Berry, Berry Interesting (or a Bog Blog)

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, turkeys are getting a lot of air time, far more than their proverbial fifteen minutes. To balance the scales a bit, I'm going to spend today cruising you around the Web to learn about the simple but tasty cranberry.

According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, Native Americans knew about the cranberry long before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, using the fruit for food, in dyes and as medicine.

Despite that, we have no evidence that cranberries were present at the Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving.

That shouldn't dimish the cranberry's importance, however. It is one of only three fruits native to North America that have commercial significance. (The other two are blueberries and concord grapes.) In fact, based on sales, the cranberry is growing in popularity in other parts of the world, thanks to a focused marketing effort overseas.

Did you know though that Massachusetts is not the leading producer of cranberries? That honor goes to Wisconsin, where cranberry production is forecasted to be 3.9 million barrels, about half the U.S. production totals. Massachusetts ranks second with 1.8 million barrels.

But don't erase that New England-cranberry connection just yet. The history and importance of the cranberry runs deep there. Cranberries were first cultivated in Dennis, Massachusetts in 1816, and the fruit has developed into Massachusetts' number one agricultural commodity crop. The state is also home to over half of the country's cranberry farms.

What about the flooded bogs? Those actually signal a wet harvest, in which the fruits' ability to float is exploited to simplify the process. (If you've got two minutes to spare, watch a video of a Wisconsin wet cranberry harvest on YouTube. It's pretty cool.) Cranberries can also be mechanically harvested dry. Fruit harvested wet heads for further processing; dry harvest is reserved for cranberries that will be sold fresh.

Good cranberries also bounce, another characteristic exploited for harvest. Soft, spoiled or damaged berries will not bounce, so they'll fall through the bounce boards and not make the cut.

Need to know more? Then take a look at these books and articles from the Library's catalog, AGRICOLA. Or bounce on over to The American Cranberry site, a great collection of cranberry-related resources pulled together by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of NAL's AgNIC partners.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Food and Nutrition and Plants on November 19, 2007 EST | Permalink

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This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Flower Itself Entered Our World

It's Friday, and in the idiosyncratic logic of a blogger, I've decided we needed a bit of culture here at InfoFarm.

It's also fall, which means that the culture I've chosen -- Connie Wanek's poem "Amaryllis" -- appropriately aligns with the season. All the gardening sites out there will tell you that we've stumbled into that bulb's planting season. And the local garden shops have them in stock, since they've become popular as winter blooms.

So, if you'd like your own amaryllis, get to work this weekend, and you should have something in 7 to 10 weeks. Until then (or for those lacking the proverbial green thumb), enjoy this vivid lyrical version, courtesy of poet Connie Wanek, and Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry site:

American Life in Poetry: Column 084

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Many of this column's readers have watched an amaryllis emerge from its hard bulb to flower. To me they seem unworldly, perhaps a little dangerous, like a wild bird you don't want to get too close to. Here Connie Wanek of Duluth, Minnesota, takes a close and playful look at an amaryllis that looks right back at her.

Amaryllis

A flower needs to be this size
to conceal the winter window,
and this color, the red
of a Fiat with the top down,
to impress us, dull as we've grown.

Months ago the gigantic onion of a bulb
half above the soil
stuck out its green tongue
and slowly, day by day,
the flower itself entered our world,

closed, like hands that captured a moth,
then open, as eyes open,
and the amaryllis, seeing us,
was somehow undiscouraged.
It stands before us now

as we eat our soup;
you pour a little of your drinking water
into its saucer, and a few crumbs
of fragrant earth fall
onto the tabletop.

Reprinted from "Bonfire," New Rivers Press, 1997, by permission of the author. Copyright © 1997 by Connie Wanek. Her most recent book is "Hartley Field," from Holy Cow! Press, 2002. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

Finally, for more prints like the one reproduced above, see the collection of images from Curtis's Botanical Magazine presented by the Library's Special Collections.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Plants and Poetry on November 02, 2007 EST | Permalink

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This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Praise the Tater

In my effort to keep myself -- and you -- well-informed, I scour various news sources, check up-to-the-minute Web sites and talk with people in the know. Despite all of that though, one bit of news slipped passed me last week: October 18 marked the official beginning of the International Year of the Potato 2008.

