WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Bees pollinate more than one-hundred (100) types of crops in the United States, including produce, and crops that you are growing at home: berries, peppers, melons, squash, avocados, lettuces, and all things goodness.

The Future of food depends on healthy bees.

As stated before, we are going to be introducing you to backyard beekeeping soon, but I want to give you some resources if you have an interest in keeping bees. For all of Artisan Farm Company serving cities, here are some great groups to get connected with.

Portland: Portland Urban Beekeepers
www.portlandurbanbeekeepers.org

Seattle: Puget Sound Beekeepers
www.pugetsoundbees.org

Phoenix: Beekeepers of Central Arizona
www.azbaca.org

San Diego: San Diego Beekeeping Society
www.sandiegobeekeepingsociety.com

Los Angeles: Honey Love Urban Beekeeping
www.honeylove.org

Vancouver: Strathcona Beekeepers
www.strathconabeekeepers.blogspot.com

By Michael Bush

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Experts believe that multiple factors - Including parasites, pesticides, and loss of habitat are contributing to decline of bees.

Ways you can help:

Plant Flowers: Growing a mixture of native flowers, with different colors, shapes, and bloom times, will help steady the decline of the Honey Bee. Remember to grow Organically, and do not use pesticides, as they have been to show up in pollen, and honey production.
Make Space: Leave brush piles, and bare patches of soil to help native bees dig nests. We will cover backyard beekeeping at another time, but remember Mason Bees, can be a great way to start beekeeping, and help preserve our pollinators.
Go ORGANIC: To help promote healthy ecosystems, and healthy bees, choose Organic foods, Organic seeds, and Organic transplants for your garden.

We are spending some time this week in Seattle, Washington; looking at all the great things urban farm. I encourage all of you to take interest in bees. They go hand-in-hand with urban gardening. Beehive set-up is one of our services at Artisan Farm Company, and anything you can do is a service to us all, and our honey making friends.

- Matthew Mullins | Proprietor

Artisan Farm Company

Water - Part I / July 22, 2014 by Artisan Farm Co. - Phoenix

The most important thing you can start doing is collecting rain water. But whether you live in the damp Pacific Northwest, the arid Mojave desert, the thunderstorm Midwest, or beyond, we almost all depend on problematic water infrastructures.

Rain barrels are the quickest, and easiest way to save your rain water. Setting up a gutter system on your home, or apartment can collect more rainwater than you might believe.

Your roof accounts for a large surface-area, and when it rains, this water is typically routed through a system of gutters and pipes and dumped unceremoniously into your yard, where it washes away valuable topsoil. Roof catchment systems, which are the most common type for residential applications, collect this water by routing it through a system of gutters and pipes into a cistern, usually located on the ground level.

There are numerous ways to save your water. Today, we want to cover the easiest. Stay tuned for more ways to save water. Including street runoff, grey water management, composting toilets, and shower water management.

- Artisan Farm Company | Phoenix

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For those growing in desert climates, water can be the number one cause for lack of growth. Using water wisely, is key, to a healthy, flourishing garden.

While rain is hard to come by in growing zone 8-10, there are some wonderful ways you can save water, to help offset the lack of rainfall in your area.