Full disclosure: I helped develop this site at work, though one of our research technicians, Melissa Kitchen, has taken over the reins at the site.
Every year, Bill Miller (our bulb and flower expert in Cornell’s Department of Horticulture) gets seed of annuals that are just coming onto the market. He and his staff grow them out and make observations through the summer, and industry folks come look at them during our floriculture field day.
But you don’t have to travel to Ithaca. You can see what these flowers look like through the season right in your browser.
I said breakdowns come
And breakdowns go
So what are you going to do about it
That’s what I’d like to know
Paul Simon, Gumboots from the album Graceland (1986)
Since last week’s NY Times article Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril (Common Dreams reprint, since the Times will bury it behind a firewall soon), everyone has been abuzz (sorry) about what’s up with the bees.
If I pull out my crystal ball, I’d say that over the next few decades we will find increasingly sophisticated ways of managing non-crop acreage (it’s called wasteland in some places) — including roadsides, irrigation ditches, and maybe even orchard floors and chunks of cropland — to reap the benefits of pollinators and other beneficial insects.
I’ll also cut and paste an article from a local beekeeper that came through my email today. Michael Pollan all you other foodies take note: Some are pointing to the high-fructose corn syrup and soy products fed to traveling bees between orchards. Both those crops have seen a very sharp increase in acreage of GMO varieties over the past decade.
Update on Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
by Richard Johnston, Catskill Mountain Beekeepers’ Club
There has been a sudden, significant loss of honeybees all across the nation that is likely to have an impact on the pollination of food crops, honey production, and the beekeeping industry alike. Originally called “Fall Dwindle Disease†it actually occurs beyond the Fall, appears suddenly- not gradually, and may not really be a disease. A study group has been formed comprising the US Dept of Agriculture Honeybee Labs and several labs at state universities. Now calling this strange syndrome the Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD], they have surveyed beekeepers nationwide and have some preliminary, though inconclusive results.
It seems that every “expert†has his own theory, yet none can show evidence for the sole cause. Here is what we do know about CCD so far. The symptoms of this syndrome are a sudden disappearance of mature bees leaving the brood, young bees, queen and ample supplies of honey and pollen. Shortly afterwards the entire colony dies. There’s some evidence that the disorder is contagious and strangely that there’s no robbing out of the honey, no invasion of wax moths, and even the small hive beetle pest does not enter the “dead out†hives. The CCD has affected mostly the large, commercial, migratory beekeepers who travel from state to state pollinating all kinds of crops. Since this group of beekeepers do need to feed their colonies between crop pollination contracts, there are suspicions that the corn syrup [HFCS] may develop toxic substances if subject to overheating during storage or transportation. Some of the types of soy protein commonly used as pollen substitute may contain compounds unsuitable for honeybee feeding.
During the 1960’s a condition called parasitic mite syndrome [PMS] was blamed for many lost bee colonies and several bee viruses have been found to be vectored by the varroa mite pest. It has just been verified that viruses carried by the queen can be passed on to her eggs. Recently in both Spain and France a new variety of the protozoen disease “nosema†has caused symptoms similar to CCD.
Researchers trying to find the cause of the devastating Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD] have published a questionnaire to be answered by beekeepers to furnish the data needed to help define this problem. Lack of existing information has hampered their efforts. For the questionnaire, go to and to learn latest information about CCD use
Since we have not really found the cause or causes of this destructive disorder, nor the impact on the pollination of crops, it is suggested that anyone interested in these continuing studies should attend their local honeybee beekeepers club. The Catskill Mtn. Beekeepers Club meets monthly in Acra and the Columbia Co club meets monthly in Harlemville. For information call 518-734-4629.
In a recent post, Vanishing Bees over at Sweat Pea Chronicle, Firefly shares some thoughts on the subject.
Update [3/7/2007]: You know it’s a story when it makes The Onion. [Snark warning.]