Now, I don't know why Spud '08 began in mid-October '07, but let's push that aside and look instead at what this year's all about, namely, "raising awareness of the importance of the potato...in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment."

'Tis true. The humble potato has been a staple in human diets since it was first consumed in the Andean highlands 8,000 years ago. It requires less land to grow than most other major crops and can flourish in a variety of climates. It provides a hefty dose of vitamin C and other nutrients to go with the carbohydrates it conveys. It's also mighty tasty, with a variety of ways it can be prepared. Together, these characteristics make it an almost perfect weapon against hunger and malnutrition.

Face it, the potato does rule.

And, Year of the Potato or not, it gets a lot of attention. Researchers work to develop improved varieties or control potato-damaging pests. Economists study its significance and production trends. Nutritionists are all over its health benefits. And on the lighter side, the Potato Museum pays King Tater enthusiastic homage for its versatility and importance.

The American poet Richard Wilbur captured all this, the crucial vitality wrapped in ordinariness, in his 1947 poem "Potato":

"It was potatoes saved us, they kept us alive."
Then they had something to say akin to praise
For the mean earth-apples, too common to cherish or steal.
Full poem

The message: don't be fooled by its plain exterior. The potato is a complex, priceless thing, well worthy of its own year (or fifteen months, as the case may be).

So let's talk taters. Drop us a note, ask a question or share a recipe.

Or if you're more of a mouse potato, move on over to NAL's Food and Nutrition Information Center for a fistful of high-quality potato-related links.

Either way, let's kick off the International Year of the Potato 2008 together. We can really mash things up. (Yea, um, sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Food and Nutrition and Plants on October 23, 2007 EST | Permalink

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Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

What about it's cousin: the sweet potato? How many varieties of spud are there anyhow?

Submitted by: i love spuds on October 23, 2007 08:16 PM

Submitted by: Michelle L. on October 24, 2007 08:01 AM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 24, 2007 09:31 AM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 24, 2007 09:53 AM

Submitted by: Tim on October 26, 2007 11:45 AM

Submitted by: toni on October 26, 2007 12:58 PM

Submitted by: mike on October 31, 2007 10:29 AM

What Does Horticulture Have to do with Baseball?

I've been watching a lot of baseball lately (Go Tribe!), and in between pitches last night, I found myself thinking again about how the grounds crew cuts those designs into the stadium grass. Cleveland's Jacobs Field showed only a simple checkerboard pattern, but earlier in the week, Fenway Park was sporting two perfect "sox," looking as if they'd been hand-stitched into the infield.

I knew the patterns had something to do with how the blades of grass were laying, but I also knew there was more to it than that, so I put on my reference librarian hat and found the answer. The best explanation I could find came courtesy of David Mellor, who, coincidentally, serves as chief lawn doctor for the Boston Red Sox. (He's originally an Ohio boy and an Ohio State grad, so I feel okay about citing him, despite the BoSox connection.)

Says Mellor:

You create patterns by laying the grass blades down in a certain direction, allowing the turf surface to either reflect or absorb the sunlight. The direction the turf lays determines whether its appearance is light or dark. Grass blades laying down in the direction away from you appear light, while blades with their tips pointed toward you appear dark.

So I was partly right. You also need the pattern itself, which, if more complex, might need to be chalked onto the field; guide lines, measuring tape and a steady eye to ensure straight lines; and the key equipment that makes it happen, a roller that lays the grass down in the direction you need.

Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, I know I'm just touching the surface of the topic, so for the lawn geeks (or baseball fans) out there who want to know more of how art, science and a lot of hard work come together to fashion these turf wonders, here are links to more about Mellor and his craft:

• Establish Mowing Patterns (Grounds Maintenance Magazine)
• 10 Questions: David Mellor (Sports Field Management)
• Groundskeepers Use Parks as Canvases (USA Today)
• From Outfields to Art, One Blade at a Time (New York Times)

But if your goals are more ordinary -- like turning your lawn into something other than a sea of weeds -- we've got a batch of great sites on landscaping and turf for you to check out.

