14 May 2019 Note these were my quick thoughts on the matter, and this issue would do well with a much deeper, nuanced and well researched (and cited) article, the writing of which I haven’t gotten around to and likely won’t for some time. Thanks to Christian Stalberg for alerting me to the rather terrifying reality that someone besides my mom and a few close friends might be able to find this site before it’s really organized and ‘put out there’. I’d welcome comments, feedback and your thoughts in the comments below, or email me at [susan] dot [cousineau] at [gmail.com]. Thanks.
Dr. Christine Jones is raising some ire. In her workshops, such as that held at Paicines Ranch in early February, she contends that because carbon dioxide comprises just 0.4% of the atmosphere, while water is 80% by mass and 95% by volume, the former is trivial while we really need to be focusing our climate-change efforts on water vapour. Others in the regenerative agriculture community also make similar claims, included renowned former-CSIRO microbiologist Walter Jehne, and soil educator and Soil Carbon Coalition founder Peter Donovan.
I brought up this claim at our lab meeting and everyone was pretty adamant that because water vapour is so variable – basing the argument on differences in humidity – it can’t possibly be considered the most important greenhouse gas, and that whatever science she was citing was either bunk, misunderstood, or both. To be fair, it does seem, at first, appealing and perhaps intuitive to equate ‘most abundant’ (i.e. water) with ‘most important’. That still didn’t really satisfy, because I wasn’t clear if we were all (me, the lab, Christine) referring to atmospheric concentrations, e.g. partial pressures, relative volumes or masses, or local concentrations, e.g. percent humidity, or what, and I wasn’t clear for myself whether it mattered or not. So I left it ‘for now’ and continued writing up my article summarizing the weekend’s workshop. I brainfarted out a place-holder paragraph to note the controversy without landing my foot in either boat, for now:
“One point of Christine’s work, though, raises a lot of eyebrows, and that’s her contention that water vapor, not carbon dioxide, is the critical greenhouse gas that we need to be working to mitigate. A quick read through the literature reveals this is anything but a settled question, and the controversy has been going on for over a decade, with American Chemistry Association, NASA, NOAA, Yale Climate Connections, and other climate research bodies weighing in.”
The ‘over a decade’ remark alludes to a number of articles written in 2008, namely on those websites listed above, but also one in 2004, in addition to others in 2011 and 2016. Clearly the conversation has been going on for awhile; Forbes, The Guardian, New Scientist, Skeptical Science, and Regeneration International (via the AgJournal article) have all weighed in since.
The gist of the counterargument, i.e. water vapour isn’t the gas we need to worry about, lies in the distinction between forcing and feedback. The Yale Climate Connections was the best layperson review for me on this topic, if you’re not clear already. So reducing water vapour, which has been increasing since the Industrial Revolution along with other key greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides, could be advantageous in reducing the feedbacks, it won’t do anything to impact the forcing effects of increasing the other (non-compressible) gases.
Here’s the rub, though: surface warming due to loss of vegetation and desertification is increasing both the amount of water vapour entering the atmosphere by evaporation, and the temperature of the air, allowing it to hold more water as vapour (increased humidity with rising temperature). What Christine Jones is proposing – keeping soils covered year-round with green, growing plants – has enormous capacity to greatly reduce surface soil temperatures. (Here’s a good overview of the surface cooling effects of vegetation on climate). Furthermore, those actively growing plants are busy taking up carbon dioxide and, if her claims are accurate, stacking that carbon deep in the soil, locking it away in soil biology and organic complexes, i.e. humus.
I’m not going to say that it doesn’t matter if her, and others’, take on the science of carbon dioxide vs. water vapour is right or wrong; it does, because if they get that wrong it throws into question her expertise and credibility on all of the other work she speaks on, including the roles of quorum sensing, epigenetics and self-organization in soil microbial communities. The water vapour conversation is controversial, for sure, and for all intents and purposes from what I have read and gleaned from colleagues working in climate-related fields, the claim is wrong: the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides, are the ones we need to be worrying about in terms of emissions reduction, changes to cultural norms and technology, and agricultural reform. We can impact water vapour patterns and distribution by revegetation, especially in trees, which is what Walter Jehne and Peter Donovan (also) actively support; but we ignore the other gases at our peril (see Yale’s discussion on forcing and feedbacks).
However, the impacts of heeding her advice for keeping soil covered year-round, while adding and supporting existing soil biology and plant biodiversity, are good for both the climate and agriculture, in terms of capturing and storing carbon dioxide through the liquid carbon pathway, while reducing surface temperatures, evaporative water losses, and nutrient loss due to run-off and leaching. All these lead to productive gains for farmers, reduced inputs (less pollution, less money, less time), improved ecological health, greater soil water storage (less irrigation), and so on.
For now, I’m going to have to be content to pick and choose through the information she’s offered us. None of us get it right all of the time; most of us get it wrong more than we think; and maybe the best we can hope for, is to get it right when it counts the most.


Life in a biodynamical topsoil is 5 times as rich as in a soil fertilized with mineral fertilizers. Deeper down in the soil, the difference is even greater.
(Source: Kjellenberg, L.; Granstedt, A.; Pettersson, B.D. The connection between soil, crop and manure. Results from the K-trial, a 33-year study on the effect of fertilization on the properties of soil and crop; 2005. Nordisk Forskningsrings meddelande nr 36)


How To Grow Aromatic Herbs At Home?
Plants, flowers and other things like these not only add beauty to your home but at the same time are much more beneficial in so many ways. Apart from improving the ambiance of your house, plants also give you a refreshing feeling; in fact, they add freshness to the air.
Above all, many plants, flowers and herbs have tremendous utility in your kitchen, in addition to their medicinal value.
That’s why people love to have plants in their home, especially indoors. There are hundreds of varieties of different plants that can be grown easily in your backyard garden or even indoors, in pots.
Each one has its own utility and benefits. But there are so many aromatic herbs that can easily be grown in your home garden or in pots or containers, indoors.
The best part of growing aromatic herbs in your home is their unique scent which spreads all around giving a pleasant feeling. Additionally, these look beautiful and gives a decorative touch to your home.
These aromatic herbs are frequently used in the kitchen in various dishes to make them tastier and healthier. Aromatic herbs also have their unique utility as a natural remedy to so many ailments.
In this article, we will guide you on how to grow aromatic herbs at home.
General Guidance On Growing Aromatic Herbs At Home
Though it is very easy to grow aromatic herbs at home in your backyard garden or indoors in containers, yet you must know some basic things that may help you a lot in growing them successfully.
If you are planning to grow herbs indoors, prefer to buy plants from the nursery or garden shop. Select those plants which have not yet been shifted outdoors by the nursery people. This is very important. If you buy plants that are growing outside already, shifting them into your home, indoors may cause a damaging impact owing to environmental change.
- During winter, most of the herbs do not grow fast; rather this is a resting period for them. So, take good care of them during winter and give minimum possible water to them during winter.
- Clipping on regular intervals helps improve their growth.
- Plant each type of herb in separate containers. Growing different types in one container are not at all recommended. Similarly, if you are planting them in the garden, plant one type of herbs at one place; do not mix them. Mixing different species or varieties of herbs in one container may result in various diseases.
- As a general rule, always use pots or containers having sufficient drainage holes in the bottom to avoid waterlogging. Remember, water retained in the containers, in excess of the requirement of plants, results in fungus and various other diseases to plants.
- Fill the pots or containers with good quality home garden soil. This soil must be available in your local garden shop. Never use soil from your backyard or anywhere else, as it may contain harmful ingredients or germs.
- For those herbs or plants that grow best in a soil having a bit of extra lime, you may add a couple of crushed eggshells in the soil.
- Fertilizers are a must for the herbs grown in pots. So, add fertilizer to your herbs that help grow more leaves, instead of more flowers. Reason? The most useful part of the herbs is their leaves, not the flowers.
- While watering the herbs, do not sprinkle water on leaves; rather water them near the stem. If possible, add a teaspoonful of fishmeal to 4 liters of water. This will provide sufficient nutrients to the herbs.
- Avoid overwatering. Make sure that the soil gets sufficiently dry before you go for next watering. Remember, yellowing of leaves is a major sign of overwatering.
- Place the containers at places where they receive good sunshine during a reasonable part of the day.
Which Herbs To Grow At Home?
As said earlier, there are hundreds of varieties of aromatic herbs that can easily be grown at home. However, here are some most common herbs recommended for your home.
Lemongrass is a quite useful herb that grows easily in your home. Interestingly, it can be grown without soil. Just buy the stalk of lemongrass from your local market. Select one having the good amount of stem. Trim from the top and place it in the water a couple of inches deep. It will produce many shoots and roots for your kitchen use.
There are two types of mint, peppermint, and spearmint. Both can be grown easily at home. For indoors, peppermint is the best option out of the two. Can be grown through seeds in pots having good quality garden soil. Though it can grow successfully under shade but make sure it gets ample sunshine for a short period during the day.
Chives are a kind of herb that does not require much sunshine, so best for indoors. Can be grown from the already established plants of chives. Just pick a bunch from the grown-up plant (ensuring that it contains roots as well). Plant it in pots with good quality potting soil. Roots should be covered properly with the soil. For speedy and best growth, trim a good portion of growth on the top.
It is the seed of an herb known as cilantro. Can be grown very easily in your home.
Very common herb used frequently in almost all households. Can be grown from seeds, which start germination within two weeks. Very much a friendly herb, as it needs a minimum of care. However, remember it is a slow growing herb.
Thyme is also very popular herb grown at home. It needs plenty of sunshine during the day. While grown indoors, it may also need supplemental light, which may be provided through artificial lights such as electric bulbs. A variety of thyme, known as lemon thyme has a unique scent and flavor; hence recommended for your home garden.
Like the thyme, oregano also needs plenty of sunshine during the day. So, plant them at a place where they can get direct sunlight for more than six hours a day.
Another useful aromatic herb that can be grown at home. Needs special care while watering, as it can easily be damaged with slightest of overwatering. Some varieties are just like the creeping plants whereas a few are of the bush-like appearance. Tuscan Blue and blue spire are the best options for the home garden.
Though very useful for your kitchen, this herb is somewhat difficult to grow at your home, especially during winter season. With little extra effort, you can grow them in your garden or even indoors. Best varieties recommended for you are African Blue or Spicy Clobe.
If you like my article about ‘How To Grow Aromatic Herbs At Home?’ and you’re interested in reading more related articles you may visit the ‘Household‘ category at TryArticles. Please leave a comment below that how much you find this article helpful. You may also hit your queries in the comment section below if any.


