Conveyor belts for fertilizer is an indispensable equipment in the modern agricultural production process, it can effectively transport a large amount of fertilizer to the field quickly and safely. However, many farmers and workers who use conveyor belts for fertilizers often encounter a common problem, that is, the problem of conveyor belt slippage, which not only affects transportation efficiency, but also leads to production accidents and increased production costs. This article will analyze the reasons for the slippage of the conveyor belts for fertilizer from the following two aspects.
First of all, the main reason for the slippage of the conveyor belts for fertilizer is that the tension of the belt is not enough. Generally speaking, the conveyor belts for fertilizer runs through the driving wheel and the motor. When the motor is started, a certain tension will be formed, and the belt will rotate around the driving wheel. If the tension of the belt is not enough, it will cause the conveyor belts for fertilizer to slip during transportation. In addition, the rollers of the conveyor belts for fertilizer will also affect the tension. If the friction of the rollers is small or improperly installed, it will cause the conveyor belts for fertilizer to lack proper tension and cause the conveyor belt to slip.
Secondly, the quality and service life of the conveyor belts for fertilizer will also affect the slippage of the conveyor belt. If the quality of the conveyor belts for fertilizer is not good, the material is not strong, and the rollers swing abnormally, it will accelerate the wear and aging of the belt, causing the belt to become loose and fragile, difficult to bear the heavy pressure of the fertilizer, and finally cause the conveyor belt to slip. In the long-term use process, if it is not maintained and maintained in time, its quality will gradually decline, which will further aggravate the occurrence of slipping.
Therefore, in the production process, in order to avoid the problem of conveyor belts for fertilizer slipping, the quality of raw materials must be strictly controlled, and the use of conveyor belts for fertilizers must be regularly inspected and maintained to ensure proper tension of the belt and balanced swing of the drive rollers. In addition, we can also take some measures, such as increasing belt tension, improving the structure of the transmission system, replacing unqualified conveyor belts, etc., to improve the operation of the belt, reduce the occurrence of slippage, and improve the efficiency and stability of the conveyor belts for fertilizer .


ASSESSMENT AND ADAPTATION OF A NAERC PEDAL MILLET THRESHER FOR THRESHING SORGHUM (Junelo) IN NEPAL
Traditional threshing (pounding, animal trampling, beating the harvested heads with sticks on bare ground or in bags), a most common manual threshing practice for majority of the farm households is a slow, tedious, drudgerious and labor intensive practices in Nepal. Therefore, there is need of threshing mechanization option suitable for smallholder farmers to replace the manual threshing of sorghum. As most of the farmers have small land holding, poor economy and insufficient electric power supply, a pedal operated millet thresher was playing important role especially for threshing millet in Nepal. Hence, a study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a NAERC pedal millet thresher for threshing sorghum. Thresher was evaluated in terms of different performance parameters such as threshing capacity, threshing efficiency, grain loss, and associated threshing labour and cost. In addition, the physical and engineering properties of sorghum grain namely, moisture content, linear dimensions, 1000 grain weight, particle and bulk density, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, equivalent diameter, shape index, sphericity, aspect ratio, porosity, repose angle and friction properties behavior on different surfaces were studied. The average threshing capacity of the pedal thresher (machine threshing) for sorghum was obtained as 28.20±3.07 kg/hr with a threshing efficiency of 93.36% at an average moisture content of 11.44%, and concave clearance of 6 mm, respectively while that of stick beating (manual method) was 12.2±0.2 kg/hr. The average broken grain losses of 5.00±1.19% and 6.8±0.9% were found in machine threshing and manual threshing, however, unthreshed grain was higher in thresher (6.6±0.91%) than stick beating (4.1±1.2%). Considering economic perspectives, a labour saving of 46.41% was achieved by the use of pedal thresher (47.85 man-hr/mt) compared to manual threshing (103.9 man-hr/mt). Manual threshing needs almost 2.15 hours to thresh equal mass as that by thresher in one hour. Similarly, cost saving of 24.24 % was occurred in custom hired machine threshing (NRs 7000/mt) with respect to manual method (NRs 9239.7/mt). Conclusively, this technology is widely accepted by farmers for threshing finger millet, thus this study on sorghum threshing explored its multi-use benefit in maximizing thresher use per year and increase profitability.
Sorghum, pedal millet thresher, physical properties, manual threshing, efficiency


This ranch located in the Big Valley AVA of Lake County is set up for production. With 22 acres 3rd leaf and planted high density 8'x3' on a VSP trellis, early estimates are 9 tons per acre by year 5. There are an additional 12 acres with planting age 2000, on 8'x6' spacing. The water resources on the ranch are supported by agricultural wells and an off-stream reservoir and pumping station. Structural improvements to the ranch include a comfortable 2 bedroom residence and shop, full RV hookup plus storage and outbuildings. With a proforma cap rate of 9-21%+ investors should be more than excited about the return on investment this vineyard opportunity has to offer.


Beekeeper / Honey Farm
Tel: 01483 912337
Mob: 07900 578877
Fax: 0203 137 1827
In early 2018 we’re launching the Surrey Honey Farm website.
We manage bee hives countrywide for companies wanting to embrace the benefits of staff wellness, education and social responsibility. We also offer fruit farm contract pollination, collect unwanted swarms within a 10 miles radius of KT9 2ES and will sell honey comb on-line.
Surrey Honey Farm are specialists at setting up bee hives on roof tops and in the gardens of commercial companies and private members clubs. Surrey Honey Farm will take care of setting up and maintaining your bee hive. You can stay in touch with your bees on our web based browser service 24/7 observing the living hive going about its bee business.
You can just sit back and watch your bees or take part in one of our training courses. Allowing you and/or your staff to help work with your bees, generating your own honey.
Beyond the staff moral and wellness benefits our aim is to show there is a way for bee farming to help reverse the decline of the wild honey bee populations. Beyond the services mentioned above we supply rescued bee colonies to our not‑for‑profit sister organisation www.BeesMax.org (being launched mid 2018). They place bees in new homes enabling new colonies to thrive and help renew their position as our principal pollinators.
For farmers we can also pollinate fruit trees, polly tunnels and hydroponic environments on a contract basis.
To arrange an initial meeting about corporate contracts, contract pollination, speaking engagements or bottling of honey please email Mark Gale at firstname.lastname@example.org


Earth Circle Organics Cacao Nibs - Organic - Sweetened - Balinese Raw - 16 oz Sweetened cacao nibs are created from raw Balinese nibs and organic coconut palm syrup. A low-glycemic sweetener, palm syrup is created from the caramelized nectar of the coconut palm tree. Sweetened Cacao Nibs are loaded with nutrition and a touch of sweetness and hints of citrus that perfectly complements the dark chocolate flavor. Available in 8 oz. bags. Similar to unsweetened cacao nibs, sweetened cacao nibs retain all of raw cacaoï¿½s nutritional properties, with just a touch of low glycemic coconut palm nectar. Cacao nibs are full of antioxidants, fat, carbohydrates, protein, polyphenols and oleic acid, a heart-healthy essential monounsaturated fat. Our raw cacao is grown and processed by cooperatives in Indonesia. We are committed to supporting the preservation of traditional cacao farmers through the promotion of fair trade and sustainable supply chains. This artisan cacao is a celebration of diversity and pride for these skilled producers and craftsmen.


Alec Forss was Quoted on Radio Free Asia about Deforestation in North Korea
May 19, 2020: Alec Forss, project coordinator and editor with ISDP’s Korea Center, spoke to Radio Free Asia (Korean) about deforestation in North Korea.
“Food shortages have led to the clearing of forests by farmers in order to cultivate sloped land for agriculture . . . While part of the answer is to stop cultivating sloped land, food shortages may force farmers to prioritize food production over conservation.”


Radio, the new social network
Some people may think that radio is on its way of extinction. But, for rural farmers, in many countries of Africa, it´s the other way around. Another misconception is that radio is a “one-way channel of communication”, but Farm Radio International, is proving that interaction with farmers is providing solutions to many agricultural problems, empowering women and giving voice to the less favored people. For this reason, The Sustainable Food Lab chose this experience to be visited during its 2016 Annual Leadership Summit Learning Journey, that was held in Tanzania. This, and many other experiences helped to enrich discussions on sustainable agriculture and sustainable sourcing.


In the latest episode of Eco Solutions, CNN meets the companies in Abu Dhabi helping to reverse the effects of climate change, and explores waste upcycling technology, an indoor garden ecosystem and a biofuel plant.
Dr Nicolas Calvet, CEO of start-up Seramic, has invented an upcycling method which transforms construction waste into refined ceramic material. He explains the process: “When you put all the household trash, they go to landfill usually, or they go to incinerator. If they burn it, they will generate ash and we recover this kind of waste in our formulation of ceramic. We crush it to make powder, we have then a paste or a powder that we can shape into the final product.”
Construction waste is an increasingly important issue in the growing city of Abu Dhabi, and the company uses 100% recycled waste to produce refined ceramic materials like bricks and tiles. “We solve a waste management issue, and we make a product that is more affordable,” Calvet explains.
Another company mitigating climate change is HydroArtPod, an indoor garden ecosystem which uses a limited amount of water to grow produce without soil. Aline Pate co-founded HydroArtPod to solve a problem she said she faced as a young parent, “When, I was a young mom, all the food I could buy was coming from some sort of store. I had no control about where it was grown. I did not know what chemicals were sprayed on.”
She describes the benefits of this hydroponic garden: “It just grows much faster than any other systems. That is due to the water circulating in the unit. Automatically the water has nutrients which supply the plant roots, what they need, when they’re needed.” She adds, “I really needed a solution that made it possible for anyone who has a busy lifestyle to get fresh organic produce at home without the time and effort involved that other growing method would require.”
HydroArtPod have also launched an app which informs users when the device needs their attention and monitors their carbon footprint. Pate explains, “The app would automatically recognise that you had harvested a portion. It calculates how much plastic you saved by all the home growing.”
CNN later meets the bioenergy scientist producing sustainable biofuel, Dr. Alejandro Rios. He explains the global potential of Khalifa University’s biofuel plant. Using 100% salt water, the technology at the plant integrates fish farming with agriculture to produce sustainable biofuel for aviation.
“We are producing biomass that can be turned into a usable form of energy, in our case, sustainable aviation fuel, and we are cleaning the water and cleaning the air in the process.”
The salt water from the fishponds is used as fertiliser for halophyte plants, a salt-tolerant plant that thrives in desert conditions. The plants produce oil which converts to biofuel and is used as jet fuel.
Rios shares his hope that this homegrown solution could mitigate the impacts of climate change in the future, “The research that we’re doing here is not being done in any other place around the world. What is happening is that you’re creating knowledge here in the UAE, and that knowledge can actually be exported to other places around the world.”
“We as humans forget about the problems we produce when we use something. We need to start making sure that we use or reuse all the waste streams that we generate,” he says.
Credit : CNN


