Aussies scour their flora for cool fruits.
Seed appeal
This is a new one to me. Prof. Dr. Willem van Cotthem is asking his blog’s readers to donate spare seeds of melon, watermelon and pigeon pea. What’s more, he just wants the melon seeds you would otherwise throw away. Given how promiscuous most melons can be, the seeds are going to represent a bonanza of agricultural biodiversity.
This is why he wants the seeds:
All the seeds will be used for fruit production in arid or semi-arid regions, where we treat the soil with a water stocking soil conditioner, so that the rural people can grow these plants with a minimum of water. I promise to publish pictures on the results obtained with your seeds.
Isn’t this a very nice way to contribute to the success of a humanitarian project? The more melons and water melons you eat, the more poor rural people will get chances to grow them in their family garden and the kids will grow them in their school garden.
And the more varieties will be exposed to those testing conditions. I wonder what will emerge from the mix?
Armenian apricots
The Ministry of Agriculture in Yeravan is organizing an international conference on the Armenian apricot.
New natural anti-oxidant source
The seed extract of the South American Sapindaceae berry guarana (Paullinia cupana) has been found to have high levels of anti-oxidant activity.
Eco-entrepreneurs
The Independent newspaper has a great story about people in Britain who are trying to make a buck (or rather a pound, I suppose) from nature’s bounty. There are five examples, ranging from a guy making sloe gin to another who sells a chopped up, boiled seaweed called purple laver (Porphyra umbilicalis). That’s apparently the basis of an intriguing traditional Welsh treat called laverbread. How do these products reach consumers? A separate article – this one in The Times – on country markets provides one answer.