Securing the Future of Bats in the South East

Knole Park, in Sevenoaks, is one of the few remaining Tudor deer parks to have survived the mass development of our countries landscapes over the past 500 years. The park has seen change over the years; in recent history the park lost nearly 70% of its trees in the great storm of October 1987. Vast oaks and chestnuts scatter the landscape, never failing to impress.
Thankfully, there are still lots of impressive mature trees to behold within the park, trees suitable for the installation of bat hibernation roost boxes.
PJC were commissioned to undertake bat surveys on one of the keeper's cottages on site that had been ear marked for renovation. The surveys revealed that the building did in fact contain a summer transitional roost at one end of the roof void. The species PJC ecologists identified to be using the roost included Brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritis), Common Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Natterer's bats (Myotis nattereri).
As part of the extensive mitigation strategy designed by PJC, a hibernation roost bat box was to be installed within the woodland directly adjacent to the cottage. In conjunction with PJC's sister company PJ Chaffin Ltd the day of installation was upon us. With the aid one of PJ Chaffin's experienced tree climbers, Sam Taylor, the sturdy bat box was hoisted high into the tree chosen by PJC ecologist Tom Rothero.
With a bit of jostling and, "no the other left" the hibernation box was firmly secured with a south facing aspect out across the deer park. Sam then descended from the tree via his web of ropes after creating much hysteria from nearby power walkers, "Oh look, a man up a tree!" one woman exclaimed. Another successful step towards bat conservation in the south east had been completed.
The English country house is surrounded by 1000 acres of parkland, inhabited by the local residents and the wild life. The house has been used for a number of films over the years and continues to hold evens and hoards of visitors. The grounds support a heard of Fallow and Japanese Sika deer,800 in number,that roam around the park. The golf club that is situated within the park was founded in 1924 and is still going strong. Golf isn't the only sport in the park there are plenty of others including cross country competitions every year. The park has some stunning walks that are fantastic to experience at different times of the year.

Aeroponics in Outer Space

Aeroponics provides a clean, efficient, and rapid method of food production. Crops can be planted without soil and harvested year-round. In aeroponics, plants roots are suspended in air, periodically sprayed with a nutrient rich water based solution and then allowed to drain. By alternating wet and dry cycles, the roots are kept moist but also exposed to an abundant supply of oxygen leading to much faster growth than traditional gardening methods. Aeroponics systems reduce water and fertilizer usage by over 90% and by avoiding exposure to soil-born diseases eliminate pesticide usage altogether.
These benefits, along with the great reduction in weight that is achieved by eliminating dirt and significantly reducing the amount of water required for plant growth, are reasons this high-tech method of food production has attracted the interest and support of NASA. On of the hurdles to be cleared for long distance space travel and even colonies on the Moon or nearby planets is finding a means for crews to manage self- sustaining supplies of food and oxygen.
Through aeroponics, this goal becomes a realistic possibility and humans and plants can become best friends in deep space. Humans consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Plants return the favor by consuming carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. Humans can use edible parts of plants for nourishment, while human waste and inedible plant matter can be converted into the nutrient solution used in aeroponics for plant growth. The plants consume the nutrients and return clean water to the system. So aeroponics is a potential source of food, fresh oxygen, clean drinking water and together with humans can create a closed and self-sustaining ecological system.
While aeroponics has not yet been used in long distance space travel, like many other aspects of NASA's technological research, spin-off designs are now being used in commercial agricultural applications for food production. This technology is used to relieve hunger in parts of the world with limited access to arable land and to enable city dwellers to grow their own supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. Aeroponics has also led to advances in cloning of plants from cuttings. Numerous plants which were previously considered difficult, or impossible, to propagate from cuttings can now be replicated simply from a single stem. This is a boon to green houses attempting to propagate their best specimens. With a basic aeroponics setup, any interested individual can now clone plants. Finally, crops can also be grown in half the time required by traditional agricultural methods and require far less labor to harvest.

