#greenhouse
Not only does it stink, but part of this orchid resembles wriggling maggots. A great gift!
This specimen of Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis, charmingly nicknamed “Bucky,” once nearly shut down a @smithsoniangardens greenhouse for DAYS because of its stench.
When it was first donated to us, few people outside Asia had seen the species, though it is recorded in early writings as smelling like “a thousand dead elephants rotting in the sun.”
Bucky’s species (originally from Papua New Guinea) targets female carrion flies as pollinators, with a flower head that has a cluster of 15 to 20 meat-colored flowers covered with fleshy projections. If that weren’t enough, it evolved to have a fragrance that matches its appearance.
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More winter shots from the heated hoophouse
Stalked Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens)
In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, an international group of researchers are urging countries to reconsider their strategy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. While countries signed up to the Paris Agreement have individual quotas to meet in terms of emissions reduction, they argue this cannot be achieved without global cooperation to ensure enough CO2 is removed in a fair and equitable way.
Harmful emissions
The team of international researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Girona, ETH Zürich and the University of Cambridge, have stated that countries with greater capacity to remove CO2 should be more proactive in helping those that cannot meet their quotas.
Co-author Dr Niall Mac Dowell, from the Centre for Environmental Policy and the Centre for Process Systems Engineering at Imperial, said, ‘It is imperative that nations have these conversations now, to determine how quotas could be allocated fairly and how countries could meet those quotas via cross-border cooperation.’
The team’s modelling and research has shown that while the removal quotas vary significantly, only a handful of countries will have the capacity to meet them using their own resources.
Reforestation
A few ways to achieve carbon dioxide removal:
(1) Reforestation
(2) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
(3) CCS coupled to bioenergy – growing crops to burn for fuel. The crops remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and the CCS captures any CO2 from the power station before its release.
However, deploying these removal strategies will vary depending on the capabilities of different countries. The team have therefore suggested a system of trading quotas. For example, due to the favourable geological formations in the UK’s North Sea, the UK has space for CCS, and therefore, they could sell some of its capacity to other countries.
Global cooperation
Co-lead author Dr Carlos Pozo from the University of Girona, concluded; ‘By 2050, the world needs to be carbon neutral - taking out of the atmosphere as much CO2 as it puts in. To this end, a CO2 removal industry needs to be rapidly scaled up, and that begins now, with countries looking at their responsibilities and their capacity to meet any quotas.’
I had the pleasure of drawing Herb Cookie for the twitter Cookie Run charity zine,COOKIE CRUMBLES: daily lives of cookies! Thank you to everyone that supported it! I heard the zine did super well!
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Stopped in the palm house on a run with a friend the other day. It’s an absolute oasis.
Today was definitely all about the tomatoes … and it was so nice to finally get them into the Polycrub.
We’re growing over 40 tomato plants this year, so I was absolutely delighted to discover this method of supporting them. No more tomato cages …. and that’s a real money saver (made my husband very happy).
Anyway, just get a central wire and hang garden twine from it. One long piece of twine for each plant.
Place the end of the hanging twine, under your tomato plant as it goes into the grow bag. Then as your plant grows, simply wind it around the twine.
So simple and easy … I love it.
We also caught a glimpse of our first cucumber …
Does anyone else get excited, at seeing those little green shoots come up … I certainly do, it made my day …
Had a great day in the garden and managed to complete most of the jobs on my list. That never usually happens …
First job of the day was to feed and water the herbs in the greenhouse. They’ve been growing so well in there, and it’s been a real joy to cook with fresh homegrown ingredients again.
We have been battling aphids though … and in an attempt to avoid sprays, we’ve introduced some lacewing larvae. I’ve never tried this approach before, so I’m intrigued to see how well it works. Guess we’ll see… Has anyone else tried this ???
We spent the rest of the afternoon planting more cucumbers and strawberries, weeding (yuck) … and moving grow bags into the Polycrub, ready to transplant our tomatoes.
Busy … but happy, and back at it again tomorrow …
Finally out in the garden again and I’m loving it. It’s so nice to be working outside in the sunshine, and the brighter weather has really lifted everyone’s spirit.
We’ve kicked off our projects this year with some new raised beds. We had some old decking planks laying around and they were just perfect for the job.
So pleased with how they’ve turned out and we’re having fun filling them with rhurbarb and chives.
We’ve also popped some weed matting down in the Polycrub and are working hard on plans for the internal layout. Really want to get it right, so reading piles of books and doing loads of research … stay tuned …
In the meantime we’re using it for our strawberry bins and the plants are doing great.
Anyway, I’m off to plant some garlic … hope you’re all well and finding smiles along the way …
For Mothers Day this year, my daughter gave me a sign for our greenhouse. She made it from the lid of an old Whisky cask and painted it by hand. I think homemade gifts are the best and I’ll definitely treasure this one. Thank you H, I love it … Xxx
