Original Transplants

Episode 28 of the Original Transplants Podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Will and Sarah discussing the early season bounty. In the apiary, a weak honey season has been a strong brood season with success in honey bee swarm trapping and hive splitting. The chicks are within weeks of fledging the nest, and Mayapple the momma hen sounds like she's preparing to resume egg laying. The homestead garden shifts from radishes, spinach, lettuce, peas, and broccoli to cabbage, beets, collards, kale, kohlrabi, tomatoes, and peppers, and the succession of berries and cherries are ripening. We discuss growing season pruning and sheet composting and then report on agricultural news from Lancaster Farming, including the triumphant return of "heirloom hybrid" Florida's Favorite watermelon after a 100-year hiatus and Tyson Foods' efforts for more humane and sustainable poultriculture.

Episode 27 of the Original Transplants Podcast features homestead stewards Will and Sarah sharing some special excitement from the beeyard and chicken coop. Will explains his technique for honey bee swarm trapping which has yielded the homestead's healthiest colony so far this season. Sarah recounts her response to a notoriously broody hen and the multiplier effect it had on the homestead flock. After highlighting some early season harvests from the edible landscape and detailing additions to the homestead orchard, Sarah outlines the 12 Principles of Permaculture and how she and Will applied them to swarm baiting and flock rearing.Resources:Seeley et al. Bait Hives for Honey Bees (1989): https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/2653Seeley et al. Group decision-making in swarms of honey bees (1999): http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/biol106h/PDF/Seeley.pdfSeeley Honeybee Democracy (2010): http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/587249075Christopher Shein and Julie Thompson The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to P

Episode 26 of the Original Transplants Podcast finds Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will recovering from the installation of a testy package of honey bees. Hear their tips for bee package installation, dealing with a defective queen cage and observing behavioral indicators for queenrightness. After a brief visit to the chicken coop, the Satoyama stewards discuss seasonal chores in the edible landscape, including pruning, vegetable seed starting and transplanting, weeding and mulching. This is a great time of year to remove invasives like garlic mustard - which, incidentally, makes a tasty pesto. We close out this episode with an analysis of late-winter temperature variability and its impact on honey bee colonies, and a discussion of the unintended consequences (hint: radioactive wild boars) of nuclear power.

Episode 25 of the Original Transplants podcast - Nor'easter edition! - features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will reviewing the Chester County [PA] Beekeeping Association's 2017 Annual Conference and discussing plans for the 2017 apiary. Will looks forward to experimenting with splits and other proactive colony management strategies, and Sarah questions the logic of scapegoating small-scale treatment free beekeepers for the prevalence of varroa and other pests in commercial bee yards. Sarah updates listeners on the status of the chicken coop and explains the importance of supportive nutrition for chickens during the winter. She then cops to 'equinox exuberance' and describes her vegetable seedling starting project in the midst of a late season blizzard. The Satoyama stewards recommend some late winter chores, including cleaning and sharpening tools, autopsying hive deadouts and evaluating and scraping bee equipment, and processing wood from last year's tree work. We then

Episode 24 of the Original Transplants podcast finds Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will reflecting back on 2016 and dreaming big for 2017. We talk about the bees breaking cluster on warm winter days, and feeding and sheltering bee colonies in the winter. We share our experience with one hen's hard molt and tips for nursing a chicken through a difficult molt during a cold snap. We discuss seasonal homestead chores/fun, including dormant pruning, sheet composting new beds, fiber arts, preserves, beeswax processing, tool maintenance, and saved seed germination trials. We then discuss news from Lancaster Farming about farmland valuation and conservation initiatives in light of Aldo Leopold's land ethic, and wrap up the podcast by looking ahead to the 2017 season.

Episode 23 of the Original Transplants podcast finds Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will dusting off the recording equipment and updating listeners on winterizing the homestead. We feed the bees in the apiary, coddle the chickens through their molt, mulch and cover the garden beds, save seeds, shred leaves, and watch for juncos - harbingers of winter. We also update listeners on agricultural and environmental news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of black market seeds, processing surplus pumpkins, horizontal gene transfer with implications for GMOs, and the rehabilitative power of gardens in prison. Find out more at www.satoyamahs.org and http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com.