It rained last week. A LOT. In fact, all told the garden got about two inches of rain in four days after a three week dry spell. And while I’m very very thankful for the rain, it did come at a rather tricky time of trying to get the greens planted and ready for the fall u-pick-it business. But nothing can be done about planting until the soil dries out a bit and can be worked. With the high clay content that we have in our garden, trying to work the soil while it’s wet only results in bricks.
As a result, the past few days in the garden I have been doing what things could be accomplished while I wait for the sun and the wind to dry out the earth. Tony helped me to put out stakes for the peppers, and other than that, I’ve weeded.
And weeded some more.
The odd thing about it is that I really enjoy weeding after a rainfall. The work is quick and light, and the weeds, which had seemed so indomitable prior to the rain, are now uprooted easily with a twist and a firm tug. It’s gratifying work to pull the weeds before they have a chance to set seed. You can see the progress as you go down the rows, and, once the row is complete, the peppers stand out proudly and grow much stronger without having to compete with the weeds for nutrients.
Weeding, while still a gardening necessity, is spiritually and aesthetically pleasing to me, and I always fall deeply into contemplation when working alone in the garden, pulling weeds.
Of course, as I mentioned previously, weeding after a soaking rainfall is much more productive than weeding during a dry spell. When the soil is hard and dry, the weeds break off in your hands, while the roots stay below the surface. Most weeds will then just send out runners and rhizomes , and where once there may have been one weed, now there are multiple weeds in its place. Weeding in the dry, hard clay of Georgia is frustrating and futile.
The difference is the rain.
The weeds are the same. The particles of soil are the same. The action of the gardener is the same, but the rain makes the outcome so very different. It is only AFTER the soaking rainfall that the weeds can be pulled easily, and in the act of that pulling, the soil is aerated as effectively as if it were freshly tilled, allowing the plant to grow even stronger.
It’s the rain that makes the difference.
When the days are sunny and bright, without rainfall, it’s as though everything is perfect, but moment by moment, in the midst of all that seeming peace and perfection, the earth is getting baked harder and harder. My soul can be like that. Too much ease, too much brilliant sunlight, and the weeds begin to set in. Laziness, pride, complacency, self-indulgence and envy, all these weeds take hold at the slightest opportunity and flourish, digging in with tiny, powerful roots. I see them, and can’t help but think, “nah, it’s hard to pull them now. They’ll just break,” before leaving them to grow another day.
But just before the weeds completely overtake me, God always sends the rain. He knows that rain in my life – hardship, sadness, loss, and fear – is often what I need most to soften the hardened clay of my soul. When the rain has finally stopped my momentum, when the rain makes any other task seem impossible, the only task left is to weed.
Sometimes it takes a great deal rain for me to stop and attend to the weeds in my garden, but when I do, the reward is often profound.


So there I was on Wednesday evening, up to my elbows in flour for the rhubarb crumble, when the phone rang. Missis' mum ringing me to let me know she was sending her lads down to cut our hay. Oh! All hands on deck, then. They came at 8pm so I had to go and get all the horses in, so we could take the electric fence down so the tractor could go through.
The next day Missis' dad came and turned the hay, and then yesterday the baling commenced. It was scorchingly hot and I had to keep the horses in for most of the day. Unlike most, our stables are actually hotter than being outside, as the building has lots of glass.
So M goes out and rolls up the bales, then it was Mr O's job to go and collect them on the tractor spike and bring them up out of the field. We got twenty bales out of the top field, whereas normally we only get twelve to fourteen, so it was worth waiting that little bit longer.
Mr W went home to collect the wrapping machine, and then the wrapping could commence. It's a fascinating machine, but very loud. I could only stand it for a little while, but it was my job to stop and start the machine. It does 33 turns of the bale before stopping, then tilts it and cuts the wrapping. Mr W leapt over to tuck the end in, the machine levels, then M puts another bale on, I start the machine up and the wrapping starts again. It's a very simple, but very clever machine.
Finally, once these bales were in, we could let the horses back out. By now it was 7pm and the horses were keen to get going. I was pleased with how good they'd been actually, as Barnaby is not one to stay in voluntarily on a warm summer's day.
Of course, they didn't realise the gate was open, so they could go and eat off the top field. Mr O led them up there to show them. Barnaby was the first to realise and went thundering through the gap, with the others close behind. They went whizzing round for a while, in the cooler air, then settled down to do what they do best - some serious scoffing.
We drove all the machinery over the road to the two fields we have there, where Mr O had already stacked the bales at the top of the field, ready to be wrapped. I was impressed with M's driving of the tractor and accuracy in placing the bales on the wrapper, as it has to fit between two markers.
Mind you, I'm pretty impressed at Mr O's ability to drive the tractor, as Mr W hardly gave him any instructions on how to drive it and how to use the spike to pick the bales up.
My job was to keep the drinks coming, as it was so hot. I felt like a Land Girl as I brought out slices of fruit cake and tea and squash, wearing shorts and wellies (not a good look!) and sitting on the grass watching the machines work and Tessa lying next to me, tongue lolling in the heat. The sky was a vivid blue, with hardly a cloud, the green couldn't have been greener. I felt like weeping with the beauty and the simplicity of it all. I have waited all my life for this.


Welcome to the addictive world of daylilies!
Here are a few simple steps to guarantee a colorful daylily garden:
Step #1 -- the site:
The most important step! The daylily garden should be in full sun -- six or more hours a day for best blooming. Avoid areas with competition from tree roots. The garden soil should be well drained but not dry. Amend the soil with lots of compost to improve soil texture and structure.
Spreading mulch over the garden will discourage weeds, help keep the soil moist, and moderate the soil temperature in very hot and very cold weather.
How to plant:
If you bought bare-rooted plants place the roots in a bucket of water for a few hours. If you bought potted plants this step is not necessary.
While your plants are soaking dig planting holes in a prepared bed amended with compost.
Dig 9"-12" deep holes spaced 24"- 30" apart; the daylilies WILL get big!
Holes should be wide enough so roots can spread out horizontally.
Make a mound of soil in the center of the hole and place the crown of the plant on top of the mound with the roots spreading out and down over the mound.
Refill the hole with soil so that the crown is about a half to one inch below the soil surface. The crown is the whitish area where roots and leaves meet.
Spread a few inches of mulch over the garden leaving an inch or two around the base without mulch.
Trim back foliage to about 6" and cut off scapes if bloom has ended.
Water after planting and continue watering as needed.
What to expect the first year:
Some of the outer leaves will turn brown and die shortly after planting (trim these off) but new leaves will sprout from the center.
Plants and scapes will be shorter for a year or two after transplanting but catch up in a couple of years.
Yearly fertilizing is a good practice. Use a slow-release balanced fertilizer (5-5-5, 10-10-10, etc.). Fish emulsion and composted manure work very well.
Water your daylilies during hot or dry spells.
Deadheading will keep your plants looking tidy.
Cut back spent foliage and scapes before winter.
Divide clumps every six or seven years to keep them vigorous.
For more information about daylilies (hemerocallis) go to the American Daylily Society (formerly the American Hemerocallis Society) website: www.daylilies.org.
Consider joining ADS and a local daylily society.


Do You Know Your Coffee Beans?
Have you ever looked at a bag of specialty coffee beans and noticed that the package says 100% Arabica coffee? Do you know what that means? Or, are you like a lot of other coffee lovers out there that think Arabica beans are the only type of coffee bean available?
While there are more than 100 types of coffee bean species, there are four most popular types of coffee beans. All of these are grown in what is known as the Coffee Belt. This Coffee Belt is along the equator, because most coffee grows in a hot climate. Growing conditions vary between beans: some like more altitude or rain than others.
All of Miss Scarlett coffees are made from delicious Arabica Beans!
Arabica beans make up about 60-70% of the total world coffee consumption. Roasts made from Arabica beans are considered higher quality and often pricier. Coffee shops typically serve Arabica bean blends. Overall, these beans have more acidity compared to Robusta beans but are super flavorful. Arabica beans are grown throughout the Coffee Belt, but mostly in Latin America. Depending on where they grow in the three Coffee Belt regions they can have vastly different flavors.
- The Arabica coffee bean has a milder and less caffeine than other coffee beans.
- This type of coffee bean when brewed is best served hot and does offer a better flavor when used with a pour-over or drip coffee technique.
- The quality of the Arabica bean diminishes when served cold or with creamer.
Robusta coffee beans are the second most used coffee bean. These are what Americans are used to brewing at home and what is purchased in grocery stores. Supermarkets also sell blends with Robusta and Arabica beans too. Robusta beans contain twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans, but look like little balls instead of the typical almond shaped bean we visualize. These are mainly grown in Africa and Indonesia. They are easier to grow than Arabica beans because they can thrive in low or high altitude. The product tends to be harsher and more bitter due to the effects that roasting has on Robusta beans. However, they’re great for making espresso shots because of their deep flavor. This type of bean holds up better when you add cream and sugar, unlike Arabica beans whose flavor tends to change. Robusta beans are grown only on the Eastern Hemisphere, and therefore appear only in two of the three regions in the Coffee Belt.
The Robusta bean is a less expensive bean than the Arabic bean. This is a perfect coffee for cream and sugar lovers! A good quality Robusta will not lose flavor when adding milk or sugar.
Liberica beans grow only in the Philippines. These beans have a floral, fruity aroma, but produce coffee that has a full body and a woody, smoky flavor. A shortage of Arabica beans in 1890 resulted in the U.S importing Liberica beans from the Philippines. This continued until they claimed independence and the U.S stopped trade.
Liberica beans can be pretty big in size, and have the unique characteristic in which many Liberica beans are asymmetric – one side is “lower” than the other, causing a little “hook” at the bottom of the bean. It is the only bean species in the world with this irregular shape.
Its almond-shaped beans give off an amazing aroma, almost floral and fruity, whilst its flavor is full and slightly smoky. It is an entirely separate species of coffee, with a very distinctive taste profile.
Many people who purchase Liberica coffee beans use them to mix with other varieties like Arabica and Robusta, making it add a true wow factor to a morning cup of joe.
Those coffee lovers who have had Liberica coffee say that it is unlike any coffee they have ever tasted- with many saying it does not even taste like coffee, stating that it tastes very woody in flavor.
Excelsa coffee beans aren’t used very widely; they represent only 7% of the world’s coffee consumption. They grow in Southeast Asia and are considered a genus of Liberica beans. However, the flavor is tarter and fruitier.
The Excelsa coffee bean has been recently re-classified as a member of the Liberica family. However, taking a closer look at this variety, you can see that the two flavors couldn’t be any more different.
Excelsa is largely used in blends in order to give the coffee an extra boost of flavor and complexity, better affecting the middle and back palate.


