The early bird gets the berries
Portland Press Herald - 6/16/2010. By Meredith Goad – Strawberry lovers, David Handley has a message for you: “Don’t wait.” If you’ve been dreaming of piling some biscuits or pound cake high with succulent red berries topped with mounds of fresh whipped cream, now’s the time to start thinking about where you’re going to get them. |
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“No till” is a big white lie
Energy Bulletin - 6/16/2010.By Gene Logsdon – “No till” is a popular term coined by farm technologists to refer to planting crops without working up a loose, fine seedbed beforehand. The original idea was to plant seeds using a special “no-till” planter, in undisturbed sod killed with a herbicide, or into last year’s undisturbed plant residue, particularly cornstalks, thereby reducing erosion. It took lots of herbicides to make it work but that’s another story. |
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Fungi blamed for dying pine needles
Portland Press Herald - 6/15/2010. McClatchy News Service – Along with heavy downpours from thunderstorms in recent weeks, many residents in the Monadnock Region -- and throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont – have been noticing showers of a different kind. Forest officials have been flooded with reports since last month of white pine trees dumping their needles in droves, said Kyle Lombard, forest health specialist with the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands. |
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Connell organic farmer touts 'beetle banks' to protect crops
News Tribune (Tacoma, Wa.) - 6/14/2010. By Kevin McCullen – Connell, Wa.: Organic farmer Brad Bailie is a believer in bugs. Strips of blooming plants in a maze of colors – from blue bachelor buttons to white yarrow – dot his 600-acre farm north of Connell. They border fields of potatoes, onions, shallots, primitive heritage wheat varieties spelt and einkorn, and camelina. |
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