that is very inspiring, mez! when i'm living in new zealand i have a small inner city garden which with a little work is very productive & a nice place for many insects & birds, but in germany i'm limited to the balcony. i've had an "insect hotel" on it for a couple of years but no insects have shown any interest in it yet. we do get bees, mostly bumble bees, & various other insects but really not very many at all. i grow many herbs including those you mention, flowers & some vegies, but if you have any good tips for helping insect life on a balcony, please tell!
a great resource - new zealand specific but with a lot that's relevant to elsewhere - is the nz organic magazine, https://organicnz.org.nz/. i'm biased because my sister is the editor, but really it's a fantastic magazine & is not only about organics but also about soil & wider environmental issues from industiral farming to helpful information for home gardeners wanting to be more organic & insect friendly. you can subscribe to a digital issue or get the hardcopy delivered anywhere in the world. it's a dire situation but all of these small things we do ourselves do make a difference! h : ) On 11.02.19 04:56, Mez Breeze via NetBehaviour wrote: > Terrible news. Just one of the reasons why these days I live a life > devoted in equal parts to permaculture and creativity: the > permaculture setup here is specifically for insect/bird/reptile > populations as much as its a functional setup for human food > production. It requires no pesticides or herbicides, and crops grown > here are selected in part for their bee and pollinator appeal > [rosemary, sage, borage, oregano, big variety of vegies, have water > gardens to hydrate insects that have avenues for escape if insects > fall in the water, 5 bays housing homemade compost helps, a crazy > number of fruit trees, flowers etc]. And although I do live rurally, > I'm also 2 blocks away from the main street of town, so it's doable > anywhere. > > If anyone on this list wants advice, tips, or any other help or info > related to getting started developing an insect-friendly garden [can > be as small as a balcony garden], let me know. I'm more than happy to > help on topics ranging from soil health and maintenance [where it all > starts] to plant selection/water use/conservation etc. > > With Warmth, > Mez > > > On Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 10:44 AM Paul Hertz via NetBehaviour > <netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > <mailto:netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org>> wrote: > > In Chicago, we've been wondering where the lightning bugs have > gone. When I was a child in Ohio in the 1950s we used to drive out > into the country to see clouds of them lifting off the fields as > the last glimmers of the summer sun faded. When we moved to > Chicago 30 years ago our son caught them in the backyard, in the > middle of the city. I don't know if my granddaughters will grow up > chasing after them, there seem to be so few that come out now. > > -- Paul > > > On Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 5:27 PM Alan Sondheim <sondh...@panix.com > <mailto:sondh...@panix.com>> wrote: > > > > There have been a number of studies on this. And in the U.S. - > when we > drive across country - the same. No insects. The last > 'grouping' I saw was > maybe ten years ago - grasshoppers escaping a wildfire near > Copperton, > Utah... > > On Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Edward Picot via NetBehaviour wrote: > > > Scary stuff from today's Guardian, for those of you who > haven't seen it: > > > > https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature > > > . > > > > _______________________________________________ > > NetBehaviour mailing list > > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > <mailto:NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> > > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > > > > > web http://www.alansondheim.org / cell 347-383-8552 > current text http://www.alansondheim.org/vx.txt > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > <mailto:NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > > > -- > ----- |(*,+,#,=)(#,=,*,+)(=,#,+,*)(+,*,=,#)| --- > http://paulhertz.net/ > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > <mailto:NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > > > -- > | mezbreezedesign.com <http://mezbreezedesign.com> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour -- helen varley jamieson he...@creative-catalyst.com <mailto:he...@creative-catalyst.com> http://www.creative-catalyst.com http://www.upstage.org.nz
_______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
