Field Notes – October 2024

It’s spook season, so in this month’s newsletter we bring you a couple of stories calculated to send chills down your spine.

There’s the case of a real-life invasion of vampires – tiny invasive ticks that can kill cattle by draining their blood.

The perennial bogeyman, neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides, can harm birds as well as beneficial insects – a decidedly scary thought! To reduce those impacts, a new program is paying farmers to plant seeds that aren’t treated with neonics.

Finally, the humble pumpkin, such a common sight this time of year, has more going for it nutritionally than you might have suspected! Plus, we’ve got resources to help you get started growing your own pumpkins – sustainably, of course!

Speaking of resources, David Redhage gets us rolling this month with pointers to a couple of helpful online tools.

Field Notes – October 2024 (PDF, 700 KB)