In 1881, an Australian plant collector and sugar cane plantation manager named William Purvis came to the Big Island of Hawai‘i and brought with him Hawai’i’s first macadamia nut tree. He planted it in Kapulena on the Hamakua Coast, and many believe the tree is still growing there today.
The macadamia was named for John Macadam, a scientist, philosopher, and good friend of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens director who first classified and described the tree 33 years earlier. A subtropical evergreen of the Proteaceae family, the macadamia tree can grow up to 40 feet tall, with dark green, holly-like leaves, first used as an ornamental.
Commercial production started in the 1920’s on the western side of Hawai‘i Island in Keauhou-Kona, and in the east, near Honoka‘a. By 1950 Honoka‘a Sugar Company was the largest mac nut producer in the Territory of Hawai‘i, with 450 acres of trees. For the next 20 years the industry “went nuts,” growing exponentially as farming and production methods evolved, until Hawai‘i Island was the world’s largest producer of what was marketed as “the Perfect Nut.”
Today, about 570 growers farm 17,000 acres of macadamia trees, producing 40 million pounds of in-shell nuts, valued at over $30 million. Additionally, nuts are imported from South Africa and Australia, who currently lead the world market, with Hawai‘i at #3. Here on the Island, most macadamia nut growers are small, independent orchards, and that’s where we come in!
Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company
Located in historic Kawaihae, near Pu‘ukohola Heiau in South Kohala, Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company grows, processes, and markets 100 percent Hawai‘i-grown macadamia nuts. This means that all macadamia nuts come from Hawai‘i Island farms, including from orchards owned and managed by Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company and Edmund C. Olson Trust II subsidiaries. Receiving mac nuts from about 200 island farms of varying size, Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company works to improve the wellbeing of Hawai‘i’s agricultural workers and their families while keeping Hawai‘i green. It currently employs about 60 people full-time and is about to generate nearly all of its electricity via solar and biomass energy. Inspired new products continue to emerge from the factory, with roasted macadamia nuts currently including the inimitably perfect Original Wasabi and SPAM flavor.
Since 2009, the Olson Trust shares ownership of Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company with its former President, Richard Schnitzler. The company has garnered an Export Achievement Certificate from the United States Department of Agriculture and is proud to display its Seal of Quality in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, distinguishing that its product is wholly grown and made in Hawai’i. Please stop by the Visitors Center gift shop, open daily (except major holidays), for an array of mac nut and coffee samples for tasting. On weekdays, visitors may observe the cannery at work processing and packaging Hawai’i Islands’ finest macadamia nuts. (Due to reduced operation during COVID, we cannot guarantee that our cannery will be operating each weekday. Please call in advance to inquire 808-882-1690, if that is of specific interest.)


We are fortunate to live in a county that has been at the forefront of progressive and transformative change.
We hope you will join us. We are all the decision makers and leaders of the local and global changes we must create. Starting right here, right now. Together.
We are excited to share important work on indigenous practices, connecting with the land, on reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, on educating the public about the dangers of forest-based biomass, the beauty and biodiversity of post-fire forests and promoting resilient communities living in fire-prone lands. We will discuss regenerative agriculture and regenerating soils, the Green New Deal, climate justice, racial and social justice, and regional climate policy.


INDIA: Leading fresh fruit importer IG International has entered into an association with Mr Apple, a major global apple exporter from New Zealand, to launch DIVA, a premium variety of apples into the Indian subcontinent.
Deliciously sweet and crunchy, the DIVA apple variant is naturally bright red in colour and high in flavour. DIVA apples are only available for a limited season, from April to August. One of the best apples cultivated in New Zealand, the DIVA variant is handled with great care and picked from the orchards at the right moment, so that its pure taste, crispness and aroma are passed on to the customers.
Tarun Arora, Director – IG International Pvt. Ltd, said, “Apples are highly sought-after in India for their abundant health benefits and juicy and crunchy wonders. The introduction of premium and fresh DIVA apples will help us meet the growing demand of exotic fruits in India, and at the same time resonates well with the Indian consumers who have developed distinct tastes and preferences for fruits. We are happy to include one more variety of exotic apples on our list through our association wi ..


Foods — Mostly Organic — To Have On Hand
~ Richard Hudson
Vegetables can be a combination of those bought or grown: asparagus, broccoli, carrots, celery, Swiss chard, garlic, kohlrabi, lettuce, green onions, brussels sprouts, leeks, peas, spinach, squash (acorn, butternut, zucchini), green beans, sweet potatoes,
tomatoes. Most of these vegetables can be grown in the back yard. Many can be stored in a root cellar or blanched and frozen for later use. Plan meals so that you don’t have to keep all on hand at the same time, even though shelf life can be extended by refrigeration or freezing. I usually bring the census down by combining 6-8 vegetables into a vegetable-rice, or vegetable-barley soup, to which bits of chicken and mushrooms and fresh herbs are added. You can make a large pot of soup and freeze some for later if you can’t eat it all in a timely way. Good vegetables for soup are broccoli, carrots, celery, Swiss chard, green onions, leeks, spinach, green beans, and tomatoes. Fresh herbs that are also tasty in soup are parsely, basil, dill. I usually grow these in small pots on the back porch. I also grow rosemary, sage, thyme, tarragon and oregano for fresh use or to dry and use over the following winter. Many herbs and spices can be frozen directly and used in soups and other cooked dishes as well. Overall, grow as much as you can. It will significantly reduce your expenses.
Fruits to keep on hand are berries or all kinds that are fresh and in season: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are favorites. You can freeze them as well and put them into smoothies or blend with protein powder and plain yogurt. You can add some chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans) or dried fruits (raisins, prunes, craisins) as well. Fruits include apples, oranges, kiwi, bananas, grapes (dark purple or black and seedless). Add limes and lemons to the list — used to drizzle onto baked fish and other items, or into salads. Also, lemon and lime good to mildly flavor all the water you’ll be drinking. Add cherries, melon, pineapple, papaya, mango, and pears occasionally.
You will also want to have many dried beans and related items on hand: these include black beans, red beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, and others. White kidney beans and chickpeas I’m cans are also useful in some dishes — especially soups. Soy beans (edename) and soy bean curd (tofu) are both good additions to the protein in your diet. There are many great recipes for tofu in the Internet designed to make the product edible.
Grains to keep on hand include oats (old fashioned or steel cut) wild rice, barley, brown rice, quinoa, polenta and couscous. Nuts and seeds include almonds, brazil nuts, pecans, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower seeds and walnuts. I also keep some nut butters, especially almond butter which I make myself in a grinder from unsalted almonds.
Cottage cheese and yogurt are great for mixing various items with (nuts, veges, or fruits). Experiment. Meat I recommend limiting to wild fish and poultry. Both dairy and meat will add protein, but you can also get protein from legumes and other vegetables, and from a whey protein supplement.
I usually use portobello mushrooms in soups and some other dishes, but generally don’t use mushrooms otherwise.
In general, I keep olive oil, seasame oil, basalmic vinegar around for most of my cooking. I don’t keep white sugar or sweeteners, but use honey, maple syrup and sometimes a little brown sugar especially on oatmeal.


