how one minute I may feel like I have ten residents working with me, and the next thing I know I have two.  I understand that plans don't always work out.  You don't have to show me an example about how your day was perfectly planned and then you lost half your crew.  I get it.

Ok, venting done!

I'm still struggling a little internally, trying to figure out how to really make my crew good for residents.  Today we started building a picket fence.  People really got into it.  I like doing projects where people can see something come together, where they know that they put something together.  I know I can't always have that, but it seems more obvious on the Farm Crew than any other crew to me.  What to do, what to do?  But I am proud of myself that I led the crew all by myself today, especially with a carpentry project.  The Shop Crew Manager did help me out, so I can't take all the credit.  I learned something new today, and now will be able to do it again on a different project. 

I'm enjoying my time at The Ranch none the less.  I enjoy having flexibility to play rugby, to take a class (which I applied to CCV today!  Woo woo!)  I enjoy being close to my parents.  I do miss my friends in MA, I wish I could be closer to my rugby team, and I wish I lived in a place a little more busy.  But, it's where I'm suppose to be right now, the step I need to go on to something else, whatever that may be.

  

Fun on Eggs

Though most of you may know this, I thought this was a fun article when I was strolling through the NPR website.  And this is why I want my chickens to be out on pasture - to make their yolks look pretty!  It also makes me want to feed my chickens different things to see what happens.  Hhhmm, science experiment with the residents??

Help! My Egg Yolks Are Freakishly White

and Maria Godoy

July 17, 2013 5:22 PM

The white egg yolk at left, seen next to a yellow yolk, may seem strange, but it's just a result of the chicken feed used, scientists say.

Junko Kimura/Getty Images

Dear Salt,
I recently joined President Obama on his trip through Africa, and I brought a mystery home with me. I wonder if you can help me solve it.

I was supposed to take my anti-malaria pills in the morning, with heavy or fatty food. That meant a lot of eggs for breakfast, all across Africa. In Senegal and South Africa, everything seemed normal. Then we arrived at the final stop of the trip, in Tanzania. When I picked up my vegetable omelet from the breakfast buffet at my hotel in Dar es Salaam, one glance suggested they'd accidentally made an egg white omelet. No big deal. I ate it without a second thought.

The next day, President Obama flew home, and I went to a remote island called for 36 hours of R&R. My first morning at the rustic lodge, I ordered scrambled eggs. They, too, were white. Could this chef have left out the yolks, too? Impossible.

The next day, determined to get to the bottom of this, I ordered my eggs sunny-side-up. (Not my favorite, but a sacrifice I was willing to make in the name of scientific research.) Sure enough, the runny yolks were ghostly pale. I asked the lodge manager, who'd lived in South Africa and England, why the yolks looked more like whites. "Oh, those eggs you get in the U.S. are only yellow because they're pumped full of hormones," he said.

But I know that's not true; I buy my eggs from my neighborhood farmers market, and the yolks are the color of a setting sun.

Could the color of the yolks have something to do with what the chickens are eating, or with the breed of chicken that lays them? I know that some chickens produce eggshells in shades of blue, pink, yellow or brown. Maybe the yolk color varies just as widely? But does that explain why the eggs were pale in both a Dar es Salaam chain hotel and a remote Mafia lodge?
Can you help me unscramble this puzzle?
Yours,
Ari

Dear Ari,

White egg yolks may look bizarre, but poultry scientists I spoke with say there's nothing to worry about.

"I get that call every once in a while: 'My birds are freakishly pale!' " says , a poultry specialist with the state of Kansas.

As you suspected, the reason Americans eggs tend to have bright yellow yolks has nothing to do with "hormones" but rather with what we feed our hens. Beyer says egg yolk color is almost entirely influenced by the birds' diet.

So if you're feeding birds yellow corn, "it gets in the egg," he explains. "But if you had a situation where you're feeding birds white corn, then the egg yolk could be white."

In South America, hens that peck at red annatto seeds lay eggs with yolks ranging from pink to orange to deep reddish. Brasil2/Getty Images

 

The yellow color in egg yolks, as well yellowish chicken skin and fat, comes from pigments found in plants called , primarily lutein, notes , a geneticist at the International Livestock Research Institute.

In most parts of the world, he says, diners prefer their yolks with a sunnier disposition, so commercial feeds often contain lutein as an additive, though yellow maize, soybeans, carrots and alfafa powder will also do the trick. Sorghum – a grain with than yellow maize — is in Tanzania, which probably explains the pallid omelets you encountered.

On the other end of the rainbow, says Beyer, are the yolks in some parts of South America, where hens will peck at dark red annatto seeds. The result? Brilliant yolks ranging from dark orange to red orange to pink, Beyer says. 

Many egg eaters assume that darker yolks are a sign of higher nutritional value, but both Beyer and Jianlin independently told me that's not the case at all. Although chicken feed does influence the nutritional value of birds and their eggs, the researchers say yolk color won't tell you anything.
— Maria

Grow Garden Grow!

It was a crazy week last week.  And a nice relaxing weekend (more haying probably should have been done.  Saturday wasn't the best though, some rain.)  I got to spend Saturday with some dear, dear friends camping.  Let me tell you, I am not the biggest fan of camping.  But this was actually quite fun!  I think I just have to have the right gear with me.  Which is basically my yoga mat as a sleeping pad.  Made all the difference in the world!  I'm also hoping to buy a fishing rod and get a license.  I have gone fishing a few times and love it every time!  I'll keep you posted on that - and maybe even catch you dinner sometime! 

