Kaffir Lime Flowering ✓

Kaffir lime - Citrus Trees - Canada

So Ive just noticed our kaffir lime has started to flower/fruit. To think here in Canada it flowers in march/april is quite different (but I could be tricking myself). The strange thing was, I think this was by accident. A while back I brought a few Meyers from our hot sunroom
( 25c+ )  into our greenhouse  ( 13c ) during the winter and almost instantly they started to flower. This same situation/reaction happened with my Star ruby grapefruit. Now after moving our kaffir lime from the greenhouse into the sunroom there was an instant flowering. So I cant be positive of all varieties of citrus but it seems like they are like other species of plants where cold weather signals them to fruit, almost in a dash to save it genes. This is great for growers in canada with stubborn trees that are harder to flower ( To bad this wont work with bananas tho). Try setting your plant out side for a minute  ( not directly on the cold ground or in snow ) this might  stimulate that tricky tree. Please feel free to comment if this scenario works for you or what trees/plants you have found this trick works with.

The kaffir only gets half light but still fruits

We also noticed a friendly new predator spider the other day, while weve seen one like him thats all black with white stripes, this one was much larger with almost a blueish white on the stripes, not sure if its just more mature but Ive never seen one this size before.

Natural pest prevention

Attack spider

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Hormone free meat!!!!!! well not really

Hormones in food - Antibiotic food

Now a days with every agri business claiming one thing after another, the hormone issue is one fraught with confusion. While the government has acknowledged the rBST growth hormone to be of concern, they fail to recognize the implications of other so called "natural" growth hormones used and still  taught to farmers today. The most humorous blogs/websites are put up by the government, filled with hypocritical statements like

there has been no evidence that has shown that animals treated with growth hormones are a threat to human health. 

And on the same page write 

Reducing exposure with your food intake

Although growth hormones and antibiotics are considered safe for food production in Canada, consider the following tips to reduce your exposure to these additives:

• Organic foods have fewer traces of antibiotics than non-organic foods.
• Since beef cattle are the only animals that contains growth hormones, consider choosing organic beef instead of conventional beef when you can.
• Thoroughly wash all vegetables and fruit for thirty seconds under running tap water to minimize the intake of antibiotics.

This is all off of the (eat right ontario) website located here 

http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Farming-Food-production/Hormones-and-antibiotics-in-food-production.aspx

And if you would like to look at the alberta agriculture and rural development page, you will clearly see what is being used and taught to "farmers", why they use it and there so called "benefits" in production.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/beef11691#Introduction

Growth hormones in food

Whether or not these "farmers" are required to state they have used "natural" or synthetic hormones is a whole other question. This should be brought up any time you speak to a farmer, be informed, if you feel any type of pull back or beating around the bush, say thank you and walk away. People who practice good farming methods are happy to talk about what they grow with ( I know I am ).

The old time farmers from the industrial age are lost in a world of herbicides/pesticides/ growth hormones/antibiotics/ and petroleum. IMO This should not be called farming, this is a disgrace to the name. All it has done is wrecked our land, seeds and health, giving rise to corporations like Monsanto and Dow chemical. 

Farmers??  you dont deserve the name.

This post will be more towards growth hormones with a follow up on antibiotic use.

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