The Vegetable Garden
What food to grow? Are you growing vegetables next year if so now is the time to plan something different…not your normal cabbage and carrots.
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January and the seed catalogues are now out – so while the garden is not demanding all your time – take the opportunity to sit down and enjoy choosing your vegetable seeds; with so many varieties available it pays to think carefully.
People often make the mistake of choosing to grow things they can buy cheaply at the supermarket – this year grow something different that’s either hard to find or too expensive to buy regularly. How much money do you spend on buying salad bags, probably a small fortune over the summer but if you sow seed every few weeks you can have a continual supply of really tasty leaves well into Autumn.
It doesn’t matter how much space you have either, use any container from an old dustbin to grow potatoes to olive oil cans for fresh herbs. Ideally you would have three growing beds, so you can rotate your crops, not growing them in the same place each year to get the best yield.
The choice is inspiring – especially if you love food like me, then gardening and cooking seem to go hand in hand, so I’m trying:
• Pea Serge – best for pea shoots
• Courgette ‘Trombomcine’ – a climbing version with long curved fruits, good grown over a pergola.
• Kale ‘Cavalo Nero’ - the Italian chef’s favourite greens, fantastic cooked simply with olive oil and garlic.
• Chili ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ – not too hot; use what you need during summer then dry the remaining fruits, crumble into a kilner jar and store.
• Nasturtium ‘Black Velvet’ - some edible flowers for my salads.
• Borlotti beans – eat either the young pods or the beans cooked in winter stews
Saturday morning saw me at Oxford Botanic Gardens for a talk by Paulo Arrigo called from Seed to Plate – titled as is his current book of the same name. Anything that ties together my two favourite things in the world – gardening and food is always worth a listen especially if tasting is involved which it was here. Apart from getting a good deal on seeds which were on display – the information gleaned from listening him talk was invaluable. I learned about the different varieties of seed, along with recipes developed over the years to suit each particular variety. So choose to grow the variety based on what you want to do with it – juicy sweet tomatoes for eating in salads and thin skinned fleshy tomatoes for cooking. For more details and a catalogue on Franchi seeds – visit www.seedsofitaly.com
Consider the layout of the beds – locate them in a position with as much sunlight as possible. If you decide to have raised beds then this certainly helps to contain the soil, improves the drainage and warms up earlier so crops get a better start. It’s also easier to protect the crops from slugs and to setup protection against birds.
Divide the beds up so that you do not have to walk on to the soil and compact it. Several smaller beds with paths 500mm in between gives better access – if the beds are a maximum of 2 metres wide then you can reach into the middle of each. They do not have to be rectangular they can be any design L-shaped or circular but when you are designing their shape and numbers consider crop rotation. For more information check out the RHS website for advice. http://www.rhs.org.uk/


Spring Yard Cleanup Tips
Spring Yard Cleanup: Get Spring Lawn Tips from CHPS
Kick-Start the Growing Season with Spring Yard Cleanup
Spring clean isn't just for the inside of your home. When winter winds down, make sure you also take time to tidy your outdoor space. Spring yard work begins with spring yard cleanup. Clearing debris and dead, overgrown vegetation will revive the appearance of your landscape and also make room for new greenery. Follow these spring lawn tips to help wake up your yard and prepare it for growing season.
Spring Lawn Cleanup Tips
Begin your spring lawn cleanup by picking up debris -- including leaves, rocks, twigs and branches -- from your yard. If there is a lot of foliage scattered on your lawn, use a leaf blower -- such as the Remington cordless blower -- or a rake to gently remove it. In addition to making your yard look neater and promoting new grass growth, cleaning debris will make it safer to operate your MTD lawn mower. It also gives you a better view of your lawn, so you can assess winter damage.
Spring yard cleanup tips for your plants
Continue your spring yard cleanup by removing annual plants that didn't survive the winter. You should be able to pull these out by hand with little effort. In addition to creating space for other plants and making your landscape look healthier, pulling up dead annuals helps loosen the soil, which allows air, water and nutrients to circulate more easily. Then, trim brown, dried parts off your flowering perennials and ornamental grasses. As part of your spring yard cleanup, you should also prune summer-blooming shrubs. Wait until spring-blooming shrubs have flowered to prune them.
Spring yard cleanup tips for your planting beds
The next step to your spring lawn cleanup is to straighten up your planting beds. Remove debris that accumulated during the winter, and pull any weeds. Gently rake back mulch to allow the sun to dry and warm the soil. (Be careful not to do this too early, as mulch serves as a protective barrier against late freezes.) The warmth will help kick-start spring growth. To further encourage new growth and freshen the look of your landscape, turn the soil in your planting beds. First, check the moisture of your soil to see if it's ready to turn. Take a handful, tightly squeeze it, and drop it on the ground. If it doesn't crumble, it's still too wet, and mixing may damage its structure. If it crumbles, it's dry enough, and you can use a hand rake or spade to carefully loosen it around your plants. If you're preparing a new planting bed, use a MTD garden tiller to cultivate the soil more efficiently and effectively. Now is also a good time to work in compost to improve soil fertility.
Prepare your equipment for spring yard work
In addition to following these spring lawn tips, get your outdoor power equipment ready for growing season. Make sure your mower blades and tiller tines are sharp, and your mower belts are free of cracks, fraying and other signs of wear. If you need a replacement, use our Outdoor Power Equipment Parts finder to quickly locate the right one for your machine.


Hello gourd-geous! Travis Gienger from Anoka, Minnesota won the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off with a pumpkin weighing a whopping 2,749 pounds. This year’s victorious, lumpy veggie is named Michael Jordan and it could be baked into almost 700 pies.
[Related: How do you breed a 2,624-pound pumpkin?]
According to Guinness World Records, the previous world record holder for heaviest pumpkin was a 2,702 pound squash grown in Italy in 2021.
Gienger is a horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College who has been growing pumpkins for almost three decades, currently nurturing the behemoths in a patch in his backyard. This year, he decided to give the plants some extra care by watering them up to 12 times per day, in addition to extra fertilizing and feeding.
He is a second generation great pumpkin grower, who first competed at the annual weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California in 2020. Since then, he has won three of the city’s last four giant pumpkin contests. His 2,350 pound pumpkin named Tiger King won in 2020. The somehow even bigger pumpkin Maverick won in 2022 at 2,560 pounds.
He also shares the world record for the largest jack-’o-lantern by circumference. He won this prestigious honor in October 2022 for a pumpkin carved to look like an eagle with a circumference of 242 inches.
“I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” Gienger told The Associated Press.
Gienger won a $30,000 prize, most of which he plans to put into his daughter’s college fund and the rest will be used to “reinvest in the hobby.”
The annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival draws thousands of visitors every fall for multiple pumpkin-themed activities. The coastal city is known for large pumpkin patches, making it an ideal spot for this festival.
Growing these giant gourds first took off during the 1970s, but it was not until 1996 that the first 1,000 pounder hit the pumpkin scene. Growers use special seeds that are annually swapped to create giant gourds. A pumpkin’s growing season can last over 100 days, giving them significantly more time to reach these titanic proportions than other crops. They also have a thick and woody rind that protects them better than other vegetables that have a high concentration of water.
[Related: These fungi demand more pumpkin in their pumpkin spice lattes.]
Most record-breaking pumpkins are a variety called Dill’s Atlantic Giant. They have been bred to produce increasingly large offspring. Some prize winners could have some innate advantages, including larger vascular tissue or a natural ability to grow faster, resist pests, or take in more nutrients from the soil.
When not artificially flavoring lattes, getting carved up for decoration, or being the center of competitions, pumpkins are an excellent food to eat. They are chock full of nutrients that support the immune system, are heart-healthy, and their versatility makes them easy to fit into different types of dishes.


Mashing completes the transformation process from starch into sugar, which begins during the malting procedure.
The dried malt is ground to remove the straw-like film which covers the grain. Only the malt is kept and turned into flour. Here, we obtain what is known as malt flour.
This sort of coarse flour is then mixed with hot water in a large vat.
During the malting process, the barley secretes enzymes allowing the sugar to be obtained. During the mashing process, the transformed sugars dissolve in the hot water. This sugary water, the wort, is pumped out through the perforated base of the vat.
The liquid is then pumped and its temperature is reduced, in order to be transferred to the fermentation vat.
All these perfectly-mastered techniques are the result of improvements made over past centuries.


