Monthly Archives

Coffee is undoubtedly one of the most popular drinks in modern history. Currently, more than 166 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee beans are consumed annually across the world. With such a large consumption, it is normal to wonder how coffee travels from the farms and reaches the tables to consumers. The best coffee makers in Canada are only the start of this story, where do the beans actually come from?

Planting

Before coffee becomes the drink that is known and loved by many, it undergoes several processes. The first process involves planting the caffea. Caffea is a flowering plant that bears “coffee cherries” that contain coffee beans required to make coffee. The caffea shrub is cultivated on several continents, usually in tropical areas.

Unlike most fruits, coffee cherries do not ripen after harvest. Thus, during harvest season, only the most experienced pickers are called to do the job to make sure that the best cherries are plucked.

Harvesting

The coffee beans are then harvested either by selective picking or strip picking. Selective harvesting is done by experienced pickers to harvest high-quality Arabica coffee. This method is labor-intensive and time-consuming. On the other hand, strip picking harvesting coffee by hand or mechanical harvester.

Processing

Once the cherries have been sorted and organized, they are immediately processed to prevent spoilage. There are different methods of processing the coffee cherries to get the coffee beans and this depends on the region and resources available.

There are different types of processing methods including:

• Washed (wet)
• Sun-drying
• Mechanical drying
• Natural drying
• Semi-washed
• Resting

After the processing, the coffee beans must be in the resting period, where they remain in parchment for 15 to 90 days. Several factors must be taken into consideration when resting the coffee beans. If the resting is not done properly, the coffee beans will age faster and have unwanted flavors once it is milled.

Milling

Once the coffee beans are well-rested, milling follows. Milling involves hulling which is the removal of all remaining materials in the bean, followed by polishing, then cleaning and sorting, and lastly grading. At this point, the coffee beans will be prepared for shipping.

Roasting

The next process is roasting the beans. Roasting is usually done in the importing country to maintain the freshness of the coffee beans. During roasting, the coffee beans are heated until they attain the well-known brown color.

Once again, there are many factors to be considered when roasting coffee beans because these variables will affect the flavor of the coffee. Once the roasting is done, the coffee beans are cooled and rested for a few hours to one whole day.

Packaging

After the long process, the coffee beans can now be packaged and sold to the public. Most consumers are concerned with the roast date and level of roasting because these are indicators of whether the coffee beans are still viable or stale.

If they are still fresh, which is usually within four to seven days from roasting, the coffee beans are ground to the desired consistency. You may grind them to be coarse or fine.

Brewing

Once the desired consistency has been obtained, the final step is brewing. This is the culmination of all the processes because coffee the drink is finally made. Several techniques can be used to brew coffee depending on the preferred coffee profile of the coffee drinker.

Conclusion

Getting coffee from coffee plants is a long journey from the farm to the table. We hope that you now have insight into what is involved in making this delicious drink.

Almost 700 million people become ill because of illnesses caused by mosquitoes every year, while more than a million of them die. Therefore, it’s not surprising why many people are adamant about figuring out ways to eliminate mosquitoes in their gardens and around their homes.

Still, prevention proves to be the best way since it can be hard to control mosquitoes if they have a very large population. If you’re wondering how to manage mosquitoes in the garden, then we’ve got just the right tips for you.

How to Protect Yourself

When working in the yard, make sure that you protect your exposed skin. You can cover it by wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. Wearing shoes, socks, a hat, and gloves can also provide extra protection.

You can even use different mosquito killer sprays on your clothes. For this, you can choose a spray with diethyltoluamide, a chemical known as Deet in different concentrations. Though further research is still needed on how safe Deet is, it is generally safe to use low concentrations. However, rather than applying it to the skin, you have to apply it to your clothing for mosquito protection instead.

You can also purchase shirts that have a fabric infused with mosquito repellent. You don’t have to worry about washing these shirts since the repellent will be effective even if you launder them many times. You can also use lotions and sprays for mosquito protection on your skin. Get ones with citrus oil, such as wipes that you can rub on your skin.

If you don’t want to use chemicals, you can opt for a Bug Baffler shirt which can cover you from the head down to your waist. It is also made from a very fine mesh material to help prevent mosquitoes and flies from coming near you. Moreover, it is more comfortable than a long-sleeved shirt as you can move more freely when working in your garden.

