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Β© Eric Lee/The New York Times
Β© Eric Lee/The New York Times
Β© Philip Keith for The New York Times
Β© Philip Keith for The New York Times
When everything in nature aligns as it should, plants form flowers, then bees and other pollinators drop in to grab the pollen from those flowers, and as they flit from one blossom to the next, they redistribute that pollen. Some of that pollen will likely have come from a male flower and will end up on a female flower, and boom: pollination. That pollinated flower should now produce a fruit.
But sometimes, conditions arenβt ideal. Whether because of a lack of pollinators or a lack of flowers, sometimes the conditions work against the natural order of things. If youβre nursing an indoor plant where there arenβt pollinators at all, or youβre just anxious and want to control the pollination process, you can do so via hand pollination. Here are four ways to make the magic happen.
Some plants have such big flowers with pronounced stamen (male) and stigma (female) that the easiest way to hand pollinate is to just grab one of the male flowers, tear off the petals and use the stamen like a paintbrush. Lightly brush the stamen against the stigma of any female flower you want to pollinate. This has a really high success rate, because itβs so hard to mess up.
The hardest part is learning to identify female and male flowers, and even that part is pretty simple, because female flowers always have a bulb just below the flower.Β
This method works wonderfully on pumpkins, all squash including zucchini, summer and winter squash, and melons. Once youβve pollinated, just sit back and wait a few days to see the fruit start to develop.Β
Though the previous technique includes a paintbrush-like motion, this technique involves a literal paintbrush. Although almost every article you'll read about hand pollination mentions the paintbrush method, I personally find it to not have a high success rate. As such, I only use it when itβs the only method thatβll really work. A great example is citrus, which I hand pollinate in wintertime, inside. The flowers are small, but not as tiny as cucumber or tomato, for example. Every citrus blossom has both male and female parts, so every single blossom can become a fruit.Β
Using a very clean, dry paintbrush, you softly paint the male portions (which are around the center), then swab it lightly across the female portion, right in the center of the flower. Then do this for every other open blossom. While I have limited success with this method, if you donβt have bees, it may be your only option.
Corn grows tassels, which have pollen on them. The wind carries that pollen to receptive corn silks. In big planting blocks, this is a reliable method, but home gardeners donβt plant enough corn to have 100% success. So shaking the tassels by hand, which will cause the pollen to fall directly onto the waiting plant below, is a good way to ensure success. Your corn will have ready tassels for about a week, and I just give them a good, hearty shake whenever I walk by them, at least once a day.Β
My favorite method, because it is the most successful, fastest and most efficient, is vibrating plants to loosen the pollen and send it airborne so it will land on waiting female flowers. When you have plants with very small flowers like tomatoes, trying to identify female and male flowers and dissect them to get to the pollen is absurd. If you have open blossoms, you can hold anything that vibrates (toothbrush, massage gun, sex toy) against the plant and you will see the air fill with yellow pollen. Do this for ten seconds once a day and youβll be find high rates of pollination. This method works fantastically on indoor hydroponic gardens that need pollination, but you can also use it outside on peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatillos, and peas.
Once you feel comfortable caring for domestic pets like cats and dogs, taking the leap to farm animals usually starts with poultry. And for good reason: theyβre relatively easy to keep in suburban areas, and with a little flexibility, they can thrive in urban areas, too.
The most obvious benefit to caring for poultry comes in the form of those tasty eggs, but poultry can also can become an integral part of your garden as both a way to recycle yard and kitchen waste (food for the poultry) and fertilizer (composted bird poop). While most people immediately think of chickens as their first choice, ducks (not to mention turkey, geese, quail, and pigeons) are also a great choice.
While you could, of course, have both, people generally start with one or the other. I spoke with Jordan Barnes, founder of the The Smart Coop, which sells coops with smart features for both chickens and ducks, about how to choose between the two.Β
You might think that chickens and ducks are cheap to own (with chicks costing $3 to $5 and ducklings at $5 to $10) but there are ongoing costs, especially when they're babies, that can rack up quickly.
For the first six weeks of their lives, youβll need to shell out money for a brooder, which is like a mini coop with a more controlled temperature setup. I was sure a simple plastic tote or box would do the trick, but the birds grow fantastically fast, and within a week or two, my flock of four needed bigger digs. You can get fancy brooders for about $100, but you can also source a scrappier one for under $40. The brooder will also need bedding (most people use pine shavings) which will cost about $20 for approximately four cubic feet. For my four chickens, this amount only lasted a few weeks.