How to start a lucrative plantain or banana farming business in Nigeria and make continuous profit for 30 years with just one-off investment.
As Consultants to Central Bank of Nigeria in HTS Business School we train entrepreneurs seeking to access the Federal Government CBN/NIRSAL AGSMEIS Loan. We are also consultants to two other EDIs that facilitate the same programme (one of them in Jos and the other one in Abakaliki). We are responsible for writing the business plans of all the candidates that go through their institutes. Across the three institutions I must have written over a thousand business plans for candidates seeking to access that loan facility in the last 18 months or thereabout.
But I noticed something about their area of interest. About 80% of the people into Agriculture are focusing on either poultry or fish farming. I also noticed that I am yet to see on single person that is going into plantain or banana farming. Of course, I never read much into that until recently when I met an Agro Business Consultant with particular interest in Plantain and banana farming. And he took time to educate me on the massive gap that exists in that niche. And exactly how profitable it can be to venture into.
I was personally impressed that I started with a plot of land in September 2021 to test run it. And within this period I have so impressed and convinced with what I am seeing that I want to do more. And that id the reason I decided to share the idea of how to start a lucrative plantain or banana farming in Nigeria.
The knowledge gap on how to start plantain or banana farming in Nigeria
The Bible said that my people perish for lack of knowledge. I never knew that this kind of opportunity exists in Banana and plantain farming in Nigeria. Yet there are millions of graduates roaming the streets of major cities in Nigeria in search of non-existing jobs. Others are busy committing suicide because American Embassy denied their visa application.
The best part of this business is that it involves just a one-off investment and you continue to reap for the next 25 to 30 years. And that is quite unlike poultry or fish farming where you have to keep restocking for as long as you are in the business. So I will go straight and share with you the gold mine I have discovered of how to start a lucrative plantain or banana business in Nigeria and how you can take advantage of it in 2022 before the market becomes saturated – right now it is still a blue ocean for anyone that cares.
Why Start Banana and Plantain Farming in Nigeria?
- If you are in Nigeria you will know that Nigerians just love both banana and plantain to the core. Banana is sold in all major junctions and bus stops in all the cities. And plantain has variety of way it is been combined to make for rich nutritious meal. Have you seen anyone that don’t like fried plantain?
- It can be an extra source of income since you don’t have to work on it on a daily basis. You simply plant and then face your other businesses or jobs. So even if you have a job you can still do it.
- According to businessinder.com plantain is in the top 10 most important crops in the world.
- In 2016, world production of bananas and plantains was 148 million tonnes, led by India and China and the world is looking for more.
- Nigeria is still importing banana from other neighbouring African countries majorly Camerron.
- Agriculture as an industry is rising generally and government is now giving serious attention to it.
- Getting funding for expansion will be very easy with both government and other funding agencies having a positive biase towards agriculture.
- Everybody is going to the Metaverse, won’t it make sense you go to the farm? By so doing you can supply them the food they need to survive when they get to their destination?
What do you Need to Start plantain/Banana Farming?
- You need a farmland
- You need the plantain or banana suckers
- Finally, you need the right mindset.
Once you have these three things you are set to start. Thankfully, plantain or banana farming doesn’t necessarily require so much specialty skill to master. Almost anyone can be able to do it just by asking the right questions.
How Much do you Need to Start a Plantain or Banana Farming in Nigeria?
I will share this based on my own personal experience. I started with a little less than a plot of land.
Approximately, a plot of land (50 by 100) will take 100 to 120 suckers depending on the spacing. Because mine is not up to a full plot it could only take 85 suckers. Each sucker (whether plantain or banana) costs about 1,000 to 1,500 naira depending on who you are buying from and the specie you are buying. I paid 1,300 for each of the ones I bought and extra 200 naira for planting. You can always get the sucker from any existing farm plantation.
So assuming you already have a farmland, which most Nigerian families are blessed with in abundance. If you can go back to your village you will be given land to farm (and even if your family don’t have farmland you can always lease. In some rural areas you can lease a plot for as low as 5,000 naira per month or 60,000 per annum). With that you just have to purchase the suckers to start.
If you are to buy 120 suckers at the rate of 1,200 each that will give you 144,000. So with other expenses you might incur along the line just budget a maximum of 200,000 naira for a plot of land. And this investment is almost 100% one-off. Now, stay with me and in a short while you will see the possible returns on that investment after just 10 months. And hopefully you will understand why you need to start a plantain or banana farming in Nigeria.
Steps on How to Start Plantain or Banana Farming in Nigeria
1. Land Preparation/Soil Type
Plantain and Banana plants thrive well in an average climate; an area that is neither too hot nor too cold. Fortunately most states in Nigeria have got a climate suited for this purpose except for few states in the far North. Well drained-loamy soil that is rich in nutrient is the best choice for optimum growth. Ensure to clear it and evacuate any non-biodegradable substance from the farm. You can allow the leaves and grasses to decompose as it adds to the soil nutrient and is much better than using fertilizer to improve the soil nutrient level.
The best planting period is during mid-rainy season, say April to July. The plant should be able to experience at least three to four months of consistent rain before the dry season sets in.
It is important you source for good suckers the success of having a bountiful harvest depends majorly on the type of suckers used in the farming. I recommend Giant Elephant otherwise known as Agbagba or hybrid suckers for plantain and Dwarf Cavendish for banana. .
The dimension of the hole for your suckers should be approximately 30cm x 30cm x 30cm. Put the sucker in the dug hole and cover the corm with the top soil that was removed when digging followed by the bottom soil place the side that was cut from the parent plant against the wall of the hole. Position the opposite side of the sucker corm towards the middle of the hole where the loosed soil is.
Irrigation I not compulsory if you plant during the mid-rainy season, the natural rain will suffice for optimum performance of your crop. But if you are planting during dry season or late rainy season then you need water for irrigation. You can get water from any neighbouring compound or sink your own borehole if you are operating at a commercial scale, and the irrigation should continue till about 5 months post planting.
4. Fertilizer Application
After one to two months of planting the sucker, you need to apply manure and poultry droppings remains the best source of manure for it, though cow or goat dung can also serve. This will further increase the growth and performance of your plantain or banana farm growth and will also cause them to be well established.
Please don’t allow weeds to compete with your plantain for nutrient else you may have wasted your investment. You can use of herbicide to kill the grasses if the farm is large, maybe running into hectares but manual labour can be used for a few plots. . Weeding should be done about 3 times before the harvest is due.
Ordinarily plantains and bananas are not staked like in the case of yam. However, if your farm is located in a place where there is aggressive wind and there are no trees to protect them from the heavy effect of winds, then it is advisable that you stake especially the plantains that are usually tall to avoid the heavy winds falling them. Staking should be done just before fruiting, and the most natural material to use for staking is bamboo sticks.
Challenges Associated with Plantain and Banana Farming in Nigeria
The major challenge you are likely to face on how to start plantain farming in Nigeria are:
- Transportation: Most farms are located away from the markets and from some residential areas and you know that banana or plantain bunches can be quite heavy. So in this case, moving them to your house or market might be a challenge
- Security: Because of the remote location of some farms there is a possibility of security threat to your crops. So it is an advantage if you get a farmland that has a fence in place. That is what I did for mine. You can also get a farmland that is close to residential area or to the road.
- Storage: As you all know already, both plantain and banana are perishable crops, if kept for too long they will over ripe and lose their market value, except you have a plan of extending the value chain by processing your proceed into flour, chips etc.
- Marketing: There is a ready market for plantain and banana but you must be intentional about that. If you don’t start scouting for market early enough you might suddenly find yourself in a mess where your products will all damage in your hand. So I strongly recommend that you start networking with potential buyers even before your crops are ready.
Harvesting of your plantain or banana after maturity in Nigeria
Harvesting should be done once the bunches are very greenish and big or they have started showing signs of ripening. For both giant elephant and hybrid specie the crop is ready for harvest after 9 to 10 months from planting.
Marketability of your plantain after harvest
Nigeria as a country is yet to meet the demand for plantain. So there is still a ready market for it. Sell them to market women, plantain chips companies, individuals, institutions and plantain flour companies. But start making your contacts before the plants are ready. Same thing applies to banana. But you cannot take any of this for granted. You must make efforts to see that people know about your farm and come for it.
Use every channel available to you to market it.
Sale of the banana suckers
Let us stick with our example of just a plot of land. Recall we agreed to plant 120 suckers in that single plot of land. Now before maturity, each of those suckers can yield another 3 to 5 suckers for you. And you can sell each of them for 1,200 to 1,500 naira depending on your market.
Let’s assume that on the average we are able to sell just two of the suckers from each of the mature plants which will give a total of 240 suckers. And if we sell them at the rate of 1,000 naira per sucker, you will be smiling home with 240,000 naira. But that is not yet your harvest.
Sale of the plantain or banana bunches
So let’s assume that from the 120 suckers planted that you harvested 100 bunches of banana. And you sell each of them at the rate of 5,000 naira (some sell for 7,000 or more) that will give you 500,000 naira.
Add the 500,000 naira to your 240,000 from suckers and you will have 740,000 naira revenue from a plot of land. Remind me of how much we invested in this – about 200,000 naira I guess! So in a space of 10 months you just made a profit of 540,000 naira from one plot. What if you have up to 10 or 20 plots, what will your profit be like?
That is not the blue ocean you are expecting to hear from me yet. The blue ocean is that without any extra investment (other than weeding), you will be getting similar returns for the next 20 years or thereabouts – what an investment! Unfortunately not many people are talking about this.
I have already started my own farm and I will strongly advise that you consider that in 2022. There are many farmlands that are lying fallow out there. Go and speak with the owners and they will be willing to do business with you.
One last advice: You can even go into partnership with land owners. Let them give you the land for free, plant your plantain and share the returns with them. Whatever arrangement that works for you is okay as long as you make a move.
Our Top Picks:


عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]چکیده [English]
From the viewpoint of many experts in climatology, climate fluctuation is considered a natural phenomenon repeated in the course of a long-term cycle. This study will analyze the elements of temperature, precipitation and evaporation in the northern mountains of the Karkas range in terms of seasonal and annual cycles, using a non-parametric test of Man-Kendall during two time periods from 1980 to 2009 and from 2007 to 1987. Based on the results, the data with a confidence level of 95% indicate that the days with a precipitation of over 10 mm especially during the winter suggest no certain trend. The years 1987-2007 indicate an increasing trend towards higher temperatures and evaporation compared to the period of 1980-2009, so that the annual averages and the maximum and minimum temperatures show a significant increasing trend, but no trend of precipitation or evaporation is seen. The regression line of evaporation, however, showed an increase of 2 to 16 millimeters per year, a process suggesting increased water demands, reduced soil moisture, decrease in pastures and agricultural products, and exerting more pressure on underground water resources.


The Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) AGRICET (Agriculture Common Entrance Test) application form and Eligibility Criteria regarding notification going to disclosed very shortly in future days, students who want to take admission for the current academic session may fill up the online application form and clear the exam with high marks. If you need more information then login the angrau.ac.in web page otherwise check our page.
AGRICET 2017- Application Form| Notification| Registration| Apply
The Acharya N. G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) is a public Agricultural university come to existence on 12 June 1964 as Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU), officially the university was established on 20 March 1965 by Lal Bahadur Shastri late Prime Minister of India in Hyderabad. Later it was renamed to Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on 7th November 1996. The university is localized at Gorantla, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. At this time, S. Raghu Vardhan Reddy is the Chancellor and Dr A. Padma Raju is the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Authorized web page: http://www.angrau.ac.in/
AGRICET Application Form 2017
It is counted as one largest university of India with 10 Colleges (5 in Agriculture, 2 in Agricultural Engineering, 2 in Food Science & Technology and 1 in Home Science) 46 Research stations distributed in 9 Agro-climatic zones of the State, 54 Agricultural Polytechnics (26 University Polytechnics (21 in Diploma in Agriculture, 2 in Diploma in Seed Technology and 3 in Diploma in Agricultural Engineering) and 28 private polytechnics (17 in Diploma in Agriculture, 3 in Diploma in Seed Technology and 8 in Diploma in Agricultural Engineering)) , 22 District Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centers (DAATTCs), 16 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Farmer Science Centre), one Agricultural Technology and Information Centre (ATIC) and Electronic Media Wing apart from one Extension Education Institute (EEI) and Agricultural Information and Communication Centre ( AI&CC).


Our objective is twofold
- To assess how runoff in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers will change in the future under a range of climate change scenarios.
- To assist water resource managers with adaption strategies to changing runoff, we explore the impact of adopting efficient irrigation systems and changing crop patterns.
To address the first objective, we will develop a new glacio-hydrological model by coupling a glacier flow model to the Dynamic ﬂuxEs and ConnectIvity for Predictions of HydRology (DECIPHeR). Tuyuksu glacier, in the Kazakh part of the Tien Shan, will be used as a case study to evaluate the performance of the new model. This benchmark glacier has the longest continuous measurements of surface mass balance in central Asia, extending from the 1956 to the present day. Discharge rates from the Little Almatinka River downstream of the glacier will be used to validate the simulated runoff. Meteorological observations, retreat rates and discharge measurements downstream of the glacier will be provided by the Institute of Geography, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan.
The model will be used to simulate discharge in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya for the future using PRECIS regional climate modelling data for Central Asia provided by collaborators at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. We also apply the model to other glacier fed rivers systems in Central Asia such as the Chon Kemin and Ili Rivers. The Chon Kemin is a tributary of the important Chu River which provides Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek with freshwater. The Ili River which runs from north western China into Kazakhstan terminates at Lake Balkhash. This is the 15th largest lake in the world and an important resource for Kazakhstan’s water supply, including the population of the capital Almaty.
We use the future runoff projections to test whether there is sufficient river discharge to sustain current irrigation practices and at what point in the future adaptation measures need to be considered. This leads to the second objective which is to test adaption options to reduced runoff. Several strategies to meet the water demand deficit are explored. These include reducing the irrigated area and increasing reservoir capacity to store rain water in the winter. We test the impact of replacing open channel irrigation with subsurface drip fed irrigation or overhead sprinkler irrigation. Reducing the water demand by planting different crops is also tested. For example, replacing cotton, which is water intensive to grow, with crops that are important for food security such as wheat, rice and legumes.


Our farm has been the property of our family for generations and is currently run by the young farmer Wolfgang and his life companion Julia. At the Bruggerhof (which is the name of the farm) there are cows and calves of the traditional breed called „Pinzgauer“, but also Tyrolean mountain sheep and funny Boer goats are living in our cowshed. In summer, the goats and sheep are put out to pasture in the alpine meadow (located at the foot of the mountain Klausberg), which abounds in herbs and which also belongs to our farm. Our cats always like to be petted too!
Corner with housemade products
We offer our guests fresh cow's milk every day. In our garden, we grow herbs, berries and vegetables, which we use for the production of fruit spreads, syrups, honey and herbal mixtures.
Every day in the morning we will be happy to prepare a breakfast basket (on request) for you and your family. Enjoy the familiar atmosphere and the unbelievable diversity of local products you can choose of. Don´t miss our homemade jams, honeys, tea blends and fresh milk.
In order to truly experience farm life and to have direct contact with the animals we offer our guests a visit to the farm. Wolfgang, the farmer and owner of Bruggerhof shows you, how the cows are milked and fed.
Appartments Bruggerhof am Klausberg
of Wolfgang Alois Hofer
Steinhaus, Bruggen 24
VAT Reg. No. IT 02552250215
Tel. +39 0474 652323


WHY SPECIALTY COFFEE?
As a coffee drinker you have two options of coffee — regular or specialty. But what’s the difference between those two, and why should you care?
Specialty coffee is all about quality and taste. It’s a dedication from everyone in the coffee chain to work together to ensure excellence from start to finish.
Great coffee starts with the coffee grower, whose family has likely spent generations perfecting their approach to farming the highest quality coffee in the world. Grown in carefully selected altitudes and climates, quality not quantity is their most important consideration. Only coffees free of defects and picked at their peak of ripeness will be sold onto the green coffee buyer.
A Speciality coffee buyer has a palate as distinguished as a sommelier. They develop the tasting notes and descriptions before transferring the coffee onto a coffee roaster. Coffee roasting is an art and it requires a great deal of knowledge and experience to produce a speciality level coffee. Coffee must be closely monitored during the roasting process and scientific principles applied to ensure the highest standard of quality and flavour come through in the final roasted bean.
Lastly, there’s you the consumer. When you take the time to find a coffee that has been produced with passion, you’re not only enjoying a higher quality coffee, which is packed full of taste and flavour, but you’re also committing to a higher standard of living for every person who contributed to your coffee along the way, which is pretty darn cool.


Apps truly are everywhere now, even in the garden. Don’t think that just because you love to spend some time outdoors playing in the dirt that they don’t have an app for that too!
The gardening apps are going to be able to really provide some extra guidance when it comes to the timing of your plantings, what plants are going to work best in your garden, and even how to lay your yard out.
Master Gardener Pocket Guide
This highly rated app boasts almost perfect reviews for those who use the Android version of this app. The Master Gardener Pocket Guide is an outstanding learning tool for any gardener, as it provides hundreds of flashcards filled with facts and information on thousands of terms, plants and growing information.
Sun Surveyor Lite
One of the most important things for any budding gardener to learn when planting flowers or other vegetation is how much sunlight it needs. You don’t want to pick a spot in your yard, that might look pretty, but actually spends the day in the shade. The Sun Surveyor app actually allows you to trace the sun to see where it hits during the day ensuring just the right amount of light.
An issue that many new gardeners end up being faced with is they don’t realize just how much of a schedule a garden needs to be on. It’s really easy to get confused with what gets water, or fertilizer or gets picked when, especially in a garden with multiple varieties. The Garden Manager app sets a series of notes and alarms to give you a gentle reminder of exactly when your garden needs to be tended.
Veggie Garden Guides
This app is great because it gives you truly start to finish instructions on everything from how to plant your veggies to the best ways to store them after being harvested. If you are new to gardening, or new to planting a particular type of veggie, the Veggie Garden Guide could be exactly what you need going forward.
For those who are looking to have their backyard become a beautifully landscaped paradise, an app like the Landscaper’s Companion is a very good investment. This app has an enormous database of plants, trees, and shrubs giving you detailed information on the types of sunlight, soil and water that will work best to make them grow.
What makes your garden grow? Any tips for getting it right in the garden?


Macadamia Nuts for Sale | Nuts Online
JC Nuts New Zealand
Hand picked direct from the tree, JC Nuts macadamias contain no cholesterol and have the highest mono-unsaturated fat of all nuts.
Packed fresh for a long shelf life, JC Nuts make the perfect snack.
Nutritional value of macadamia nuts
JC Macadamia Dry Roasted Products
Unsalted Macadamia Nuts, Salted Macadamia Nuts,
Manuka Honey Macadamia Nuts, Macadamia Nut Butter.
GROWN HERE IN NEW ZEALAND AT JC Macadamia Orchard


Optimizing cropland cover for stable food production in Sub-Saharan Africa using simulated yield and Modern Portfolio Theory
P. Bodin1, S. Olin1, T. A. M. Pugh2, and A. Arneth21Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 2Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Received: 14 Oct 2014 – Accepted for review: 06 Nov 2014 – Discussion started: 05 Dec 2014
Abstract. Food security can be defined as stable access to food of good nutritional quality. In Sub Saharan Africa access to food is strongly linked to local food production and the capacity to generate enough calories to sustain the local population. Therefore it is important in these regions to generate not only sufficiently high yields but also to reduce interannual variability in food production. Traditionally, climate impact simulation studies have focused on factors that underlie maximum productivity ignoring the variability in yield. By using Modern Portfolio Theory, a method stemming from economics, we here calculate optimum current and future crop selection that maintain current yield while minimizing variance, vs. maintaining variance while maximizing yield. Based on simulated yield using the LPJ-GUESS dynamic vegetation model, the results show that current cropland distribution for many crops is close to these optimum distributions. Even so, the optimizations displayed substantial potential to either increase food production and/or to decrease its variance regionally. Our approach can also be seen as a method to create future scenarios for the sown areas of crops in regions where local food production is important for food security.
Bodin, P., Olin, S., Pugh, T. A. M., and Arneth, A.: Optimizing cropland cover for stable food production in Sub-Saharan Africa using simulated yield and Modern Portfolio Theory, Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 5, 1571-1606, doi:10.5194/esdd-5-1571-2014, 2014.


