Green Options » seeds

Global Wheat Crop Threatened by Rust Fungus - African Seeds May Offer Hope

Michael Ricciardi — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:45:40 +0000

You may not have heard of Ug99 yet, but, if its rapid spread continues unchecked, chances are you will not only be hearing about it, but you’ll be paying for it too. That’s because this fast-spreading strain of the fungus that causes stem rust–a seemingly unstoppable plant disease–and is now spreading around the globe and threatening to devastate the world’s wheat harvest.

One hopeful remedy may in fact lay in certain native, durum wheat species (”landraces”) found only in certain African nations–in particular, Ethiopia–which are believed to possess “slow rusting” genes. These native durum wheats are stronger (durum is Latin for “hard”) than7 other strains and originally evolved under much different environmental conditions than European and Western Hemisphere varieties. These durum landraces have most likely evolved slight gene variations as a result. These variations in gene sequences (and/or their expression in the wild), it is believed, can confer survival advantages to the plants when transplanted in a different locale.

Study Shows Camelina-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel Reduces Carbon Emissions 84%

Dalton Wignall — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:48:05 +0000

Renewable fuels company Sustainable Oils shared the results of a life-cycle analysis of jet fuel created from proprietary Camelina seeds. According to the study, renewable jet-fuel made from Camelina reduces carbon emissions by 84% percent compared to the petroleum-based counterpart.

A team at Michigan Tech University based their research on Camelina grown in Montana and then processed into bio-jet fuel using “UOP hydroprocessing technology”. Next generation biofuels are true hydrocarbons and in the molecular aspect are indistinguishable from fossil fuels, which makes Camelina oil a good candidate to quickly reduce carbon emissions produced by aviation.

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Obama’s Administration Refuses to Halt Production of Monsanto’s Genetically-Modified Roundup-Ready Sugar Beets

Gina Munsey — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:44:31 +0000

Recent data showing sugar’s rising popularity over high fructose corn syrup is good news, right? Not if that sugar is genetically-modified. In fact, if you’ve purchased beet sugar recently, there’s a very good chance that you’ve unintentionally consumed a genetically-modified product. Industry statistics show that more than half of the sugar beets grown in the US in 2008 were genetically-modified varieties.

If that isn’t enough to make you cringe, consider the following: most of those engineered beets were Roundup-resistant, courtesy of agri-tech giant Monsanto. Last autumn under the Bush administration, the USDA approved the Monsanto seed without preparing a standard Environmental Impact Statement. But certainly President Obama, with an organic garden on the White House Lawn, would have done things differently.

Wouldn’t he?

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Seed Bank in Financial Trouble?

Allison Boyer — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:30:02 +0000

It isn’t news that the economy is causing problems for a number of businesses, but Millennium Seed Bank Project may also be in financial trouble, according to director Paul Smith.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project, located in the UK is trying to collect and protect every type of plant known to exist. From Reuters:

The Millennium Seed Bank Project is the only project of its kind in the world which aims to collect and conserve all the planet’s wild plant diversity, Smith said.

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Peanut Butter Worth Praising: MaraNatha

Heather Dunham — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:43:51 +0000

With all the bad news lately about salmonella-tainted peanut butter in processed food products, isn’t it high time we had a peanut butter story we could feel good about?

MaraNatha Nut Butters offers a wide variety of natural and organic nut butters which are super-yummy. And they are not involved in the current PCA recall.

Every day, the news is just getting worse and worse. More and more products, including natural and organic ones, are being recalled in the US and Canada. Our faith in our entire food supply system is being tested.

But there is some good news. Not all food manufacturers use peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America. And while we certainly should not become complacent, there is also no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater… or, in this case, with the peanut butter.

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Seed Bombs: Walk-By Guerrilla Gardening

Becky Striepe — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:00:13 +0000

[Guerrilla Gardening. Creative Commons photo by Ondřej Lipár]

File this under genius! Carbon Copy has an easy recipe for making seed bombs. Carry these little home-made pellets around and toss them into places that could use a little bit of plant life. Here’s how you do it!

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Blast-Proof World Seed Bank Vault Being Built in Norway

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:31:57 +0000

Seed banks help out farmers in times of natural disasters; however, the Global Crop Diversity Trust is preparing for such a disaster on a global scale. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault will store and preserve 4.5 million samples from other seed banks. The vault is located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. Conde Nast explains the purpose of this world seed bank:

There are only two reasons a seed would ever leave this vault: (1) to be replaced by a fresh sample or (2) to reseed a crop that’s been wiped off the earth.

