NIHBS welcomes the Irish Seed Savers Association to the Conservation Area Family
The Native Irish Honey Bee Society have joined up with Irish Seed Savers to help in the conservation of Ireland's native black honeybees. "Irish Seed Savers have signed up to be A Voluntary Conservation Area for Ireland's native black honeybees. Irish Seed Savers are committed to preserving the local genetic character of our indigenous black [...]
joint statement on new EU seed legislation
joint_statement_seed_legislation_2013-06-12
Ban fracking in Ireland
The Irish government are allowing gas companies to test for possible locations for "fracking" operations in the west of Ireland. Fracking is fracturing of underground shale beds by high-pressure water. It involves disruption of rock causing earth tremors and toxic chemicals are used which then seep into water courses or are released into the atmosphere. [...]
ITALIAN MAGISTRATE CHARGES BAYER AND SYNGENTA MANAGERS FOR KILLING BEES WITH CLOTHIANIDIN
Please see the attached WORD article from Italy's national newspaper LaStampa. A Turin magistrate has had senior managers from Bayer and Syngenta charged with spreading chemicals (Clothianidin) that kill bees - on the grounds that this threatens the national economy of Italy. He has already ruled that they are 'culpable' - i.e. they have to [...]
The year of the bumblebee by Rosemary Mason & Palle Uhd Jepsen
A lovely lady sent in a couple of books for us to read, it was quite an eye opener for me and I thought that someone out there may be interested to in what the Bayer cropscience group are making these days. This is a direct excert from the book ‘The year of the bumblebee’ [...]
Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Produce Teratogenic Effects on Vertebrates by Impairing Retinoic Acid Signaling
Alejandra Paganelli, Victoria Gnazzo, Helena Acosta, Silvia L. Lpez, and Andrs E. Carrasco* Laboratorio de Embriologa Molecular, CONICET-UBA, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155, 3° piso (1121), Ciudad Autnoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina Chem. Res. Toxicol., 2010, 23 (10), pp 1586–1595 DOI: 10.1021/tx1001749 Publication Date (Web): August 9, 2010 Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society [...]
Delivery of Graft Request – 3
If the young grafted tree: Flowers or begins to form fruit… The same caution still applies to your young tree: Do not handle the upper portion of the tree above the graft union, it is still too weak and vulnerable. The below photo sequence should provide a useful guide: Pinch out all flower buds as [...]
Pat Malone – A member of the ‘land use’ group, talks about his involvement in the first eco village in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary (recorded on 25th May 2008 – Biodiversity show day):
Basically, I’ve been a commercial grower myself and have spent ten years battling with hybrid varieties, trying to make sense of growing food and the battle of producing food. Irish Seed Savers have opened my eyes. They are here collecting all these varieties. Why would they bother their hat? How long does it take to [...]
Food to sustain us
Biodiversity Biodiversity as a theme has gained much wider currency in recent years, being the new buzz-word for those interested in protecting our environment. Farmers can tap into this movement through the REPS scheme which encourages and rewards them for helping to increase the natural biodiversity on their land, for instance by replanting hedgerows with [...]
Food Security-by Frank Bouchier, ISSA Garden Manager (1999)
An old farmer came in to collect his seeds. While I was there he bought some other packets of seed, hardy things like kale and cabbage and swedes, crops that do well in this climate. Seeing the volume of seeds I asked him if he was a keen gardener, "Not really", he said, " I [...]