As yet unidentified evil bean-sucking bugLast December I noticed a lot of what looked like little black ladybugs on my beans. I did lots of research, asked lots of questions but without handy visual references I couldn’t work out what they were. Dear internet content people, please supply more pictures! (Are there any entomologists out there who can please tell me exactly what this thing is?)

Anyway, they had seemed pretty harmless in their small little shiny baby form – until they monstrously transformed into life-sucking bean-devouring plagues of evil. Garlic spray by this time was incapable of warding off their vampiric tendencies and my carefully arranged companion plants just kind of shrugged their shoulders and like insolent teenagers proclaimed “Whateva, I’m not bovvered!” I’ve never wanted to smack a marigold around before, but it needed a wake-up clip.

Advice on how to organically deal to shield bugs and other such painful pests after the jump.
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Willow branches I’ve just found a great article from an old Soil and Health magazine about willow water, and thought I just had to share. I don’t take a lot of cuttings from plants because quite frankly they’re tricky and they just haven’t worked well for me in the past. I might just have to give this one a try though – especially as it won’t cost me a thing.

Willow water promotes rooting better then than any known substance. This probably comes as little surprise to anyone who has dealt with the invasive roots of a willow before. It also may explain why it’s effective putting an aspirin (originally from the bark of willow) into the water for cut flowers to keep them fresh.

Instructions on how to make your own rooting compound for free with willow, how to use it and some useful links after the jump.
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Horopito (Pseudowintera colorata)

It used to be commonplace for New Zealand families to grow their own produce and eat from their gardens. Maara Kai is a new series that looks at ways families can restore that connection between the garden and the plate, and premieres on Maori Television on Sunday April 12 at 5pm.

“Many of us come from parents or grandparents who gardened, or used what was available to feed the family, and this is a way of life that still appeals to many people,” says Maara Kai producer Te Hira Henderson. “Many people want to be more sustainable and self-sufficient in how they eat and feed their families. This show encourages people who are keen to make changes to go out and do it.”

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Obama White House GardenWASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-six elementary schoolchildren wielded shovels, rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows to help first lady Michelle Obama break ground on the first day of spring for a produce and herb garden on the White House grounds.

Crops to be planted in the coming weeks on the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped patch near the fountain on the South Lawn include spinach, broccoli, various lettuces, kale and collard greens, assorted herbs and blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.

There will also be a beehive.

Read the rest of the article

(via Transition Towns Kapiti)

Borlotti beans: wonderfully tasty and homegrownGrow your own food! But be patient – this is how long it will take. The chart looks at how long you can expect to wait for your vegetables to grow from seed. These are estimated times – climate, soil conditions, water supply, different cultivars, farming methods can all give different results.

There’s no time like the present to start growing food, especially when you see how long it takes for veges to grow. The economy is going insane, nobody knows what’s going to happen… you need a little security in your life. Being able to grow food to feed your family is really the best security you can get. Then you know that if you lose your job, or the supermarkets run out, or your country goes bankrupt you can eat.

It’s a baseline to work from – you need to eat. If you grow your own food (or even just some of it) :

—  it will save you money;
—  it will give you mana, strength, self-worth;
—  it will give you better health, keep you active, help you lose weight.

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crawley-library-tree3“Reading material in Crawley’s brand new library building is not restricted to the pages of the books on its shelves, thanks to a series of typographic tree sculptures created by artist Gordon Young and a team of collaborators that includes design studio Why Not Associates…”

—  Images and beautiful tree pictures at the Creative Review Blog.

white-jasmine-lrg_1_3I may have just found my new favourite drink. Irony being, it’s unlikely to ever pass my lips. New Zealand’s age-old problem with the tyranny of distance is taunting me with the internet waivering delectable treats in front of my eyes.

I’m a huge fan of tea – particularly white tea and especially jasmine-infused. I’m also extremely fond of bubbly alcoholic beverages. These forces combined should make the absolutely bestest Tiki drink! And Golden Star Tea’s White Jasmine Sparkling Tea seems to be it. And…. they have a pretty website! Perfect!

White tea is from the same plant Camellia sinensis as the more popular green or black tea. The very young leaves are picked before opening and have little silvery, downy hairs attached to them. White tea is lower in caffeine but particularly high in anti-oxidants and has a whole raft of health benefits. One study showed white tea to have more anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities then the highly-publicised green tea.

It would be inconceivably extravagant of me to import a case of White Jasmine Sparkling Tea way over to NZ. So, if you are in the States, try a bottle and taunt me with just how good it is.

Read a whole lot about white tea at the White Tea Guide, and if you like what you see check out my favourite supplier at TLeaf.

honeybeeHoney bees are the bee’s knees. They make beeswax, propolis and royal jelly. They also make some of the best tasting stuff on the planet – honey – a complex food containing many minerals and healing properties and contains 75% sugar. You’ve probably heard of it. You should be eating some every day. Bulk buy it – it never spoils.

Honey bees have this other nifty little trick called pollination. Plants use the colourful cues of iridescence to make themselves attractive to bees. Bee pollination is responsible for the growth of all fruits and many vegetables as well as livestock feed – they’re real important. Humans rely on this pollination to a tune estimated at anywhere between $14 billion and $92 billion in the U.S. alone.

But things are looking grim, with hives being decimated by a disease called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Read more