For a long time now, people have known the devastating effects of soil agriculture. This can include deforestation due to excessive agriculture which increases carbon emissions causing global warming. Previous research emphasized the urgency of developing green sustainable solutions to grow food such as hydroponics and aeroponics. Tron Sherman, of Mansfield, MO, introduced the idea of using a recyclable substrate (i.e., tires) for growing plants. The objective of this study is to determine if lettuce plants will grow better and faster in recyclable substrates using hydroponics as compared to soil. Lettuce plants were selected to grow hydroponically using the Kratky method (defined below) in 7 substrates which included 6 recyclable household materials and one of soil. The best plant from each substrate was selected from height, weight, root length, and width data over the course of 7 weeks. It was found that the best performing substrates in height, weight, root length, and width was found to be cloth and the sponge. All the household recyclable substrates with exception of cushion filling were found to grow plants better than soil. Findings suggest that while Rockwool or other commercially available products are used as substrates for hydroponics, recyclable household substrates can be just as effective and better than soil while reducing cost.
Research Paper by Zain Rehman, Grade 6, Scholars at Central High School, Springfield Missouri


People have been using peas for thousands of years, and rightly so, as they are full of protein. Thanks to modern food technology, these very proteins make it possible to enjoy meat in a sustainable way.
A tasting by Dorian Schiffer
When Gregor Mendel founded the theory of heredity with the pea plants from his Brno monastery garden, mankind had already been cultivating the little green balls for thousands of years – because the pea is not only an object of study for genetics, but also one of the oldest staple foods. Originally from Asia Minor, the pea has been with us for 10,000 years. And there is a reason for this: the seeds of the pea plants are a rich source of nutrients and can be easily stored when dried.
In order to pack their seeds full of proteins that are important for humans, pea plants rely on teamwork. The plants form a partnership with bacteria in the thickenings of their roots. These microbes pull nitrogen from the air for the plant, the most important chemical building block of valuable proteins. As a result, peas can generally thrive without additional nitrogen fertilizer – making their cultivation particularly scho-netic for the soil.
What we know today as peas, i.e. the green, soft seeds, only came into fashion in modern times: Before that, the ripe, dry pea seeds were used and mainly consumed as soup or mush. The unripe green seeds or sugar snap peas, which are eaten with the pod, were only able to assert themselves against dried peas with the help of modern preservation methods. The ripe pea seeds in particular would be true nutrient bombs, rich in fiber, carbohydrates and minerals. But no gourmet would rub his hands together if he were presented with a plate of pea porridge. The gourmets among us would probably be more pleased with a crispy schnitzel or, if you like Asian food, a delicious bami goreng or Indian butter chicken. However, as good as these dishes may taste, they cannot do without meat, which is a problem not only for animal welfare
Animals have to die for meat. This fact alone may be reason enough to avoid meat products. But beyond that, meat is not a particularly efficient source of protein: in order to produce beef, for example, cows have to be kept for years on huge pastures and supplied with energy-rich concentrated feed, for example from soy, for which further cultivation areas are needed. This land consumption is only trumped by the water consumption that makes the fodder plants grow and waters the cattle. If forests are cleared for the fields and pastures, the climate balance is worse.
The same amount of protein from plant sources requires only a fraction of these resources. So for the environment, a predominantly plant-based diet is preferable. But what if you can’t do without the taste of meat? In this case, our old companion comes into play again: the pea, or more precisely, its protein. This substance can be used to produce amazingly real-looking – and tasting – substitute meat. However, this requires state-of-the-art food technology.
The company Planted, for example, uses a mixture of pea flour, sunflower seed flour and oat flour for its products. To transform this powder into meat substitute, it needs a special device, the extruder: Under constant kneading, the protein flour is mixed with rapeseed oil and water and heated step by step. This produces a long-fibered protein mass, which is then cut and marinated with oils, spices and herbs – or breaded in the case of the vegetable cutlets.
The meatless meat produced in this way releases a good three-quarters less CO2 than chicken, according to Planted. So the meat substitute is environmentally friendly and it can be prepared just like animal meat: Planted’s plant-based chicken can be combined with onions, garlic, ginger, coconut milk and Indian spices to create a creamy Butter Chicken. The company’s fibrous Pulled “Pork” makes a great sandwich between two slices of toast with a bit of arugula and hummus. Now, guests at the Science Ball can find out exactly what Planted’s product line tastes like at the tasting booth. Bon appétit, thanks to the pea!
Dorian Schiffer studies physics at the University of Vienna and writes about science, for example in Der Standard and alexandria magazine.


- Tomato Ketchup
Share Tomato Ketchup
Tomato Ketchup is an online game that is free to play. It is a lot of fun, and it is also a great way to improve your skills. The "Tomato Ketchup Online Game" is a free and fun game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Here's a brief guide on how to play the game:
Players may need to click on different parts of the game interface to select and interact with different objects, such as watering the plants, harvesting the tomatoes, and filling the ketchup machine. The specific controls and gameplay mechanics may vary depending on the platform and developer of the game.
Use mouse to interact. Love ketchup Who doesnt Make your own in this this game. The tomato plants have already got sunlight and nutrients from the fertile soil. So you just need to start water them to make them grow. Make as many bottles of ketchup as possible by growing your tomatoes and filling the machine with them.
Overall, it sounds like a fun and casual game for players who enjoy farming and food-related themes.


QUINOA ( keen-wah) has been a talk of the town for quite some time now. Perhaps you are familiar with this “superfood” and even wondered if you’ve pronounced it just right. (It’s keen-wah, not keen-no-wah).
Health forums had been discussing the health benefits of quinoa. It even received great media attention because of its popularity.
It was that way for a while but then things started to float in the background up until now. I guess it’s just right that we get to rediscover the health benefits of quinoa.
QUINOA, “Mother of all grains”
Quinoa is a type of crop mostly grown for its seeds. Its grain has become very popular in the last few years because of the great health benefits of quinoa.
Many health conscious people find this seed interesting and worthy to try because it is loaded with many important nutrients.
Quinoa has also gained a lot of good health reviews and praises through the years. One of it is from the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
It praised quinoa for its very unique and healthy composition. According to them, it has a unique balance amount of protein, fat, and oil as well as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fatty acids.
According to a researcher named Philip White, quinoa comes as close as any other plant or animal that can supply all the essential life sustaining nutrients.
The article entitled “Edible Seed Products of the Andes Mountains” further discussed White’s sentiments about the quinoa seeds.
And aside from the fact that it is very nutritious, it is also very easy to grow. It is drought resistant and can easily grow in soils without proper irrigation.
This is very helpful during times of drought when other crops fail to produce.
We can actually turn to quinoa and expect a good amount of production as it thrives on even on very little rainfall.
Because of this, the United Nations (UN) has recognized its potential to provide food security in the worldwide market in 2013.
The UN even considered this year as the “International Year of Quinoa”. In addition to that, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was convinced that quinoa is ideal for long-duration space flights.
Quinoa originated in the high mountains of the Andes. And according to existing historical evidence, this plant had also been cultivated in the Pre-Columbian civilization.
Quinoa is a species of the goosefoot genus (Chenopodium quinoa). Its botanical name means “goose foot” because the leaves of this plant seem to resemble the webbed foot of a goose.
It is believed that the Incas in the early times used quinoa as a staple food in their diet. Some Inca warriors prefer to eat quinoa to keep them energized through long marches and battles during the time.
The Incas are said to be the first ones to call quinoa as the “Mother of all grains”. Over the time, it has grown to be popular in some parts of the world and even reached Europe.
VARIETIES OF QUINOA
Quinoa is a grain with a lot of varieties. It has roughly around 120 recorded kinds of quinoa worldwide.
But for this article, we will only be talking about the three most commercialized kinds – red, white and black quinoa.
Its color mainly depends on the chemical compound present in it. It might be interesting to differentiate all the three types of quinoa. So let’s start.
- WHITE QUINOA
White quinoa is the most common type available in stores, people simply call it “quinoa”. But some prefer to call it “ivory quinoa”.It has a sweet and subtle flavor like that of rice grain and can easily be combined with any vegetable or meat. Ivory quinoa is a great source of protein and is also great for vegetarians.
- RED QUINOA
Red quinoa has the highest protein content of all quinoa grains. It has a delicate flavor and is rich in essential minerals and vitamins.Like the white quinoa, you can also incorporate red quinoa in other food servings such as salads, soups, and another dish.
- BLACK QUINOA
Black Quinoa is another organic variety of quinoa. It is free from any chemicals and basically has the same health benefits of other quinoa varieties.It tastes a bit sweeter and earthier than white quinoa because of its darker hue and crunchier texture.
NUTRITIONAL CONTENTSOF QUINOA
Quinoa is popularly known as the protein-food. A study entitled “Nutritive Values of Crops, Nutrient Content and Protein Quality of Quinoa” validated the said nutritional value.
It states that all varieties of quinoa contain complete essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.
Protein plays a crucial role in almost all biological processes in the body. With the high protein content of quinoa, it’s not surprising that it supports good health.
According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, 1 cup of cooked quinoa has 8.14 grams of protein.
This amount is great to support the growth and the repair of tissues & organs in the body. It is actually a better source for daily recommended protein intake which is around 46-56 grams.
This “super grain” is also high in fiber that promotes a variety of health benefits. A study conducted at the University of Valencia in Spain revealed that there are about 10 and 16 grams of fiber per every 100 grams of quinoa.
This is comparable twice as much as the fiber content of some other grains. Moreover, the recommended daily fiber intake is between 25-38 grams.
On the other side, it has both the soluble (the beneficial fiber) and insoluble fiber. The helpful fiber is shown to help in reducing amounts of cholesterol and is considered food for the cardiovascular system.
Aside from that, it helps to control blood sugar levels and insulin concentrations in the body.
Researchers from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland claims that quinoa is a good suitable ingredient in gluten-free diets.
Adding quinoa to meals and snacks can greatly improve the nutritional profile of gluten-free diets according to the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
People who have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity are recommended to take gluten-free diets. Gluten content often irritates the lining of the small intestine of people with celiac disease.
If this happens, the villi in the intestines cannot function to absorb the nutrients in the body, thus causes malnutrition.
Lack of nutrients makes the body susceptible to diseases. But incorporating quinoa in the diet can significantly increase their polyphenol content which helps protect cells and body chemicals against diseases caused by free radicals.
RICH IN FOLATE
Another essential vitamin present in quinoa is the water-soluble B Vitamin – Folate. According to Institute of Medicine, adults need 400 micrograms of folate daily.
If you consume quinoa, you can have the 78 micrograms of it. The importance of adequate folate intake is for important cellular functions.
The process of copying and synthesizing DNA to produce new cells needs folate.
Quinoa provides up to 2.76 milligrams of iron out of the recommended daily intake of 8-18 milligrams. This is way better than taking iron supplements, as far as the taste is a concern.
The production of new red blood cells needs great iron contents for certain enzymes to give energy.
Iron is essential for brain function and your muscles. It also prevents anemia.
Basically, these are the top nutritional contents of quinoa that aids for its various health benefits. We will briefly discuss the different health benefits of quinoa in the succeeding paragraphs.
Now, let us get to know more about the health benefits of quinoa one by one.
With the high fiber content of quinoa, it definitely helps to aid in decreasing one’s cholesterol levels. One major role of fiber is assisting in a smooth digestion process.
As a result, the high fiber in quinoa helps in reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) through continuous bile acid production.
Studies show that quinoa contains a specific compound called saponins. Saponin is an anti-inflammatory nutrient.
In addition, a study in Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences suggests that saponins are used as functional food components to promote healthy gut microbes.
The study suggests that it prevents inflammation, obesity, and metabolic diseases.
Studies show the potential impact of high fiber content on one’s eating behavior. It somewhat makes us feel full for longer periods and decreases the possibility of consuming too many calories.
Aside from that, it also lowers cholesterol that is a great factor in losing weight. Though there is no exact study to prove that it can really decrease body weight, it is quite a sense that quinoa can be a great part of a healthy weight loss diet.
Quinoa is a rich source of iron that helps in preventing anemia. The deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood characterized anemia.
This condition results in a pale looking skin, decrease energy and constant weariness. Iron is a very important component to restore hemoglobin levels.
But with quinoa, you can easily have enough intake of iron to decrease the risk of anemia.
Good for Cardiovascular Health
Since quinoa can decrease cholesterol level then it can positively affect the heart. A study in European Journal of Nutrition in 2004 showed that quinoa produced lower levels of free fatty acid content and triglyceride concentrations.
These are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Additionally, another article published in Journal of Food Lipids reported that quinoa seeds contain many of the dietary flavonoids shown to inversely correlate with mortality from heart disease.
Good for Pregnant Women
In addition to the above-mentioned health benefits of quinoa, it also contains high levels of folate advisable for pregnant women.
Then, it has an integral role in cell development as well as fetal development.
Most of all, it decreases birth defects and protects against miscarriage and neural tube defects in the fetus.
Still, quinoa is one of the healthiest foods of all time. It contains a lot of essential vitamins and minerals good for the body.
Furthermore, the above-listed health benefits of quinoa should encourage you to incorporate quinoa into one’s diet.