And remember, fall is not only a time to watch some great baseball; it's also one of the best times to fertilize. The nutrients will encourage root growth, which will, in turn, sustain the grass through the winter and lead to a green spring.

Just as I imagine a World Series title will nurture Clevelanders through another Ohio winter, assuming the baseball gods are willing.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Plants on October 17, 2007 EST | Permalink

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Go Sox!

Submitted by: Manny on October 17, 2007 09:18 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 18, 2007 08:30 AM

The Ultimate Back-Up Plan(t)s

Have I got a cool story for you. Literally.

A mere 600 miles or so from the North Pole, the Norwegian government has nearly completed construction on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a "doomsday vault" built deep beneath the permafrost and layers of rock that constitute this remote Arctic island. The sub-zero vault will house millions of seeds tucked away to ensure the survival of crop diversity should disaster strike.

It's the ultimate back-up plan in case of severe climate change, nuclear war, plant epidemics and the like, a means of growing food crops that have otherwise been wiped out. As today's Los Angeles Times put it, "The survival of Earth's agriculture is being entrusted to a land inhospitable to life, where only the toughest plants, animals and humans endure."

Obviously, though, those conditions are what make Svalbard the perfect spot, for even a loss of power should not lead to a loss of the materials stored there. The frigid temperatures will do their part to preserve the valuable genetic deposits, and the island's remote location enhances security, making it "difficult to arrive or leave unnoticed."

The vault at Svalbard joins approximately 1,400 other seed banks around the world, including USDA's National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado. But Svalbard is different. This one is global in scope and has been developed as the back-up to those back-ups, the one that should outlast them all.

With the vault's opening scheduled for early 2008, construction is almost complete. The press was given its first look at the site this past August, so there are many stories online for those who'd like to learn more about the seed vault, including the previously cited Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, ABC News, BBC's The World, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and even YouTube.

While Norway will own the vault itself, the Global Crop Diversity Trust will help run it, and the countries that contribute to it will own whatever seeds they submit. In the end, in the words of Cary Fowler, the Trust's director, they hope to have "a library of life," one the world can depend on.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Plants on October 12, 2007 EST | Permalink

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Great concept. Ideas like these make great water cooler chit chat. That, indeed, is the ultimate back up plan.

Submitted by: Katie on October 12, 2007 07:13 PM

Herbs for a Day

If you haven't set your weekend plans yet, check out the events at your local HerbDay gathering this Saturday, October 13. Since this is only the second annual celebration of herbs, not every state has joined the party, but quite a few have.

Here in the Washington area, our colleagues at the U.S. Botanic Garden are expanding the celebration to Friday, October 12, filling the day with informative lectures and tours on herbal medicines, skin care, and aromatherapy. Their Saturday offerings will also touch upon these topics, along with herbal teas, baths, crafts and cooking.

If you can't hit all the lectures, try to catch Dr. Jim Duke, a retired researcher with USDA's Agricultural Research Service and a star of sorts in the ethnobotanical firmament.

Dr. Duke has traveled the world studying plants and how different cultures have used them, writing numerous books and articles along the way, among them The Green Pharmacy and Dr. Duke's Essential Herbs. He's also, apparently, a bit of a character, a 'Bama born fiddler with a passion for bluegrass that rivals his passion for herbs.

But I can't do Dr. Duke justice. To learn more about his life and work, check out any or all of the following:

• Ode to Jim Duke: America's Chief Herbalist
• James Duke: Barefoot in the Forest
• Ethnobotany Chat with Dr. James Duke

And to learn more about growing or using herbs, see these great resources from the National Agricultural Library and a few of its information centers:

• Plants and Crops: Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
• Alternative Crops and Plants: Medicinal and Culinary Herbs
• Dietary Supplements: Herbal Information

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Biography and Plants on October 11, 2007 EST | Permalink

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Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Just came across another great resource on Dr. Jim Duke that you might want to know about. The National Agricultural Library has in its collection a two-hour oral history interview with Dr. Duke from 1988. Request the tape from the Library's Service Desk. It's Videocassette #629.

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 25, 2007 01:20 PM