Episode 22 of the Original Transplants Podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will providing a long overdue update from the apiary, chicken coop and edible landscape. Will wards off chipmunks, yellow jackets and varroa mites from the hives while trying to locate a local drone congregation area with the Chester County Beekeepers Association and contributing to the Zombees citizen science project. Sarah explains how to care for a molting hen and her twist on the Waldorf Salad featuring Satoyama Homestead annuals from the edible landscape. The stewards relay their recent homestead chores and fun and discuss stories from Lancaster Farming on the state of Pennsylvania corn silage and bees deployed as elephant control on farms in Thailand. Find us online at satoyamahs.org.

The Original Transplants Podcast comes of age with episode 21, in which stewards Sarah and Will share the results of a varroa mite load survey from the beehives, tips on training chickens to eat garden pests, harvests from the kitchen garden and berry brambles, integrated pest management tips for weasels, whistle pigs and yellow jackets, and recent agricultural news from Lancaster Farming about farmers' right to repair under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the once-in-a-lifetime wheat yield in the midwest. Find out more about Satoyama Homestead at http://www.satoyamahs.org and http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com.

Episode 20 of the Original Transplants podcast finds Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will in the eye of the swarm. Sarah will describe her 28-hour swarm watch adventure with the garden hive, while Will explains requeening and other benefits of a resource nuc. We offer tips for finding free-range eggs and describe integrated pest management techniques for the summer kitchen garden. We close with some agricultural and environmental news from Lancaster Farming on pollinator conservation and rattlesnake round-ups.

In Episode 19 of the Original Transplants podcast, Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will celebrate the spring nectar flow, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and sharp cutting blades. We offer some experiential advice on selecting a site for your bee hives, caring for chickens in summer heat, managing slugs in the vegetable garden, and sustaining civilization from the ground up - literally. Find us online at http://www.satoyamahs.org and at http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com , and check out our Satoyama Presents! events calendar for on-site workshops in our outdoor classroom.

Episode 18 of the Original Transplants podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will sharing updates from the bee hives, chicken coop, edible landscape, and agricultural news. We complain about the rainy May weather and how that's impacting the nectar flow and also the bees, describe strategies for keeping chickens out of the blueberry bushes, discuss additions to the edible and perennial landscape, and hunt down pink lady's slipper orchids in the state game lands. We also share agricultural news about farming in the Pennsylvania Wilds, buying domesticated bison on Craigslist, and the hidden costs of 'cheep' chicken. Find us online at http://www.satoyamahs.org and http://spreadcasts.tumblr.comIntro and Outro features Garlic by The Lonely Pen Cap and Gnar Studios, courtesy the artists: https://gnarstudios.bandcamp.com/album/the-lonely-pen-cap

Episode 17 of the Original Transplants podcast features homestead stewards Sarah and Will discussing their preparations for the 2016 beekeeping season, breaking a broody hen, transplanting cool weather crops and starting warm weather vegetable seedlings, witnessing the spring bud break, planting chestnut trees, stacking mushroom logs, and managing invasives like garlic mustard and multiflora rose. We also discuss recent agricultural news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of eastern hardwood forests' drought and fire susceptibility, seed libraries, local distilleries, Monsanto sales, and rabies. Thanks to The Lonely Pen Cap for the intro song, Garlic! For more information, visit us online at http://www.satoyamahs.org and http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com.

Episode 16 of the Original Transplants podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will catching up on winter at the homestead. We are preparing for the 2016 bee packages, discuss breaking a broody hen during Winter Storm Jonas, foraging in the winter landscape, taking extreme measures to attract bats to the bat box, what the Internet has to say about pickled eggs, and recent agricultural news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of tomato and honeybee genetics. Visit us online at http://www.satoyamahs.org or http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com , or visit the homestead for a Satoyama Presents! event.

Episode 15 of the Original Transplants podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will sharing winter homesteading tips and tricks. Ordering bee packages, planning the biointensive kitchen garden and selecting vegetable seeds, cleaning and sharpening garden tools, dormant season pruning of perennial plants, and managing firewood are all on the agenda. We celebrate the fact that all four pullets are laying and share tips for winterizing small-flock chicken coops. We also update readers on agricultural and environmental news from Lancaster Farming and Mother Earth News on the topics of open source and patented seed varieties, herbicide resistance, plant self-defense mechanisms, genetic modification of photosynthesis to increase crop yields, and nature therapy. Find us online at www.satoyamahs.org and http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com, or e-mail us at satoyamahs [at] gmail [dot] com.

