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I know Linda normally handles quiz duties, but I received a couple of intriguing pictures last week.  Rather than just tell you all what’s going, I thought we’d have a little sport with it.

The photo below was taken last week ago at a container seedling nursery in western Michigan.  These are trays of container-grown spruces.  Most of the seedlings are green and growing but some are tip-damaged – with a specific pattern.  What’s going on and what caused the pattern?… Continue reading this article “Monday pop quiz time!”

Last August I posted some photos from a field tour in Austria where we saw an organic Christmas tree farm that used Shropshire sheep as their principle form of weed control.  The particular breed of sheep is suited to the task since they will graze on grass and weeds but not on conifers.  Since then I have shared the pictures elsewhere and found out the Shropshire sheep are also employed in the U.S. and the U.K.… Continue reading this article “Something sure to get your goat”

Why does everyone want to kill dandelions?  I like dandelions.  I like that my kids go and pick them and give them to me.  I like that they break up the monotonous green of my yard.  I like that they can be used to make wine (though I’ve never had any).  I like that I can pick one and take it apart to teach my kids and the kids in my classes about the basic morphology of flowers.… Continue reading this article “Dandelions”

Well, things continue to run fast and furious as we get rolling for a new round of field research projects.  But we did find a little time to break out the Cornhole set and initiate a new season at Daisy Hill farm.  Life is good!

After Jeff’s recent eclectic musical selection of Rasputina’s 1816, I thought I’d go a little more mainstream with Lynard Skynard’s ‘Swamp music’.  Turn it up and remember; if it’s too loud, you’re too old. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wJWBcj7lsY

So, what got me thinking about the swampy backwoods down South and the late, great Ronnie Van Zant?  The arrival of pallet after pallet of bagged cypress mulch at every gas station/convenience store in the area.  Like the first robin, the annual appearance of bagged cypress mulch is another harbinger of spring. … Continue reading this article “Cypress mulch re-visited”

Rotenone is an organic insecticide that has been voluntarily withdrawn by its manufacturer because it’s quite toxic, it’s dangerous to the environment, and there is some evidence that it causes Parkinson’s disease.  And there are safer choices.  For my post today I was thinking of posting about all of the places I could still buy rotenone, but after doing a web search I couldn’t find many – and most of the places I found to purchase it don’t really have it (I don’t think) – they’re just old pages that weren’t taken down.… Continue reading this article “Rotenone in Dog Medication”

Despite Linda’s assertion to the contrary, I was not cow-tipping nor was I sampling micro-brews last week when I missed my regular post.  As usual, the beginning of spring is a busy time on the research side of my appointment.  This past week we began setting up for a major new project.  The goal of our newest study is to look at physiological traits of street trees that may enable them to better withstand future climate change. … Continue reading this article “Here we go again…”

I like to say that my taste in music is eclectic, but it’s not really true.  I like music that is known as classic rock (60s – 80s rock once known as pop) and I like music known as "alternative" (really a meaningless term — but I don’t invent the labels).  The one band that I love who might be considered completely out of the mainstream is Rasputina — a cello based group who sing about many things, including history. … Continue reading this article “Why I Don’t Worry Too Much about Trees Dying after Late Frosts”

A few weeks ago I posted on the disappointing inclusion of compost tea in the APLD’s Guide to Sustainable Soils.  Included in my discussion of the issue was the suggestion that people involved in writing the guide also benefited financially from compost tea applications.  This led to some very honest and constructive emails between me and the APLD’s national leadership, which resulted in educating both parties.

Here’s what I found from the APLD’s President Susan Olinger and Sustainability Chair Toni Bailey:  “As members of the Board of Directors of APLD, we can verify that there was no financial motive behind the inclusion of compost tea by the volunteers that wrote the soils guide.” … Continue reading this article “An update on the APLD’s soils guide”