Tag Archives: plant

Australia

Australians are buying more factories than ever before in 2020 with the COVID-19 lockdown sparking sales | Instant News


Australians bought more crops than ever before last year, with the country spending $ 2.6 billion on more than 2 billion crops.

People trapped at home in 2020 during the first wave of COVID-19 curbs accounted for the majority of growth, unsurprisingly, with sales of indoor plants up nine percent.

After Joining toilet paper and pasta in the panic buying list at the start of the pandemic, sales of herbs and vegetables jumped 27 percent.

More broadly, sales from production nurseries to retail garden centers grew 10 percent, according to new figures from the Nursery Industry Statistics survey.

Overall, the report found a $ 200 million increase in sales in the 2019-20 financial year.

The total expenditure of $ 2.6 billion on electricity generation also includes government projects and public works.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume.

A family turns their backyard into a productive garden during the lockdown.(Australian gardening)

With many Australians expected to continue working from home in some capacity over the next few years, this trend is not expected to change any time soon.

A separate recent trend report by Plant Life Balance shows an extraordinary percentage of survey respondents intending to continue growing their own indoor and edible plants into 2021 and beyond.

The plant industry is sure of its future

A variety of rare indoor plants in Sydney's backyard greenhouses, some reproduced for sale.
A variety of rare indoor plants in backyard greenhouses, some of which are reproduced for sale.(

Provided: Neva Hosking

)

Data from Greenlife, compiled after interviewing nearly 300 production nurseries, show it wasn’t just COVID-19 restrictions sending more people into their gardens driving the explosion.

Strong global and local demand for horticulture means three consecutive years of growth mainly in trees, perennials and shrubs.

Greenlife Industry Australia chief executive Peter Vaughan said despite drought, water restrictions, fires and typhoons, the industry was already on an upward trajectory with three consecutive years of growth.

Mr Vaughan lauded the production nurseries’ ability to meet demand, and said the findings demonstrated the importance of industry to the agricultural sector and the broader national economy.

The Australian horticulture industry employs more than 23,000 people in Australia in more than 1,600 businesses.

.



image source

Food & Drink

Orchids want food and sex. | | Instant News


The capricious and fascinating family of orchids has challenged understanding for generations. Even though it is one of the largest family groups with more than 200 species native to North America, it is still one of the least studied flowering plants, according to the Nature Conservatory magazine. There are more than 250,000 species worldwide. Their diverse family is said to contain more than 10% of the flowering plants on earth. New species are being discovered regularly. They grow on the branches of tall, mature trees. The seeds have no stored food and depend on the fungi found in the soil to thrive.

They’re all over my lawn in Key West, but only as mature flowers, never growing from seed.

Orchid seeds are so small that they need to be seen under a microscope. They can survive for years buried underground. Given that they were that strong, I thought they would grow up in Key West; maybe they don’t like salt.

Orchids are cunning. They have devised a fake attraction that tricks the insects into carrying their pollen. These hoaxes usually involve false promises about sex or seduction involving nectar as food. Entomologists study the science of orchid seduction. Unfortunately, they rarely do and the orchid is one of the least studied flowering plants. Scientists have named the method of attraction “mother site imitation” that encourages insects to lay eggs alongside what they mistakenly identify as a sweet treat to hatch young chicks. The second pretext is called “food fraud.”

Two things that always catch a man’s attention are food and gender, not necessarily in that order.

Even though we don’t grow orchids from seed, we do have a climate that encourages their survival after hanging from our trees. Key West’s windy and humid climate is ideal for mature orchids. The dendrobium growing season is now. They are sturdy and like to be in the sun. They may bloom twice a year.

Most orchids don’t like it when their roots are buried in moist soil, but rather want the roots to be watered completely and then allowed to dry in the wind before asking for more water. Orchid balls, which release a small amount of fertilizer, are ideal. The Key West Garden Club sells them for $ 1 each.

Several years ago when I was president of the Key West Garden Club, I got a call from a nursery owner in the north.

