Category: Featured

Nate Kleinman of Experimental Farm Network is not at all upset we reprinted his melon post from Facebook:

Thanks for posting this. We’re clearly excited about these interesting melons. At the end of the season we plan to compile information on everything we grew this year and last to report back to the USDA. This not only helps their science, but also helps them justify their budgets in the inevitable DC budget fights ahead. It’s important for people who use this unique and critically important resource (the National Plant Germplasm System) to lay out and explain what’s so special about it. These melons are just the tip of the iceberg.

Wish all genebank users were so obliging.

Matthew parses “diversity,” as used by Secretary Vilsack:

I wasn’t there, but I have heard him speak about “diversity” several times before and he usually brings diversity up in the context of types (organic, conventional, biotech) and scales of farming systems. I’ve also heard him bring it up in terms of racial and gender diversity in farming.

So, probably NOT crop diversity? Seems a pity.

Because he’s way too modest to do this himself, and because I agree 100%, here’s what Stephanie Greene, of the USDA, had to say about Luigi’s essay on agricultural biodiversity:

You have written a wonderful essay that manages to beautifully describe the importance of crop diversity to the lay public and that resonates with both sides of the technological divide.

All hail Luigi.

Anne Vezina thinks the media is misleading us on TR4:

The general public is being lulled by the media into believing that the disease only affects one variety out of 1,000 or so.

That can’t possibly be true, can it?

Cary Fowler thinks many heritage (or is it heirloom) apples are alive and kicking:

While some of these varieties are gone, many still exist. In fact, I have most of those pictured in my own orchard. Old varieties can be obtained from a number of sources such as Cummins Nursery, and Century Farm Nursery. Recently a new organization — the Temperate Orchard Conservancy — was formed in Oregon to rescue Nick Botner’s 4000+ apple variety collection. Even allowing for synonyms, this might be the largest varietal collection in the world.

Do your part and plant some!