Plant life is all around us, but perhaps only few of us realize that without plants all our modern civilization would be wiped out and that upon plants has been built all that we have so far accomplished and everything that we may yet become. The collapse of any government, the wiping out of all money and finance or any of the manifold evidences of our modern world could not for a moment be compared to what would happen to us with the sudden destruction of plant life from our planet.
Plants are making oxygen and restoring our planet. Food and drink, the very houses we live in and enjoy, medications, apparels, furniture, books and pictures, musical instruments and tires for automobiles, all these and hundreds of our additional daily needs depend on the variety of plant life that grow on the Earth and in amounts sufficient to fulfill our basic needs and demands.
But our use of plants, in fact our absolute reliance on them, is not the only reason for trying to find out more about them, what they are, where they came from, how they live, develop, grow, mature and die. A knowledge of even a small part of such a science opens up a rich field of inquiry involving a concept of plant life of greater interest than mere livelihood. For those with an eye to see and knowledge to understand, a landscape with trees, flowers or marshes may contain a host of hidden secrets of dramatic significance.
With studious observation you could discover a spectacle of struggle and strife, quiet tragedies of the forest, the inexorable pressure of plants upon their neighbors, the woods upon the prairies or an apparently forlorn hope of some plant living in a hot desert or upon some icy mountain peak. And while these rather obvious things are happening how much more is hidden of the adjustments that leaves or flowers or roots or other organs of the plant are constantly making to the conditions around them. Upon the perfection of such adjustments to light, heat, or water, for instance, depends their very existence. Mistakes are fatal, the forces of nature seem peculiarly relentless, and it is literally a case where many are called but few chosen. From the untold millions of seeds produced each year few ever grow, yet out of this enormous wastage springs all that makes the Earth not only habitable but the beautiful panorama of vegetation to which we are so accustomed that it is nearly taken for granted.
Plant Health and Environmental Protection - International travel and trade can quickly spread plant pests and diseases around the world causing great damage to plants and the environment. At the same time, climate change is altering ecosystems and creating new niches where pests and plant diseases can thrive. The combined effect of human activities and climate change puts enormous pressure on the environment and consequently on plant health, agriculture and the food systems we depend on.
Pollinators - About twenty thousand (20 000) different species of wild bees exist. Some species of butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other vertebrates also contribute to pollination. 90% wild flowering plants depend at least to some extent on animal pollination. 75% world’s food crops depend at least in part on pollination.
Use of Croplands for Biofuels - Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels. By using a worldwide agricultural model to estimate emissions from land-use change, we found that corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gases for 167 years. Biofuels from switchgrass, if grown on U.S. corn lands, increase emissions by 50%. This result raises concerns about large biofuel mandates and highlights the value of using waste products.
~ Robert Black
Whether you are an avid gardener or just starting out, the idea of creating a garden using organic methods can seem overwhelming at first. But organic gardening is less daunting than you may think if you understand some basic principles and can be done right in your own backyard.
There are many reasons why today, more than ever before, every owner of a small place should have his, or her, own garden. The old days of home meat producing, cheese-making, and traditional cooking are gone. The growing of healthy organic vegetables and fruits that taste great cannot be so easy disposed of.
Most things, in the course of development, change from the simple to the complex. The art of gardening has in many ways been an exception to the rule. The methods of culture used for many crops are more simple than those in vogue a generation ago. The last twenty years has seen also a tremendous...