We make healthy nutritious soup from local ingredients, weekly, for members of our local community who are in need due to a surgery, injury, or illness. Since starting in April 2018, with the support of Circle of Friends, a 501-3C non-profit, we have made and delivered over 800 quarts of soup locally, averaging more than 300 quarts of soup per year.
This year we have received generous donations from local farms including produce and meat products for bone broth:
bell peppers, butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash, tomatoes, Mona Lisa potatoes, zucchini, parsley, cilantro, Swiss chard, onions, garlic, eggplant, basil, beets, pumpkin, green onions, beef, lamb, and buffalo bones. Thank you to Salvatore Capuano of Oro Bianco Farm, Juan Jose of Filaki Farm, and Steve Dambeck of Apollo Farm & Orchard and many other individual farmers who have donated their produce,


Whilst the Pumps N’ Hoses DLC may sound like something coming to Saints Row, it’s in fact a very innocent expansion to the cult classic that is Farming Simulator 22. Get your mind out of that gutter.
Arriving today to those who own Farming Sim 22 on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Switch or Stadia, this pack takes your farming operation to the next level with over thirty manufacturing items from Dutch manufacturer Schouten, the German steel storage people over at Stallkamp, and BvL, the biogas giants.
Pumps N’ Hoses is all about managing your resources, and diverting them off to fertilise your crops in the most efficient manner possible. Farmers will have access to an array of umbilical systems and hoses designed to span hundreds of metres, which in turn can be linked to your tractor to very quickly fertilise a large-scale farm. You’ll also be able to make use of biogas plants, which can be configured to suit, and, get this, manure separation! No longer will your precious manure go to waste, as you can now separate it out by solid and liquid components, to again be diverted to different areas of your farm. Pumps N’ Hoses Pack, where would we be without you?
The promise of over thirty more tools at your disposal is an exciting one indeed, to go along with the already dozens of vehicles, machines and tools that the base game offers. With this pack, it is even easier to grow your farm from a humble patch of land, to one making use of kilometres of pumps, shooting out delicious resources all over your crops.
“We pump it up a notch with publishing the first product developed by an external studio”, comments Boris Stefan, Head of Publishing at GIANTS Software. “After successfully publishing and launching Farming Simulator 22 itself, this marks the next big step of our ambitions – engaging with, encouraging, and supporting aspiring developers.”
“We’re thrilled to expand Farming Simulator 22 with features that allowed us to add new and exciting layers of gameplay” comments Creative Mesh’s CEO Frederic Leifeling. “Working with GIANTS Software directly proved to be efficient and expedient to realize our most ambitious project to date.”
It of course goes without saying that to pick up the Pumps N’ Hoses Pack, you will require a copy of Farming Simulator 22, so make sure to check out our full review of the game! Then, head over to the Xbox Store where you can pick up this Pack for £14.99 on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One. Alternatively, the base game and this DLC is available on PS5, PS4, PC, Switch and Stadia.
Pump it up and upgrade your farming operation with umbilical systems, manure separation and configurable biogas plants! A huge variety of new machines, tools and buildings extend the infrastructure of manure distribution and resource storage on your farm. Overall, more than 30 items from Dutch manufacturer Schouten, German steel storage specialist Stallkamp and biogas technology manufacturer BvL are included to introduce new gameplay features to Farming Simulator 22.


DeVries services the greater Grand Rapids area with the finest commercial and residential outdoor care. Service areas vary.
Contact us at 616-669-0500 for more information.
The gardening crew that came to our house was awesome! Professional, nice, friendly, amazing - and their work was perfection!
Grand Rapids I May '19
Dormancy is one of the mechanisms nature has developed to help plants survive stressful conditions. Summer dormancy occurs in a lawn when grasses are exposed to an extended period of heat and lack of moisture during mid-summer. Learn the signs of summer dormancy and how to avoid it here.


Residents of Cook County, municipalities, park districts, golf courses, schools and non-profit organizations can order bulk compost directly directly or have their landscaping contractor pick it up at the two EQ Compost distribution centers. Free delivery is available for orders of 10 cubic yards or more.
Private businesses can pick up bulk compost at the two EQ Compost distribution centers.
Delivery and bulk pick up must be scheduled at least two days in advance.
EQ Compost is also available in 20lb bags. Call (708) 588-4303 or visit compost.mwrd.org for more information.


Sending farming and building supplies home has never been easier
With around 100 stores across Malawi, Farmer’s World and Agora are your one-stop-shop for a wide range of agricultural and building products.
From fertilizer to seed, chemicals and building supplies to high quality bicycles and much more. But we are more than just local farm shops offering great prices and quality products. As farming experts we also offer agronomy extension services to all our customers if you need it.
Sending the essential farming and building supplies home to your family has never been easier.
Why buy online?
Safe. No more sending cash across the border and worrying about it getting to your family safely. Just click on the products you want and let them collect from their nearest branch.
Convenient. Placing your order couldn’t be easier. Just click, pay and collect.
Helpful. If you need any advice we’re just a click away. Simply click the contact button with any questions and we’ll answer you as soon as we can.
How it works
You place the order
Select your products and easily pay for them right here.
They receive their code
A short code will be sent by SMS to the person collecting your order.
They collect their order
The collector takes their phone to your chosen store and collects the items.


Exo Terra Coco Husk Coco Fiber Bedding 8.8L
The Exo Terra Coco Husk is a 100% natural, biodegradable terrarium bedding made from sustainable, ground coconut husk fiber grown on plantations in tropical Asia. The unique hygroscopic properties of this ecological substrate regulate the terrarium's humidity in a natural way and is totally safe for frogs, salamanders and other burrowing or digging animals. Adequate air humidity levels aid in shedding and help prevent respiratory infections.
The Exo Terra Coco Husk makes an ideal bedding for terrarium set-ups for humidity-loving reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Its water retention capacity, increased soil drainage and improved aeration promote the cultivation of healthy waste-reducing organisms keeping your terrarium fresh and clean. Exo Terra Coco Husk is triple machine washed to remove any residual salt content, then machine dried and heat-treated to reduce bacterial contamination.
The Exo Terra Coco Husk can be mixed with Exo Terra Plantation Soil to create a substrate with increased air-filled porosity for specific tropical plants like orchids, bromeliads etc.... Exo Terra Coco Husk is absolutely non-toxic, free of chemicals & pesticides and can be safely composted in your garden.
Key Features :
- Ideal for tropical terrarium set-ups
- Controls air humidity levels naturally
- Very resistant to mold and decay
- Made from a sustainable resource
- Promotes the cultivation of healthy waste-reducing organisms
- Coco Husk is ground, sieved, triple washed, machine dried and heat-treated


