So very true Wilfred, My dads back yard was all a vegie garden and chook pen, we were as self sufficient as you you could be given the space. I have a couple of raised garden beds and enjoy spending my time in the garden but sadly my daughter I suspect couldn’t boil an egg. people are going for more processed foods that are manufactured and suffering heath problems from it. It supersizes me that people are living longer, maybe because of advancements in medicines and science.
Cheers
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I have been putting rhubarb leaves in the hives I look after and we have not needed to use any other treatments. We just put a leaf in each time we go for an inspection on top of your top box, and let the bees break it down.
They can get rid of a leaf in a week and in doing so ingest the Oxalic acid, as the summer progresses there is more Oxalic acid in the leaves so they get a stronger dose as their numbers increase.
Cheers,
Kev.
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Fascinating and sounds promising - how are you measuring the effectiveness Kevin?
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What an excellent idea to bury orange rinds in the vegetable garden! I also go through tons of oranges – and also grapefruit, limes, and lemons. I have some very old naval orange trees, a Seville, and a mystery orange that’s very low acid and makes delicious juice. I usually put the rinds in the compost bin, and sometimes use dried rinds as kindling. Although I hate to admit it, sometimes they just lay on the ground and rot, because there’s more than I can keep up with.
In this picture, the first tree on the right is a white grapefruit, and beyond it is the mystery orange. There’s also a little Santa Rosa plum in the center of “Bird Watch Circle”.
I’ve been thinking about extracting essential oil with the vodka evaporation method. Anyway, this year I’ll also try burying them in the vegetable garden!
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Hi Claire, thank you 
You have a beautiful garden there.
In relation to the citrus skins in the garden, I guess you noted that I cover the citrus skins with dolomite, which compensates for the acid in the citrus. When I have fine wood ash available, I use that instead. I haven’t chased any oranges for a few years. I guess I should grow my own. I’ve been growing sugar cane after a honey customer gave me some cuttings. I got myself a decent hand juicer, so I juice the sugar cane I grow. I make mulch out of what’s left over.
cheers
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