The plant in question isn't a true cactus at all, but a succulent called Euphorbia trigona, also known as the African milk tree. Like many columnar euphorbias, it can shoot up rapidly indoors if it's happy, often outgrowing its space. Luckily, the plant responds well to pruning if done carefully. Prescription The most effective way to manage its height is to top the plant.
This is not an allotment, this is a show garden worthy of the Chelsea Flower Show, I thought to myself as I entered through a hidden gate in Barnet, north London. A sweeping tunnel of more than 100 fruit and flower trees led temptingly towards more secrets and surprises tucked away in Steve Mills' plot, which he has been tending to for 14 years.
Jasmín Ordóñez looks out from a wooden boat at the water as she crosses a narrow channel that connects a labyrinth of chinampas, island farms that were built by the Aztecs thousands of years ago. "Let's close our eyes and ask our Mother Water for permission to sail in peace," she said as the boat moves slowly, in contrast to the frenetic traffic of Mexico City just a few miles away.
the current and imminent labor shortage exacerbated by the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens, increased enforcement of existing immigration law, and global competitiveness pressures described below, presents a sufficient risk of supply shock-induced food shortages to justify immediate implementation
Some kids start their mornings with cereal and cartoons, but my daughters start theirs with rubber boots and feed pails. In 2010, I moved to a cattle and grain farm in east-central Alberta, Canada, to be with my now-husband. Fifteen years later, our two daughters - who are 13 and 12 - have never known another home. Life here is unconventional, especially compared to my previous lifestyle in the city, because there's always work to do.
I'm six months pregnant and horribly overwhelmed, so I've enlisted the help of a local gardener to tackle the more pernicious intruders (such as green alkanet, which leaves my ankles feeling bitten whenever I hang out the washing, and some of the many robinia saplings that have appeared from the neighbour's great big, beautiful tree) while leaving the good stuff behind. Then, in the patches that open up, I'll be sowing green manure.
Two riders search the hills at the base of the Elkhorns, the Montana range above my family's ranch. Another rider and I go low, and as we round a bend, our offending cows come into view. Some lounge, others twitch their tails as the neighbors' three red bulls drool and huff. As we move our cattle into a bunch, calves find their mothers and knock noses into milkbags.
German hybridizer Kordes crossed the red hybrid musk rose, Robin Hood' (1927) developed by Joseph Pemberton in England, and the white hybrid tea, Virgo' (1927), bred in France by Charles Mallein. The cross produced Rosa KORbin', a very healthy floriferous floribunda that bloomed in large clusters of medium-size lightly double, white flowers. In 1958, this rose was introduced to the world. It is known as Iceberg' in the USA, Schneewittchen (Snow White)' in Germany and Fee des Neiges (Snow Fairy)' in France.
The state is implementing an emergency program for properties within a 4.5-mile radius of Medfly detections. Starting November 1, Tower said he and his family will have to spray the orchard every 10 days with insecticide. "It's all organic, it's 95% molasses, and that's what draws them in... to make sure they get the other 5%, which is a surfactant which suspends the sterilization," Tower said. It's a treatment Tower and other growers will have to do for 190 days.
A suspect case of notifiable avian influenza was reported on Friday October 3 and initial results suggest the presence of notifiable HPAI. The CVO has, therefore, taken the decision, as a precautionary measure, to apply appropriate disease control measures, including the humane culling of all poultry on the site and the introduction of temporary control zones (TCZ) to mitigate for onward disease spread.
According to data collected by Helgi Library in 2021, China accounted for over 25% of the world's potato consumption. In total, the population ate around 66,437 kilotons of potatoes that year. To put that in perspective, there are 1000 tons in a kiloton - we're talking about a heck of a lot of potatoes. The World Population Review has even higher figures for the following year: 69,109 kilotons, or 47.4 kilograms per person.
The number of farm operations filing for bankruptcy remains at historically low levels but has jumped sharply this year as a crisis in the agricultural economy drags on. In the second quarter, there were 93 filings, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, up from 88 in the first quarter and nearly double the 47 at the end of 2024.
Last year, Harrison Bardwell, the farm's ninth-generation proprietor, was selling thousands of pounds of cucumbers at a time, transportable by pallet and forklift. By this summer, he was struggling to move twenty-pound boxes of the same product. When he realized that he couldn't recoup the costs of picking, packing, and washing the cucumbers, he stopped. He also gave up pulling from his cabbage field. Gleaners from a local anti-hunger group harvested some of the crops to donate to nearby food banks and shelters.
CSAs started in California as a way to promote Golden State-grown food, and as an additional direct marketing tool complementing farmers markets. The idea of CSAs goes back even further to 1960s Alabama: at Tuskegee University, a 1890 Land Grant University, a professor named Booker T. Whately started a farm box program to support struggling Black farmers. Today, receiving a mostly organic box of fruits and vegetables delivered to your doorstep starting at about $35 seems like a steal.
Dozens of animals have been mowing down overgrown vegetation at Jay Peak near the Canadian border. They're expected to clear 25 acres (10 hectares) over a five-week stint, an experiment officials say is worth a try on part of the 300 acres (120 hectares) that need to be mowed. The goal is to gradually reduce the reliance on gas-powered mechanical mowers.
If you're buying or eating American-grown fresh produce, there's a pretty good chance it came from one place: California. That's no surprise since the Golden State has the largest economy in America and the fourth-largest in the entire world. As the saying goes, "California feeds the nation." That's certainly true when it comes to growing fruits and vegetables - by a long shot.
Congressional Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted the idea of helping Argentine farmers while doing nothing for domestic sales. What they're saying: "There are markets right now that aren't open to some of our commodities," Thune said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. "As a consequence of that, there are - we've got a big harvest coming in here in South Dakota, corn and soybeans, and no place to go with it."
The Netherlands has some of the most efficient greenhouses in the world. Dutch company Looye Kwekers has tomato plants that grow a foot a week with limited water. The Netherlands yields 12 times more tomatoes than the average tomato farm globally. The Netherlands is about the size of the state of Maryland, yet it's the second-largest agricultural exporter in the world by value, behind the US.
Area 2 Farms is a three-year-old company based in Arlington, Virginia, that's taking the concept of indoor farming to unusual spaces. Its first farm, in Arlington, grows dozens of varieties of crops in a low-slung brick building tucked between a dog day care and a car repair shop. With a new infusion of venture capital, the company is planning to expand, and it's looking to empty office buildings as potential future farms.
The timing allows for water to work its way down to plant roots before the sun gets too strong. Midday watering often results in faster evaporation from the soil's surface, which is not only wasteful but also unhelpful to plants. Watering in the evening risks the opposite: Without sufficient sunlight for evaporation, excess moisture becomes trapped within and between plants, creating a perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew and fungal diseases.
According to a statement from the city, "the Santa Cruz County Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the University of California Cooperative Extension, has confirmed the presence of the invasive shothole borer beetle in trees located in the Tannery area of the city of Santa Cruz. Arborists identified two affected trees, prompting local agencies to call on the public's help in early detection and prevention of further spread."
According to the US Department of Agriculture, SENASICA reported that the infected animal- an 8-month-old cow-had recently been moved to a certified feedlot in Nuevo León from a region in southern Mexico with known active NWS cases. In addition to the proximity, the USDA highlighted that "Sabinas Hidalgo is located near the major highway from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Laredo, Texas, which is one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world."