Recently Karen Renner has begun working with MSU’s soil biologist, Lisa Tieman, to explore how cover crops influence the microbiology of the soil and weed seeds. Last week we put tiny mesh bags of weed seeds into an incubation experiment hoping to gain some preliminary information. It is always exciting when different disciplines come together …
A Canadian company called Protec-Style is growing the first industrial crop of milkweed in Quebec in order to manufacture absorbent socks to absorb oil from oil spills. A division of the company called Encore-3 is taking advantage of unique properties of common milkweed seeds to develop this product. Milkweed fruits are called follicles, and they …
I usually do not post a Wikipedia article as my Daily Dose of Science, but I found the article on ramps, or wild leeks, so fascinating that I had to share. I was prompted to look into ramps further after purchasing some for the first time at the local farmer’s market two weeks ago and …