s. lowe wrote:Seems like your best option would be to target their larvae. What predates their eggs and larvae in the water? How can you encourage more of those to take up residence in the streams?
Alder Burns wrote:Not sure if this will work for blackflies but it might be worth a try....several places I've lived the mosquitoes were so bad that I made up a smudge pot....basically a metal can on a chain with a few holes in the sides, into which I put some dry stuff and get it burning, then follow with some slower stuff that will make a lot of smoke. Sort of like a bee smoker (which would also serve the purpose). I would take this everywhere I went in the garden, and swing it around me like a priest with a censer, and then set it down such that any air current would keep the smoke wafting around me! At least mosquitoes, and many other insects too, cannot stand to be around smoke!
Tristan Vitali wrote:Anyone know if muscovies will tackle these little vampires? I know they're big fans of mosquitos....just not sure if their eyesight is sharp enough and their bills are small enough
God I hope they do...planning to get some baby mother-duckers this spring to help with the biblical swarms of mosquitos and the like
If they don't do black flies, though, I may never get "spring fever" again
Boon Safty wrote:You know you're a permie when...
You weren't able to make the boot program for financial reasons, but when you saw a job posting for labor at a nursery thought,
"2 birds, 1 stone"
and got the job
S Bengi wrote:
To me a permaculturist prepare for the top 80% most likely scenarios that one might face. They would have basic needs like water(well/rain catchment), food production (sugar-honey, vegetables, fruits, tubers, eggs/chicken/etc), electricity, heating, mortgage free house, food production, quality pots/pan/etc that will last 25yrs plus. Now for the other 20% of unlikely scenarios such as mega volcano covering 1,000sq miles with 10ft of lava, invasion by space aliens, worldwide nuclear war with accompanying nuclear winter, they tend to focus less of there energy on that.
Nicole Alderman wrote:
A big thing the survivalist mentality seems to lack is the idea that you really need to being doing the stuff NOW to get you prepared. Start to garden now. Learn skills now. Build community now. Learn to live with less now. Because if you're suddenly trying to grow a garden out of a "survival seedbank" while hiding out in the woods, when you've never gardened before, you'll probably starve.
...
Two in a half years ago, I wrote this thread, The reality of homesteading has dissolved my "prepper"/homesteading fantasies. I used to always think I'd just magically be able to rise to the occasion and be the hero in my own personal story and instantly know how to do all these things to survive. But then hard times came, and I realized, man, there just isn't TIME to learn and do all that stuff. It's best to learn it now, make the connections now, make the world better NOW.
Joy Yumi wrote:We are camping on a property with honey bees, and have just found that the "bee-keeper" kills the bees when it gets too cold to keep them.
He'll just purchase new hives next spring. I'm horrified by this!
Thought I'd make an effort to find them a good home.
Especially since there's such a shortage of honey bees in the world.
Benjamin Bouchard wrote:First and foremost, you might consider one of the wooden Swiss snaths from someone like One Scythe Revolution.
Benjamin Bouchard wrote:But if trying to "fix" this notorious issue with the Scythe Supply stem, you can pre-drill and pin to keep it from loosening, or you can turn the hole into a rectangular mortise and tenon arrangement instead and make your own replacement stem/grip.
Jen Fulkerson wrote:Thank goodness I only planted 1/2 my seeds because not one sprouted. I wish I would have started them in pots instead of in the garden. Oh well I will try again in the Fall. Good luck to everyone.