How to Prevent Mosquitoes

Mosquito prevention is more effective and important than protection. Just keep in mind that you don’t have to protect yourself too much if you can control the mosquito population even before they invade your garden.

You can remove standing water from drain outlets everywhere and anywhere in your house to get rid of their breeding sites. You can also use citronella since it is known to protect you from mosquitoes. You can opt to get citronella torches with oil or candles and place them in small areas in your home, such as the patio, when you have guests over.

Placing an electric fan on your patio or porch also works because mosquitoes and flies hate wind.

Conclusion

Always remember to also practice protective and preventive measures even inside your home. Don’t wait before it’s too late before you start acting. As early as possible, get rid of their breeding grounds to ensure they won’t multiply. This way, you can enjoy a mosquito-free backyard and property.

Hedgehogs are innocent little furry creatures that are not harmful to humans. Generally, hedgehogs will get scared and will run away from humans, or they will curl up into a spiky ball. However, their spikes can penetrate the skin and may cause a little discomfort.

Despite their timid demeanor, the hedgehog population has been declining. According to a report in Britain, the population of hedgehogs has fallen by about 50 percent. With this knowledge, we should take certain actions to increase the hedgehog population. This can be done by attracting them to friendly gardens and giving them a home.

However, hedgehogs don’t just wander around your garden normally. There are things you must do to make your garden hedgehog-friendly. Here are some tips that will certainly help attract hedgehogs into garden hedgehog houses.

Before we dive deeper into the different ways of how to attract hedgehogs into your garden, let’s watch some interesting watch about these little animals.

5 Ways to Attract Hedgehogs into Your Garden

1. Create Pathways for The Hedgehogs

While you may want to fence your property to ensure privacy, this may keep the hedgehogs out. So, how do you invite them in? First, you need to create a pathway that will allow your hedgehogs to get into your garden.

Also, by creating hedgehog holes, you are allowing these furry little creatures to enter your garden. A hedgehog hole allows the hedgehog to travel from garden to garden. At night, hedgehogs usually travel around 1 mile. They like to stay near the edges as they feel much safer. Nonetheless, they will also wander around from time to time. During the breeding season, males can go about 2 miles.

The best way to create these pathways is to set up a meeting with your neighbors and devise a plan or come up with an agreement to create hedgehog pathways. The right pathways will undoubtedly attract hedgehogs to your garden.

2. Build a Hedgehog Home

You can also attract hedgehogs into garden hedgehog houses by building one for them.

You can build hedgehog houses by yourself, or you can buy hog houses from different online shops. If you opt to go DIY, you can randomly pile logs and add some leaves to the box.

For an average size garden, perhaps 2 to 3 hedgehog houses are best. Place the box in your garden under the garden shed or thick vegetation. Ultimately, you need to create a safe nesting for your hedgehog. Although these shelters are specifically made for hedgehogs, they can add any aesthetic to your garden. These hedgehog houses can be very decorative, depending on your creativity.

3. Avoid Noisy Places

If you are looking to attract hedgehogs, you should know that they require peace. This is especially true during the day since this is their sleeping time, and they need some quiet.

Therefore, when creating a good hedgehog home, make sure that it is far from busy roadways, businesses, or construction sites. Also, children and noisy dogs can scare them away.

4. Supplement Them with Food and Water

This is very obvious, but this is still worth noting. Hedgehogs need a lot of water, and supplying enough will attract them into your garden. For food, you can use cat or dog pellets to supplement their natural diet. Also, make sure that you put a bowl of water in your garden.

If you already have a hedgehog house, you can leave it somewhere close to it. This is also to encourage them to stay there. During the cold months, you may have to change the water supply regularly as it may get frozen if it gets too cold.

5. Do Not Disturb Them During Hibernation

This is pretty tricky since it is very hard to determine whether a hedgehog is hibernating in your garden or not. However, you need to resist the temptation to disturb the hedgehog if you find that it is hibernating in your garden. Just leave them be and let them hibernate. Usually, hedgehogs hibernate during November and March.

Final thoughts

Being at the top of the food chain, human beings are quite unchallenged by most species. However, this does not mean that we should pay attention to other living things, especially those declining in population. Hedgehogs are not harmful and deserve to live well and populate. The above tips can help you attract hedgehogs into garden hedgehog houses.