Small Farmers Are Getting Rich Off Specialty Crops

Small scale farming will change your life.
I'm here to tell you about some of the newest and best crops, animals and agricultural businesses out there today. Many of these commodities have such high demand you will sell your crops before they are even harvested.
With revenues around 100k per acre it is silly not to look into this information. As an Ag consultant I am exposing these new crops that no one has ever heard of.
One example someone called me up curious about growing something on an idle patch of ground that was incapable of growing anything. I suggested she grow a type of ornamental tumble weed and now she is selling the seeds for a substantial income.
It's all about turning that boring plot of land into something useful and productive. Just how productive you want it to be is limited only buy your desire for success. Many clients have been able to go to full time hobby farmer status except they are anything but hobby farmers they now are successful business owners.
While in college for Ag business, I became preoccupied with finding the new crop that would change the world and make me a boatload of money in the process. Actually, preoccupied is an understatement. I was more like obsessed, infatuated, fixated on finding that new crop that would change the world forever.
My obsession has taken me all over the world and into some of the most pristine rainforests and into some of the most hostile deserts. Did I find that secret crop that had the power to change the world? You better believe I did. Was it developed? Yep, and now it's a multi-billion-dollar industry.
That's right-I said multi-billion. Ever heard of Acai? While talk show hosts made this little berry an instant success, others were cashing in on it. Turns out I had a pretty good hunch. That was 10 years ago, and now it's old news. Yet, I knew there were better, more profitable things out there.
The next billion-dollar crop is waiting to be exploited. And I have it in my book. Truth be told, it's not just one crop. I have many different types of plants, animals, and unique agricultural ventures waiting to be planted, grown, developed, and harvested. Why many? One size does not fit all.
Does this mean you will become the next billionaire? Probably not. However, some of my secret niches will generate over $100,000 in an area as small as your back yard.
Here is a letter a client sent to our publication office.
My wife and I purchased a small house with about 30 acres of irrigated ground. We planned on the corn crops to take care of the mortgage however it just wasn't working out like I had thought it would. Instead of making our mortgage this little patch of land was costing us money. With a large fertilizer and chemical bill it simply was costing us more to operate than the income we were bringing in. I knew there had to be a better way. It wasn't until my wife lost her job that I really needed to supplement some income. We went from buying the farm to nearly losing the farm in less than 3 years time.
It wasn't until I got the call from the bank that I decided it was time to sink or swim.
We searched and searched the internet for something that would save the farm. However it wasn't until I found a website called forty acre fortune that the wheels got spinning. There were so many great ideas for small scale farming I didn't sleep for a week, thinking of which one would be best for all of us and because my beautiful wife would be doing most of the work I wanted something easy for her to manage and not incredibly physically demanding.
After purchasing some information from the Ag consultant who wrote the book, I called him to discuss my next move. He was very knowledgeable of new crops that I have never heard of, and was more than willing to help out. Jon was very adamant about matching the right crop for our lifestyle and now that we are in production I'm so glad because now our family has time for vacations and most weekends are spent off the farm, we have never been happier.
After working with him for a while we decided to settle on a type of berry that helps fight cancer. It has been a big learning curve but we came out on top with average profits of 40 thousand per acre this little hobby farm is now a very lucrative business. I'm so glad I found this information it has literally changed my life.

