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Category Archives: Miracles of Nature
In Search Of
I average one day every week going over my collection of trees. If you were to see me do this, it appears I am wandering around lost and looking for something. I am. I am evaluating the structure of the … Continue reading
Heading North on the Persimmon Highway
Not much is known about the American persimmon in its northern reaches. The term northern has both a subjective and objective value to it. Objective is based on the chromosome count for the northern ‘race’ and degree hours above 50 … Continue reading
The Unstoppable Power of Bamboo
When I lived in town with my family, I had a jogging route part of which was on a brick road on a steep hill. On the corner was a beautifully landscaped home of many fruits and ornamentals including a … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged agroforestry, bamboo, bamboo sprouts, carbon sequestration, edible bamboo, perennial agriculture, runner bamboo, tree crops, two-story-agriculture
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Paulownia: Grow Your Own Home-It Zooms
One of my first acquaintances in the tree crop arena was a research technician in the pharmaceutical industry. He was very passionate about growing his own firewood. This was in an era when the hybrid-popular market was in full swing … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged agriculture, ecology, Empress tree, farming, lumber, Paulownia, sustainability, timber, tree crops, wood
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Wood is Good: American Chestnut
In my senior year in college, I was employed as a gardener for a home that was near a nature reserve in the city. From time to time, I would cross the street with a wheelbarrow full of spoiled apples harvested … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged American chestnut, Castanea dentata, chestnut tables, ecology, Janka, timber crops, Wood quality
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Nana Beach Plum: It Lives in a Farmerless Field
Any species of fruit as it is found in ‘nature’ can be cultivated. Two years ago, I grew a wild tomato from the Everglades that produced a tomato the size of a pea. It tasted like a tomato but was … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged beach plums, ecology, farmerless fields, forest, fruit, fruit-trees, fruits, healthy fruits, jam, nature, wild plums
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Random: Distribution of Plants Within an Orderly Structure
Random is Not That Random. We tend to think of forests as random sets of plants in a structured organized way. Things are not in rows. It is a mixed forest. We might think, “oh this is much more desirable … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged apples, beneficial plants, forest, fruit farm, global, multiflora rose, plants, random, seed production, trees, woody plants
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Flexibility and Stability: Integrating Opposite Values With the Wild Apple
When you grow an apple from seed (which I highly recommend) you will see the extremities of what is possible in terms of what the apple will look and taste like. If a crabapple tree is nearby, then there is … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged agriculture, crabapple, ecology, Malus, seed source, seeds, wild apple
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You and Your Sandcherry Empire
Have you ever gone for a hike and discovered some interesting fruit along a trail somewhere? It’s a common experience. Such is the case for Prunus pumila or sandcherry found on the dunes of the Great Lakes. The trails that … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged cherry, food, fruit, garden, gardening, native, plants, sandcherry, wild
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Small Potato in a Big Universe
I’ve always been fascinated by the potato plant. Every year on vacation while driving to the upper peninsula in Michigan with my family we took a route that happened to be surrounded by potatoes in full flower on both sides … Continue reading
Posted in Diversity Found, Ecology-Biodiversity-Integration, Miracles of Nature
Tagged crop-diversity, gardening, population, potato, true-seed, vegetables
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