Episode 14 of the Original Transplants Podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will discussing life after hive dead-outs, how to solve egg-eating behavior in backyard chickens, winter vegetables in the biointensive kitchen garden, sheet mulching for next year's plantings, updates on the firewood stacking experiment, and how to make a garbage target for archery practice. We also review recent agricultural news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of biodiverse grazing, Christmas tree farming, antique tractors, grazing for control of invasives, and gleaning. Find us online at satoyamahs.org and find a transcript with show notes at spreadcasts.tumblr.com.

In unlucky episode 13, Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will recount some unfortunate times on the homestead, including how the ornery hive got its name: a tale of two bee package installations, how Henbit's prelaying behavior redesigned the chicken tractor condo, how a mouse saved Sarah's vegetable transplants from a hail storm, adventures with straw, homestead projects gone awry, tool abuse, fire failures, and more. We also review recent news on agriculture and the environment, including chickens challenging evolutionary biology, varroa camouflage, and solar power projects in Morocco. A transcript with show notes can be found at http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com, and more info about Satoyama can be found at http://www.satoyamahs.org

Episode 12 of the Original Transplants podcast features the return of Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will discussing updates from the apiary, chicken coop, and edible landscape. We'll talk about winterizing the hives and chicken tractor condo, transplanting and mulching strawberry crowns, preserving the fruits of our labors, and raking and shredding fall leaves for mulch. We wrap up by reviewing three weeks worth of agricultural news from Lancaster Farming and beyond on the topics of new research on soil nitrogen renewal, the 2015 pumpkin harvest, sustainability and the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, the Food Waste Challenge, and what happens when a farmer digs up mammoth bones in his field. Find a transcript with notes and references at http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com.

Episode 11 of the Original Transplants Podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will sharing updates from the apiary, chicken coop, and edible landscape. Will describes signs of brood cycling as the hives prepare for winter, and Sarah celebrates her chicken's first egg with an interesting fact about color that connects the plant and animal kingdoms. We discuss preparing the edible landscape for fall, including thinning the strawberry patch and storing bare root plants for next year. Sarah details her canning fails and lessons learned in food preservation. The episode wraps up with a review of recent agricultural news from Lancaster Farming about animal mortality management in the face of hi-path avian influenza, nutty professors, fruit fly invasions, and another rogue cow. You can find a transcript of this episode (episode 11) along with show notes and references at http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com. To ask a question of the Original Transplants, send us an email at satoyama [at] ruggedin

Episode 10 of the Original Transplants podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Sarah and Will updating listeners on happenings in the apiary, chicken coop, and edible landscape. Will commends the bees on an uptick in activity during the fall bloom, Sarah threatens the chickens with eviction if they don't start laying eggs, and both conjecture that deer are to blame for the missing leaves on the hardy kiwi vines. We discuss fall preparations for cold season plantings and cover crops in the biointensive kitchen garden and review agricultural news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of soil identification, neonicotinoids, local conservation efforts, and food waste. We'll post a transcript of this show with notes and references to http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com, and you can find more information about Satoyama Homestead at http://www.satoyamahs.org. Submit questions to satoyama [at] ruggedinbox [dot] com or using the contact forms linked from the Spreadcasts site or homestead homepage.

Episode 9 of the Original Transplants podcast features Satoyama Homestead stewards Will and Sarah discussing bee trivia (courtesy Gary and Margaret at kiwimana Buzz Beekeeping Podcast http://kiwimana.co.nz) and the fall bloom, biosecurity for backyard flocks, fall pruning and plantings in the edible landscape, homestead chores and fun, and agriculture news from Lancaster Farming on the topics of the intangible benefits of farming, drought, climate change, and 'tractorvists' in France. We'll post a transcript with show notes and references to http://spreadcasts.tumblr.com, and you can find out more about Satoyama Homestead and our Satoyama Presents! Events series at http://www.satoyamahs.org