Aronia Berry Juice Health Benefits

Pucker up and prepare to experience the benefits of the tart Aronia Berry. The term "super food" gets used a lot, but when it comes to these berries and their juice health benefits, the term is well-deserved. These berries are a genuine miracle of nature. Aronia is a low-maintenance and nearly a pest-free crop. It is easy to grow the aronia plant organically because it does not need to be protected against pathogens, pest, and diseases, as a result the fruit does not contain traces of pesticides.
They are 3 times healthier than blueberries. The unique taste of the berry is one of life's unique experiences. Their high antioxidant levels, and high tannin levels make these berries tart. The berries are often made into juice mixed with other juice or made into jelly or other products. Another juice or sweetener is often added to reduce the tart taste
THIS JUICE IS AN ANTIOXIDANT LEADER
First the berry juice is a leading source of antioxidants. Antioxidants as you probably know are composed of a variety of compounds this includes vitamins, enzymes, bio-flavonoids, and peroxidases. Antioxidants break down the free radical molecule neutralizing it. Free radicals formed in your body essentially damage the cells leading to a host of negative effects, including making you age faster and rendering you less able to fight off diseases.
Drinking this juice supplies your body with free radical eliminating compounds that helps get rid of many of them. This helps you slow the process of aging and fend off disease. This claim it is backed up by solid science.
ESSENTIAL ACIDS OFFER DIFFERENT ARONIA BERRY JUICE HEALTH BENEFITS
Constituents within the berry include tannic acid, folic acid, quinic acid, phenolic acids, catechins, ascorbic acid,known as vitamin Cas well as Vitamins B6, B12, and E, minerals, resveratrol, hesperidin and rutin.
The primary organic acids in the berries are: tartaric, natural polyphenolic compounds, antioxidants, malic, and citric. This produces a low pH of 3.3-3.8 inside berries. This in turn hinders bacterial invasion and facilitates transport and storage of aronia berries.
Aronia berry juice is high in tannic acid, or tannins, which is well-known to be an anti-inflammatory agent. The tannins in the berry is what gives aronia berries their astringent taste that most people find objectionable. Aronia berry juice is reported to ease intestinal inflammation, and also inflammation of the joints, or even the skin.
Inflammation causes blood levels of certain proteins to be elevated. Inflammation causes the disruption of normal brain molecules. Inflammatory proteins are thought to possibly be connected to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Let's talk about cancer one of the most dreaded diseases. It is well-known that anyone can get cancer, and so it only makes sense to take any precautions you can to eat and drink as much as practical of the healthy foods which do the most to give you the greatest chance of preventing the start of cancer. The juice fends off cancer in a variety of ways.
It also helps prevent cancer of the stomach and colon because it contains pectin, which is a soluble form of fiber. Aronia berry has a substantial amount of pectin. Pectin is a substance that is needed to thicken jams. It can be added to other fruits that are low in pectin when making jams. Pectin bonds to cholesterol in the stomach and intestine slowing glucose absorption by trapping carbohydrates. The consumption of pectin has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels.
EYE PROTECTION AND ARONIA BERRIES
Amazingly, aronia juice offers some protection for the agonizing condition of macular degeneration of the eyes. This is something for which there is no cure, and which causes blindness. A study found that those who drink high amounts of fruit juices, especially antioxidant rich juices like aronia berry and blueberry juice, have far less chance of developing macular generation as they grow older.
ARONIA BERRIES AS A MEMORY AGENT
Another one of thehealth benefits of the juice is memory improvement. Aronia berries and blueberries have been shown to not only increase brain function, but specifically memory. This is creating excitement among the scientific community because it suggests high aronia berry or blueberry/juice diets can play a role in preventing or staving off Alzheimer's disease. Dark purple berries are reported to promote health and anti-aging. The dark purple pigmentation with their high level of antioxidants called anthocyanins and have been reported to promote mental focus, protect the heart and vision, and prevent free-radical damage or oxidative stress.
GROW YOUR OWN
Why not think about adding a few aronia plants? If you want to become more self-sufficient you might want to think about planting some low maintenance Aronia shrubs. Purchase your Aronia berry plants from a reputable farm and nursery. The berries are produced on easy to grow shrubs that have low maintenance and add beauty to your landscape. Nero aronia plants grow about 3 to 4 feet tall and can make a nice hedge as well as being a source of fruit. A few plants could produce all the berries you need for the year. You can freeze those you do not use during the harvest time and have them throughout the year. You could also make juice and freeze it for use later.
SUMMARY
In my view, aronia is one of the best investments in your health. For less than the price of a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, McCafé at McDonald's or Starbucks you can have an anti-inflammatory, anti-heart disease, anti-cancer, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-diabetes, eye protection, and memory enhancing aronia berry drink that's delicious and healthful. Make some juice from your own home-grown plants and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer for daily use.

