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; we’re monitoring their activity.
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…
While it’s challenging to be “trapped” quarantining, it’s also a blessing. We’ve been able to spend time hiking and bird watching on the Cumberland Plateau. As Cumberland bird observers, we have noticed that there are so many birds on the farm. With that knowledge, we have been diligently working to create habitat for native and…
Take a look at this map. Go to the second letter N in the state of TN and look at the bright red coloration a bit to the left. That is the location of Coal Creek. I am thrilled the New York Times has run this story on the front page, highlighting the critically imperiled…
We love our working farm, from the cattle to the trees, from the mushrooms to the bees. But the farm doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists in a beautiful biologically diverse system. So we work to improve farm productivity and environment, and support land restoration efforts, while we support the work to do the…
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…
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…