Vegetables

July 14, 2014July 15, 2014

What does a bonnet gourd look like?

Tucker on 'Bonnet Gourds', 1874: "the women in the Southern States split it and made up very pretty and useful head coverings or bonnets"

— Kew Gardens Library and Archives (@Kew_LAA) July 14, 2014

This ¹ seems to refer to Luffa, but does anyone have photos? I’d love to see what these bonnets look like, but unfortunately Google is not being very helpful. Gourds are inevitably much on my mind after my trip to PNG…

LATER: And here it is, thanks to Eve Emshwiller:

Screen Shot 2014-07-15 at 11.15.31 AM

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014

Brainfood: Landscape preferences, Livestock selection, Romanian conservation, Nordic Horseradish, Social structuring, Darjeeling tea, ZFarming, Pineywoods cattle, Cotton breeding, Neglected veggies

Public preferences for ecosystem-enhancing elements in agricultural landscapes in the Swiss lowlands. People don’t like complex agricultural landscapes as much as they should. Well, in photos anyway.
Some traditional livestock selection criteria as practiced by several indigenous communities of Southern Ethiopia. The selection methods of elders are based on characters that correlate with production and reproduction efficiency. Now there’s a shocker.
Needs and gaps in the conservation of wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Romania. 4 out of 300 useful wild species may need better protection. Sounds like a pretty good score to me.
Genetic diversity in Nordic horseradish, Armoracia rusticana, as revealed by AFLP markers. Each Nordic country has pretty much its own.
How social organization shapes crop diversity: an ecological anthropology approach among Tharaka farmers of Mount Kenya. Diversity of crops and of sorghum landraces is structured socially, with neighbourhood groups being an important organizing principle.
The labor of terroir and the terroir of labor: Geographical Indication and Darjeeling tea plantations. GI has worked because marketing has convinced people that industrial plantations are also idyllic gardens, but the workers know better.
Urban agriculture of the future: an overview of sustainability aspects of food production in and on buildings. You need to work at it.
Long in the Horn: An Agricultural Anthropology of Livestock Improvement. “Livestock as landscape” in the southern US.
Usefulness and Utilization of Indian Cotton Germplasm. Need to try chemical and physical mutagenesis as well as bring in new diversity from abroad. Do I detect a slight whiff of desperation?
Potential and biodiversity conservation strategies of underutilized or indigenous vegetables in Himahal Pradesh. Improve provision of planting materials, management practices, harvesting methods, post-harvest , marketability, nutritional status and policies and legal frameworks. Really? Is that all? I suspect anyone into NUS could have told you that before you even went into the field.

July 3, 2014July 4, 2014

Nibbles: Tree drought tolerance, Whisky history, Barley drought tolerance, Old veggies, Old potatoes, Llamas vs goats, Sustainable ag, Chinese herbaria

Drought tolerance? It’s the carbs.
Whisky 101.
Coincidental mashup of the above. Barley used in whisky production provides clue to drought tolerance.
Pre-hispanic veggies.
Pre-hispanic carbs.
Pre-hispanic livestock.
Sustainable agriculture deconstructed.
GBIF scores Chinese specimens.

July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

Purslane possibilities

Screen Shot 2014-07-03 at 9.13.57 AM Sharp-eyed readers may remember a recent Nibble about somewhat quixotic efforts to promote cultivation and consumption of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) in the US, driven more by necessity than conviction. Well, one particularly sharp-eyed reader pointed out that across the border, in Mexico, there’s a whole network of researchers within the Sistema Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos para la Alimentación y la Agricultura devoted to this unusual vegetable, which has some half dozen accessions in the bank to play with. There are 106 accessions in Genesys. Purslane researchers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your mineral deficiencies.

July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Nibbles: Dryland agroforestry, Parmigiano DOC, Killer tomatoes, Purslane salad, Breadfruit $, Community seedbanks, Kiribati under water, Landscapes

At the risk of annoying Dave Wood again, here’s something on agroforestry in Africa.
A podcast on what it takes to make parmigiano reggiano.
Speaking of Italian agricultural products, it’s not all sweetness and light.
But can you put purslane on pizza?
Funding breadfruit.
Community seed banks take off in India.
Kiribati will need some too. But in Fiji.
The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative is on Slideshare. Not much comfort for Kiribati, I suspect.