Research, including studies presented at the conference in Istanbul, is showing that organic agriculture can deliver reliably high yields ”and that organic fields thrive in the face of disaster and duress, where chemical-reliant crops falter. Organic fields, for example, fare significantly better than chemically managed ones in the face of extreme weather, such as droughts or floods.
Anna Lappe, for takepart, 4 November 2014, Yes, Organic Farming Can Feed the World, Continue reading
This sums up both
Bill Gates’ sudden surge of
agricultural land purchases
and
the fossil fuel industry’s sudden surge of fracked methane pipelines:
“on a global scale, that the global problem, from the
perspective of European colonialists and European entrepreneurs, is
really how to transform the countryside.”
In both cases, we here in the southeast are just peasants
or backwards natives from the perspectives of the
the new colonialists as they try to transform our countryside.
So what if such transformation results in
dust storms
or
leaks, explosions, or
higher domestic natural gas prices?
The new colonialists would profit!
Jonathan Shaw wrote for Harvard Magazine November-December 2014, The New Histories: Scholars pursue sweeping new interpretations of the human past. Continue reading
Saying what many students think: “Students of all ages are thankful
that her appreciation of the plant kingdom and the world around her
touched them and made their lives.”
Jonathan Ertelt, Vanderbilt Magazine, Summer 2014 issue, Quarterman Was More Than a Biology Professor and Ecologist, Continue reading
Here’s
a video about Elsie,
A Crusader for Conservation,
19 September 2014,
by Tennessee’s Wild Side, “The Emmy Award winning show produced through the generosity of the Jackson
Foundation, Tennessee State Parks, and the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.”
Lots of good pictures, some video snippets of Elsie, and some narration by her nephew Patrick and by Biologist Tom Hemmerly, who reminds us of Elsie’s work at Radner Lake, in addition to her cedar glades work.
Ranger Buddy Ingram explains her biggest contribution may have been
in getting numerous different segments of society to cooperate
in saving whole ecologies.
Botanist Kim Sadler and others explain how inspiring all that is to generations
of students.
As Elsie said in 2006:
Continue readingThe general public needs to know what’s around them. They need to be learning that there’s a world that is not paved. There are lots of things that have life and function in the whole scheme, people as well as plants and animals. Not just dogs you’ve got on a leash, but animals that live out there, are part of the whole ecosystem.
Apparently electric fence wire isn’t good to sling into a tractor tire.
The puncture was barely visible, but leaked completely down after a while.
Fortunately, Charles from Adel Tire came and fixed it.
After he set it on fire.
He explains why in the video. Continue reading
In what category does Georgia rank highest
Guess first, then look (no peeking)…. Continue reading
We’ve got about 7 pounds of okra left over today after somebody couldn’t take it.
So if you want it, let us know, information@okraparadisefarms.com,
or comment on the blog or web page.
We also have okra chips.
Okra can be hard to find. Here’s an okra plant that I had just picked: Continue reading
Another Cosmos script Neil deGrasse Tyson read maybe he should have paid
more attention to regarding the situation with short-sighted
corporate monopolies misusing cherry-picked science to promote
their profits at the expense of all of us and the only planet we’ve got.
Talking about the fall of the ancient Mesopotamia civilization, the script Dr. Tyson read for Cosmos Episode 11, The Immortals, says: Continue reading
In his recent misstatements about GMO foods,
Neil deGrasse Tyson has fallen for what he called the misuse of the
authority of science, in
Episode 7 of Cosmos, the Clean Room, which recounted Clair
Patterson’s discovery of lead pollution by leaded gasoline.
That use of lead had been promoted and defended
by Robert E. Kehoe’s “scientific” papers.
The script Tyson read (but did not write) said: Continue reading
With GM crops come herbicides, which breed resistant weeds.
This has happened in about a decade for the worse mutants.
We can reverse the problem by reversing the spraying,
using plowing, cultivation, and crop rotation instead.
Mark Jeschke wrote for Pioneer Dupont, Crop Insights: Weed Management in the Era of Glyphosate Resistance, Continue reading