Image and via: Conde Nast Portfolio

Carnival of Green Crafts #1

Skye Kilaen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:11:13 +0000

Welcome to the first Carnival of Green Crafts!

For more information about the Carnival, please see the Carnival of Green Crafts home page here at Crafting A Green World.

We’re pleased as punch to announce that the next Carnival will be August 9th at BlogHer, courtesy of Hobbies, Crafts & DIY Contributing Editor Debra Roby. Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today!

Thanks so much to all the crafters who shared their posts with us for this Carnival. Let’s dig in!

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Involve Your Child in Your Organic Garden

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:04:33 +0000

It is gardening season across the Northern Hemisphere. My children’s interests wax and wane in the garden, but they’ve enjoyed the recent abundance of asparagus and seed planting. My daughter likes to harvest the asparagus, probably because we let her use a knife under close supervision, and my son loves to plant the seeds and dig holes. We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the strawberries!

Over the years of organic gardening with children, I have learned to relinquish some control to perfect rows, perfect spacing, etc. Now, I have added seed and plant selection to the list of gardening enjoyments I now share with my children. It all started when the seed catalogs started arriving at the end of winter. Both of my children took an active interest in the pictures, so I suggested they start circling varieties they wanted to grow. Now that we are planting, they have a vested interest in our efforts, and I believe this will carry over to trying new foods and healthy eating from our organic garden.

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Green Eggs and Planet: Top 10 Healthy Snacks for Kids

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:36:17 +0000

Editor’s note: The following post was written by Matty Byloos of Green Eggs and Planet:

An easy to read green blog, dedicated to providing insight and answers to many questions regarding the environment, nutrition, wellness, health, yoga, fitness, meditation and more. It is our mission at Green Eggs and Planet to create a comprehensive conversation about a holistic program for healthy living, complete mindfulness and greater understanding of life’s most crucial concerns.

Tips on Healthy Snacks for Kids or Adults

Mmmm…snack time.

I was sitting in an Organic Spa in Southern California a few days ago, waiting for my TLC. While in the waiting/relaxation room I was privy to a spread that flipped my mind upside down, rolled it up in multiple flavors (including dark, dark chocolate, fresh coconut milk and even some of the most amazing organic grape tomatoes I have ever ripped into) and threw it down onto a massage table for dessert. As I lie there, and I do mean lie, I drifted into a land of the perfect snack ideas, and what better time to share?

How about a list of the Top 10 healthy snacks, coming from a subjectively objective opinion? Bottom line, health is priority #1, and TASTE is priority #1.5! If you’re into online shopping, consider sources such as Sunfood Nutrition and The Raw Bakery— both offering many of the snacks listed below, as well as other healthy options to quiet a growling tum.

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Now, That’s What I Call Seed Saving

Beth Bader — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:44:17 +0000

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today with the beginning shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. The seeds represent everything from food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato. The vault, located on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, will be home to the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.

The structure itself is an ice-bound fortress built with a tunnel that goes deep into the side of a mountain. During the winter, Arctic aire -10°C to -20°C will be drawn into the vault. The surrounding rock will naturally keep the desired deep freeze, and during the summer refrigeration equipment will be used.

The unique structure is its own failsafe, in the event of equipment failure temperatures in the vault take months to warm up to a maximim of -3.5°C. The inside of the seed storage vault is lined with insulated panels as well. Electronic transmitters linked to a satellite system monitor temperature, and send this information back to the Longyearbyen and at the Nordic Gene Bank, where staff will be managing the Seed Vault.

Additional security measures, besides the extreme cold and remote location, include motion detectors and in the event of that failing, there is also the native polar bear population.

(More on the importance of preserving seed diversity after the jump).

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Ask VJD: Hemp for Health

Vital Juice Daily — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:43:27 +0000

Editor’s note: As we mentioned yesterday, in addition to featuring a weekly tip from Vital Juice Daily’s email tips, we’ll also be featuring their "Ask VJD" column on Wednesdays. Here’s the first one, which was originally published on August 15, 2007.

Dear Vital Juice Daily,

I would love it if you would do some research on hemp - as a fiber, protein and omega source. Can you tell me more?

- Marcia R.

Dear Marcia,

We did a little digging and here’s what we found about hemp:

One nutritious seed! Shelled hempseed is packed with 33% pure digestible protein (one of the highest levels from a plant source) and is rich in iron and vitamin E, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. Hemp also contains 3x the Vitamin E than flax. And unlike soy, hemp is not genetically modified so it’s free of the anti-nutritional qualities commonly found in soy.

Read the rest of VJD’s answer at Vital Juice Daily