Interesting Update on the Bees

Mother Earth News is surpassing Organic Gardening of late with interesting stories. Granted, Organic Gardening's focus is the garden (more below), but Mother Earth News takes it a step further and relates the environment to our homes, including the garden and nearly always has good stories about organic gardening. The latest issue had an update on the honeybee disappearance that stated "the Natural Resources Defense Council is suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for withholding details about the impact of neonicotinois - a class of widely used pesticides -- on Honey bees and other pollinators. " The article goes on to say, "How would our government respond if one out of every three cows was dying?" What is that telling you? And you'll never guess who the manufacturer of the pesticide is. No, not Monsanto, but an equally powerful pharmaceutical -- Bayer CropScience. They all hold power over government and its unfortunate. You can read the whole story about the bees here. Back to Organic Gardening Magazine. I've seen many transformations of this magazine over the years with each new editor and yet another new editor took the helm. This time, it sounds like they are going to focus on simplicity and community and the first issue with the new editor is likely a good example of what's ahead. There were several nice stories about inner-city gardens and several articles about specific plants -- crop covers and sage. Yes, informative information, but not enough for my use in the backyard. Mother Earth News, on the other hand, had articles on building your own greenhouse (one of my dreams), Eco-friendly houses, apples, garlic, covering your crops to extend the season, the honeybees, and a very interesting story of the top 10 small towns in US - some were sustainable and supported local farming. Mother Earth News gets my vote for providing the most informative, helpful information. Mother is worth the subscription. And have a co-worker to thank for turning me onto the magazine by sharing some of her issues last year with me -- thanks Theresa!