He asked, “Are you a 501c (3) (tax exempt organization)?” I answered in agreement. She told me she was going to dump all the orchids in her glass house and we could have them if we could take them away. (I don’t know what he’s going to grow that is more profitable than orchids.) We sent trucks and vans north and they came back with thousands of orchids. First, the Garden Club sends an email to all of its members inviting them to take part in the giveaway. They all left within a week. Since 1800 Atlantic Condominium supplied one of the vans driven by Jane Montgomery, a number of orchids arrived in our garden. We tie them with zippers to the branches on a tall tree. They thrive. Unfortunately, none of the many types of orchids produce seeds. They did produce second and third flowers as time passed.

In this lockdown period, being cooped up in a garden filled with orchids makes the months even more bearable.

Key West Primary Gardener Robin Robinson is a columnist for the Chicago Daily News. His award-winning books “Plants of Heaven” and “Rock Roots and Rain: A Real Florida Keys Tree” and a recent addition, “Sexy Shrubs in Sandy Soil,” can be found at the Garden Club. This column is part of a series developed by the Key West Garden Club. For information on plants, visit the previous compilation column at http://www.keywestgardenclub.com, Column Robin.

.



image source

New Zealand

The couple prepares to harvest New Zealand’s first commercial pineapple crop | Instant News


Business

3 minutes to read

Owen and Linda Schafli moved to Whangārei from Hamilton 10 years ago with plans to grow tropical fruit, particularly bananas and pineapples. Screenshot / Checkpoint, RNZ

By RNZ

A Northland family is preparing to harvest the country’s first commercial pineapple crop – and they are looking for more New Zealanders to grow the golden fruit and supply the country.

Linda and Owen Schafli moved to Whangārei from Hamilton 10 years ago with plans to grow tropical fruit, particularly bananas and pineapples.

Their visions were initially greeted by laughter from those they talked about, not many of whom were sure it would work.

“Because it hasn’t been done before here in New Zealand, people thought it could never be done,” said Linda.

But eight years later, that vision finally paid off.

They have 22,000 pineapples in the ground and by the end of the year this will increase to 30,000.

This year they will harvest 5,000 to 10,000 pieces.

The Schaflis family has 22,000 pineapples in the ground and by the end of this year this will increase to 30,000. Screenshot / Checkpoint, RNZ
The Schaflis family has 22,000 pineapples in the ground and by the end of this year this will increase to 30,000. Screenshot / Checkpoint, RNZ

The main plant of this pair is a gourmet pineapple called Ratu, which is very sweet and has an edible core.

The plan is to increase between 50,000 and 60,000 pineapples over the next few years.

Linda says it’s important for them to keep pineapples spray-free.

“We want to supply New Zealand with healthy pineapples that are good for them and spray free and not these terrible gas-ripe pineapples.”

Pineapples aren’t the only tropical fruit Schaflis grows. Bananas, papayas, passion fruit, sugar cane, dragon fruit, and even coffee filled every inch of land they owned.

Its main crop is a gourmet pineapple called Queen, which is very sweet with an edible core. Screenshot / Checkpoint, RNZ
Its main crop is a gourmet pineapple called Queen, which is very sweet with an edible core. Screenshot / Checkpoint, RNZ

Owen said conditions were good but elsewhere Northland was not making the most of its potential.

He said the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay were the country’s main fruit growing centers, but tropical fruit could be a point of difference in Northland.

“It would be great if Northland started to really shine and grow the things it could grow.”

New Zealand’s Chief Tropical Fruit Grower, Hugh Rose, agrees. He said growing pineapples in the north would be great land use because there is lots of volcanic soil and sunshine.

“Pineapple is a desert plant but, unlike most desert plants, it actually likes fertile – and slightly acidic – soil so they really have all the criteria that Northland has for growing pineapples, which we can export.”

The pineapples were originally going to be sold at the Whangārei farmers market but Schaflis hopes to eventually send them to Auckland and down to the South Island.

– RNZ

.



image source

Food & Drink

Watercress: a nutritious and medicinal superfood | Food & Cooking | Instant News


WRAP – Watercress is another staple of the Cherokee tribe in the spring and summer. It is known as a super food with a high concentration of nutrients and medicinal value.