Your baby birds will also need a heat source. While many people use heat lamps, a more modern method is a heat plate that the birds can nest under, and that will cost another $30 or so. You will also need a device so the birds can access water ($20) and food ($10). Then, add on the actual food and grit, both of which ducklings and chicks need.
With both chickens and ducks, youβll spend a lot of time trying to minimize the mess the birds make with their water, but itβs easier with chickens. Ducks actually need to be able to submerge their beaks in the water, which requires a different kind of water device that makes it easier to splash around. Otherwise, there isnβt much cost difference between having ducks or chickens at this stage; both require (sometimes surprisingly) expensive stuff for the first six weeks of their lives that they won't really need moving forward.
Between six and eight weeks, your baby birds will be ready to move to their coop. Pinterest loves a fancy coop, but your birds wonβt care how the coop looks, which can help you save some money. You can buy commercially made coops for anywhere from $150 to thousands of dollars, or build one yourself for a few hundred dollars. You might make some extra considerations for ducks, in that they like to have access to water; there are fanciful plans for duck coops with moats or ponds and sunpads, for example.
βChickens need secure housing with roosting bars and nesting boxes," Barnes said, describing each animal's needs. "Ducks, being ground dwellers, need secure, ground-level housing and access to water for swimming and drinking.βΒ
In either case, youβll still need to account for bedding and feed. βOn average, a laying hen eats about a quarter pound of feed per day or 1.5 pounds of feed per week," Barnes said. Ducks at this age require twice as much food, about a half pound per day, and benefit from food that includes Niacin, which chickens donβt require. Niacin (vitamin B3) ensures ducks get the bone growth they need to support their bodyβbut since this water soluble vitamin is eliminated daily and not stored in the body, it needs to be replenished.
In short, chickens may run $30 to $50 per month for food and bedding, but for ducks it will be closer to $70 to $100.
Chickens generally live five to 10 years, but they lay consistently until they're about five years old. Domesticated ducks can live to their twenties. They, too, will lay eggs consistently for about five years, but all egg production will taper off by the time they turn nine.Β
The eggs that chickens and ducks produce are markedly different in volume and substance, Barnes noted. βChickens are prolific layers, with high-production breeds giving you around 250 to 300 eggs per year," he said. While some duck breeds, like khaki runners, can produce as many as 300 eggs a year, most duck breeds produce slightly less. Ducks, while laying fewer eggs, offer larger eggs. And while taste is subjective, duck eggs are often considered more luxurious, with a richer taste.
Though I was determined not to attach myself to my own small flock, itβs hard to ignore how charming backyard birds are. My chickens have distinct personalities that are easily observed, and though cautious and easily startled, they're are also curious and friendly. They also have a pecking order, Barnes pointed out. My small flock is being managed by a Machiavellian silkie named Cacciatore.
βDucks are the social butterflies of the backyard," Barnes said. "Theyβre more sentient and form stronger bonds, especially if you hand-raise them. Ducks are known for their quirky, playful personalities and are often less skittish than chickens. They enjoy being in flocks and can be quite affectionate with their human caregivers.β
Backyard birds are a double-edged sword when it comes to the impact they'll have on your yard. On the one hand, they can provide fertilizer, bug control, and an ideal composting system for your kitchen scraps. On the other, both birds can be rough on landscaping. Chickens scratch up the ground to uncover edible bugs and create dirt baths, and ducks just consume whatever they can reach. However, these problems only exist if you free range your birds.Β
The benefits to free ranging extends beyond the happiness of the birds themselves, though, so I think it's likely worth it. Free ranging your birds has an immense benefit to the birds, obviously, as they can forage and explore their surroundings, but it also means free pest control. Chickens eat bugs, and ducks love snails and slugs. You just have to balance that with the possible damage to the landscaping they can cause. You also have to remember that wherever birds go, they poop, which is a lot of cleanup.
The good news is that this abundance of poop is fantastic for your garden. A notable difference is that chicken poop needs to go through a composting period before it can be applied to your garden so it won't burn your plants, but duck poop does not. Itβs considered βcoldβ compost and can be applied directly. Since your ducks are going to produce a lot of wet waste if you have a pool for them, a plan for how youβll use that water in your garden is necessary.Β
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For more than a decade, in blog posts and scientific papers and public talks, the psychologist Hal Herzog has questioned whether owning pets makes people happier and healthier.
