How...

[May Yin]

Global warming threatens wild relatives of key crops

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070522143704.juuaf8ro&cat=null

[forficula]

The "key crops" are artificial in the first place and as for wild plants they will adapt or evolve or become extinct,that has always been the way.A bit of warming up at our latitudes would be no harm at all imho. Just think of the variety of plants that there are in Malaya or Indonesia or Brazil and then check out the lack of variety in NW Europe and you will see what I mean

[JassFahd]

The "key crops" are artificial in the first place and as for wild plants they will adapt or evolve or become extinct,that has always been the way.A bit of warming up at our latitudes would be no harm at all imho. Just think of the variety of plants that there are in Malaya or Indonesia or Brazil and then check out the lack of variety in NW Europe and you will see what I mean

When you say artificial here, you mean its planted by people right, mate? And therefore it can never be stronger than those in the wild.

[amran]

Anybody travelling to India? It's Mango season, and the Navadarshanam organic farm that we talked about awhile back is having a mango pickle sale. I was just thinking it's a different life over there, I can just imagine the sort of laid back and more holistic lifestyle what with being in a permacultured environment. I was in Malaysia last year getting a look at the village / farming life which is still very vibrant up north, I feel most of us who are living in cities all our lives are missing quite a bit. The smells, the fresh air, and the entire living experience is somehow richer and less routine.

Dear friends,

Mango season is here, so we have once again made the following varieties of pickles using organically grown mangoes:

Mango pickle without oil
Chundha (sweet mango pickles)
North Indian style mango pickles

These will available at our next monthly sales to take place in June as follows:

On Saturday 9th June, 2007 :

At "Buoyancee", 52, Diagonal Rd., JAYANAGAR 4TH BLK (between Post Office and Ganesha Temple) – from 4 to 6 pm.

On Sunday 10th June, 2007 :

At the home of N.S.Hema, 23, 17th Cross (between 6th and 8th Main- opp. Sri Sri Ravi Shanker Vidya Mandir), MALLESWARAM - from 10: 30 am to 12:30 pm.

Organically grown vegetables will also be made available at these sales. As before, special discounts will be available on all items for those who come for Navadarshanam's direct sales.

Yours,

Jyoti and Ananthu.

Navadarshanam Trust

[forficula]

MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pickles forfi like pickles,buy loads ( an English based family Pataks,make garlic,chilli,lime.Not organic but very nice all the same)

[amran]

MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pickles forfi like pickles,buy loads ( an English based family Pataks,make garlic,chilli,lime.Not organic but very nice all the same)

My family used to make pickles in a very traditional Malay style. I remember not liking them at first, but after I acquired the taste for them eventually, I couldn't get enough of them. Heard the older it is, the nicer it tastes (within limits, of course). I've also tasted Indian Achar, it's something that has a positive effect on my taste buds, is achar a form of pickle?

[Eco Man]

Anybody travelling to India? It's Mango season, and the Navadarshanam organic farm that we talked about awhile back is having a mango pickle sale. I was just thinking it's a different life over there, I can just imagine the sort of laid back and more holistic lifestyle what with being in a permacultured environment. I was in Malaysia last year getting a look at the village / farming life which is still very vibrant up north, I feel most of us who are living in cities all our lives are missing quite a bit. The smells, the fresh air, and the entire living experience is somehow richer and less routine.

I know mate, I posted something similar about living in cities, it has become too routine and too stagnant, we are always rushing and we miss the moment. Even resort places are fabricated and too artificial. The ideal situation would be to have a balance.

[forficula]

When you say artificial here, you mean its planted by people right, mate? And therefore it can never be stronger than those in the wild.

What I mean Jass,is that we have manipulated plants for thousands of years ,mostly by selective growing of plants that had characteristics or traits that suited us for wherever we happened to live.WE do this now by manipulating genes.Most of what we eat would be unrecognisable to our ancient ancestors.

[sandesh]

When you say artificial here, you mean its planted by people right, mate? And therefore it can never be stronger than those in the wild.

What I mean Jass,is that we have manipulated plants for thousands of years ,mostly by selective growing of plants that had characteristics or traits that suited us for wherever we happened to live.WE do this now by manipulating genes.Most of what we eat would be unrecognisable to our ancient ancestors.

I absolutely agree. Case in point - the common bananas. Here's an excerpt from Wiki ...

While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, triploid (and thus seedless) cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for fruiting immediately and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" that will produce fruit in 6–8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates. Latin Americans sometimes comment that the plants are "walking" over time.

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, another form of propagation is required. This involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana pseudostem) with some roots intact. However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet elongated suckers, are easier to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to 2 weeks; they require minimal care and can be boxed together for shipment.

In some countries, bananas are commercially propagated by means of tissue culture. This method is preferred since it ensures disease-free planting material. When using vegetative parts such as suckers for propagation, there is a risk of transmitting diseases (especially the devastating Panama disease).

There is an entire list of fruits and veges that have been manipulated and cross-breed as Forficula has suggested.

[sandesh]

MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pickles forfi like pickles,buy loads ( an English based family Pataks,make garlic,chilli,lime.Not organic but very nice all the same)

My family used to make pickles in a very traditional Malay style. I remember not liking them at first, but after I acquired the taste for them eventually, I couldn't get enough of them. Heard the older it is, the nicer it tastes (within limits, of course). I've also tasted Indian Achar, it's something that has a positive effect on my taste buds, is achar a form of pickle?

Achar is more of a salad than a pickle, Amran. Served more as a condiment to be eaten with a main dish.

[Danial]

This is interesting ...

Farming systems that fight drought

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20070107-16063.html

[Hell Boy]

China battles expanding deserts, effects of overfarming

http://abqtrib.com/news/2007/jun/30/china-battles-expanding-deserts-effects-overfarmin/

[Hell Boy]

This is interesting ...

Farming systems that fight drought

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20070107-16063.html

Interesting ....

[BioGen]

Biodiversity threatened by climate change

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/17/eaplant117.xml

I wonder if article such as this is has value. I question even well written articles now fearing there might be an agenda behind it. The Telegraph happens to be one of those newspapers that published articles against the global warming cronyism. At the same time, Forficula to read about the compelling lost crops of Africa, so maybe biodiversity is at stake at some level.