Got to spend Friday in the field in northern Michigan visiting growers and seeing some neat stuff: Great fall color, some natural concolor x Fraser fir hybrids and some awesome root systems produced by root pruning. Unfortunately, like the dog that ate the homework, my camera decided not to part with the images. I am tracking down replacements and will post an update on Friday.</d
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The wackiness continues
It seems like every year we end up talking about ‘weird’ weather; either it’s extreme heat, extreme cold, too much rain, not enough rain, and on and on. Here in the upper Midwest and other parts of the central US, however, 2012 is clearly a year to remember. Our winter was fairly unremarkable until we hit 8 days over 75 deg. in mid-March. This pushed our growing degree days up at least 3 weeks and set the stage for widespread late-freeze damage in April, wiping out the state’s cherry, peach, and plum crops. … Continue reading this article “The wackiness continues”
Why I Don’t Worry Too Much About Organic Fruits and Veggies
Let me tell you something you already know. If you grow something in your own garden you’ll know exactly what poisons were or weren’t put on it, how much fertilizer was used, and furthermore it will taste better.
If you buy your apples from the guy down the street who you’ve known for 20 years you’ll be able to ask him what he used to grow the crop, why he used it, and you’ll have the satisfaction of supporting a local industry. … Continue reading this article “Why I Don’t Worry Too Much About Organic Fruits and Veggies”
The new hardiness map’s obsolete! The new hardiness map’s obsolete!
I posted back in January about my excitement about the update of the USDA Hardiness zone map. While I acknowledged some of the shortcomings of the new map, I was excited because it was a big improvement over the old map, both in terms of content (more recent temperature data included) and presentation (interactive search features, better graphics).
Dr. Nir Krakauer, assistant professor of civil engineering in The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, was less impressed, however, and has essentially declared the new hardiness map dead on arrival. … Continue reading this article “The new hardiness map’s obsolete! The new hardiness map’s obsolete!”
The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.
Ginny Stibolt of the Florida Native Plant Society recently posted Native Plant Issues: The good, the bad and the ugly, featuring me as the ugly. I posted a reply on her post, which I include here. To keep things in context, I encourage you to read her post first.
Enjoy your weekend!
Hi Ginny:
Some comments and a few points of clarification.
On the first item, as a Federal agency the USDA is bound by the Executive Order on Invasive Species which defines natives as species that occur in an ecosystem “other than as a result of an introduction”. … Continue reading this article “The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.”
Poisoned bird seed and trust
Over the years I’ve said some nice things about Scotts Miracle-gro products, such as one of their potting soils, and some not so nice things, such as with their Round-up resistant Kentucky bluegrass. I’ve never thought of them as a particularly good or particularly bad company, just a company trying to do the best it could while being reasonably honest about what it was doing (You could argue that they tried to pull something fancy with the Round-up resistant Kentucky bluegrass, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they were just exploiting an obvious governments loophole – not exactly good, but hey, it’s a dog eat dog world out there).… Continue reading this article “Poisoned bird seed and trust”
Wandering in the Woods
This past week a friend of mine, Carol Reese, an Extension Specialist at the University of Tennessee (and one of my favorite speakers), told me that she’d like to post a little something about natives. I said sure, no problem, just send it along. And she did. But before posting it sometime next week, I thought I’d post another article that she sent along — one that isn’t quite so sciency and which will let you get to know Carol before you hear what she has to say about natives.… Continue reading this article “Wandering in the Woods”
Fearless fall color predictions
Happy Labor Day! Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable 3-day weekend. Labor day is the unofficial end of summer, which means fall is just around the corner. In fact, fall may be a little early this year around these parts. We are already starting to pick up some fall color – mainly maples, sassafras, and sumac. I usually get some calls from various media outlets asking for predictions on fall color. It’s always a dicey proposition. Weather going into fall is certainly a factor for fall color, but conditions during the fall itself are the final trump card. … Continue reading this article “Fearless fall color predictions”
Tomatoes, Dingleberry Deer, and the Goose Poop
Do you ever get annoyed right after you eat a nice, ripe, homegrown tomato at those little pieces of tomato skin that get caught in your teeth, or even against the roof of your mouth? Sure, the tomatoes are worth it, but those little pieces of skin can drive me up the wall for hours afterwards, especially after eating a bunch of cherry tomatoes.
This post is about how I learned to get rid of those little tomato bits.… Continue reading this article “Tomatoes, Dingleberry Deer, and the Goose Poop”
For those participating in the discussion tomorrow
For those people participating in the discussion on Google + tomorrow I just wanted to let you know that I will be inviting you to participate in a "hangout" a few minutes before the discussion is scheduled to begin. You will need to be on Google + to see and join this hangout. If for some reason you don’t see it, go to hangouts on the left side of the screen. Once you get to the hangouts screen you’ll see hangouts to join and this one should be there! … Continue reading this article “For those participating in the discussion tomorrow”