Author: jeffgillman003

Powers of the Mind

 

A couple of days ago I read a journal article which seemed to show that certain individuals could, using some sort of mind powers, called biofield treatments, influence the growth of plants.  You can read the article here.

In case you were wondering what goes through my mind when I read something like this, let me tell you:  The first thing that enters my head are skeptical thoughts.  I try to get rid of these quickly though, because I believe that, as a scientist, it is my job to critically evaluate the science behind the paper without letting my own preconceived notions influence me.  … Continue reading this article “Powers of the Mind”

Good Stuff

Boy oh boy, what a fun day!  People yelling at me from the left and from the right.  But hey, I didn’t start doing what I do to make everyone happy.  With that said….Nah, I don’t feel like attacking anyone today.  Instead, let’s look at a good renewable fertilizer: Cotton seed meal.  It’s got a reasonably good ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus and potassium — slow release of course.  Basically a waste product given a meaningful purpose. … Continue reading this article “Good Stuff”

The Strawberry, And What Do You Do For An Encore?

 

Once upon a time, a long time ago (around 1714), a spy, posing as a merchant, was dispatched from France to Chile to investigate the defenses which the Spanish had installed there.  While there, he also had the opportunity to see some truly amazing plants, but he was most impressed by the strawberries.  Strawberries of one sort or another are native throughout most of the world, but most are just little bitty things.  They may taste good, but you’ve got to get quite a few of them together to make a decent snack. … Continue reading this article “The Strawberry, And What Do You Do For An Encore?”

Thomas Knight and the Water Wheel

Classes have begun, and this semester (and every spring semester) I have the opportunity to teach our introduction to horticulture class, otherwise known as Plant Propagation (Hort 1001).  We usually have about 120 students, and I don’t want to brag or anything, but it is just about the best class out there.  Watching the students learn about seeds, cuttings, and grafting in the labs is one of the most motivating things about my job (and it doesn’t hurt that the greenhouses are about 70 degrees while it’s 0 outside). … Continue reading this article “Thomas Knight and the Water Wheel”

Balance

By this time most of you have probably read all about Mark Lynas, the anti-GMO activist who decided that GMOs are actually a net benefit to society.  I’ve been asked by a few people to comment on how I feel about Mr. Lyna’s changing sides.  I think they expect me to be jumping up and down for joy.  But that’s not how I feel at all.  I’m happy when anyone decides to let research lead them to a conclusion rather than politics or gut feelings, but in this case it also makes me nervous. … Continue reading this article “Balance”

Over-Interpreting

One of the things that scientists need to be able to do is to figure out what the research that they conduct means without over-interpreting it.  This isn’t as easy as it seems, for example, if a particular pesticide at a particular dose kills mice, then should it also kill humans?  Without testing we really don’t know – though we certainly have suspicions.  If we allow our suspicions to take over and we say that, based on the mouse data, the pesticide necessarily does or doesn’t affect humans then we’re over-interpreting.… Continue reading this article “Over-Interpreting”

An Interesting Video

Every once in a while someone sends us  a news story or a video to look at critically.  A couple of days ago Michael got in contact with us through Facebook and asked us to take a look at a video he saw recently and let him know what we thought of it.  This video was posted on Russ Bianchi’s website (he goes by the name Uncle Russ).  He includes a short note with the video which says “ALL Genetically Modified Organisms, Ingredients, Crops, Livestock, Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Beverages, Packaging, Flavors, Fragrances, Colors!… Continue reading this article “An Interesting Video”

Planting Edibles in Cities

The snow has just started falling and I’m already thinking about what I’m going to be planting next spring.  Most of my plantings won’t be at my own house, they’ll be out in the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  We’ll be looking at all kinds of fun stuff like growing trees in various new types of containers, adding compost to planting holes in different circumstances, and even pruning methods.  But one of the big things that we’re starting to look at are new trees for the urban environment. … Continue reading this article “Planting Edibles in Cities”

How Can Natives and Exotics Possibly Coexist?

Natives vs. exotics. We’ve heard that before haven’t we Bert?  Well, here’s an interesting little nugget published recently in the journal Ecology Letters.  Exotics and natives are different, and their differences allow them to coexist.  In this study exotics were superior to natives in terms of growth, but were fed upon more by herbivores.  Interesting.   Of course there are lots of different types of exotics and natives, but the plants that these researchers looked at had been living together for about 200 years. … Continue reading this article “How Can Natives and Exotics Possibly Coexist?”

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was the day before Thanksgiving.  In my plant production class I always set up a short lab for Wednesday afternoon so that students can leave early and get to wherever they need to go (hopefully to see family).  As usual, I got to lab a little early so that I could get the students going right away.  Waiting for me there was one of my students. 

Earlier in the year I had told the class about commercial mycorrhizae and how the beneficial spores that you think you’re buying are usually dead when you purchase the package. … Continue reading this article “Thanksgiving”