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What’s all the buzz about colony collapse?
Bee populations are dwindling quickly, and it’s not just honey we’re at risk of losing. According to PBS, honeybees pollinate about one-third of crops in the United States, including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash, cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, and animal-feed crops such as clover. While the declining honeybee population isn’t likely to stamp out flowering crops from our diets just yet, improving honeybee health is...
read moreIs fresh produce an upper-class luxury? Maybe not.
It is a common misconception that farmers’ markets cater to the wealthy. Just a couple weeks ago, while perusing the organics section of my local produce market, I realized just how often I’d been purchasing my fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ markets and through Farm Fresh To You, a CSA. The apple I’d just picked up was covered in a waxy film, presumably to prolong ‘freshness’ and ‘improve’ appearance. I found myself disgusted, longing for the less-shiny, unmistakably fresh Pink Ladies and Fujis available at the Sunday...
read morePreventing falling civilizations with fruit trees
By Ashley Hagin There are a series of black-and-white photographs taken by Dorothea Lange depicting the struggles Dust Bowl migrants faced during the Great Depression. We’re all familiar with Migrant Mother, a portrait of pea-picker Florence Owens Thompson gazing out with a furrowed brow past the photographer while two of her children cling to her, facing away from the camera. (source) But it’s Lange’s Dust Bowl Farm, a photograph of a simple, lone house in Texas surrounded by nothing but a desolate plain spotted with tumbleweeds, that...
read moreFruiting Olive Trees Needed
Now and again you meet someone who does not care for ice-cream: seldom the soul that has chocolate immunity. Rarer still are people who can resist the allure of fresh Olio Nuovo. Granted, olive oil is of no particular importance to Foodbank clientele, but the hope is, that this year we can create enough of the green nectar to boost fund-raising efforts. The East Bay has thousands of fruiting olive trees, most of which are left to drop on cars or feed squirrels. Italians would think this pazzo. That fruit will create great oil that Oilaholics...
read moreWhy Plant an Orchard?
The Athenian School is a visionary organization with a well-defined set of values. For example the faculty and staff have been teaching, modeling and practicing values such as environmental stewardship and community service for a long time. Community Service The school helps the students achieve a delicate balance of self-improvement and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. For example The Athenian students on a regular basis volunteer at The Food Bank, Monument Crisis Center and help us harvest backyard fruit. Environmental...
read moreVisiting The Athenian School
When I go to informal learning-based places like museums, gardens and heritage sights, I always look for the often faded plaques, the interpretive signs. They enhance my perception of the location by drawing my attention to the history and identity of the place. If you are a new visitor to our partner site, The Athenian School, consider this post to be your interpretive sign. Two of the core values of the school, are environmental stewardship and community service. These values have been molded and practiced since 1965 when the school was...
read moreNew Website
The old website, served us well for over three years. However support for the engine behind it, was discontinued by Apple. Over the holidays I took advantage of the slow time, did some research, called a few friends and voila we have a new site. Some of the goals we have for this new website are: Easy to modify – Many people from anywhere with a connection can update the site. (more about this at a later post) Responsive Design – Given that more than half of devices connected to the internet are not desktop screen, we needed a...
read moreWhy Grow a Fruit Tree
There are a lot of reasons to plant fruit trees. With your own fruit trees you know exactly what you’re getting: no sprays, no wax and no chemicals. A fruit tree filters the air, conditions the soil, provides shade, and attracts pollinators to your garden. Beyond the obvious, there are five reasons why you should consider planting a fruit tree: 1. For Your Health - Some of the fruit that grow easily in N. California – such as Apples, Pears and Plums – are amongst the most heavily sprayed crops. For example USDA has found 42...
read moreWhat Grows Well Here
Consider growing trees that are easy to plant, easy to look after and when grown commercially, they are heavily sprayed with pesticides. For our area, these include: Apples Plums Pears Peaches Figs Persimmons Pomegranates Quince with some knowledge and care you can also grow Cherries Apricots. If you are new to growing fruit trees, choose one the 12 fruit trees that are listed on the The Easy Dozen
read more12 Easy Fruit Trees
Apples Akane – Ripens Early an attractive, early season, medium sized, bright red, apple with an unusually good balance of sweet and sharp flavors. The flesh is firm rather than crisp, but with plenty of juice. Disease resistant. Liberty – Ripens Midseason Resistant to apple scab and mildew. A handsome red apple, usually school box size, of the McIntosh type with a wonderful sweet/tart balance. Crisper, keeps better and more heat tolerant than other McIntosh. Cox Orange Pippin – Ripens Midseason A famous, fabled apple of...
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