A new approach to cultivating and growing ginseng could expand opportunities for farmers and landowners while discouraging poachers. The goal is to cultivate and grow new plants in Appalachian forest. Doing so can create additional value—Wild American Ginseng being a valuable botanical and an endangered plant. It makes sense to take advantage of Appalachian agriculture…
Don’t get me started on invasive species like phragmites being introduced in South Florida. We have had to make some hard decisions on the farm: poison the bugs killing our Hemlocks or release zombie beetles to eat the tree-killing beetles… it’s an ongoing battle. In Maryland they are trying to turn an invasive issue into…
Coal Creek Farm has rolling hills, flowing water, flora and fauna, and clear cuts. Such beauty contrasted with such abuse. For years, as I drove by those clear-cut trees, I was troubled by the look of it. I knew that the land couldn’t be put into productivity and wasn’t providing much in the way of…
This country has so many beautiful places such as South Florida’s Everglades. Such places should be respected and protected and enjoyed. Each beautiful place has its own unique place in ecology and each needs its own “friends.” The thing is that government can’t do everything. We must all do our part. That means private landowners…
Invasive bees can push the natives out. Over time, non-native bees have been introduced on the Australian continent. Scientists are now calling on residents to help them survey the kinds and quantity of the Australian bee population. Read more here.
If you live in Florida, you know that fire ants are bad, bad news. They are particularly bad news for the ground-nesting Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. There’s some good news for the Sparrow, too. Though endangered, scientists have raised and released 100 chicks into the wild. Fire ants have made their way to the Cumberland Plateau;…
Ginseng has quite the reputation. Did you know that Rasputin used ginseng to treat the hemophilia of the last Czar of Russia’s son? Or that ginseng’s scientific name Panax means all-healing in Greek? Now researchers are looking at ginseng to treat COPD and boost cancer-treatment drugs. Wisconsin farmers who cultivate the plant are hopeful that…