Canopy Roads of South Georgia

Moved down the road: Canopy Roads is in a new location

This blog has moved to a new wordpress site. Y'all come!

Monsanto manufactures FUD about seed ownership: Farmer Bowman could win back natural seed rights

Monsanto is always hiding behind something, starving children (while selling their parents crops that fail all at once), the Great God Efficiency, or now, medical research. Will Clarence Thomas recuse himself this time on this Supreme Court seed patent, Bowman v Monsanto? Will Monsanto manufacture enough Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) to win anyway, or will the other SCOTUS judges rule wisely this time?

Andrew Pollack wrote for the New York Times 13 February 2013, Farmer's Supreme Court Challenge Puts Monsanto Patents at Risk,

Monsanto says that a victory for Mr. Bowman would allow farmers to essentially save seeds from one year's crop to plant the next year, eviscerating patent protection. In Mr. Bowman's part of Indiana, it says, a single acre of soybeans can produce enough seeds to plant 26 acres the next year.

Such a ruling would “devastate innovation in biotechnology,” the company wrote in its brief. “Investors are unlikely to make such investments if they cannot prevent purchasers of living organisms containing their invention from using them to produce unlimited copies.”...

The decision might also apply to live vaccines, cell lines and DNA used for research or medical treatment, and some types of nanotechnology.

Yeah, yeah, it could. But it would be quite easy for SCOTUS to say this ruling is about seeds.

Many organizations have filed briefs in support of Monsanto's position — universities worried about incentives for research, makers of laboratory instruments and some big farmer groups like the American Soybean Association, which say seed patents have spurred crop improvements. The Justice Department is also supporting Monsanto's argument.

And the American Soybean Association represents big growers who plant Monsanto seeds. Too bad they don't realize they'd make more profits if they didn't have to pay for those seeds every year even when Monsanto jacks up the price ( 43% in 2009), plus pay for the expensive pesticides that go on them, and the expensive huge tractor equipment to farm at the scale Monsanto demands. Another group that should know better weighs in:

Yellow Jessamine in January?

In 2008 they bloomed in March, in 2011 they bloomed in late February, in 2012 they bloomed in late January and early February, in 2013, they bloomed in the middle of January. Does this seem right to you?:

Not the dogs; the flowers. Yellow jessamine in January?

Gelsemium sempervirens in January?
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2013-01-30.

-jsq

 

Truck dogs

Yep, that's us.

So serious:

Otter

Carolyn saw this otter on her catfish pond dam yesterday:

Picture by Carolyn Selby, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 February 2013.

-jsq

Pine pollen early this year?

Does it seem early to you to see this slash pine pollen cone on ground, and the thin film of yellow pine pollen on everything outside?

Picture by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 January 2013.

-jsq

Lowndes County next year: SoGa Growing Local & Sustainable Conference

This year's SoGa Growing Local & Sustainable Conference was a satisfying success, and next year it moves to Lowndes County.

Not only did 260 people sign up, but all the sessions were well-attended, and everybody seemed to learn something new, from hoop houses to solar power, from hands-on workshops to all-hands plenary sessions. Of course the food was excellent. You can get a hint from this picture of Janisse Ray opening the conference; the food in the foreground is on the snack tables (ah, the honeycomb!). Then there were the meals, potluck by and for a conference-full of foodies.

In 2011 about 50 people came to the first one in Tifton. In 2012, about 150 people went to Reidsville. In 2013, about 260 people signed up, also for Reidsville, Tattnall County, to learn what it takes to grow local sustainable food here below the gnat line in this longleaf pine land of tea-colored rivers, acid soil, and rich gardening traditions.

As Janisse Ray wrote on the facebook event for this year's conference:

SoGa Growing Local 2014 will be held in Valdosta, GA. Gretchen Quarterman will be the lead organizer. We'll be keeping you posted on the date so you can put it on your calendars now. (We may do a mini version in Tattnall in 2014.)

More later on what happened at this year's conference, and more as it develops on next year's conference. So far, many local farmers, civic and business organizations, and local governmental bodies have offered to help, and Gretchen is forming an organizational committee. Stay tuned!

-jsq

Tame fire

Tame fire and tamed ashes:

Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 and 2 February 2013.

See nosy neighbors and county fire dept? There was no wildfire. It was merely a tame fire.

-jsq

Afternoon dog romp

Gretchen and dogs in afternoon light:

Dogs through pine needles:

John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2013-01-17.

-jsq

Roots and vines

Twisty roots and vines about the same shape, and Gretchen:

Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2013-01-17.

-jsq