Fusarium graminearum (Fg) is one of the most important cereal killers worldwide that causes devastating diseases of crops with great economic and agronomic impact on global grain industry [1,2]. In addition to yield losses, food quality is affected by grain contamination with mycotoxins, which are produced by the fungi during plant infection, representing a serious threat to human and animal health [3,4]. Plant protection and toxin reduction strategies currently rely on the application of systemic fungicides . However, many plant pathogenic fungi have become less sensitive or even resistant to chemical treatments. Thus, alternative control strategies have been developed that may lead to long-term reduction of pesticide use in modern agriculture.
RNA interference (RNAi; also known as RNA silencing) is a conserved mechanism for the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. RNAi is mediated by small RNAs (sRNAs) directing gene silencing at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. Transcriptional gene silencing results from epigenetic modifications, specifically DNA methylation and histone modifications regulating heterochromatin formation [6,7]. Post-transcriptional gene silencing starts with the cleavage of a precursor double-stranded (ds)RNA into short 21–24 nucleotide (nt) microRNAs (miRNAs) or small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) by type-III RNA endonuclease Dicer-like proteins (DCLs). Subsequent binding of siRNAs to an Argonaute protein (AGO) lead to the formation of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that mediates targeting of complementary mRNAs for degradation or translational inhibition [8,9]. Plants have evolved RNAi pathways/machineries that not only direct the epigenetic regulation of their own genome, but also provide protection from invasion by foreign nucleic acids, such as viruses . Our laboratory and other groups previously demonstrated that this natural phenomenon can be used to control agronomically relevant plant diseases, based on the demonstration that in planta expression of dsRNA (termed host-induced gene silencing; HIGS; ) as well as exogenous spray application of dsRNA (termed spray-induced gene silencing; SIGS; ) can signal post-transcriptional gene silencing of target genes in various plant pathogens and pests (for review see: [13–19]).
Despite these findings, recent studies revealed RNAi between kingdoms as a new level of inter-species communication designated as cross-kingdom RNAi (ckRNAi). This phenomenon was first described by Arne Weiberg and Hailing Jin in 2013, demonstrating that the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea produces sRNAs that mimic plant sRNAs and bind to Arabidopsis AGO1 to antagonistically silence important plant immunity genes . Since then, several studies have demonstrated bidirectional sRNA trafficking between plant hosts and their interacting pathogens [21,22]. However, the mechanisms underlying the transfer and uptake of ckRNAi-related sRNAs as well as transgene-derived artificial sRNAs (HIGS) remained unknown for a long time. It has been proposed that extracellular vesicles (EVs) playing a key role in the bidirectional transfer of sRNAs that mediate ckRNAi [13,21,23,24]. EVs are surrounded by a lipid bilayer and can be differentiated by size and their process, thus, classified in three major groups: The largest EVs are 5000-1000 nm in diameter known as apoptotic bodies, which are generated during cell lysis. Microvesicles are 1000-100 nm in size and produced by cells during exocytosis. The third class are exosomes which measure 150-30 nm and are released by fusion of multivesicular bodies with the cell membrane . Plant EV research is an emerging field, so far only two reports described the isolation of plant EVs and the characterization of their protein/RNA content [26,27]. Therefore, lots of questions and methodological challenges need to be addressed to reach the quality standards in mammalian EV research. For example, identification of suitable plant EV markers as well as developing strategies that increase the purity of EV isolates, necessary “to distinguish bona fide EV cargo from merely co-purifying contaminants” (for more details see: ). However, in plant EVs were firstly discovered in 1967 using electron microscopy . Sixty years later Rutter and Innes successfully isolated the first EVs from apoplastic washes of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) . The authors demonstrate that Arabidopsis EVs were enriched in proteins responsible for abiotic and biotic stress response which indicates an important role of EVs in plant immune responses. Moreover, in this study the first plant EV protein marker, the syntaxin PEN1 (PENETRATION 1) was described.
Recently, we showed that EVs purified from Arabidopsis leaf extracts and apoplastic fluids contain transgene/HIGS-derived sRNAs . To our knowledge, this was the first report demonstrating sRNAs as plant EV cargo. In addition, we found that mutants of the ESCRT-III complex (ENDOSOMAL SORTING COMPLEX REQUIRED FOR TRANSPORT III) were impaired in HIGS further indicating that endosomal vesicle trafficking supports transfer of transgene-derived siRNAs between donor host cells and recipient fungal cells. Regarding the possibility of ckRNAi in Fg, we analyzed sRNA profiles of Fg axenic cultures and identified Fg sRNA target genes in barley and the monocot model plant Brachypodium distachyon. Subsequent expression analysis revealed that Fg-derived sRNAs caused significant downregulation of two host defense-related genes (unpublished data). Moreover, we recently demonstrated that targeting fungal DCL genes (FgDCL1 and FgDCL2) via SIGS could protect barley leaves from Fg infection . Together, our recent results point to the direction that ckRNAi exists in the Fg – barley interaction. Supporting this notion and to further investigate whether Fg utilizes EVs for the transfer of sRNAs that manipulate and dampen immunity of its host barley, we isolated EVs from Fg liquid culture and performed Fg EV infiltration of barley leaves. In addition, we conducted an in vitro growth experiment, in which we isolated EVs from barley leaves to test their impact on fungal growth regarding the possibility of bidirectional ckRNAi in Fg-barley interaction.
Material and Methods
Plant cultivation and barley EV isolation
Barley (Hordeum vulgare cultivar Golden Promise) plants were grown for 14 days with 16 h light per day at a temperature rhythm of 18 °C/14 °C (day/night) and a humidity of 65 %. 80 leaves were taken for EV isolation. EVs were isolated as previously described . EVs were resuspended in 190 µl phosphate buffered saline (PBS; 140 mM NaCl, 2,5 mM KCl, 10 mM Na2HPO4, 2 mM KH2PO4, pH 7,4) for further analysis.
Co-incubation assays of barley EVs with Fg
400 µl Fg IFA65 macroconidia with a concentration of 30.000 macroconidia per millilitre were sprayed on 0.5 x PDA (potato dextrose agar) plates. One hour after spraying, 40 µl of barley EV suspension was dropped into the middle of each agar plate. Plates were incubated for six days at room temperature (RT) under constant illumination from one near-UV tube (Philips TLD 36 W/08) and one white-light tube (Phillips TLD 36 W/830HF).
EV isolation from Fg liquid cultures
For EV isolation, Fg was grown for four weeks in synthetic nutrient poor broth (SNP) containing 1.5 % carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) at 28 °C with 180 rpm shaking. Upon cultivation, fungal suspension was filtered through a miracloth mesh and centrifuged at 10,000 g for 20 minutes. The supernatant was filtered subsequently through a 0.45 µm and a 0.22 µm polyvinylidenfluorid (PVDF) membrane. EVs were concentrated ten times by tangential flow filtration (TFF) and centrifuged for 22 hours at 150,000 g at 4 °C. Afterwards, the pellet was resuspended in PBS buffer and loaded on the top of a discontinuous sucrose gradient with fractions of 8 %, 16 %, 35 %, 45 % and 60 % sucrose. The 30 %, 45 % and 60 % sucrose fractions were separated after centrifugation and resuspended in PBS buffer and centrifuged again by 4 °C at 150,000 g. Finally, the pellet was resuspended in a small amount of PBS buffer for nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and plant infiltration assays.
Measuring vesicle size and concentration by nanoparticle trafficking analysis (NTA)
For NTA, purified barley and Fg EVs were diluted (1:50) with PBS buffer. Subsequently, 500 µl of vesicle suspension was loaded into Nanosight NS300 (Malvern Panalytical) and five measurements were performed at 25 °C. Size and concentration predictions as well as statistical analysis were performed using NTA 3.2 Dev Build 3.2.16 software.
Negative staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
For TEM, five µl of purified EVs were loaded on copper formvar-coated 300-mesh electron microscopy grids, which were glow discharged prior to sample application for 40 sec. Redundant liquid was swabbed by using Whatman filter paper. Grids were incubated three times with 50 µl of 2 % uranyl acetate and washed with distilled water. Grids were air dried. Preparations were inspected at 120 kV under zero-loss conditions (ZEISS EM912a/b) and images were recorded at slight under focus using a cooled 2k × 2k slow-scan ccd camera (SharpEye / TRS) and the iTEM software package (Olympus-SIS).
Barley infiltration assays
For infiltration, the resuspended Fg EV pellet was adjusted to a final volume of 500 µl with PBS buffer. The downside of leaves from nine-day old barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Golden Promise) and five-weeks old Nicotiana benthamiana plants was pressure-infiltrated with 500 µl of the Fg EV suspension/solution using a 1-ml syringe. After five days post infiltration leaves were photographed and harvested for further analysis.
Results and Discussion
Barley EVs affect Fg growth and pigmentation
In this study, barley EVs were purified from the second and third leaf of two-weeks old plants and were subjected to quality control using NTA and TEM analysis. NTA revealed 2.0 x 109 particles per millilitre that were isolated from 80 barley leaves with a mean size of 156 nm and a mode size of 165 nm (Tab. 1; Fig. 1A).
A clear peak was visible for particles with 119 nm in diameter, which agreed with the size range reported for EVs from mammalian cells (30–150 nm)  as well as plants (50–300 nm) . Almost no particles were measured above 350 nm and below 80 nm (Fig. 1A). In TEM analysis, particles negatively stained with uranyl acetate showed circular EV-like structures (Fig. 1B), as previously observed .
To test whether barley EVs have an impact on fungal growth, we drop-inoculated isolated EVs onto Fg culture plates. As mock control, PBS buffer was dropped on Fg plates. At six days post inoculation (dpi), different colony density at the drop-inoculated colony centre was found compared to the external area of the colony (Fig. 1C). We further observed that the colony density and pigmentation changes gradually, with the marginal colonies mainly produced white mycelium (Fig. 1C). The area of denser colonies was the same for both treatments (Fig. 1C), indicating that this effect was caused by the PBS buffer and not by the purified plant EVs. Besides this, PBS treated Fg colonies did not show any change in pigmentation (Fig. 1C). Barley EV-treated colonies underwent a change in pigmentation dependent from the distance to the EV inoculation spot. They turned from yellow (close to the inoculation) to purple the further away from the centre of the plate (5dpi; Fig. 1C). The change in pigmentation was independent from the amount of drop inoculated EVs. We suggested that barley EV treatment caused the change in pigmentation of Fg cultures. One possibility could be that the premature purple pigmentation was a stress response, which was induced by the EV treatment. Accumulation of blue-violet pigments is found in peridermal cells of Fg perithecia (fruiting bodies) , thus, we assumed an early switch into the reproductive/sexual lifecycle upon EV treatment. Further experiments would be necessary to test this hypothesis. Moreover, whether the changes in Fg pigmentation were caused by specific effects related to an unknown barley EV cargo or represented an unspecific effect due to the presence of plant EVs per se or co-purified contaminants needs to be assessed. Consistent with our results on Fg growth inhibition, a previous study demonstrated that EVs from sunflower seedlings affected the growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum spores, suggesting EV-mediated secretion of antifungal compounds . Supporting this, Arabidopsis EVs were also shown to contain defence-related cargo molecules, such as antimicrobial glucosinolates, proteins for oxidative stress response and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signalling [26,27]. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the role of plant EVs in plant-fungal interaction and the underlying molecular mechanism of EV loading and sorting in the donor plant cells as well as EV sensing, uptake into the recipient fungal cells.
EVs are produced by Fg
Whereas the isolation and characterization of mammalian EVs is well established, isolation of EVs from plants and plant-infecting pathogens is less advanced. To test whether Fg ckRNAi involves EVs as communication vehicles we conducted an experiment of infiltrating Fg EVs into barley leaves. We developed and optimized a protocol for EV isolation from Fg liquid cultures (see Material and Methods). To avoid EV contaminants from nutrient broth ingredients, we choose a synthetic nutrient-poor broth containing carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as a solid compartment to allow fungal growth which only takes place attached on solid phases. The most particles counted by NTA were in the fraction (F) of 45 % sucrose with 1.97 x 1010 particles per millilitre (ml) compared to 1.18 x 1010 particles/ml for F 30 % and 1 x 1010 particles/ml for F 60 % (Tab. 1).
The particle size distribution for F 45 % was more homogenous compared to the F 30 % and F 60 % fractions (Fig. 2A).
Moreover, F 45 % showed a distinct peak for particles with a size of 95 nm and only low abundance of particles of other sizes (Fig. 2A; Tab.1). The mean size of F 45 % was 123 nm and the mode size 94 nm, which was comparable with the size range reported for EVs from human fungal pathogens (~100 nm) and plant pathogenic fungi (150-155 nm) . Notably, the F 30 % also contained a high number of particles with 95 nm in size, suggesting an overlap of the same EV population, however, particles with > 200 nm sizes were co-isolated in this fraction (calculated mean particle size of 200 nm and a mode size of 93 nm) (Tab. 1). F 60 % showed particles with a mean size of 232 nm and a mode size of 115 nm (Tab. 1). Consistent with our findings, previous studies also described a size range of EVs isolated from filamentous fungi, e. g. Alternaria infectoria (20-40 nm)  and Trichophyton rubrum (20-380 nm) . Variation in EV size distribution was also described for the human fungal pathogens, Candida albicans and Candida neoformans , suggesting a heterogenous nature of fungal EV populations. Whether this correlates with a functional diversification of EVs in fungi per se remains to be elucidated. To confirm NTA data and to study fungal EV morphology, samples from F 30 %, F 45 % and F 60 % were fixed on a cupper mesh and negatively stained with uranyl acetate to perform TEM. Interestingly, TEM analysis revealed cup shaped EV structures in all three fractions. Consistent with NTA results, EVs from F 45 % were homogenous in size and appearance, while EVs from F 30 % and F 60 % varied in size and electron density indicating different EV composition and subpopulations (Fig. 2B).
Infiltration of Fg EVs caused phytotoxic effects in barley leaves
Our recent data pointed to the direction that Fg probably utilizes sRNAs as virulence factors ( ; unpublished). To further support this finding and to study whether this ckRNAi was mediated by EVs, we conducted an experiment of infiltrating Fg EVs into barley leaves. Barley (host) as well as Nicotiana benthamiana (non-host) leaves were pressure-infiltrated with 500 µl of each EV fraction, F 30 %, F 45 % and F 60 %. To exclude unspecific effects caused by the infiltration procedure or the EV resuspension buffer, water and PBS were infiltrated as controls. In addition, Fg macroconidia were infiltrated to test whether barley leaves respond to foreign, pathogenic material itself. Finally, fungal culture supernatant after concentration by tangential flow filtration was infiltrated to assess whether the crude EV extract cause any damage on barley leaf tissue. The infiltration of water and fungal spores caused no effects on plants, whereas some barley leaves that were infiltrated with PBS showed small yellow spots restricted to the infiltration site. However, it was unclear, if this was due to PBS or resulted from the harsh infiltration procedure. Of note, barley leaves infiltrated with Fg EVs exhibited phytotoxic response observed as leaf bleaching and discoloration that appeared around the infiltration area (Fig. 3A).
Importantly, we observed that these phytotoxic effects were independent of the Fg EV fraction that was used for infiltration (Fig. 3B). Remarkably, the infiltration of concentrated culture supernatant led to the formation of bleached spots as well, however, they were much smaller compared to those observed for the Fg EV fractions (Fig. 3B). This result may indicate a dose-dependent effect in barley, because the culture supernatant contained less EVs (diluted in a higher volume) compared to the concentrated Fg EV fractions. However, these results were consistent with another study demonstrating phytotoxic effects of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum EVs on cotton plants . Interestingly and in contrast to our results the authors found that infiltration of resuspended spores and hyphae led to the formation of discoloured spots as well, even if they were smaller compared to the EV infiltration. Moreover, the authors demonstrated that phytotoxic effects were not host specific as EV infiltration of the non-host plant N. benthamiana caused similar phenotypes. We observed contrasting results for N. benthamiana, as neither the infiltration of water, spores, PBS, EV fractions nor concentrated culture supernatant caused any effect on the tobacco leaves (Fig. 3A), indicating species specificity of EV cargo in the genus Fusarium. Therefore, further analysis of Fg EV cargo (protein and RNA) should clarify the role of fungal EVs in the infection process and to unravel the molecular mechanisms of EVs underlying the ckRNAi phenomenon.
We thank C. Birkenstock for excellent plant cultivation. C. Preußer and M. Mosbach for helping with the NTA measurements. M. Hardt and A. Möbus for the support during TEM sample preparation and microscopy. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Research Training Group (RTG) 2355 (project number 325443116) to TS and AK.