Cherokee national Melissa Lewis collects watercress annually for use in dishes like smoothies and pesto.

Watercress is a green leafy perennial plant that can be found in water sources such as creeks or springs.

“Watercress is called an annual plant so it grows back every year,” says Lewis. “I prefer to go to a place that has a spring. It can occur almost anywhere, but I try to avoid areas that have agriculture or that have a lot of cows because of runoff and bacteria. So a place with good clean water is the best place to get it. “

Watercress can be found year-round in some places, but spring and summer are the most abundant times.

“Summer is the time here, and in most places you’ll find only the largest and most fertile,” he said. “When he started to have seeds, he had very beautiful flowers. Around August there will be these very beautiful white flowers. “

Watercress has a distinctive nutty flavor, says Lewis. “In a family that has other things like wasabi and mustard. They all have the same chemicals as sulfur which give them a nutty taste. ”

Lewis says the texture is similar to spinach but the leaves are smaller and thinner.

“It’s not too chewy like purslane or thick like that. It has nice thin leaves but has some texture. And the leaves come out from all angles, like a rosette. It has long roots that go into the water. When plucked, all kinds gather with other plants in the vicinity. “I picked it up and tried to pull out the roots and leave it where you found it so it can continue growing,” he said.

Lewis says watercress is not native to the United States but has been around long enough that Cherokee and non-Cherokee tribes are known to collect it. He said researchers now call them superfoods because of their vitamins and minerals. “It has so many vitamins and many minerals that are associated with reducing or preventing chronic disease. One thing in particular helps thin blood vessels, making it beneficial for people trying to prevent heart disease. But it’s also for certain cancers. It has properties that reduce the growth of these cancer cells. It has a lot of vitamins. It helps your eye health, is high in vitamin K, high in vitamin C. So it’s good for your immunity too. So it’s like a food that contains vitamins. “

Based on medicalnewstoday.comResearch shows that watercress contains the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid, which is a compound that can lower glucose levels, increase insulin sensitivity, and prevent changes caused by oxidative stress in diabetics.

Watercress is a cruciferous plant native to Europe and Asia, and according to the US Department of Agriculture, watercress contains vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.

Lewis said he collected them for several reasons but mostly for the dish.

“I love this plant because it tastes great and is a super food. And it grows in water so I usually collect in the spring where I collect watercress, “Lewis said. “A lot of people like to pour bacon oil on it and that’s pretty good. Some people put it in sandwiches. I like to be a little creative so I’ve included it in smoothies before. Not good for cooking, is the only thing that is best if you eat it fresh. You can put it in salads, soups, smoothies. “

Wild Spring Pesto

material

2 cups green vegetables (watercress, chickweed, lamb’s quarter, stinging nettle, henbit, dead nettle, dandelion, purslane, wood sorrel, violet leaves, day lily buds)

1/2 cup nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, black walnuts, hickory nuts, almonds, sunflower, green pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pecans)

2 medium cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon wild garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

1 pinch of salt and pepper

Directions: In a food processor, press down all ingredients. Use it as a dip or dip.

Tropical Watercress Smoothie

material

1 cup watercress

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup chopped pineapple

1/2 cup chopped mango

1 banana (chopped and frozen)

1 teaspoon. vanilla extract (optional)

Method: Puree watercress and juice until smooth. Add other ingredients and blend until smooth.

.



image source

Food & Drink

Saturday Morning Drive-Up Food Giveaway on Back of the Yards – NBC Chicago | Instant News


Free meals will be available Saturday morning in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood during the drive-up giveaway.

Between 10 a.m. and noon, The Plant announced it would distribute lunch box in partnership with La Casa Norte and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

According to the event post, anyone is welcome to drive up to 1400 W 46th St., pop their truck and take the food home.

People can also walk upstairs to receive a giveaway, but The Plant says the ride is preferable.

The Plant is a small food business community, focused on sustainability through material reuse and a closed loop system, wrote a Facebook post.

For more information on attending and volunteering, click here.

.



image source