Latest news with #seedlings
Arab News
22-05-2025
- Science
- Arab News
Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture — known as Estidamah — has distributed over 20,000 black mulberry and damask rose seedlings to farmers in Al-Baha. The initiative, carried out through the center's tissue culture laboratory, is part of efforts to support farmers and transfer modern agricultural techniques to areas with comparative advantages. It continues Estidamah's contribution to a former agricultural project which saw 52,000 black mulberry, damask rose and strawberry seedlings distributed across the area. The aim is to introduce new types of seedlings, increase production efficiency and achieve a qualitative leap in the region's agricultural landscape. It reflects the center's keenness to support sustainable agricultural development by spreading highly economically viable plant varieties, which are propagated using tissue culture techniques to ensure quality, genetic purity and suitability to the targeted climatic and environmental conditions. The center continues to implement several programs that aid farmers by providing research and technical solutions based on sustainable agricultural practices, achieving optimal efficiency in using resources and maximizing production value, in line with National Agriculture Strategy objectives.
ABC News
11-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- ABC News
What farmer Dimity May learnt from changing careers and an interstate move
Unwind with… is a regular column that explores the simple ways interesting people take care of themselves through periods of change or upheaval. Dimity May is a seedling grower who lives on the edge of Glaziers Bay in south-east Lutruwita/Tasmania. with her partner, Mark Egan, and two sons. After the birth of her second son, the 42-year-old left her marketing and communications job in Canberra, on the land of the Ngunnawal people, to pursue her small business. "That little window of time where I was out of work and not earning my usual salary gave us the space to think about it, but also to take that leap." Her passion for gardening began during the maternity leave she took with her first son. Her children are now aged 9 and 6. Dimity says growing seedlings was possible in her small backyard and she didn't intend for it to become a business. When it did, she ran it for three years, before the family relocated to southern Tasmania after 10 years in Canberra. "It's funny because everyone we know here had this sort of vague idea that we've moved to the country for a quieter life … and all of a sudden you're busier than ever, but for me anyway it's really fulfilling and incredibly rewarding," she says. We were sort of in limbo in Canberra. We were trying to find land [to buy] but were pretty much priced out. We started looking further afield and Tassie was always really appealing for a whole number of reasons, but it's harder to get work down here for my partner. He was applying for all sorts of things and got offered a job in Hobart. The place we ended up buying we just saw on the market and jumped at it. We'd barely been to the little town that's closest, barely looked at the house. We've been really lucky, considering how little thought we put into it. It's just sort of the perfect place to land. Knowing the level of fulfilment I get from the work, versus the work that I was doing before, was just such a strong drive. It's so much more rewarding and not just for me, certainly not financially, but in terms of the lifestyle that it's brought to our family. Gardening and being immersed in nature and having your hands in the soil also brings real mood-lifting benefits. That's probably been the biggest challenge. Moving to a property there are so many jobs, and they all feel really pressing and really expensive. We've struggled with that balance, and not just spending the weekend powering through and basically ignoring the kids. We've had to be more intentional about how we spend our time. We dedicate time away from the property. Whether it's a weekend away, going out for a bushwalk, or to the beach for the day. We've got a beautiful little swim spot near us. Without the structure of a normal working day … It can get really blurry. A big thing has been making time to eat well. I'm shocking for running around and shoving something in so at least you're not hungry anymore. But, it's such a fundamental part of whether you feel good or not. I'm trying to really prioritise that and actually stop, cook meals and sit. I love going out in the evening at that sort of sunset time and doing the easy jobs. There's still a lot of stuff to do, but I'll always do the "cheat" things, like watering the garden, picking flowers or a bit of gentle weeding. Just taking it all in and soaking up that time.
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
How do I stop birds uprooting my vegetable seedlings?
I've recently discovered that lots of young vegetable seedlings in my allotment have been uprooted. I suspect it may be birds. Any tips on how to stop them? Shauna C, Dublin Unfortunately, this is often a problem for kitchen gardeners at this time of year and can quickly result in a lot of damage. The most common offenders are blackbirds, thrushes, pigeons and members of the crow family. Once upon a time the recommended solution was to create a cat's cradle of twine or thread criss-crossed over the seedlings as a deterrent, but this runs the risk of accidentally entangling and injuring any visiting birds. Ultrasonic bird deterrents that use noise at a pitch imperceptible to human ears are also available, but are by no means a nature-friendly solution. A far better alternative is to cover your seedlings with fleece, garden netting or failing that, a fine gauge chicken wire, all of which can be very effective but do need to be monitored twice daily (once in the morning, then again in the evening) to make sure that birds haven't accidentally got caught beneath them. Traditional bird scarers such as old CDs or DVDs hung from short sticks can also help to deter them, as can bamboo canes stuck into the ground close by. Other gardeners have also had success with using garden chimes, but these aren't to everybody's taste so perhaps check with your fellow allotment holders first to see if there are any objections. READ MORE Birds, slugs and snails can all wreak havoc on young seedlings The good news is that it's usually only a short-lived problem that will soon disappear as your seedlings get bigger. But if it becomes a persistent issue, then consider raising young plants in modules under cover of a cold frame or polytunnel so that they're already quite sturdy young transplants by the time you plant them out. Not only will this technique help to protect them against possible bird damage, but it also makes them less vulnerable to damage from slugs and snail as well as more resilient in the face of unfavourable growing conditions.
