- Protected areas not conserving Acacia in E Africa. And coffee?
- Wildlife tourism is hard. I want to know about agricultural tourism.
- Goa goes to the feds for help with crop conservation. The alternative being?
Ex-pat wasabi flourishing
Luigi’s indefatigable quest for all the truth there is to be had about wasabi (Wasabia japonica) reminded me that long ago and far away, I entertained thoughts of growing the stuff commercially. Luigi alluded to the reason when he said “there is imitation wasabi on the market”. Amen to that. In fact, there’s almost nothing else on the market. Practically all the wasabi you, a mere mortal, are ever likely to try outside Japan (and much inside) is the wrong stuff. The right stuff commands a hefty price tag, the reason I was entertaining those thoughts to begin with. A little digging, however, persuaded me that the plant was far too persnickety and capital intensive to be worthwhile, so I gave up on it. Silly me.
Turns out wasabi is not nearly as hard to grow as people imagine. Richters, a reliable seed company that supplies the plants, says
[W]asabi will grow quite happily in any moist, organic-rich soil where there is shade and protection from the summer heat; running water is not required. After 18-24 months the rhizomes are harvested, washed, peeled and grated for fresh use.
Nothing there about no sharkskin.
Companies in the US and New Zealand are apparently making a decent fist of growing it on a commercial scale. At which point, I nearly gave up on wasabi again. But one more Google brought me to a suitably gushing piece in The Daily Telegraph less than a month ago. Talk about the wasabi zeitgeist! That too pushes the “wasabi is really difficult” trope, and more power to the plucky lads at The Watercress Company who pulled it off. Now to see whether I can get some of the real thing for a proper taste test.
No point trying to grow it here. Like watercress, which I miss terribly at times, the need to stay cool in summer probably dooms it. I expect it would do OK in northern Germany.
Where is wasabi?
That Nibble yesterday about the BEGIN Japanology TV programme on roots and tubers led to some more digging around, as it were, and eventually I unearthed this gem on wasabi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qq30ya3ui4Which reminded me that one of my early posts on this blog was about Wasabia japonica. What’s strange about that old post 1 is that six years on I can’t imagine writing something like that without including a link to a WIEWS report on how many genebank accessions there are of the crop around the world. And I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing. Anyway, two, as is happens, and not where you’d think. There. I feel better now.
Nibbles: Taro value addition, Tree genomics special issue, MSB database, Japanese tubers, Ghana farmer awards, Omani genebank, Mexican cemeteries, Rotation, Root interactions
- Dalo chips! With illustrative goodness.
- Tree genomes! Whole journal-full.
- Seeds! From Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, that is. In a database. Or two. Online.
- Japanese tubers! If anyone can find the actual video, I’d be very grateful. It’s not here yet. Or here. And I also want to find out more about the mythical Professor Sweet Potato.
- Best farmer awards in Ghana! “He cultivates diverse crops…” Ah but not everyone is happy. Via.
- An Omani genebank! Still “under process”? There was one of sorts 20 years ago when I worked there.
- Day of the Dead! Nuff said.
- Crop rotations! The NY Times plays catchup.
- John Innes Institute video! Explains a couple of papers in Current Biology on root-microbe interactions, where the microbes are both good and bad.
Nibbles: Audacity of hops, Potato catalogues, Heirloom apples, Heirloom wheat, UK systematics, Millennial olives, CIAT celebrates, IITA in the news, Agrobiodiversity marketing awards, Insects in orchards, Quinoa
- U. of Minnesota has a poster of the pedigree of hop varieties which I covet.
- Cool catalogue of the native potatoes of a bit of Ecuador. Via Red Electronica de la Papa.
- Stark photos of a few heirloom apples, with descriptions.
- Meanwhile, Brockwell Bake sows some heritage wheats. With stark photo
- Report on the state of UK capacity in taxonomy. How many countries have reports on the state of their taxonomy? Anyway, here’s some of that capacity at work.
- Farrago on some old olives in Jerusalem.
- CIAT celebrates 45 years of existence.
- Meanwhile, IITA pushes soil fertility management and cassava.
- Arca-Deli Awards awarded.
- Defra’s latest Biodiversity News has stuff on the importance of insect biodiversity to pest control and pollination in orchards.
- The International Year of Quinoa, which is next year, has a website, and all sorts of associated social networking goodness. And here’s a nice little student video on the crop, for a somewhat different perspective.