The food safety of our bean sprouts
Going grocery shopping and wondering whether the vegetables that are being sold are safe for consumption? That should never be the case in Europe in 2020. For consumers vegetables should be safe without question.
Food safety indicates that food items are edible, without causing short- or long-term illness. When growing safe vegetables producers pay attention to possible pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella and E.coli, harmful substances and foreign materials. After performing rigorous checks and controls the food items are ready for sale. Interested to learn more about how we ensure safe bean sprouts? Then keep reading our food safety blog.
The food safety plan of Evers Specials
In our food safety plan the health of the consumer comes first. We follow strict rules and regulations to ensure hygiene, all according to our HACCP-plan. Food safety at Evers Specials starts with the mung bean farmers in Asia. Only mung beans with sprouting quality can be imported into the EU for the production of bean sprouts. These mung beans were specifically grown for sprouting. Once in Nijmegen, we put the delivered batch of mung beans through stringent tests, before usage. Only after the tests come back positive, we use the mung beans in our growing cells.
Through a disinfected piping system the beans arrive into a cleaned and disinfected growing cell. The fresh water that is used during growing is disinfected as well to decontaminate the water buffer tanks and the piping system to the cells. All doors of the cells stay closed during the growing period. For the ventilation of the cells we use clean, filtered air from outside. In the controlled environment of the growing cells the mung beans germinate into bean sprouts in 7 days.
For monitoring purposes we frequently get the harvested bean sprouts analyzed for Salmonella and STEC (Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli bacteria). After harvesting, we cool a batch of 10
pallets of packaged bean sprouts back to below 7°C within approximately 20 minutes. This way we ensure a core temperature of below 7°C for all the bean sprouts in the batch. This rules out the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Each month we also get samples of the packaged bean sprouts analyzed for Salmonella, STEC and E.coli and every quarter of a year for Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The harvested bean sprouts stay within a closed cold chain up until usage. Furthermore, we give our employees yearly trainings in hygiene, food safety and other quality aspects, so they possess the right knowledge. This way we ensure safe and tasty bean sprouts for our customers.
At Evers Specials we take our responsibility. Elevating food safety to a higher level starts with the mung bean and ends when the bean sprouts are on the plate of the consumer. All links are of importance in this process. From producers, to the government, suppliers, partners and customers. At Evers Specials we focus on transparent communication, proactive actions and partnership within the supply chain. Furthermore, we give advice to the quality departments of our customers, partners and suppliers on quality and food safety. Together we are always one step ahead.
The Food Crisis Management Event
Effective management of European food crises is key to protecting consumers and further developing the international fruit and vegetable sector. This last year we have been working hard on our rebranding. To show who we are and what we stand for, we decided to take action within a theme that does not only concern us, but is meaningful to the entire sector. On the 2nd of September Freshfel Europe and ESSA organize the digital Food Crisis Management Event. We as Evers Specials are initiator and sponsor of this event.
With this event we want to provide a platform for agri-associations, food business operators, European Commission officials, representatives of EU national authorities and other stakeholders, to enable more effective European food crisis management through interaction and dialogue.


Ground coffee eliminates unpleasant odors after work in the kitchen and gently scrubs gardener's hands clean. Organic olive oil moisturizes and richly nourishes hands and body. Ideal for all cooking, gardening and coffee enthusiasts.
Fresh weight approx. 120g in organza bag
Ingredients: Organic coconut oil and organic sunflower oil saponified, organic coconut oil and organic sunflower oil as refatting, water, organic glycerin, coffee, vanilla flavor, cocoa.
Ingredients (INCI): Sodium Cocoate*, Sodium Sunflowerseedate*, Aqua, Glycerin*, Cocos Nucifera Oil*, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil*, Coffea Arabica Seed Powder, Olus Oil, Parfum, Coffea Arabica Seed, Theobroma Cacao Seed Powder, Benzyl Alcohol. (*Organic)


