- Bryan Strzelec, a farmer from Cuba, NY, would like to return the Knox Farm, a State-owned park in East Aurora, to its original use by leasing it to run a dairy and livestock operation that would sell directly to the public. Via Buffalo News.
- New research sheds some light on how pathogens and the immune system of plants interact. From Greenhouse Management.
- Here is a great post from Tesselaar’s Lisa Hutchurson, a Rochester resident whom many of you may remember from her Democrat and Chronicle days, on how to use Tangerine Tango, the 2012 Pantone color of the year, in the garden.
- Arunus Chesonis, who took the helm of upstate New York’s Sweetwater Energy earlier this week, said in a statement from the company, “Sugar is the new oil.” Here is an article from Fast Company about how Virent, a company with a similar concept, does it.
- From Garden Design magazine, a short but pretty article about the saffron crocus. I’ve been wanting to grow this for years and keep forgetting to order it. Anyone grow it here? Is it available regionally?
- Legendary garden designer Wolfgang Oehme passed away on December 15, 2011. I love this image of him from sproutdc.com. It illustrates his knack for seeing the subtle beauty in plants.
- Here is a handy list of ash alternatives for urban environments. Compiled for Ontario, but applicable here too.
- Elizabeth Licata highlights a few garden-y gifts in this Buffalo Spree piece. The Buffalo Gardens dome snow globe is really cute!
- Save the Date: Ithaca’s 4th Annual Designing with Native Plants Symposium will be Feb. 10 & 11, 2012.
- Fox Business says companies like groO, which installs and maintains organic vegetable gardens, will be a franchising trend in ’12. Ithaca apparently got one in ’10—I haven’t heard any buzz; would appreciate a shout back if you have.
- There’s a job open at Cornell CALS for an IPM outreach coordinator.
- I spoke with a woman the other day who said she had bought a fake Christmas tree to avoid, you know, killing plants. Ack! I’m not going to get started on that in this forum, but I wanted to point out this dumb story (I’m sorry, syracuse.com) about how natural trees can bring mold into the home. Oh, and also, fake trees TOO can bring mold into the home. And the solution is to WASH the tree before bringing it inside. Good grief. The story, by the way, must have hit during a slow news cycle because it got picked up by outlets across the globe, and one London Telegraph reporter appears to have even given this “phenomenon” a name—”Christmas Tree Syndrome.” End rant.
- The only good poinsettia is a really BIG poinsettia.
Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and thanks for reading! —Jane
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