I’ve been reading some fairly disturbing reviews of the “Food Safety Bill” HR 2749, and wrote this morning to my Congressman, Eric Massa:

Hi Congressman Massa,

I am writing to voice my concern over sections of HR 2749, which appears to be an attempt on the part of large businesses to further lock up and control our food system in the name of safety. I’d be happy to see a bill that actually addressed safety concerns many of us have over our food: end to factory feed lots, rational livestock sewage management, regulation of manipulation of corn and food commodity prices, regulation of anti-biotics use in large feedlots and so on. However, this bill appears to target small and organic growers’ practices without in any way addressing these large concerns.

As an agricultural district, the Fighting 29th is home to many small farms, organic growers and processors, CSAs and home gardens that would likely be affected by the contents of this bill. These small farms and gardens will be critical to our food system in coming years as industrial farming’s problems mount up. These problems include those listed above, and also include rising energy prices, dead, eroded soil, crumbling delivery systems and other issues.

I believe this bill is now in committee negotiations and we have not seen the final text. However, based on what has been released so far, I strongly urge you to use your vote both in committee and on the floor to keep this burden off the back of small growers, organic farmers and home gardeners here in NY-29.

Y. went out to cut some lupines, which have been growing vigorously under the pear tree, only to find they were massively infested with aphids.This led me to do a bit of research on aphid lions, lacewings, hoverflies and lady beetles.Turns out all these things feast on aphids, especially the aphid lions (stage of development of the lacewing) which drinks aphids for breakfast!

It also got me looking more closely at what I’ve got there. The lupines are pretty crowded around the base of the pear. At the base of another pear nearby, are yarrow, which this morning had a bunch of flies sitting on them- hmm. While the lupines provide nitrogen fixation for the pear, I put in some walking onions without thinking. Onions and peas don’t much like eachother from what I’ve read. But its also probable that the lupines look like a monoculture to the aphids. I’m thinking I should swap two lupines with two yarrow from the other tree. I read some interesting things about volatiles being released from the injured plant attracting the predatory bugs. But Permaculture is about placing things such that their inputs are close at hand. There’s always room for improvement.
Lacewings, turns out, have this interesting relationship with cicadas, who pierce into sap layers in trees. When they are singing, the lacewing moves in and sucks sap from the cicada’s piercing, then moves back when the cicada’s ready to drink.