Category: Uncategorized

It has been a busy few weeks for me — holiday traveling, Green Expo talks (that’s our regional conference), and getting ready for a semester leave this year — I’ll be working on a project investigating how professors transfer information to the public.  But during this time I have, for some unexplainable reason, been thinking about Canadian Thistle.  And do you know what I’ve come up with?  This: 

It’s a colossal waste of time and money to worry about Canadian thistle. … Continue reading this article “Canadian Thistle”

NOTE: Linda and I switched places this week so we could get the Garden Professors survey up on Monday – See Linda’s post for the link – please take a minute to give us your feedback!

I recently received a copy of a newsletter from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station that included a summary of an article recently co-authored by one of the Station’s scientists on the effect of urban tree cover on pregnancy outcomes of new mothers in Portland, OR http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sciencef/scifi137.pdf… Continue reading this article “Want healthier babies? Plant trees!”

I am a last minute shopper.  There, I admitted it, and I’m proud of it.  By waiting until the last minute I get to hear about everyone else’s great gifts — and then buy those same gifts for someone else!  that said, here’s a short list of gifts for gardeners — including a few that I wouldn’t mind having myself.

#1  Books — they’re great, especially in the off-season when the gardener in your life needs some inspiration. … Continue reading this article “Last minute items for gardeners”

One thing I’ve always enjoyed about living in Michigan is that we are virtually guaranteed to have a white Christmas each year.  This is in stark contrast to western Washington where I grew up where a white Christmas was a relatively rare event.  In fact, to make the locals feel better, one of the popular songs on the radio play lists during the holidays is “Christmas in the Northwest is a gift God wrapped in green.”… Continue reading this article “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”

Okay, I’m biased:  I’m a whole plant physiologist, meaning that I like to study entire plants in their environment, not just their cells or DNA in a lab.  I got hooked on plants as an undergraduate in marine biology when I took plant physiology for “fun” (translated: I couldn’t find another biology elective to fill the time slot).  Discovering why vines curl around fenceposts (thigmotropism) or how plants sense gravity (statoliths) or why bilaterally symmetrical flowers evolved (to accomodate pollinators) was fascinating, and I finally succumbed to the green side when I entered my PhD program.… Continue reading this article “The sorry state of whole plant physiology”

Last Christmas tree post for me this year and, sadly, it’s not a pleasant one.  As reported by that beacon of journalistic integrity, FOX news, right-wing bloggers killed a marketing check-off program that US Christmas tree producers had worked years to enact.

 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/09/merry-christmas-agriculture-department-imposes-christmas-tree-tax/

 

For those that are not familiar, a check-off program or agriculture marketing order is an assessment that a commodity group levies against itself to raise money for marketing and research.… Continue reading this article “Another victory for the politics of destruction”

If you’re getting sick of the compost tea debate then you can skip this post.  If not, then read on! 

This past week I received my copy of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry 37(6).  And in it, page 269, I discovered an article titled “Laboratory Assays on the Effects of Aerated Compost Tea and Fertilization on Biochemical Properties and Denitrification in a Silt Loam and Bt Clay Loam Soils” by Bryant Scharenbroch, William Treaurer, Michelle Catania and Vincent Brand.… Continue reading this article “More Compost Tea Stuff”

I just can’t resist telling our Christmas tree hunting tradition.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we drive out to Monroe (about 45 minutes north of Seattle) to our favorite tree farm, where we look for the perfect noble fir.  Here, Jim demonstrates his dubious taste in trees:

This year, Charlotte brought a tennis buddy home from college. Nasko lives in Bulgaria and wasn’t traveling home for a holiday they don’t celebrate.  So he got to experience the Great Scott Tree hunt for himself:

My son Jack (on the left) complained that he NEVER got to choose the tree (Mom retains veto power over all selections), and happily for all of us this year he picked the winner:

Jim does the cutting, and the kids do the carrying:

This tree farm also has hot chocolate and candy canes, which we all enjoy before returning to town (Monroe that is) and having lunch at the local Taco Bell.… Continue reading this article “Bert, I’ll see your live tree hunt and raise you one Bulgarian”

My post on Christmas tree safety got blog readers Michael and Thad into the never-ending debate of what’s better for the environment: a real Christmas tree or a fake one.  As is often said: “Where you stand depends on where you sit.”  In the interests of full disclosure I will admit my bias is on the real tree side.  My first job in high school was shearing Christmas trees back when minimum wage was $1.65 /hour (1976).… Continue reading this article “The Real vs Fake Debate”

Over the years I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how to compost.  I’m not a composting expert, and don’t want to pass myself off as one, but I do understand the basics and I like to think of myself as a proponent of composting.  Having said that, there is a composting practice which I’m asked about frequently that I never know quite how to answer.  Should you put meat into your compost?… Continue reading this article “Meat in Compost?”