More than 20 volunteers came together this Saturday to harvest five acres of butternut and acorn squash in McHenry County. The effort is one of the creative ways the Greater Chicago Food Depository is accessing food as rising costs have led to reduced supply. Thanks to a farmer who is donating the crops, the Food Depository has been able to harvest tons of sweet corn and squash this fall. We collected more than 32,000 pounds on Saturday alone. In coming days, volunteers will bag and sort the squash and distribute it to pantries, soup kitchens and shelters across Cook County.
UPDATE: Here are more photos from Saturday:


Americans should start paying closer attention to the ongoing farmer protests in the Netherlands, which this week transformed long swaths of Dutch highways into what looked like a post-apocalyptic warzone: roadside fires raging out of control, manure and farming detritus heaped across highways, traffic stalled for miles, and massive protests across the country in support of the farmers.
Why is the Netherlands, of all places, experiencing such unrest? Americans need to understand what’s happening over there because the ruinous climate policies that triggered these protests are precisely what President Joe Biden and the Democrats have in mind for the United States.
Specifically, Dutch farmers are protesting a government plan to cut fertilizer use and reduce livestock numbers so drastically that it will force many farms out of business. Earlier this month, farmers used tractors and trucks to block highways and entrances to food distribution centers across the country, saying their livelihood and way of life are being targeted by the government.
And they more or less are. The ruling coalition government claims its radical plan, pushed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who branded the protests “unacceptable,” is part of an “unavoidable transition” to improve air, land, and water quality. The goal is to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which are produced by livestock but which the government is labeling “pollutants,” by 50 percent nationwide by the year 2030.
The only way to do that, many Dutch farmers say, is to slaughter the vast majority of their livestock and shutter their farms. The government knows this and admitted as much earlier this year, saying in a statement, “The honest message … is that not all farmers can continue their business,” and that farmers have three options: “Becoming more sustainable, relocating or ending their business.”
The genesis of the scheme was a court ruling from 2019 that said the Dutch government’s plan for reducing nitrogen emissions violated EU laws protecting its Natura 2000 network of supposedly vulnerable and endangered plant and animal habitats — basically a bunch of EU-governed wildlife preserves. These sites span the EU, covering 18 percent of the bloc’s land area and 8 percent of its marine territory.
To protect these wildlife preserves, Dutch farmers are being told they must submit to their government’s ruinous emissions plan.
But the Natura 2000 preserves are only part of the story. European leaders such as Rutte are environmental ideologues who want to transform global food production and eliminate private land ownership, and he sees an opportunity in this court order to reshape agriculture and land use in the Netherlands.
Indeed, Rutte — a walking embodiment of the Davos Man if there ever was one — is a big proponent of the United Nations’ “Agenda 2030” and its Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to squeeze farmers and ranchers around the world in order to reduce “emissions.” The policies that flow from these goals, such as drastically reducing the use of fertilizer, contributed to the recent economic collapse of Sri Lanka, which triggered mass protests that toppled Sri Lanka’s government and ousted its president earlier this month.
Last year, Rutte spoke to the World Economic Forum about “transforming food systems and land use” at Davos Agenda Week, announcing that the Netherlands would host something called the “Global Coordinating Secretariat of the World Economic Food Innovation Hubs,” whose job would be to “connect all other food innovation hubs.”


