The Ecos Purple Potato

Thriving in the midst of crown vetch in my mother’s flower garden, the Ecos Purple potato benefited from its nitrogen fixing capabilities while demonstrating its perennial capabilities for over a decade. The Ecos Purple Potato Once at a plant auction at a horticultural event, I purchased a few tubers of a purple fingerling potato. The …

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The Wonderous Beauty of the Mirabelle Plum

  It started as a small seed packet. I really had nothing to go on. My Hillier tree manual gave it a subspecies heads up. It said variety syrica. This alpine plum was considered a cultivar species and protected in its homeland of France. Soon I was intrigued at the possibility of growing and using …

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Snow Fountain Becomes Snow Mountain

It began very innocently. Watch the bumblebees with my daughters and see if you could “pet” or touch the bees as they were pollinating the flowers on our weeping cherry in our front yard. This involved just lightly touching the bees back so they wouldn’t fly off on the flower they were pollinating. Simple and …

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Cultivating a Wild Plant the Thimbleberry Way

The thimbleberry represents one of those fruit plants with a certain mystique around it. Many people throughout the world know this plant in its northern arboreal habitats including many mountainous regions within the United States. It is one of many circumpolar plants found on several continents. Yet, no one cultivates it. Why would you? There are …

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Dude, what happened to your corn?

It all started with jury duty. In this case, it was purgatory with magazines. The waiting room was stacked with magazines as it was the era before cell phones.  A Smithsonian article on corn and its possible origins caught my attention. I dove in. Apparently a scientist discovered a species of grass unrelated to corn …

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The Thicket Bean Makes a Return to Michigan

Last seen on Belle Isle, Michigan in 1896, the thicket bean established itself in the thickets of this island in the middle of the Detroit River. It was never seen again. “If native, this was surely at the northern edge of the range for this species” wrote Edward G. Voss in Michigan Flora Part 2 …

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The Value of Plants

The value of plants and their potential uses are infinite. The direction you take might be a good idea even if not useful to modern day agribusiness.

Perennial Beans-One small bean is a giant among bean plants.

When the giant of all beans reaches new heights unseen of by modern society, then it’s natural to find out why something so ancient was used so extensively.

Tiny Tuber On The Run Saves the World

The hog peanut is an unassuming plant of immense importance producing a delicious small tuber.

Shining a Light on Blight: PART 2

More on the people behind the plants and the origins of blight  and a series of solutions that develop as a result… (To read Part 1, click here). The Plum Guy The Story Behind the Plant:  Ralph loved the idea of a tree crop farm. Having worked in the paper industry his whole life, he …

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