- Resource list for setting up a school garden. Take that, Flanagan.
- Gary “Eco-gastronaut” Nabhan goes viral.
- Smithsonian goes native. Trees, that is.
- GRAIN video delves into origin of H1N1.
- There are boar farms of England?
- Nutrition advice needs to take genetics into account.
- Tracing the changing morphology of British post-medieval sheep. Well, someone has to do it.
- Thai floating market. A tourist trap, I know. But photogenic.
- Kew’s plant of the day is gum arabic. Wait, Kew has a plant of the day? Is there no end to their ingenuity?
- And GlobalDiv has a Breed of the Month. BTW, the same source has a thing on the XVIII Plant and Animal Genome Conference (Jan. 2010).
- Diverse diet for healthier bees, says BBC
- Breeding bovines in Asia.
- Cursed quinoa.
Nibbles: Breeding, Vegetables, Early agriculture, Breeding course, Nabhan, Gardens, Sequencing twice, er no, once.
- Solanum porno.
- Veggie tourism.
- Something else to blame climate change for. Not.
- Wanna learn breeding?
- Gary does Turkey.
- Podcast on school gardens.
- Department of improbable claims: Sunflower genome holds the promise of sustainable agriculture.
- Ok then Mr Cynical, how about woodland strawberry, then?
- Not so fast, Mr Sunshine: No strawberry genome ::sniff::
Visiting NordGen
If you were intrigued by the source of the packet of germplasm I illustrated a few days ago, here it is:
It is the Nordic Genetic Resources Centre, or NordGen. It’s on the grounds of the Swedish Agricultural University at Alnarp near Malmo. As coincidence would have it I was up there in Alnarp earlier this week for a workshop, and managed to take a few photos. More later. As you can see, seed conservation is done in chest freezers, rather than the sort of walk-in cold room that you see in many genebanks around the world. Each freezer has a temperature probe, and if the temperature goes up too much, the genebank manager gets an SMS.
Nibbles: Climate change edition
- Climate change good for wild boar. And bores?
- Climate change good for English wine makers.
- Climate change bad for Africa. Already.
- Climate change bad for Nenets and their reindeer. Already.
- Organic farming will solve climate change.
- Ecotourism will solve climate change.
- China going crazy for garlic. Because of climate change? Nope, swine flu.
Silk Road on show in New York
The American Museum of Natural History has an exhibition on the Silk Road. It looks pretty good, and there even seems to be a bit on agrobiodiversity. I mean apart from the obvious, the silkworm and the camel. In particular, you get a look at the night markets of Turfan.
Surprisingly, visitors to markets along the ancient Silk Road—long before overnight shipping and refrigeration—could also choose from an array of foreign delicacies. As travelers moved along trade routes, they introduced their own ingredients and recipes to foreign lands. Over time, such exotic edibles became familiar features on local menus.
Check the video at the 2:18 mark. Not bad, I guess. But was it too much to ask for — having come so far — to include something about the role of this trade route in the spread of at least crops like the apple and wheat?