Compost has micronutrients and microbial activity that cannot be found in synthetic fertilizers. Last year we applied compost at 10 tons to the acre. This year we will be scaling back to 5 tons to the acre. Other amendments are used based on crop requirements. For example, Kale and Cabbage appreciate a little more Boron, and some more nitrogen in the cooler spring soils. Organic sources of nitrogen commonly used are feather meal, or blood meal. Potatoes will enjoy a little more potassium. Extra sources of both potassium and phosphorus can be found in rock based powders (greensand, etc...).
One must be careful in the injudicious spreading of compost year after year though. Higher phosphorus levels can be manifest. This can make certain mycorrhizal activity go dormant, and trying to use compost to meet all of a crop's nitrogen needs can disturb the balance of your soil. Nitrogen can be accumulated by cover crops too! (clovers and other legumes, via symbiotic nitrogen fixation).
Much more on soil science to come! We are trying to learn more every day. We think this year is going to be a mind-opener for trying to grasp the significance of soil biology and trying to understand growing more nutritionally dense foods. Totally expecting some kind of paradigm shift. In future posts, we will share our experiments with the refractometer.
Today the weather was amazing, it got close to 80F here and was sunny with blue skies, but of course they are calling for some colder weather next week. Spring in the mountains is usually a roller coaster ride for sure. We planted somewhere around 2200+ onion plants today, the varieties were: Red Candy Apple, Candy, and Super Star. These are all "intermediate." Onions are sensitive to day length so it's important to raise varieties that are adapted to your latitude.
In addition to onion planting, I spent some time using the tractor to chisel plow some areas. (More about the alternative tillage techniques I've been experimenting with later.) Trying to avoid using a tiller when not necessary. Mainly using a disc and a tool bar set up with two chisel plow shanks (all our tractor can most likely pull.) Field cultivators can be added and subtracted from the tool bar quite easily.
This was an area that had gone to heavy weeds and other grasses by the end of last summer, and the chisel plows were pulling up pretty big clods. When used in clearer areas it more or less sailed through the soil in 2 Low mid RPM range, sunk to a depth of about 8 inches. The area chiseled for the potatoes looks much nicer.
Speaking of which, we should have our potato seed here soon. It would have been here by now, but transport out of Maine has been tricky lately it seems, due to weather.
What tomorrow is looking like: compost spreading.
In the not too distant future: seeding spinach, carrots, beets, turnips, lettuce mix.


Day on the farm
Even the traditions of the places are values not to be missed and the meeting with the BUTTERI that we have been proposing for years on the farm, has exactly the intent to remember an ancient trade of Maremma.
To spend a day on the farm is a just opportunity to escape from the frenetic pace that the city and the life of today “impose” upon us.
Spending a day on the farm means going back in time and rediscovering the perfumes, tastes, and customs that have been forgotten.
Spending a day on “our” farm is also an opportunity to get to know an historic farm in the Maremma, that has made a love for this land and its traditions a reason for living.
Arrival at the farm, at the organic agriturismo CORTE DEGLI ULIVI.
Welcome and brief presentation of the farm and the farm activities, with an introduction to the history and traditions of the rural Maremma.
Walk in complete relaxation amongst centuries old olive trees where horses, Amiata donkeys and Maremman cows live freely.
You will then be accompanied on a short visit to the ancient olive oil mill with its granite millstone, located under the manor house. One of the very few still working and you can learn about the ancient agricultural farm tools displayed in an open-air museum.
Get to know the Butteri of the farm who will tell you about their ancient trade, introduce their horses – real friends and life partners – explain the use of their tools of the trade, and show you some phases of their activity also with livestock. Pushed by a BUTTERO, some heads of Maremma cows reared on the farm will come down from the olive grove to the “mandriolo”, where they will assist in the demonstration of some working techniques with wild cattle.
A guide will explain the various phases of the activity demonstrated and the BUTTERI will be pleased to answer your questions or curiosities about their job.
Then there will be at your disposal a small farm sales point where you will be able to find out about and buy our products: Tuscan Maremma DOC wine, organic extra virgin olive oil, grappa and more.
Return to the farmhouse for lunch.
Bruschetta with extra virgin organic olive oil from the farm.
Pasta of the Buttera.
Typical Maremmana barbecue (sausage – spare ribs – rigatino)
Mineral water – Maremma Toscana DOC wine from our winery, “THE MUSTIAIO” – coffee.
The products used are preferably those from the farm, such as the Maremma Toscana DOC wine and the organic extra virgin olive oil.
Table service on trays.
Specific requests (intolerances – allergies, etc) should kindly be communicated in advance to enable us to be in a position to meet every need.
Custom menus on request.
Guided tour of the winery.
After the Butteri demonstration you may, take a “smelling” walk inside the farm among olive groves and vineyards, typical landscape of the Tuscan Maremma, up to the IL MUSTIAIO winery. It will not be difficult to meet hares, pheasants and other wild animals.
Guided tour of the winery and “informal” tasting of some of the Maremma Toscana DOC wines and organic extra virgin olive oil.
Return to the farmhouse for lunch with the Maremmano menu.
Possibility to return to the farmhouse from the winery by bus.
Activities for groups by reservation. For information contact the farm.


You have probably heard about the bees being in trouble. And, how we will not be able to grow food if we don't have bees!
"Forget the plight of the polar bear for a moment and consider the coming collapse of the $30 billion honey bee economy in the US.
Since 2006 honey bees responsible for pollinating more than 100 crops—from apples to zucchini—have been dying by the tens of millions. As a new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) details, scientists are still struggling to pinpoint the cause of so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and time is running out.
“Currently, the survivorship of honey bee colonies is too low for us to be confident in our ability to meet the pollination demands of U.S. agricultural crops,” the report states."
Photo credit: staflo / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
I am just as concerned with social change, the environment, protecting animals, and so much more. I think that if I write about great information, then you will contact me if you want to do business together!


Palm kernel is among the tropical fruits that attract much attention both within and outside the African continent. It is a popular fruit in Africa due to its cooking oil.
Nigeria is one of the leading producers of palm oil worldwide. In 2020, the production of palm oil in Nigeria was estimated to be 1,015 thousand metric tons. However, between 2010 and 2020, the palm oil crops in the country increased, registering the highest growth in 2010, when the production grew by 14 percent compared to the previous year.
In the last three years, the production remained stable at over one million metric tons.
The palm kernel is the edible seed of the oil palm fruit. The fruit yields two distinct oils: palm oil derived from the outer parts of the fruit, and palm kernel oil derived from the kernel.
The pulp left after oil is rendered from the kernel is formed into “palm kernel cake“, used either as high-protein feed for dairy cattle or burned in boilers to generate electricity for palm oil mills and surrounding villages.
Palm Kernel Oil
Palm kernel oil which is a white to yellowish oil of vegetable origin is known to confer special attractive physical features and aroma to baked bread. It is also used for making other baked products such as cakes and biscuits. Palm kernel oil is semi-solid at room temperature and can last for long periods of time, so it is suitable for making margarine, chocolate and some other related food products. Palm kernel oil is also used at home as cooking oil.
Palm kernel oil is a major ingredient for the large-scale production of various types of soap, detergents, hair creams, body creams, and all kinds of body cream and pomades.
Palm kernel oil can be used as biodiesel fuel for the vehicle.
Read About: Oil Palm Processing Business
Palm Kernel Nut
Palm kernel nut is an everyday good used by Industries. Once they are processed by the palm nut shelling and separating machine, the palm kernel nut is separated from palm kernel shell and they are used in the production of palm kernel oil and palm nut cake. Palm kernel oil is used in the production of soaps and other food products while the cake is used in the production of animal feeds. While on the other hand the palm kernel shells are required in large quantity in the production of bio-fuel, road construction amongst other uses.
Palm Kernel Cake
Is one of un-conventional feed stuff obtained from palm oil extraction which can be used as a feed for various livestock production?
Is a feed by-product that is used by the livestock industries. Chemical composition of palm kernel cake varies depending on the type of the fruits palm, source of sample and method of processing oil extraction (screw pressing or solvent extraction). This review was carried out to examine the effect of palm kernel cake on digestibility coefficients, daily weight gain, milk production and composition of animal. Varies treatments such as physical, chemical and biological were used to improve the nutrients digestibility and nutritive value of palm kernel cake. Several studies found that the animals performed satisfactorily well when fed on diets containing different levels of palm kernel cake. Palm kernel cake was used as feed for fattening and dairy cattle where as it has a source of protein, energy, vitamins and minerals. Digestibility coefficients for palm kernel cake were affected by adding it to animal’s diets at high levels.
Palm kernel cake is a high-fibre, medium-grade protein feed best suited to ruminants. Among other similar fodders, palm kernel cake is ranked a little higher than copra cake and cocoa pod husk, but lower than fish meal and groundnut cake, especially in its protein value.
Composed of 16% fiber, palm kernel cake also has a high phosphorus-to-calcium ratio and contains such essential elements as magnesium, iron, and zinc. The typical ration formulated for the feeding of dairy cattle consists of palm kernel cake (50%), molasses (5%), grass/hay (42%), limestone (1.5%), mineral premix (1%), and salt (0.5%), with trace element/vitamin premix.
Palm Kernel Shell
In rural community levels, palm kernel shells are used in their crude form for heating during cooking. However, it burns with a lot of smoke due to its organic content. The effect of such smoke to health cannot be overemphasized. Thanks to the modern machine—Biomass Briquette Machine, this problem can be solved easily. Briquetting can remove these inadequacies and make for efficient and sustainable use of palm kernel shell. The palm kernel shells are converted into briquettes by adopting the very simple process, utilizing readily available and affordable materials. The briquettes produced from palm kernel shell were tested for their combustion and physical characteristics. Therefore another affordable biomass fuel comes out to meet the world’s growing demand for energy.
Due to these widely uses of palm kernel nut by-products, the market of palm kernel nut is expanding, which will bring more economic effects of palm kernel nuts. Therefore palm kernel nuts is a profitable investment for you.
Direct to our website to see our open farm to invest in with the mouth-watering profit returns on each of the choosing slot.


