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Silent Spring
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Rachel Carson warned that pesticides would lead to a "silent spring"
when no birds would sing.
But she also warned of falls in which "there was no pollination and
there would be no fruit."
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From Silent Spring, 1962:
Man is more dependent on these wild pollinators than he usually realizes... Without insect pollination, most of the soil-holding and
soil-enriching plants of uncultivated areas would die out, and with
far reaching consequences to the ecology of the whole region. Many
herbs, shrubs, and trees of forests and range depend on native insects
for their reproduction; without these plants many wild animals and range
stock would find little food. Now clean cultivation and the chemical
destruction of hedgerows and weeds are eliminating the last sanctuaries
of these pollinating insects and breaking the threads that bind life to
life.
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Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis
by Rowan Jacobsen, 2009
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Very interesting, very readable book. Available in our public library system. ~ Janet
From the Booklist Review by Donna Seaman
Although Rachel Carson famously warned us about pesticides
causing a "silent spring," we now face a "fruitless fall." Jacobsen
explains why with compelling lucidity, carefully documented facts, and
a deep respect for the sophisticated and diligent honeybee. After
taking a "bee's-eye view" of the complex and well-orchestrated workings
of the hive, and reviewing the role this extraordinarily adaptable and
productive European immigrant has played in North America's phenomenal
agricultural fecundity, he documents the many ways we've endangered the
honeybee. We destroy wildflower habitats; truck bees cross-country to
fertilize monocrops, especially California's half-million acres of
almond trees; dose them with neurotoxin- laced pesticides;
and overuse antibiotics. The upshot of Jacobsen's alarming exposé is
that honeybees have been industrialized, just like cattle and poultry,
and abused so severely hives are failing. But disaster can be averted
if we revive our ancient, respectful, and mutually sustaining
partnership with the miraculous honeybee. All it takes, he says, is our
ability to work with nature, not against it.
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Greetings!
 Next Sunday, we're looking forward to the return of one of our most popular programs of the past. Joan Livingston, owner of Growing Wild in Canastota, will present a hands-on presentation about how to collect, clean and prepare seeds to grow new plants. Very useful and a lot of fun.
We last presented this program in October of 2002, and it is also a meeting where we presented a "dramatic reading" of the humorous, but telling, story "Winterize Your Lawn." So in addition to our regular program, we'll reprise this brief reading for fun and for tradition's sake!
WHEN: Sunday October 25 at 2:00 pm
WHERE: Le Moyne College Library Special Activity Room (Directions are on our website)
WHO: Everyone! Our meetings are free and open to the public.
Janet Allen,
President, Habitat Gardening in Central New York
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Nest boxes
From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's NestWatch:
During the breeding season, you can leave the nesting material in the
box - the parents may decide to raise another brood. At the end of the
season, you can remove the nesting material and scrub the inside with a
mild detergent and water.
You can leave your box up over the winter and
allow it to be used as a roosting place for birds, mice, or squirrels.
Some monitors elect to seal off their birdhouses to prevent unwanted
winter tenants. Some people render the boxes unusable by propping the
door open. If your nest is soiled with fecal matter, we recommend
removing the nest and cleaning the nest box out with a solution of 1
part bleach to 10 parts water.
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Be-leaf this
Those beautiful autumn leaves soon turn brown - and that's when they start becoming one of the most valuable resources you have.
 An easy and space-saving solution to those piles of leaves is simply to pile them into an easily-made "barrel" created joining the ends of a piece of fencing.  Fill these "barrels" with leaves, leave them alone, and in a few years - like magic - you'll have beautiful leaf humus to enrich your garden, especially woodland areas. |
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Bats: Not just for Halloween!
 From Bat Conservation International:America's bats are an essential part of a healthy environment.
Nevertheless, many bat species are in alarming decline, largely because
of unwarranted human fear and persecution and the loss of natural
roosts. You can help by putting up a bat house. You'll
benefit directly from having fewer yard pests and will enjoy learning
about bats and sharing your knowledge with friends and neighbors. Few
efforts on behalf of wildlife are more fun or rewarding than helping
bats!
People all over the world have discovered the
benefits and wonder of using bat houses to attract bats to their own
backyards. We hope you will join them by providing new homes for these
gentle and fascinating mammals with a voracious appetite for
troublesome insects.
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Updates on the journey south ...
Journey North is an excellent source of information about migration (and a useful resource for teachers). Here are this week's updates from Journey North on the journey south so far: Monarch butterfliesTo fly, monarchs need air temperatures of at least 50°F on
a sunny day or 60°F on a cloudy day. And they don't migrate in the dark. So time to get to Mexico is limited. Curiously
Quiet in Northern Mexico: Columbus Day, October 12th, is the day monarchs
traditionally arrive in Mexico. Why are they late and what will happen next?
High
Migration Rates Continue Along Atlantic Coast: Large numbers of monarchs moved down the Atlantic Coast this
week. Read more...HummingbirdsWhile people in the north were saying their last goodbyes,
hummingbird migration reached a peak last week in the Gulf Coast states.
Swarms of hungry hummingbirds appeared in backyard feeders as they poured
down from the north. "We have had over 100 draining our feeders for
the past week," wrote an observer in Louisiana. "I'm using 3
gallons of nectar per day," wrote another. A Texas observer with
7 feeders has room for 56 birds to feed calmly. "Calmly doesn't happen
at my feeders," he noted. "I tried to estimate the number of
flying, hovering, diving, chirping, squeaking, squawling birds" and
came up with exactly 201. To read more... If you still have hummingbirds, Journey North would like to know! To report ...
The image at left is a hummingbird I had in my yard until November a few years ago!How do they fuel their trip across the Gulf? Longer hours of sunlight trigger an
urge in rubythroats. They stuff themselves with insects and tiny
spiders and double their weight in about a week! (Another example of the importance of gardening for insects!) See the whole slideshow on hummingbird migration. It has some amazing photos.
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