Ep 66: Let Them Eat Bugs

Original Transplants

Original Transplants Episode 66: Let Them Eat BugsOriginal Transplants Episode 66: Let Them Eat Bugs opens with Will's preparations to install new honey bee packages in the bee yard in the next few weeks. Sarah reports that the chickens are generally healthy, although brooder hen Mayapple's indulgence in wild bird seed has caused a mild flare up of sour crop. Activity in the edible landscape is ramping up for spring planting, including pruning in the orchard, repair of the kiwiberry trellis, and planting early season crops in the vegetable nursery: arugula, spinach, buttercrunch lettuce, collards, kale, mustard, bok choy, red and green cabbage, and kohlrabi. The homesteaders finally found a good use for excess ash from the wood stove: dumping on the gravel driveway to kill weeds. Homestead fun features a visit to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for the snow goose migration. Rock the Cradle updates the previous discussion of microplastics in newborns with a study correlating microplastics in the gut with digestive disorders. In agricultural news, we compare two stories from Lancaster Farming: one on the purported sustainability benefits of edible insect farming, and one on regenerative farming practices.Show NotesMoore (2017) Pawpaw: In search of America's forgotten fruit http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/960901243Pennsylvania Game News (March 2022) Bird bio: Snow goose (print only)Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area https://www.pgc.pa.gov/InformationResources/AboutUs/ContactInformation/Southeast/MiddleCreekWildlifeManagementArea/Pages/default.aspxAmerican Chemical Society (2021) Infants have more microplastics in their feces than adults, study finds https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2021/september/infants-have-more-microplastics-in-their-feces-than-adults-study-finds.html Sripada et al. (2022) A children's health perspective on nano- and microplastics https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP9086American Chemical Society (2021) People with IBD have more microplastics in their feces (as seen in The Week January 21, 2022) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211222084024.htmUS FDA (2021) Closer to zero: Action plan for baby foods https://www.fda.gov/food/metals-and-your-food/closer-zero-action-plan-baby-foodsCell Press (2022) Ecologist: We should eat more insects and use their waste to grow crops (as seen in Lancaster Farming March 12, 2022) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220302110558.htm Wade and Howelle (2020) A review of edible insect industrialization: Scales of production and implications for sustainability https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aba1c1University of Washington (2022) Farms with soil-friendly practices grow healthier foods, study suggests (as seen in Lancaster Farming March 12, 2022) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220224125209.htm