I totally agree with the Evil Fruit Lord that the story of the periclinal citrus chimera known as Bizzarria is both fascinating and very well told over at Home Citrus Growers. I know what I’ll be doing the next time I’m in Florence.
Nibbles: Vanilla, Bhutan, Oca, Satoyama
- Vanilla domestication 101.
- Bhutan ponders biodiversity database. We say: Don’t forget the crops, people.
- “Crap crops of the Incas.” One man’s on-off relationship with oca.
Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Water Garden. A different approach to rice.
Seed Systems and Agrobiodiversity: The Book
The Dutch ambassador to Ethiopia in his opening speech stressed that a well functioning seed system is crucial for improving food security, increasing agricultural export, and conserving agrobiodiversity.
That’s one enlightened ambassador. He was launching a book, which you can download in its entirety: Farmers, seeds and varieties. Supporting informal seed supply in Ethiopia, edited by Thijssen, M.H., Zewdie Bishaw, Abdurahman Beshir, Walter S. de Boef.
Nibbles: Cotton, Citrus, Fig, Permaculture, Turtles, Wine, Cacao, Fish
- Wild cotton use lands prize for boffin trio.
- Unesco to protect wild Citrus in India. And read the discussion.
- IV International Symposium on Fig.
- Permaculture: The Podcast.
- The NY Times thinks Americans should eat fewer turtles. And drink more South African wine.
- Meanwile, the WSJ gets into single-source chocolate.
- Nice map of freshwater fish diversity. But will it last? WWF has a plan.
Nibbles: Mendel, Darwin, Cloves
- Mendel was no cheat.
- Correspondence between Darwin and Belfast merchant about potato late blight.
- Zanzibar clove farming stinks.