The Milky Bar Kids - In The Beginning

Sometimes a combination of youthful enthusiasm and a degree of bravado can carry the day. Other situations demand a large dose of determination that no one should witness the woeful lack of knowledge and experience that actually exists.
Such was the prevailing mindset we held most ferociously to on our first day of milking cows. The poor 'girls' had been milked by a sheep farmer for many weeks whilst the owner searched for a share-farmer. So...what's wrong with a sheep farmer milking cows, you may ask?
Well-ll-ll, for starters, this reluctant milker would round up the cows twice a day with the help of his trusty working dogs, and his equally trusty old utility. Hard to tell which 'moved' the cows faster - the incessant yapping at their heels, or the combined roar of the vehicle's motor and beeping of its horn, whilst simultaneously belching out great clouds of smoke. Certainly, the combination successfully achieved the goal of getting the herd into the dairy in the shortest time known to Man...or beast. Personally, we found ourselves unimpressed by the quantity of milk spread over the paddock by the great swinging udders of the 'sprinters'.
We maybe knew zilch about milking cows (except what this sheep farmer taught us) - but it didn't take an Einstein to figure this was all wrong. Where did two 'city slickers' (in a previous life) learn such patience and skill with handling these large creatures so successfully for the next 10 years on this property, and a further 4 years elsewhere? I can only think that deep love and respect for all animals, coupled with a burning desire to be in total charge of our destiny, were the keys to our success.
On this first day, it was all ahead of us, having graciously refused all offers of help with the confident air of two 'old hands' at this milking 'gig'. It's so funny in retrospect - we're amongst the most honest people you'll ever meet - and yet, on this subject, we blatantly lied and deceived everyone around us, so none should see our quivering interiors. The trusty sheep farmer had actually done us a massive favour, we told ourselves confidently. Nothing we could do could upset them more than he had...could it?
Well-ll-ll, once we had bungled through our first milking; our first full day; our first week - the girls began to respond to our TLC - slowly but surely. They led us far along the steep learning curve of patience and understanding with animals that had begun on the other side of Australia with raising kangaroos, and to this day (40 years later) is still our instinctive way to handle all our creatures - great and small.
It's really not hard when you start with a strong foundation of love and understanding. Did I really say that? Rubbish! Lying again! It's the hardest job in the world, gaining an animal's trust - especially one who has lost trust in humans. We each have several scars on both body and soul to prove it.

The Milky Bar Kids - A Memorable First

Our Dairy was a Herring-bone style with cows standing alongside each other in a staggered fashion - 6 each side of a waist-deep pit where we worked with swing-across sets of milking cups. A strong steel bar across their bottoms and a thick concrete ledge behind their back feet stopped them from joining us down there...mostly.
This old dairy had been the first herring-bone style in the area - a breakthrough in its day - but this one already had 'whiskers on it' - as we would discover. There was a long feed trough with a walk space in front to enable hand-bucketing their ration of crushed grain into it. In the interest of speed and ease of handling, I had carefully lined up the spot where each cow's head would be, and deposited 6 bucketfuls in each trough. Sounded good to me.
On this first day, hubby and I both went on foot to bring the cows in. Their size was just a tad 'over the top' for this ex-secretary, and a little 'Dutch courage' needed bolstering. Lesson No. l - when cows have been herded in by a sheep farmer and his dogs - and are then treated to quiet but firm encouragement by humans 'on foot', they do NOT respond with gratitude and appreciation.
NO...the drippy dames all had to stop everything they were doing 'stare at us wide-eyed'; 'poop'; turn around and start following us (from a fast-diminishing distance...did I mention, cows are SO curious); 'poop' some more; finally start to move together - in the wrong direction; and just for good luck, 'poop' again.
On this day, it required one human in front, for them to follow - and one human at the back to encourage the forward impetus. I cannot tell you how much we have chuckled at the memory. We seriously had no idea! But at last they were in the concrete holding yard with the gate firmly chained behind them. With a press of a button, the milking machine sprung into action and it was 'all systems go'.
Except...the first cow let into the dairy stopped at the first pile of feed in the long trough and started eating. And everyone else started piling up behind her, pushing and shoving like a mob scene at the opening of a department store sale. Soon, there were cows in the engine room - and the milk room around the huge (and extremely valuable) refrigerated milk vat. A couple went down the steps into 'our' pit; two were wedged tight between the tail rail and the trough; and another tried to jump over the feed trough, and succeeded in straddling it instead.
Before this event, we were apprehensive, but quite sure bravado would beat anything we would face. Huh! Now our stomachs and our nervous systems most closely resembled the stuff that jellyfish are made of, as we tried to restore order to the incredible chaos that overwhelmed us. I remember we had to let them all out again into the dirt yard next to the concrete - and clean down the dairy (you can guess why!). Next, remove the offending feed from the troughs. Aha! You feed them after they have walked in and shuffled and arranged themselves (and 'pooped' again - where does it all come from?).
Believe me, its no job for the faint-hearted - all these 'poppy' eyes in huge heads, all staring at you. Some want to sniff and taste you with tongues as long as a snake (well, nearly), whilst others roll their eyes, lay back their ears and toss their heads all about. It's hard to decide which is worse. There was just one more happening before this lengthy day was done, but that's another story - coming soon - honestly!
It had taken us almost 4 hours from 'whoa to go' to milk 26 cows. We were quite proud to find we cut that back to 2-1/2 hours at the next one - the p.m. milking. On that day, we would not have believed the 'norm' we achieved much later - 65 cows in 2 hours!

