Cranberries, which grow mainly in Wisconsin and Massachusetts in marshy fields called bogs, have had a string of low-yield years in a row, primarily due to extreme weather conditions. In recent years,…
Tag: Plants
Turn Your Backyard Into a Snack Yard With Edible Landscapes
Daniel Mobley was one of the many people laid off from their job at the beginning of the pandemic. No longer a recreation director, Mobley was in need of a hobby to…
Scientists Get to the Core of the Honeycrisp Apple
Researchers at Cornell University have successfully sequenced the Honeycrisp apple genome, which will help scientists and breeders work to create the “perfect” apple. The process used, called genome sequencing, involves researchers essentially…
How Plant Hormones Could Be Used to Increase Crop Yields
Plants get stressed, too. When faced with harsh growing conditions, the energy plants typically expend on growth gets delegated towards a stress response induced by disease, salty soils and extreme weather. And…
What’s In a (Food) Name?
French marketing and advertising executives have their work cut out for them. As of this month, France is the first European country to ban words such as “steak,” “sausage” and “bacon” when…
Changing Tastes Fuel a Buckwheat Revival
For those in the know, Bouchard Family Farms is the place to go when you need Tartary flour for making French-Canadian pancakes and crepes or Japanese soba noodles. For 30-plus years, the…
Are Invasive Species Always Bad?
Often, research surrounding non-native—also referred to as invasive—species focuses on the negative impact of the organisms on the environments they invade. Non-native species are known to wreak havoc; some are even famous…
Could Edible Cactus Be the Next Big Specialty Crop?
Shawn Jadrnicek had long loved prickly pear cactus for its tasty fruit, so when he heard the plant could also be used as animal fencing, he was curious. After first creating a…
This Seed Detective Travels the World Tracking Down Lost Crops
You’d expect someone once nicknamed the “Indiana Jones of seeds” to be a bit fanatical and dedicated to the job. But for Adam Alexander, author and horticulturist, seeds are more than just…
Making the Case for Intercropping
Monocropping—or growing acres and acres of one plant species—is a common agricultural practice, particularly in the US. But it can lead to increased need for fertilizers and a lack of biodiversity within…