I went to my garden today, which is doing quite well.  I don't like being so far away from it, but it is what it is.  Together my Dad and I are getting some veggies to grow!  I picked three cherry tomatoes, probably could have picked some lettuce but I think I'll wait a few more days for that.  I'm a little worried about my regular tomatoes, but we'll have to see how it all progresses.  Everything else seems to be doing well!

Work is going well. I'm really starting to get organized again, which feels good.  It has been a slow start for me with this job for some reason - usually I'm right on top of it!  I think my motivation is finally coming back.  I've started a pasture rotation spreadsheet for the brood cows, so next year I can have an idea on how we moved the cows.  It's fun getting to know the pastures - what grasses are growing, how fast the cows went through it, how long it takes for it to grow back.  Hoping for some soil sampling this fall too!  I'll be doing the same spreadsheet for our yearling cows and sheep too, though the sheep is a little bit easier.  

I wonder what this week shall bring?  I'm hoping for more hay, building a new picket fence, and sending our wool off to be turned into yarn.  I'll keep you all updated!

Lots to say, not enough time

It'll be a quick entry today!  I'm not at home but I wanted to give a quick update.

The last two days were spent baling hay.  The 972 bales The Ranch did totally makes up for weeks of not haying.  It was a hot two days too.  But I'm feeling a little more relaxed about hay now!  Not that I was anxious about it, but I sure didn't want to have to ask for a check for a thousands of dollars for hay.  I think we'll make our count, if the rains continue to stop as they have.  It's been a good week without it!  

I have more to update you all about, but it'll have to be another day.

Hey...Hay!

Finally, some normal summer weather.  Though I should knock on wood because who knows how long it'll last.  

Haying our last field which is 11.4 acres.  Our biggest one, so I'm taking it into parts, though I'm doing two thirds today.  We'll hopefully pick the hay up Monday and Wednesday.  Thought it's suppose to be out of control humid on Monday, so it might wait until Tuesday...  I'd mow the second third tomorrow but friends are coming to town - woo woo!

This field is all tedded out.  Tedding  sweeps the rows out so it's a thinner layer across the grown.  It dries fast this way.  We'll ted again tomorrow, then rake it into rows and bale on Monday!

Me smiling, even though I have another two hours at least on the tractor.  Just happy to be getting some hay down with this good weather!  Though I don't know how people can stay on the tractor so long - close to four hours already today, and some people out west are on there for much longer than that!  Thank goodness for the Northeast and their hills and woods.  Means tiny fields for farmers.











And look what I found in the field.  I don't know where this could have come from.  Perhaps it was a lightening strike?  We have had some pretty nasty storms this summer.  That thought is terrifying! 

Reflection Time!

One year ago today I started my job at The Center.  Can you believe that?  I had packed up all my stuff and moved all my belongings to the middle of NOWHERE.  I read my journal entry from that day, and skimmed my days from beginning to end.  I do not regret my choice to leave that place.  And I was about to type how I wish things worked out there, but when I think about it I'm not sure if I do.  What a weird feeling.  I learned so much there and met some good friends.  But I can't imagine myself still living there.  I'm not saying that my home now is full of culture - it is by far not.  But the familiarity of where I am is helpful.  I'm much more comfortable walking down the street.  I'm much more comfortable talking to strangers.  It makes a huge difference.  And, there is more of my type of culture where I live now than there was in NY!!

In the mean time, here's my new read:

So exciting!!!  And there are two more on the way!  I'm bound and determined to get bees next year.  I like my job, but I think I need to spice things up a bit.  Do something I haven't done before.  I'm still enthusiastic about farming, but raising animals for meat gets to me a little.  Do not get me wrong - I love raising healthy, grass-fed meat for people and know exactly what went into the animals, how they were treated, knowing the life they had.  But I don't feel the connection to them as I did with dairy cows.  And in this therapeutic environment I'm in, it gets difficult to have people look beyond death.  I think bees could be a way for people to accept what farming is, therefore accepting all parts of farming.

Wish me luck!

TGIF

I apologize for not writing in so long!  Time goes by quickly sometimes.

How Am I Trusting?

My housing situation is a little rocky.  Not currently, and it's not even really rocky.  I'll be moving into a nice once bedroom apartment in town that I'm super excited about.  The land lady though, has a reputation of anxiety issues, and in turn tries to be controlling.  I'm nervous about that.  But right now I don't have any other options, and just have to trust that, well, something will work.  What else do I have?

 How Am I Grateful?

I'm grateful for being at The Ranch.  What a wonderful, supportive place.  I have not felt that way in a number of years.  

How Am I Inspired?

I am inspired by farming.  I so desperately want to use farming as a way for a person to connect with their own body, to connect to nutrition, to connect to their capabilities, and to connect to others.  I have been reading so much about veterans committing suicide because of PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses.  These soldiers are not getting the support they need.  I want to help.  How?  I'm inspired to figure something out.   

How Am I Practicing Faith?

I had a nice conversation with my supervisor on Thursday.  We usually meet to update each other.  She gave me a very nice comment, talking about I have a quiet confidence that she was unsure about when I first started.  But as she has seen me work and has gotten to know me she's excited about me being there and that I'm a great fit for The Ranch.  She continued saying how I have a calm presence.  I told her a little bit of my history at The Farm and how when I left I made a decision that I would not get to that emotional point again.  That I started meditating and reading (Brene Brown to be exact!).  My work on myself has turned me into a different person, and how I continue that work today.  She was very surprised to hear all that, and said that I will be a great example for residents on learning that emotional control.  

It was a great feeling, both being recognized by someone who doesn't know me as well as other people.  And that I know that my hard work is paying off.