This is the part of Michigan
fall and winter I dislike the most, the days without any sunshine and we sure
have had a stretch of them. Hopefully we
are going to see an improvement in the weather by the end of the week. Even though the temps have went down below
freezing several nights my hose at the barn is still running and I don’t call
it winter until the hose quits running.
There are 2 almanacs that call themselves farmer’s almanacs
- one is the plain Farmer’s Almanac and
the other is the Old Farmers Almanac.
One predicts a cold and snowy winter, the other a mild and dry one. It should be interesting to see which is
closer to what really happens with our weather.
So far both have been way off on the weather predictions for the first
part of November.
I actually picked a bouquet of roses this weekend, peach,
red and white from the landscape roses and I have mums, dianthus, marigolds,
salvia and petunias still blooming. My
rosemary is blooming inside on the porch along with geraniums.
I am so glad the elections will be over today. I don’t really care who wins as long as it’s
over and all the politicians get back to the jobs we elected them to do. Let’s get the farm bill passed and other
important work done in Washington.
All of the billions of dollars that are spent on election
ads and campaigning are such a waste.
Think of all the glossy cardboard mailers filling the landfills. If you are like me you tossed them before
even looking at them. I considered
putting a trash can by the mailbox with a sign that said “deposit election mail
here”. Instead I settled for a trash can
by the back door where I dumped the flyers, all unread.
Consider investing in
stevia
I have seen several articles advising investors to buy stock
in American companies that are growing or processing stevia, the herb used to
make a sweetener that does not affect blood sugar like traditional sugar. Most stevia is now grown in China
and most processing is also done there.
There are parts of the United States that are ideal for growing stevia
and new large scale growers are beginning to pop up, especially in
California. We need investors to back
growers and to invest in processing facilities.
This is a crop with lots of potential and American farmers
need to jump on the opportunity. The
demand for stevia is growing in the US
and is quite high in Europe and Japan. It’s not that hard to grow and harvest on a
commercial scale but the US
lacks processing facilities to turn the herb into sweetener. We need research here in the US
on growing, harvesting and processing stevia by our major agricultural
Universities.
Plant names
Have you ever picked a plant because you like the name? My husband once insisted on a pricy
collection of bearded iris that had names like ‘Street Walker’ and ‘Jezebel’
because he liked the names. A name can
mean the difference between a hot selling plant and a dud, even though the
plant itself can be a stunning addition to horticulture or a lackluster copycat
of another variety.
One of the best selling Austin
roses is ‘Wedding Day’ although it is a fussy and weak rose that doesn’t thrive
in most gardens. In fact the top selling
roses often have celebratory names like ‘Diamond Jubilee’ or ‘Birthday
Girl’. Names of athletes, singers and
movie stars are also popular with the plant buying public. Different names are more appealing in
different countries and the same plant is sometimes sold under different names
in different countries.
When growers develop new plants they want to market they
register them with one of the worldwide networks of International Cultivar
Registration Authorities or (ICRA). Each
registry works with one or several species of plants. A grower gives each new plant cultivar(
variety) a code name, often
abbreviations or series of numbers and registers it with a ICRA. They now own
the rights to market that plant. They
then give the plant its’s “marketing” name or they sell it to another company
with the rights to give it a marketing name.
The International
Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) has had rules for naming new
plants with those marketing names since 1959.
The name must be unigue, must be in a modern language and not look or sound
like a Latin name, must not be more than 10 syallables or 30 characters, and a
plant must must not be named after a living person without their permission.
Like dog and
horse breeders naming their animals with kennel or stable names, many plants
have a “house” name, such as Proven Winners before a common name. You will often see a ® or ™ by plant names to
protect the name. Other plants are
named for birds, whimsical features,
states and other themes, like my husbands “lady of the night” iris’s. Most plant names are devised for marketing
appeal.
Some plants are
donated to charitable causes for naming, with all or part of the profits from
the sale of the plant going to the cause.
Hence we have an increasing number of pink flowered plants being
marketed with themes related to breast cancer, whether those varieties are
anything special or not. People also
buy the rights to name a plant after family members or those they wish to
honor. Some growers produce numbers of plants with barely discernable
differences to sell to other nurseries and companies for naming and marketing.
Be wary when
purchasing plants because you like the name.
Make sure the plant is suitable for your planting zone and has the
qualities you need in a plant, such as disease resistance, rather than just a
charming name. And be warned that the
colors used in a name such as ‘Blueberry Sunday’ may not really reflect the
color of a plants flower or foliage.
Terms like “Early Sunrise” may not reflect the growing habits of the
plant either.
To make things
worse some plants are re-named after a number of years or in different
countries. Often in these cases you will
see the original registered code name in small letters somewhere in the
description, at least in good catalogs. The best advice when chosing plants is to read
the description of the plant carefully before picking it because of it’s name.
Mosquitoes and triglycerides
Chemist Charles Cantrell at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Natural Products
Utilization Research Unit (NPURU) in Oxford, Miss., has been studying a plant called Jatropha curcas whose seed oil has long been burned in
lamps in India and Africa to ward off mosquitoes. Research indicates the oil does have
repellant properties for insects.
Scientists were intrigued when they found that the free
fatty acids and triglycerides in the oil were what caused the mosquito’s to
avoid the area. While they knew from
previous work that fatty acids repel insects this was the first time
triglycerides were found to repel insects.
Scientists are combing Jatropha oil with other products in hopes of
producing a new insect repellant.
It makes you wonder though, if the amount of fatty acids and
triglycerides in a person’s blood may be responsible for the difference in how
attracted mosquitoes are to different people.
Some people tend to attract mosquitoes more than others, which might
mean they are healthier, since those with more fatty acids and triglycerides, a
not so healthy condition, would be less attractive to mosquitoes.
Please read my new article on sempervivums (hens and
chicks).
“Hens and chicks” are
an old favorite of gardeners. Hardy and easy to grow these plants got their
common name because the original plant or “hen” produces lots of little
plantlets on long stems, dubbed “chicks.” These succulent plants are more
properly called Sempervivum tectorum. They are native to Europe
and in English gardens are often called houseleeks. In Europe Sempervivums
often grew on thatched or slate roofs. The Latin name means “live forever on
roofs”.
Sempervivums are rich
in garden folklore. It is said when they grow on roofs that they protect the
house from lightning and fire. This may have some basis in fact because
something green and moist would make it harder for a fire to start, at least on
a thatched roof. Grandmothers are supposed to give their grandchildren “chicks”
to grow for good luck. Sempervivums are said to be a favorite of fairy
gardeners.
Read more here.
Please read my new article on cooking and storing Jerusalem
Artichokes.
Whether you harvest
them from the garden or pick them up at the farmers market Jerusalem artichokes are a delightful and interesting fall treat.
The knobby tubers are also known as SunChokes, Indian
potatoes and French potatoes. They are a Native American crop that early
colonists knew well and which helped them survive many a winter.
Jerusalem artichokes have a different form of starch called
inulin, than our common white potatoes. This starch converts to a sugar that
does not cause a steep rise in human blood glucose and is a good potato
substitute for diabetics. Recent research has shown that Jerusalem artichokes also help our digestive system become more
efficient. The knobby tubers are also high in iron, potassium and thiamine.
Read more at
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