I guess they think it’s what we want
A smooth and easy ride
Constellations of ceiling lights
Hennessy and Nawgahide
America, America this is our reward
Everything is boring, and everyone is bored
May be a white
May be a white limousine
May be a white, white, white, white
Limousine
Who’s the smart guy at the wheel
Running out of gas
He likes to wear a flight suit
And fly around for laughs
A few incentives for the pharmacy
Hey I’m feeling better already
I don’t wanna be clear, it’s too much for me
I’m making up, oh I’m making up
For lost time, for all the lost time
Outside of limousine
Grown men they do cry
A bill for seven hours
Worth how many lives
With temps up in the 40s yesterday and some sun in the afternoon, the ice cleared from the water garden. Because it’s spring-fed, it’s late to ice over and quick to melt. In it’s short life, I’ve never had to worry much about fish winterkilling. Still, it’s always a relief to see that the koi, shubunkins, goldfish, and minnows (goodness knows where they came from) are fine — if a little on the skinny side.
This post has been brewing for awhile. I started it last weekend. But after Michele’s post Ah, The Taste of the Factory! over at Garden Rant yesterday, I knew it was time to roll up my sleeves and git ‘er done.
First, some definitions:
Snark, Corporal – Fictional character in Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22. To prove that the soldiers had bad taste, he poisoned their sweet potatoes with soap chips, causing a diarrhea outbreak. Snark felt he proved himself correct because the men ate the soap and came back for seconds. [Paraphrased from Wikipedia.]
Snark – Sarcastic, snide, often humorous or ironic remark. Mostly found on political blogs.
Southern Culture on the Skids – Chapel Hill, N.C.-based rockability band. According to Wikipedia, their “music is generally very upbeat, as they usually write and perform songs about dancing, sex, and fried chicken.”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Michael Pollan and his simple, sage advice to eat food that your great grandmother would recognize. (Watch a webcast of Pollan and co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey in Berkely last week.)
While I’m no gourmet cook, I applauded Michele’s lament on the dumbing down of cookbooks and castigating Southern cooking queen Paula Dean for her reliance on cake mix and instant pudding.
But that’s small potatoes.
Check out the recipe page at the Southern Culture on the Skids website sometime. There are some real Southern classics (Buttermilk Biscuits and Fried Catfish). But most are celebrations of velveta and spam and other faux or fatty foods, including, assembly instructions for Bologna Cups, Tangwich (yeah, that’s what it is), and South Mississippi White Trash Drankin’ Food Stuff.
I’ve actually used only one of the recipes. I made the Elvis Party Mix for a ’50s-themed Christmas party:
ELVIS PARTY MIX
1 pound banana chips
1 box capt crunch peanut butter crunch
1 large wooden tiki carved salad serving ware (preferably wooden carved with tiki idols)
Pour 1 lb of banana chips into large serving bowl. Add 1 box peanut butter crunch. Stir with large salad serving fork and spoon. Serve (best eaten by hand). Optional: Add one pound of dried pineapple chips for a greater luau effect.
These recipes are snark. They’re so good because they are so bad.
But the snark has some foundation in fact. Another favorite site is James (hate his politic, love his website) Lileks’ Gallery of Regrettable Food. Lileks has scanned actual pages from actual mostly 50s-era cookbooks (my Mom had a couple of them) and makes snarky comments about just how unappetizing food is. Don’t miss Cooking with Dr. Pepper, Meat! Meat! Meat!, and the The Unbearable Sadness of Vegetables.
There’s also a good chapter on Jello. (Garden Salad #1 is a good example of the wretched images and snarky comments Lileks provides.) I’ve always wanted to be the fly on the wall at the meeting where the corporate food technologists, product development specialists and the marketing department decided to find away to sell the sweepings from the slaughterhouse floor as a light, fruity dessert.
Hey gang. This is our heritage. We have to leap-frog over the age of industrialization of our food supply until we get to something more sensible than what we’ve got now. It’s up to we gardeners, foodies, slow-food folks, local food system advocates and others to keep pushing the benefits of eating real food.
The trouble is, as Corporal Snark proved, as a society we’ve got really bad taste. We keep going back for more of the sweet potatoes and soap chips — with predictable results.
This actually started as my Sunday music post. So here it is, Southern Culture on the Skids doing Eight Piece Box. It’s a celebration of take-out chicken. Really.
You can eat some now, you can eat some later.
Warm it back up, with that big old french-fried tater.
Snackin’ all night, it’s all right all right.
I got an eight-piece box.