Transgenic Crops: Critical Voices from the South
Latin Americans possibly know less than anyone about the real scope of the "second green revolution," based on the evelopment of transgenic crops. We have to get a grip on the problem and start thinking and acting.
There is talk in the world about a second "green revolution." Two elements characterized the first one, which translated into the boom of fruit cultivation for export in Chile. The first element was the use of high-yield seed varieties in some basic crops and the second was the abuse of chemical herbicides and pesticides, which have seriously damaged human health and the environment. Those in positions of economic and political power who until recently either denied or minimized the harm done by agrochemicals are now beginning to admit it, but only to spotlight the advantages of transgenics, a "revolution" based on large-scale development of genetically modified organisms.
Two authoritative voicesAs in the 1960s and 70s, discussions on whether or not these new technologies should be applied massively have not involved small growers, that majority sector that produces 60% of the vegetables that feed the Latin American market, and they have certainly not involved consumers. This new transnational business is simply being imposed by way of actions and there is no indication whether the tomato, the ear of corn or the rice being offered for sale is transgenic or not. In the United States, over half of the soy- and corn-based foods are products of genetic modifications.
Of the 40 million hectares of transgenic crops being grown in the world, Chile currently cultivates 35,000 hectares, mainly of tomatoes and corn for seed production. Chilean soil offers a dual advantage for the developed world’s transnational corporations that are contracting local farmers to plant these crops. On the one hand, the fact that the summer season does not coincide with that of the Northern Hemisphere permits them two harvests of transgenic seeds per year, thus speeding up the production process. On the other, they use Chilean fields as laboratories to evaluate how these species adapt and how much they produce in a different setting than the one in which they were created. "Another advantage is that nobody in Chile is researching the possible consequences of these crops on biosecurity," states University of Chile agronomic engineer Miguel Altieri, whose concern in this area has led him to present a research project on the environmental impact of transgenics in Chile. With doctorates in entomology and biological control from the University of Florida, Altieri currently teaches at the University of California at Berkeley, is general coordinator of the United Nations Development Program’s Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension (SANE) and is a technical adviser to the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development (CLADES).
Another authoritative voice is that of veterinarian Mario Ahumada, a representative of the Latin American Movement (MAELA), a consortium of a hundred nongovernmental organizations that work from Mexico and the Caribbean down to the Southern Cone. Ahumada says that another advantage for the transnationals of producing transgenic seeds in the country—which, according to available information, have moved beyond corn and tomatoes to wheat, corn, potatoes and rapeseed—is Chile’s geographic isolation. The Chilean land dedicated to transgenic crops has expanded from 28,000 hectares to its current 35,000 in only two years, which demonstrates the priority being given to this business. "Since the transgenic seeds produced in Chile are for export, national growers who want to use them will have to buy them from abroad," says Ahumada, pointing out that increased dependency is one of the many social and economic effects associated with this technological innovation.
A rapid but close-mouthed revolutionIn May, these two Chilean professionals, together with Oscar Torres of CIED/CLADES, participated in two international events held in Dresden, Germany, to debate the objectives and destiny that agricultural research should pursue in the future at a world level. The first was the International Seminar of NGOs and Peasant and Small Farmer Organizations on Research for Overcoming Poverty, attended by around 100 delegates from Europe, United States, Canada, Asia, Africa and Latin America. It was followed on May 21-23 by the Global Agricultural Research Forum, which involved 400 people, also from all continents. Those attending included government officials, researchers from various centers, private business representatives and delegates from peasant organizations and NGOs, although the latter, with 35 people, were the minority.
One criticism that emerged during the seminar was that pressure from transnational corporations has meant that funds provided by different international entities—particularly the World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization—for public research on new agricultural technologies have so far largely been channeled into genetic engineering. These funds are supposedly earmarked to deal with hunger and nutritional deficiencies in third world countries, but accumulating data seriously question whether genetic engineering in the hands of private companies even pretends to deal with hunger in the South.
The idea behind the larger forum was to gather proposals to submit to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is responsible for decision-making about what, how and why to investigate. The controversy around genetically modified organisms was a central theme in the debates of both events, although mainly the seminar. Despite all efforts by these organizations, however, the Global Forum reaffirmed the trend toward promoting genetically modified organisms.
The Latin American population is possibly the most ignorant of the extent and nature of the second green revolution, which is advancing quickly, cloaked in the complicit silence of the governments. That is why the information pulled together by NGOs of Europe and North America, where the headquarters of the transnationals and their most specialized scientific research centers are located, plus the experience accumulated by the peoples of Africa and Asia, where transgenic crops are becoming increasingly massive, are incredibly important to help us in Latin America get a grip on the scope of the problem.
Against health and the environmentAs with all scientific and technological progress, biotechnology can be used for good or bad purposes. In this case, the high level of sophistication involved in transplanting a fish gene into tomatoes or a frog gene into grapes to give the fruit the ability to regenerate itself rapidly in case of damage or mutilation like those animals do when they lose an extremity is bewildering. If the new technology also permits the adding of proteins to widely consumed vegetables or other nutritional reinforcements to foodstuffs of the basic market basket, one might conclude it is worth continuing to experiment with this crossing of genes from different species that nature would never dare meddle with. As it is, however, the transnationals have appropriated this technology, so the efforts have gone to create wheat, corn or rice that resist a specific pest, or to add some supposed nutritional benefit that gives the product more market appeal than real utility.
A first objection to developing transgenic foods is that they are being massively distributed without prior studies on the multiple effects they could have on human health. Among the effects already known are the possibility of producing allergies, intoxication and resistance to antibiotics. Second are the consequences on the environment, among them alterations in the trophic chain and the loss of biodiversity, given that the production of transgenics encourages an even greater degree of mono cropping than has already been imposed in our countries. In addition, pollination and the broadcasting of genes by the wind mean that a transgenic crop could propagate uncontrolled in neighboring areas, invading, mutating and finally pushing out other native species or varieties. With the disappearance of those forms of vegetable life, the insects, birds and animals associated with them would die out as well. This has been scientifically demonstrated in crops of wheat, rye and different varieties of rapeseed.
The bio-pirates of the 21st centuryThe economic and social consequences are no less impressive. As in other areas where human creativity is expressed, intellectual property rights are asserted for each "discovery" originating in the biogenetic laboratories. Each stage of genetic modification practiced on an organism, as well as its result, is duly patented. The transnational company that finances the research takes ownership of the technology and the "new" transgenic product. And not only that: in a technology that has been dubbed "terminator," the seeds it produces are sterilized so they cannot reproduce after giving their fruit in a harvest. This is excellent business as far as the transnational are concerned. Peasants and small farmers who once owned their wheat, corn or rice seed will now have to buy the transgenic seeds to maintain their crops each year. And together with each handful of seeds, they will be obliged to buy a packet or "construction" made up of markers and vectors—genes, bacteria or viruses—which guarantee the effectiveness of the genetically modified vegetable matter.
This appropriation process paves the way for what has been called "bio-piracy," defined by Mario Ahumada as "appropriation of a biodiversity wealth that does not belong to one in order to sell it." Asian peasant organizations, for example, claim that the company that is patenting a certain transgenic product obtained it from rice or corn belonging to a farmer or community, without the owners of the "raw material" receiving any compensation whatever. As 21st-century pirates, the research centers commanded by the transnationals are appropriating germplasm that seems tempting to them without asking anyone’s permission. The mega-corporations are creating gene banks nourished by the biodiversity existing in the third world countries, and are using this living wealth to form a strategic reserve that will assure them incalculable earnings in the short, medium and long run. According to Ahumada, exclusive native varieties of Chilean tomatoes and potatoes could be lost in this way. Monsanto, Cargill, Du Pont, Aventis, Dole and their affiliates control this new technology through intellectual property rights. At times, the concession of patents to them by the governments violate the nation’s own legislation, which guarantees the population free access to resources that these mega-companies are registering as their own.
The "marvels" of transgenic riceKnowing all this, peasant communities in the Southeast Asian countries are engaging in a constant and well-organized struggle to prevent companies from snatching away the rice they have cultivated since time immemorial and that is currently consumed by over half of the world’s population. It was precisely this rich potential that awoke the greed of the Rockefeller Foundation, which forty years ago set up the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, with branch offices in various countries of the area. Protected by dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who granted it a kind of "diplomatic immunity" via presidential decree, the Foundation created hybrid rice varieties whose high cost indebted the small landowners, many of whom ended up losing their holdings. The spin-off of this was an even greater gap between rich and poor in the rural areas—one percent of the population in the Philippines owns two thirds of the country’s cultivable lands—and degradation of the soil.
Today, the IRRI has a sophisticated genetic seed bank and with support from the CGIAR has moved into the field of biotechnology, consolidating itself as a monopoly. Associated with transnationals such as Monsanto, Cargill and Aventis, it has patented successive laboratory inventions. For example, a type of rice enriched with vitamin A through the incorporation of a viral gene has been presented as a solution to the vitamin deficiency suffered by nearly six million people in the third world. But this rice is conceived as good business, not as an appropriate solution to the planet’s nutritional problem. The seed is six times more expensive than normal seed and the price of the final product puts it out of the reach of all consumers outside the developed countries. Consuming vegetables that grow naturally in areas near the rice plantations could surmount vitamin A deficiencies, if an adequate food education program were developed.
The companies also have "Bt rice," into which a particular bacterium from the soil was introduced to make it resistant to certain caterpillars that find it toxic. Bt corn and rice already exist, and BB transgenic rice has been introduced more recently, named after its resistance to the blight bacterium. Philippine NGOs and different social organizations such as Vía Campesina are charging that this transgenic will spearhead the massive introduction into the country of other varieties with fantasy names like Super Rice and Golden Rice for subsequent exportation to Indonesia and India. They also claim that blight has not been a large-scale problem in the Philippines since the peasants learned to apply appropriate soil management practices.
The irruption of hybrids and transgenics into Asia has caused the disappearance of a rich biodiversity, a phenomenon known as genetic erosion. In Thailand, after 30-40 years of green revolution, the rice varieties have been reduced from fifty thousand to only five thousand. The fish, birds and frogs that lived in the rice plantations and provided the peasants important sources of protein have also disappeared.
Why is there hunger in the world?Miguel Altieri shoots holes in one of the main arguments in favor of transgenic foodstuffs: that only they have the productive potential, in both quantity and quality, to supply the nutritional deficiencies of the 800 million poorly fed people in the world and respond to the rising food demand due to the growth of the planet’s population. "The problem of hunger has nothing to do with production," says the academic researcher. "It is tied to the economic system, to the forms of distribution and to poverty. Right now we have the paradox of plenitude: the more food exists, the more hunger there is. Right in the United States, the world power, 2 million people go hungry and 20 million get less than the required nutrition levels. Another cause of hunger is found in the land tenure. Many people have no access to land to make it produce, because it is badly distributed. Together with Colombia and Mexico, Chile is one of the countries with the poorest land distribution indices in Latin America."
It is clear to Mario Ahumada that biotechnology is providing neither greater production nor less pesticide use, which is supposed to be another of its benefits. On the contrary, transgenic crops resistant to certain pests are not so selective as to exterminate only the insect that produces the plague, but also liquidate beneficial insects that act as predators against other pests. It has been verified that in many cases the transgenics increase pesticide dependence.
Capitalism’s perverse logicAltieri stresses that we must not lose sight of the fact that science is the product of a specific society. He offers the following reflection in this regard: "Modern science is at the service of the logic of capitalism, thus biotechnology, which could be a tool to benefit the poor, is already controlled by the transnationals, which are creating new organisms of which we have no evolutionary experience. When has corn ever been crossed with bacteria? Never. The corporations have taken possession of public science, and their interest is profit. There are other alternatives, however. The Cubans, for example, are developing their own biotechnology based on other principles. They produce biofertilizers and biopesticides in 230 special centers distributed all over the island to supply cooperatives and peasants. As in many other alternative experiences in Latin America, successful results are being achieved in production and yield, in this case through agroecological techniques and careful natural resource management. Very little is said about all this; instead, we are disinformed to calm any idea of preventing genetically modified organisms."
In the Declaration of Dresden, the NGOs and organizations of small farmers and peasants ratified this argument: "Transgenic crops are not the solution to malnutrition or hunger. Their introduction will have a strong impact on food security, will accentuate the marginalization of small producers and will cause environmental degradation and reduce biodiversity." They thus pledged to continue working to understand the risks of this technology and stimulate research geared to agroecology based on the knowledge and capacity accumulated by those who work the land.


Coffee, the aromatic elixir that has captivated hearts and minds around the world for centuries, is more than just a beverage. It is a cultural phenomenon, a social lubricant, and an art form. From bustling coffee shops in cosmopolitan cities to remote villages in the heart of coffee-growing regions, this humble bean has a universal appeal that transcends borders and languages. In this article, we will delve into the fascinating world of coffee, exploring its origins, the cultivation process, various brewing methods, and the science behind its complex flavors and aromas.
The Origins of Coffee
The story of coffee’s origins is steeped in legend and lore. According to popular belief, coffee was discovered in the ninth century by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi. Legend has it that Kaldi noticed his goats became unusually energetic after eating the berries from a certain tree. Curious, he tried the berries himself and experienced a newfound burst of energy. The word about these magical berries soon spread, and coffee began its journey through the centuries.
The Coffee Plant
Coffee comes from the seeds, or beans, of the Coffea plant, which belongs to the Rubiaceae family. The two most common species of coffee are Arabica and Robusta, each with its own distinct flavor profile. Arabica beans are known for their smooth, mild taste, while Robusta beans tend to be bolder and more bitter. The coffee plant requires specific conditions to thrive, including the right altitude, climate, and soil composition. As a result, coffee is primarily grown in tropical regions near the equator, often referred to as the “coffee belt.”
Cultivation and Harvesting
Coffee cultivation is a labor-intensive process that involves several stages. Farmers carefully tend to coffee trees, ensuring they receive the right amount of sunlight, water, and nutrients. Coffee cherries, which contain the coffee beans, are usually harvested once they have ripened. There are two primary methods of harvesting coffee: selective picking and strip picking. Selective picking involves hand-selecting only the ripest cherries, while strip picking involves harvesting all the cherries at once.
Processing and Roasting
Once harvested, the coffee cherries go through a series of processing steps to extract the beans. This can involve methods such as dry processing (sun-drying the cherries), wet processing (fermenting and washing the cherries), or honey processing (removing the skin but leaving some mucilage on the beans for added flavor). After processing, the green coffee beans are ready for roasting.
Roasting is where the magic happens. Roasters carefully control the temperature and duration of the roasting process to develop the desired flavors and aromas. Lighter roasts tend to have more pronounced acidity and floral notes, while darker roasts offer richer, bolder flavors with hints of chocolate and caramel.
Brewing Coffee: An Art and a Science
The act of brewing coffee is a delicate balance between art and science. There are numerous methods, each offering a unique experience. Some of the most popular brewing methods include drip brewing, espresso, French press, AeroPress, and pour-over. The choice of method, grind size, water temperature, and brew time all contribute to the final cup’s flavor and aroma.
The Science Behind Flavor
The flavor of coffee is a result of complex chemical reactions that occur during brewing. Compounds such as chlorogenic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins all play a role in shaping the taste and aroma of coffee. The brewing process extracts these compounds from the coffee grounds, and their interaction determines the final cup’s flavor profile. The balance of sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and body can vary widely depending on factors like coffee bean origin, roast level, and brewing method.
Coffee is more than just a drink; it is a worldwide cultural phenomenon that brings people together, fuels creativity, and provides comfort. From its legendary origins to the meticulous cultivation and the science of brewing, coffee is a fascinating journey of discovery. Whether you savor a single-origin pour-over at your local artisanal cafe or enjoy a cup of espresso on a bustling street corner, coffee offers a rich tapestry of flavors and aromas that continue to captivate the hearts of millions around the world. So, the next time you sip your favorite brew, take a moment to appreciate the art and science that goes into that humble cup of coffee.