Effects of Climate and Weather Variability on Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Technologies in Kenya
Michael Ndwiga Jairo
This paper investigates the impact of climate and weather variability and other covariates on adoption and intensity of adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) technologies in Kenya. Household survey data combined with climate data that had been interpolated at household level was used in the analysis. The paper used trivariate regression and negative binomial-logit hurdle models to analyze adoption and intensity of adoption of SLM technologies respectively. The results underscores the importance of household characteristics, resource constraints, farm characteristics and market access in influencing adoption and intensity of adoption of SLM technologies. Further, the results accentuate the importance of climate and weather variability on adoption and intensity of adoption of SLM technologies. Climate variability was found to positively influence adoption and intensity of adoption while weather variability positively influenced adoption of SLM technologies. The result suggests that government should promote adoption of specific SLM technologies in specific climatic zones. In drier areas where temperatures are expected to rise, government should encourage adoption of SLM technologies that conserve water while in regions where precipitation is high SLM technologies that reduce soil erosion should be encouraged. In addition a multidisciplinary approach should be used to gather knowledge on adoption of SLM technologies in different climatic zones and knowledge shared with farmers and local leaders in order to ensure that appropriate SLM technologies are adopted. Moreover, there is need to design policies that increase access and ownership of productive resources by female headed households and policies that encourage birth control.
Project dates 2013-2015
|Effects of Climate and Weather Variability on Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Technologies in Kenya.pdf||8.24 KB|
|Effects of Climate and Weather Variability on Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Technologies in Kenya.docx||12.09 KB|


How do palm trees multiply
Propagating the yucca palm: tips from the experts
The yucca palm is a real classic among houseplants. We show the best way to propagate the yucca palm yourself.
As the appearance suggests, the yucca palm is a desert plant that by no means comes from Germany. The popular plant, which can be found in several species both as a houseplant and in the garden, originally comes from the arid regions of Central and North America. For hobby gardeners and those who want to beautify their home, the palm lily is a blessing because it can propagate without any problems. We show how you can grow several from one plant.
Yucca palm: cut and multiply immediately
The simplest and at the same time most effective method of propagating the yucca is to cut off individual parts of the plant and use cuttings. If the yucca palm is about to be cut anyway, this method is particularly useful. Yuccas tolerate pruning very well, and even the trunk can be cut without any problems. That's how it works:
- Either cut part of the upper stem directly or just shorten individual shoots on the plant. Due to the rapid growth in the right conditions, the yucca palm grows quite expansively and offers enough material for cuttings.
- Plant the cutting directly in the growing medium without any detours. Normal garden soil, which is mixed with a little sand, is ideal for this.
- The palm lily needs moist substrate for root formation, but does not tolerate waterlogging. Also make sure that the conditions are consistently warm. A place on the windowsill is quite suitable for this.
Propagating the yucca palm: in water or in soil?
As with many other plants, with the yucca palm the question arises as to whether the cuttings should rather take place in water or in the ground. A decisive advantage of soil as a growing medium is the reduced formation of rot - in contrast to water. There the cutting stands in pure moisture for a long time and softens, unsuitable for the moisture-sensitive yucca. You should therefore use permeable soil for your cutting so that the irrigation water can drain off quickly.
Yucca palm after propagation: so it goes on
After a few weeks, the stem or head piece will form proper roots in the soil and the plant will sprout again. As soon as the yucca has reached a certain size that the soil in the pot is no longer sufficient, it should be repotted.
By the way: Some yucca species such as the hardy filamentous palm lily form offshoots that can also be used for propagation. Dig them out one by one and plant them again.
A liquid fertilizer is ideal for a quick and effective supply of nutrients to the yucca palm. Our Plantura organic indoor & green plant fertilizer is the ideal choice for all indoor plants and is also kind to the environment.
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I am a geography student and also a hobby botanist. That's why I spend a lot of time in my own kitchen garden, where I grow various types of vegetables with great success. Sustainable and ecological cultivation in harmony with nature conservation is very important to me.
Favorite fruit: figs
Favorite vegetables: eggplant and various types of cabbage
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Harvest is a project led by the Food Partnership and it's all about growing your own food. From window boxes to community allotments, there are opportunities for everyone to join in. Harvest has brought together lots of different organisations interested in food who will help you learn to grow your own, make use of surplus produce and eat more tasty local food. The Harvest website has guides on how to grow, information about local training courses, seasonal recipes and full details of community food projects.
What Harvest aims to achieve:
We are working with our partners to increase the amount of food grown in the city on windowsills, in back gardens, in allotments, and in public spaces. We’re helping communities to grow food in unusual places like parks, train stations and housing estates. We're scrumping apples from trees around the city to prevent waste and make delicious juices and chutneys. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved: through volunteering at a project, coming on a training course, or attending one of our community food events.


So cooking the duck this weekend got me to thinking—I challenged myself to make as much use as possible out of the bird. I boiled the hell out of those bones for stock, and used the stock in the soup. As I type, I’m rendering duck fat in the crockpot. Even though the stock took about three hours, and the stew took another couple hours on top of that, the effort was pretty minimal. I’d put something in the stew, go do something else, come back and check it, go do something else—other than the actual deboning, I just put things in a pot.
What if I could take that level of resourcefulness and economic frugality, and apply it to everything, food wise? No wasting anything—I’d be like a pioneer woman, creatively using every bit of game her husband brought back to the wagon on their long trip to settle the west. Except I live in a studio apartment near DC. And I don’t have a husband who brings me wild game. Or a husband who doesn’t bring me wild game.
But that’s neither here nor there. I’m an alright shot when I can use a gun rest. If I want wild game, I’ll get it myself. I need to adapt to my space.
So what about an apartment garden? When the weather warms up, I can start a few vegetable plants in clay plots out on my balcony—nothing too ambitious or over the top to start. I mean, I gotta move those suckers in a year when my lease is up. I think I can handle some pepper plants, tomatoes and…whatever else grows well in pots. I don’t know, I need to do some googling.
Yay for (sort of) growing my own food!
On top of that, I’m going to compost. Or at least try. (In case you can’t tell, this is more of a musings blog, not one with a ton of research behind it.) I’ll be able to put most, if not all, of my food scraps into the compost pile where it will eventually make great food for my vegetable “garden.” It’s the circle of life! [holds up a baby lion as the animal kingdom celebrates at my feet]
I searched for actual composters online, and I think I’m going to make one on my own. First, the ones available are fricken huge. The smallest I could find was 37 gallons, and that turned out to be $300 without shipping. I have neither the space nor the cash. So yeah, that’s not happening. Secondly, all I really need is a medium sized container with some air holes. Hello Rubbermaid and a drill!
So we’ll see how this goes. I definitely need to do some research on creative uses for all parts of food, and how to get a compost bin started, but I’m excited for the potential!!


Farmstay Accommodation Tasmania. Curringa Farm, an award winning attraction where visitors stay overnight, see sheep shearing, watch farm dogs working a mob of sheep and learn about best practice farming techniques. Travel through the 300 hectare property to look at the farming, cropping and land care activities in the field. There are nine fully self-contained, lakeside spa cottages for travelers accommodation.
Your hosts, Tim and Jane are 6th generation farmers in the picturesque Derwent Valley at Hamilton. Only one hour from Hobart, on the main Highway to Strahan close to Mt Field National Park . (Mountain bike friendly) it is a perfect location for day trips into the Rivers Run Touring Route region.
A very strong ecological focus on the farm with Tim and Jane receiving several awards for sustainable farm management practices over time.
Jane manages tour bookings and runs the accommodation cottages, five of which are newly completed in January 17. All are fully self contained and have luxurious spas or freestanding baths. Jane will delight you with her cooking expertise and is the face behind the globally recognized Royal Danish Sweetheart Cake.
Tim runs the farming side of the operation; growing crops, looking after the sheep and undertaking land care activities. He runs farm tours and enjoys sharing and discussing the property with visitors.
Together with their family Tim and Jane will ensure your visit is both memorable and rewarding.
Australian Tourism Awards 2015. Hosted Accommodation. Bronze Award 2016 Gold Award 2015, Bronze Award 2014
Winner of inaugral China Ready Award. Tasmanian Tourism Awards 2015
Winner of Tasmanian Tourism Awards Hosted Accommodation Section 2014 2015 2016 = Hall of Fame 2016
Winner of the Tasmanian Landcare Primary Producer Award. (National finalist) 2007
Curringa Farm achieved Eco Certification status in May 2007 as part of it’s commitment to sustainable farming
Family Business Australia Awards Fourth generation and over category State Winner, 2005
Sun Pharma, Best poppy crop in Southern Tasmania 2016
Ministers Awards for Environmental Excellence in Sustainable Farming State Winner, 2004
International Acclaim for production of Royal Danish Sweetheart Cake in 2003
FAAST Farmer Awards for Sustainable Farming in Tasmania State Winner, 1994


Sunday, September 28, 2014
The garden has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me this year. I found out I was pregnant about the same time we started planting. It didn't take long before the weeds took over and morning sickness kept me from keeping it remotely under control. Looking back we still had an amazing season of fresh veggies and a few plants are still producing as we approach the first week in Oct. We still have a bit of okra, peppers, and a couple of tomato plants. We've picked a couple of pumpkins. Eli is looking forward to a few bigger ones to finish ripening, to be carved into Jack-O-Lanterns. I took very few pictures of the garden this summer. I didn't always find it to be the most beautiful thing to look at amongst the jungle of weeds. This morning, I did find beauty in the morning glory vines climbing the okra plants, the pumpkin vines intertwined with the tomato plants, and a handsome grasshopper that adorned my shovel. I think my thoughts also stayed positive this morning because I somehow avoided being sprayed by rotten tomatoes that pop off the vine or stepped on by accident. Eli also stayed indoors with his dad to give me some downtime. Although, I love Eli's excitement about seeing things growing in the garden, I still find myself yelling left and right about not stepping, pulling, or touching, which is not too fun for either of us. We tried designated a spot just for him, but it never seemed to entertain him for more than three min. at a time. Hopefully, we'll find some better strategies for toddler time in the garden next year:)
Posted by Liz Scott at 7:06 PM
Monday, September 8, 2014
Clay and I were so proud of how well Eli did hiking up to the big "bird house." This is one of our favorite day hikes and Eli rocked it!
Posted by Liz Scott at 6:52 PM