There are lots of reasons consumers give for buying organic foods, but a few reasons are very common. Among them is the notion that organic foods are better for you. Really? Are organic fruits and veggies better for you? Depends on what you mean by ‘better for you’. But as far as we know, the answer is probably ‘no’, especially if you’re buying organic fruits and veggies (F&V) at the store. It might seem crazy, but there’s no good evidence to support the notion that you will be more healthy by shopping for organic F&V. … Continue reading this article “Visiting Professor guest post: Organic foods”
Category: Amusing Facts
Short tree syndrome solved!
Good answers from Kenny S., Jimbo, Joe Schalk and Diana! You were all skirting about the phenomenon of thigmomorphogenesis – or touch-induced change (also discussed in Jeff’s post of January 7. The tests in the GP’s class are cumulative!). In this case, the touch is wind. Edge trees (or corn stalks) are more exposed and receive more wind, resulting in stunted heights and increased trunk diameter (you can’t see this last characteristic in the Friday photo). … Continue reading this article “Short tree syndrome solved!”
Last-Frost-Date Roulette
We all play the game – at least the more impetuous among us do. You sneak a few tender things out into the garden, or on to the patio. When the temperature drops and there’s a frost warning, no problem…just cover them up or bring them in.
Unless you forget.
This WAS a rare and neato Pereskia aculeata ‘Variegata’. Paul W., please send me another…
Before dawn on Monday morning, (May 9) the temperature on our little mountainside dropped below freezing for four hours, going as low as 29.5 F according to our weather station. … Continue reading this article “Last-Frost-Date Roulette”
Do These Come In Control Top?
For those color-conscious gardeners who can’t bear to have visible tomato ties (or panty lines):
Only $2.99 for eight pieces? Whatta deal!
Do you know how many tomato ties you can get from a pair of hose? Especially if you are a “long”? About fifty. Of course they’ll be nude or black, unless you bought into that purple trend last season.
Yeesh.
ps: I do like Lusterleaf’s (company responsible for the above) can o’ twine with the handy cutter-top, though.… Continue reading this article “Do These Come In Control Top?”
Thieves purr
Today I found a cool website – it’s an anagram generator (http://wordsmith.org/anagram/). The title of today’s post is the first of the 553 anagrams generated from the word SUPERthrive.
I’ve been getting free samples of SUPERthrive for a long, long time. For those of you living on a remote desert island, SUPERthrive is a product invented and sold by “Dr. John A. A. Thomson (in 27 different title Who’s Who Directories),” according to one of the promotional flyers. … Continue reading this article “Thieves purr”
Products!
Just returned from a mega field trip across the state of Virginia with my Ornamental Plant Production & Marketing class. We toured major wholesale nurseries, greenhouses, and retail garden centers over the course of three days. The trip went well, I believe (university field trips are a considered a success if you return with the same number of students you left with).
One over-arching trend is, of course, that growers and retailers are going after the veg/fruit thing in a big way.… Continue reading this article “Products!”
Baffling Daffs
It is daffodil season in the Northern Hemisphere, hurrah! May their blooms shoo away the gray of winter! It is also the season where everybody and their mother writes something about the wonders of the genus Narcissus, so figured I’d join the fray, but with a bit of a chip on my shoulder…
Miss ‘Barrett Browning’ in the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech
I recently read YET ANOTHER article warning against mixing daffodil stems in with other cut flowers due to “harmful effects from the sap”.… Continue reading this article “Baffling Daffs”
You say tomato, I say phytochrome
Yesterday I got an interesting email about a new product – a Tomato Automator. Briefly, this square, red plastic disk slips around the stem of a tomato plant to suppress weeds and pests. Most intriguingly, we’re told that the color “triggers a natural plant protein that makes tomatoes mature faster and product more fruit.”
Given this is a red product, it’s likely that the protein referred to is phytochrome (literally, “plant pigment”). Phytochrome activity is maddeningly complicated to explain, so we’re going to keep this simple and refer (somewhat inaccurately) to “active” and “inactive” forms of phytochrome. … Continue reading this article “You say tomato, I say phytochrome”
I’m Saving Myself for Pollination
Let’s take a very brief respite from the socio-religious implications of science, soil testing, and compost tea to ponder a more lighthearted topic. I need a bit of a morale-boost.
You: “O.K. Holly, Spring’s allegedly coming…how about a closer look at some wildflowers?”
Me: “Done!” (fingers snapping)
For a short time in March, forest floors across Eastern North America can be absolutely littered with a multitude of sparkling white flowers. This very cool little plant, Sanguinaria canadensis, is one of the first wildflowers to emerge in the spring and colonizes deciduous and mixed woodlands.… Continue reading this article “I’m Saving Myself for Pollination”
My Favorite Drug
I love coffee, but I’m not a big coffee drinker. On average I probably consume a cup of coffee every week or two. Why don’t I drink it more often? For a few reasons: First, I’m too jumpy/jittery/nervous to begin with and I don’t need this stuff making it worse, second, it tends to upset my stomach if I haven’t had a meal beforehand, and third, while I like regular coffee, the stuff that I really love are those insane fru-fru coffee drinks that you can only get at specialty shops for five or six bucks — which seems like a waste of money to me. … Continue reading this article “My Favorite Drug”