The first was the opening ceremony of the new surgical building of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology on B. Polyanka street. Director of the Research Institute Professor Leonid Roshal expressed gratitude to the Moscow Government, personally to Mayor Y.M. Luzhkov, to the builders and said that this building was absolutely unique, since there were no other similar specialized medical institutions either in Moscow or in the whole world. Yuri Luzhkov also noted the special importance of the center, which will save children and meets all international standards in terms of its modern equipment with all the necessary equipment. Then the Moscow Mayor put into operation the first stage of the Moscow Experimental Plant for Precision Agriculture (MEPPA) on Mytishchinsky Proezd, which produces unique bio-containers for growing crops. “We are opening a plant, but in fact this is the first step in the large-scale introduction of the scientific direction, which will expand and occupy a large space in the practice of our country and abroad,” said Y.M. Luzhkov at the opening ceremony of the plant.


Giuliano Corino makes pretty, supple wines from some of the best sites in La Morra’s Annunziata district. In the words of Antoni Galloni “there aren’t too many regions in the world where readers will find artisan, hand-made wines of this quality at these prices”.
The Corino family owns two of the most outstanding crus in the area: Arborina (also shared by Elio Eltare) and Giachini. Barolo from Arborina presents beautiful floral character, bright red fruit and firm tannins. Giachini is distinguished by darker tonalities of red fruit, intense, perfumed aromatics and silky tannins. This vineyard is considered one of the most uinque sites in La Morra.
In 1952 Celeste Corino moved with wife and children to La Morra to work as a sharecropper in the farms of the area growing grapes and fruit trees. Celeste’s son Giovanni, who would later become the father of the current company owner Giuliano, grew up following in his father’s footsteps and eventually founded the Corino Azienda Agricola, focusing his attention on the vineyards. Today the company has 9 hectares of vineyards in La Morra, with an annual production of about 50,000 bottles. The Corino winery is now run by Giuliano, with the help of his wife Stefania and their children Veronica and Andrea. Here the entire family is involved in all areas of the winery – production, sales, marketing and hospitality.
The family holds great respect for their land, the environment and the health of the consumer as well as that of all of those working in the vineyards. In order to best control the quality and character of the wines they reduce the yields of each vine by pruning twice during the summer months so as to carefully select the bunches. In this way the remaining grapes reach perfect ripeness and balance and a consequent superior quality. A further selection is made during the harvest where the grapes are picked exclusively by hand, as most of the work in the vineyard.
In the cellar, they family are always looking for the perfect balance between modernity and tradition, placing the same level of care and attention from the basic wines to the Barolo Riserva.


Life is full of nasty surprises and eating a spoiled fruit is one of the nastiest of all.
If you’ve inadvertently taken a bite out of a banana with a black center then you’re probably wondering what’s the black string in the middle of it.
The hard brown center found in some bananas is typically caused by a fungus called Nigrospora. However, there are a few other possible causes that can also lead to banana black center syndrome such as moko disease.
In this article, I’ll explore each cause in detail and provide you with all the answers you need.
Why does your banana have a black center?
Eating spoiled bananas can lead to all sorts of unpleasant reactions such as nausea, vomiting, and even food poisoning.
Therefore, properly identifying the underlying reason can offer you a source of relief and arm you with the proper knowledge to deal with the problem.
Having said that here are the 3 reasons that lead to a banana being black in the middle:
1. Nigrospora fungus
Nigrospora sphaerica is an airborne fungus that’s found in the soil, air and as a pathogen in the leaf of some plants. It was first identified in 1927 when two scientists managed to isolate fungal cultures from banana plants and sugarcane.
What they found was that banana plants affected with the Nigrospora fungus suffer leaf blight. At first, the leaves turn grayish, but as the fungus colonies grow in number, they eventually turn dark brown until they finally wilt.
Even though Nigrospora is most commonly observed on plant leaves, it can also affect the banana fruit itself.
When this happens, the fungus starts to develop colonies in the center of the banana that are initially white, but shift their color to red, brown, and black as they develop.
In its initial stages, this slightly alters the texture of the banana giving it a slightly drier, bitter taste.
Author’s note: In the past there were false claims that bananas affected with banana black center syndrome contained blood.
However, as the infection reaches its final stages, the center of the banana turns into a black crunchy thing.
Even though it can be found all around the world, the Nigrospora fungus is most prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries.
Since it requires moisture to release its spores, these areas provide the fungus with the ideal conditions to reproduce.
Moreover, it typically affects ripe bananas and plants since they contain more moisture.
Intentionally or not, members of Chiquita Bananas claimed that black banana syndrome was caused by fall damage during handling at distribution centers and supermarkets.
According to them, ripening bananas were prone to this syndrome even if they got dropped from as low as one feet.
Which seems quite convenient if you ask me.
And since I’m quite inquisitive by nature, I gave the benefit of the doubt to these claims and dropped a ripening banana on the floor from three feet. Just in case.
I then left it on my kitchen table and checked up on it the next day.
As you’re probably guessing by now, the only thing this did was bruise the inside of my otherwise perfect banana.
Which I still ate by the way.
2. Moko disease
Moko is a bacterial wilt that affects bananas in a similar fashion to the Nigrospora fungus. There is, however, one very noticeable difference between the two.
Even though moko typically begins from the center of the banana and causes it to rot just like the Nigrospora fungus, it also leads to premature ripening.
Put differently, most bananas affected by moko disease never manage to reach store shelves since they rot before they’re ready for harvest. Nevertheless, it’s still good to know how to tell the difference between both conditions.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
On top: Bananas with the Moko disease by iggypup32; on the bottom: a banana with the Nigrospora fungus by Damn_Canadian
As you can see, the banana infected with the fungus is ripe and has a hard brown center.
3. Blood Disease
Banana Blood disease is a bacterial wilt caused by the Pseudomonas celebensis pathogen that was first described in 1910. It damages the banana plant by invading its vascular tissue which leads to wilt.
SImilarly to moko, Blood Disease typically affects bananas that haven’t ripened and leads to an unusual black discoloration inside of the banana.
However, unlike the first blight on this list, blood disease can be observed all over the fruit body. As you can probably imagine, stumbling on a banana affected by this disease is nigh on impossible.
But who knows what curveball faith might serve you one day.
Can you eat a banana with black center syndrome?
If you’ve accidentally taken a bite out of your banana just to find the horrible truth inside it, then you’re probably worried.
Which is completely understandable, since simply seeing that black part inside it can make your stomach turn.
During my research, I found only one source that claimed eating such bananas don’t pose any threat to human health.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, bananas with a black center syndrome are safe to eat. And this includes bananas infected by the Nigrospora fungus.
However, I personally wouldn’t take any risks eating one since there still isn’t enough information to back these claims.
What are the black spots inside my banana?
Have you ever wondered what the black dots inside your banana are?
Well, so have I and after doing some research I found out why that is.
As bizarre as it may sound, the bananas we eat today were cultivated from wild bananas that have seeds.
A lot of seeds.
Here’s some proof:
The same, however, can’t be said about the bananas found at your local supermarket.
Nearly half of the bananas sold around the world come from the Cavendish cultivar. Cavendish bananas as well as most of the other commercially available cultivars were specifically bred to be seedless. So the tiny black spots you see inside your banana are actually immature seeds.
Who would’ve guessed right?
We as humans are great at detecting potential threats to our health.
And even though some sources claim black center syndrome is harmless, there’s still no conclusive information.
So if your banana has a hard stem inside it or it smells rotten, then it would be best to trust your gut instinct.


After more than 20 years of mass-producing breads, we’ve decided to go back to basics and do an apprenticeship with colleagues from the Loiret region in France.
The results are now available in our shop: back to a pure loaf, made with high quality grains and produced through a slow, natural fermentation. The wheats and other grains we’re using now are organically grown and carry the French “Label Rouge” quality label.*
These grains are stone ground and cold milled, producing a flour that is rich in minerals and fibers and ideally suited to produce highly nutritious loafs.
We’re also using slow and natural fermentation, no added yeast. The dough is kneaded slowly and allowed to rise for at least 18 hours to allow texture and flavour to develop. After baking this produces a loaf with robust flavours and a thick, crunchy crust.
- *CRC = culture et ressources contrôlées (controlled sources & cultivation)
- grains are grown in France, away from polluted areas
- no pesticides allowed during cultivation, no insecticides during storage
- under constant control from the ministry of agriculture - quality guaranteed by the “Label Rouge”
Click to enlarge


Wonder Valley Olive Oil elevates any meal through its bright, herbaceous, peppery flavor and delivers a delicious dose of polyphenols, the powerful antioxidant associated with longevity of life. Our 2020 harvest oil is a blend of Leccino, Frantoio, Pendolino, Coratino and Arbequina olives hand-picked from the groves in Lake County, CA and pressed within hours of harvest by a master miller.
Flavor Profile: Black Pepper, Grass, Herbaceous, Stone Fruit
Health Benefits: Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids Polyphenols (Antioxidants) Phenolic Compounds Oleic Acid Vitamin E
Shelf Life: Best used within 24 months of harvest date
Harvest Date: November 2021