New, Clean Energy Source: Living Plants

“On November 23, a researcher from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, Marjolein Helder, presented her Ph.D. research on a method to generate clean, renewable electricity from natural interactions between the soil and growing plants.

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Eden Foundation

Eden Foundation: the key to prosperity for the poor lies in underexploited, edible trees and bushes.
Eden Foundation: the key to prosperity for the poor lies in underexploited, edible trees and bushes.

Eden’s philosophy: There are 250,000 known plant species in the world, but only 20 of them provide 90% of our food. We believe that the key to prosperity for the poor lie in underexploited, edible trees and bushes – the lost treasures of Eden. Our mission is to find those treasures and bring them to people who really need them.

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Fertilizer Can Make a Huge Difference

Papaya grown with EM (effective microorganisms) on left; Papaya grown with average amount of manure, straw and leaves on right
Papaya grown with EM (effective microorganisms) on left; Papaya grown with average amount of manure, straw and leaves on right

Yesterday’s blog post discussed various ways of boosting plant growth with liquid fertilizers. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words and so we took some photos of local papaya fruit trees to show what a difference proper fertilization can make. The EM fertilized papaya tree on the far left obviously received the nutrients it needed to be a prolific producer. I counted roughly 20 fruits. This papaya tree is in marginal soil and yet still prolific.

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Pocket Gardens

Pocket garden with custom trellis
Pocket garden with custom trellis

Pocket gardens occupy tiny spaces in your yard – the type of places most people would frequently overlook. Pocket gardens go in gaps between pavers, small planters, unused borders, and other nooks and crannies. They break up monotonous spaces by softening the environment with a touch of color and texture.

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Extracting Water from Air

The AirDrop irrigation system extracts moisture from the air.
The AirDrop irrigation system extracts moisture from the air.

Developing efficient methods for extracting moisture from the air (condensing atmospheric humidity) has long been a goal of scientists and engineers. The AirDrop irrigation system by Edward Linnacre is one of the more recent inventions for extracting water from the surrounding air.

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