The Milky Bar Kids - Dog + Dairy = Disaster

Due to previous bad experiences with dogs, we thought it kindest to our new 'girls' (or dairy herd) to keep our dogs tied up on our first official milking day. On foot ourselves, we gently but firmly brought them in - no noisy, smelly vehicle or relentless barkers and heel-nippers for us, as we proceeded to lead them - like over-large lambs to the slaughter, coming to meet their Milkers. And we were confident at this, our second milking, there would be no repeat of the morning's bedlam and mayhem following our exceptional and memorable 'false start'.
Now we were seasoned troopers, and as this second, more educated approach began to near its end, we were almost ready to heave a sigh of relief and congratulate each other loudly on achieving a new world record of 1-1/2 hours only. Well-ll-ll...you know how you shouldn't 'count your chickens before they're hatched'? Hmm-m, well you shouldn't start whipping up a milkshake before you've milked the cow, either.
Disaster loomed, and struck, from a totally unexpected quarter. Our youngest dog wiggled herself loose from her collar and chain, and came to see what Mum and Dad were doing. Gypsy understood she should make a wide detour around these gargantuan beasts, but unfortunately, this took her out onto the dirt road our dairy was close to (for ease of milk pickup).
What she didn't understand was what a road and traffic was, compared to the extra long driveway in to the farmhouse where she had been born and bred, not to mention the care all users had taken to ensure the safety of Mum Candy, and her 8 baby puppies. Admittedly, there was not much traffic on this road, but what there was went fast, and swerved for nothing smaller than a milk-tanker.
And so a truck hit her and sent her helplessly rolling over and over countless times. She was just barely able to painfully and groggily make her way towards us as we came flying out of the dairy, alerted by the truck's horn and the sickening thud.
My husband lifted her into a corner of the milk-room of the dairy and gently placed her on a hastily improvised 'bed' of hessian feed sacks. Then we faced Catch 22...truly, all of that and more. Couldn't leave the cows whilst they were milking, in order to get to the house and summon the Vet. And even if we could, a Vet from where? We didn't even know that yet.
Necessity therefore made the choice for us - just to keep ducking in and out to our darling in the milk-room as often as possible between rows of cows, and finish as quickly as possible. At first Gypsy was semi-comatose, but breathing evenly, though her pulse was rapid (mine was even more so!).
By the time we had finally finished completely, our beloved pet was fully conscious, licking our hands gratefully, profusely and lovingly. She took a little water, but still needed carrying home. Nothing, thankfully was broken and it seemed shock and soreness, and some tearing of the pads on her feet, were responsible for her inability to walk for some hours after her accident.
Apart from bruises and scrapes, Gypsy had survived - and never, for the rest of her long life of 17 years, would she come near enough to a car to suffer possible damage...except to jump on the back of our utility, of course.