Black amaranth growing in a random place.
Here are some tidbits of science-y garden bits I've come across in the last little while.
Blue Food I grow blueberries and blackberries. My brassicas all have a nice blue-ish tint. Last year I grew blue tomatoes (not tasty enough to bother growing again) and this year I'm trying to grow blue popcorn. I have black amaranth from last year volunteering itself everywhere, which I'd argue fits into the same colour category as those above - which is really more purple than blue. So, Why are so few foods blue?
Along the same vein of blue, I stumbled across this berry eons ago - too bad it isn't edible (it sure is pretty).
Space Grass We've been actively converting grass to vegetable garden here. This spring, we doubled my veggie growing space by taking over most of the front lawn (the area in front of the food forest). It has the most sunlight of anywhere on my lot, so I've filled the space with beans, corn, amaranth, sunflowers and brassicas. What I don't want is grass, so I was surprised to read about astronauts growing grass on the space station. Why not more food? Lettuce has been grown successfully up there. Or more flowers? There has already been zinnias in space.
Hot Peppers One of the podcasts I listen to recently had an interview with one of my favourite authors - Mary Roach. The interview was about her most recent book (Grunt) which came out earlier this month, and I ordered. The book is about the science behind keeping soldiers alive, I'm hoping to start reading my copy this weekend. It turns out she was inspired to write Grunt after a research trip to study the science behind hot peppers. Here's the article.
Although, I have no plans to weaponize my hot peppers, my plants are growing big and healthy. Hopefully I'll get a bumper crop to turn into hot sauces.