Tag Archives: plant
and still yet another year of almost making violet syrup.
like many blossomy things, including our peach tree, the violets have bloomed about a month early which is far too early for these parts and i suspect they’ll quickly succumb to an upcoming cold night before i get a chance to harvest.
which all means once again another year has passed without making violet syrup.
i think this might mark the sixth year of almost making the syrup. at this point, maybe i should just wait until an even decade passes.
How the first plant came to be
new genetic research supports the theory that plants “owe their existence to a tiny alga eons ago that swallowed a cyanobacteria and turned it into an internal solar power plant.”. reminds me of the great symbiosis quote, “Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking.”
Narcissus papyraceus.
Narcissus papyraceus forced blooms. fragrant! and such a nice treat in the middle of january.
A Sunny Gift from Miss Shannon Blooms.
on the Last Day of Kindergarten his teach, Miss Shannon, gave odin the The Gift of a Sunflower Seed.
it’s now in full bloom in our garden and it makes me realize i want more sunflowers. many more sunflowers. they make me smile.
we should be good to go since each head contains 1,000 to 2,000 seeds and it looks easy enough to dry and harvest them!
the sunnier side of biodiesel revisited.
just a few photos of some of the high-oil, organic sunflowers suitable for use in the production of biodiesel. the field is owned by cropp ( organic valley ) and is near our distribution center in cashton, wisconsin.
the sunflowers are part of cropp’s sustainability program ( you can view a few of my other sunflower pictures from years past on that page ). cropp farmers who plant on the farm benefit from the high yield of oil (80–110 gallons per acre) as well as the 1200–1500 pounds of feed meal per acre as well. we even have a mobile press that can travel to a farm and produce oil from a harvest ( yes, that’s another of my sunflower shots on the side of the press. ).
feed and fuel from the same field!
i believe this field will be converted to biodiesel to provide fuel for company tractors and trucks.
i don’t really know why i haven’t uploaded more of my sunflower shots over the years, since folks seemed to enjoy the original “the sunnier side of biodiesel” photo.
so, here you go internets! maybe someday i’ll get around to uploading all the other photos.
trust me, you’ll want to view this panorama large, in the lightbox.
i’m a little less pleased with this panorama, but hey, sunflower panoramas are like pizza.
even when they’re bad, they’re good.
( pssst, lightbox edition. )
Phlox paniculata
to the best of of my knowledge, Phlox paniculata is not really any good for human food or medicinal purposes but butterflies and moths love it so it’s nice to have around.
and it’s purty to boot.