On May 6th the EPA granted unconditional registration for a new pesticide called sulfoxaflor for use on barley, bulb vegetables, canola, citrus, cotton, cucurbit vegetables, fruiting vegetables, leafy vegetables, low-growing berries, okra, ornamentals (herbaceous and woody), pistachio, pome fruits, root and tuber vegetables, small vine climbing fruit (except fuzzy kiwifruit), soybean, stone fruit, succulent, edible podded and dry beans, tree nuts, triticale, turfgrass, watercress and wheat.
Sulfoxaflor is the first of a new class of insecticides, the sulfoximines, created because many insects have developed resistance to the most commonly used pesticides currently on the market. Sulfoxaflor acts on nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) in the insects’ nervous system, leading to paralysis and death. It is considered a different class of insecticides than neonicotinoids, and is effective against many insects that are resistant to neonicotinoids.
Now the EPA is considering expanding its use to include corn, oats and alfalfa.
Bee advocates are concerned because it is known to be toxic to bees, especially if applied while bees are on the crops. Bees and pollination are essential to agriculture and their populations are declining at over 30 percent every year, with losses over 70 percent on bees that were used to pollinate this years California almond crop.

Yesterday morning Martha Stewart’s head gardener, Ryan McCallister, gave Bedford Garden Club members a tour of the garden’s at Martha’s Cantitoe Corners Farm. It was an inspirational visit; everything was perfect in a gentle, happy way. The gardens are luxuriously filled with plants we can all use, but Martha’s are artfully chosen and meticulously cared for. While maintaining these gardens must require enormous work and discipline, the effect on a guest is instantly calm and nurturing. Mr. McCallister shared his expertise, and allowed that even they were getting off to a slower start than usual because of the long, harsh, winter.
One of the most beautiful vistas on the farm were the fields filled with dandelions and buttercups. He said the dandelions are there because Martha thinks they are beautiful. They were left in some of her woodland gardens, too, although elsewhere they were weeded out. Maybe this is one of the reasons there were also many eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies!

The pub date is June 1, but just found out my book “The Great Healthy Yard Project, our yards, our children, our responsibility” is shipping from Amazon. It has so much more information about how these chemicals get from our yards into our water, what they do to our bodies, and how to care for our yards without them.

Another name for Lovage is Maggi. Already abundant in my garden, it is a perennial herb that grows all season. I harvest it and put it into soups and salads in the springtime, and later leave the flowers for bees and butterflies. My favorite Maggi Soup recipe is to chop and sautée 10 bunch onions in olive oil (they are ready to be harvested, too), combine with 6 cups of Pacific Organic Chicken Broth, add 6 large red potatoes, chopped, and 4 big branches of Maggi leaves, chopped. Simmer. Blend with in pot mixer, add salt and pepper to taste, and then add 2 cups of milk, simmer gently. I didn’t grow peas this season because there was snow past St. Patricks’s Day, which is my deadline for planting them. I have planted plenty of beans, though, and I sometimes add a little more broth and beans later in the season.

The bluebirds that nest in a box near our vegetable garden every spring are back, and very busy! This time of year when they are mating and rearing babies they eat lots of insects including caterpillars, beetles, and spiders, that are high in protein. A little later in the summer they eat elderberry, black cherry, poison ivy, and wild grape. They love my blueberries (I don’t get many), and they love the little berries on the asparagus ferns. Today, though, my husband and I will enjoy the asparagus.

With the advent of spring our chickens feel safer because they are beginning to have foliage to hide under when the hawks are out. I think they are also happy that the warm weather has brought an uptick in the insect population. We are happy they help with bug control and are producing eggs again after the winter!

When our neighbors spray pesticide, drift can come onto our lawns. Either through drift or with rainwater it certainly enters streams, ponds, or groundwater. The Great Healthy Yard Project book and this web site with its video, are meant to be educational tools for neighbors to talk with each other and explain their concern.
When you back up your concern with a reasoned explanation your neighbor may well change their mind. If you and another neighbor that shares your concern have coffee with the neighbor using these chemicals and explain how what they do affects all of you, they may come to see things your way.

If you live in an apartment, the Healthy Yard Pledge still matters. City greenery uses huge amounts of chemicals-the plants around the buildings, on terraces, and even house plants. Also, it would hopefully mean that you would think about what is being put on your local park, and your or your neighbor’s weekend home. Part of the pledge is not to dispose of pharmaceuticals or chemicals down our drains, and that is very pertinent in a city where huge numbers of people have a big impact.

a. Aerating to relieve compaction

b. Overseeding to outcompete weeds and choosing the right seed for your area

c. Test the soil for nitrogen, phosphorus and pH with a soil testing kit or with the help of a university cooperative extension. Use compost to replete nutrients only if necessary and lyme to adjust the pH if needed

d. Leave the clippings to replace nutrients and help retain moisture

Well, almost all about soil culture. But it is also about changing our mindset so that we are happy with a few weeds because we know it is healthier for our families.

ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 18, 2013

New study shows 6 out of 12 hives treated with sublethal doses of neonics’s died by the end of winter in a manner consistent with Colony Collapse Disorder. The untreated control group overwintered well, with 5 out of 6 hives surviving and growing new bees.
https://www.facebook.com/HudsonValleyNaturalBeekeepers