It is a lonely quest, convincing people that puppies and kittens may not actually be terrific for their physical and mental health. βWhen I talk to people about this,β Herzog recently said, βnobody believes me.β A prominent professor at a major public university once described him as βa super curmudgeonβ who is, in effect, βtrying to prove that apple pie causes cancer.β
As a teenager in New Jersey in the 1960s, Herzog kept dogs and cats, as well as an iguana, a duck, and a boa constrictor named Boa. Now a professor emeritus at Western Carolina University, he insists heβs not out to smear anyoneβs furry friends. In a blog post questioning the so-called pet effect, in 2012, Herzog included a photo of his cat, Tilly. βShe makes my life better,β he wrote. βPlease Donβt Blame The Messenger!β
Late June means βsummerβ everywhere across America, and for most of us, summer gardens are in full swing already. In fact, most farmers have moved onto starting seed for fall and winter gardens. But if youβve yet to get everything into the ground for whatever reason (and Iβm frequently besieged by such reasons) itβs not too late. There are still lots of crops you can plant right now to yield a decent summer harvest. As a general rule, youβll be skipping spring crops like peas, strawberries, bok choy, and spinachβitβs too hot for them. Instead, focus on buying really good-sized, established starts and succession planting.Β
Luckily, itβs not too late to get these crown jewels into the ground, but that time is fast approaching. Peppers, in particular, need a long time to fruit, so only purchase well-established, good-sized plants, such as those in gallon-sized pots. While tomatoes donβt need as much time, Iβd still focus on gallon-sized starts, and make sure plant them deep on a cloudy day or at sunset, so they have a little time to recover before being blasted by the full sun. If you can protect them from the sun with some shade for the first day, thatβs even better. Eggplants, which tend to fruit later in summer, are fine to purchase in four-inch pots.Β
These are succession crops and as such, they are fine to plant all summer long, as they are harvestable quickly (in under sixty days). When planting lettuce, look for packages that say βbolt resistantβ or βheat resistant.β Also consider shadier spots for your lettuce.Β
Itβs not too late to plant carrots, but theyβll be hard to germinate, since they require constant moisture to do so. It may be worth getting starts at the garden center so youβll have some to harvest come fall. If you do pick up starts, remember to separate them by hand before planting them a few inches apart.Β
Do not be deceived, this is actually the perfect, peak time to plant all of these vegetables. Beans can still be direct sowed (seeded directly in your garden), but pumpkins, squash, melon, and cucumbers should be purchased as starts.Β
Itβs last call for corn, and if youβre going to plant it, buy starts. Even though corn is easy to germinate (and it grows quickly), youβre running out of roadway. The long-held saying, βknee high by Fourth of Julyβ remains because if the corn hasnβt grown that much by early July, it simply wonβt grow tall and husky enough by the time it needs to form ears, resulting in tiny, underdeveloped corn ears.
Itβs a great idea to think about late-season flowers. You can still direct seed zinnias, sunflowers, and other sturdy, tall flowers. There's still time to plant cosmos and salvia starts for this summer. Itβs a great time to get perennials at the garden center and plant them.Β
Itβs a hard transition to make, but soon, youβll be planting fall succession crops like broccoli and cauliflower again, and perhaps a fall succession of peas. So even if youβve missed out on summer, look ahead instead and get seeds started in trays outside for planting out come late summer.Β Β
Β© Ben Konkol
Most of us donβt live on farms with acres to spread out crops, but instead have a few boxes, planters, or a small plot to grow our gardens. As a result, we tend to cram as much as we can into the space. It's called βcrowdscaping,βΒ and not only does it stop plants from growing to their full potential, but it also risks an even bigger problem: cross pollination.
Bees and other pollinators are indiscriminate little flirts. Itβd be nice if they took pumpkin pollen and made sure to visit other pumpkins first, but they move onto the next flower whether that's a tomato or dill. Usually, it isnβt an issueβpea pollen has no effect on tomatoes, for instanceβbut that isnβt always true. Some crops can cross pollinate, and the result is a plant with DNA characteristics of both parent plants. In other words: frankencrops.
Let's take corn, for example. Unlike most plants that rely on pollinators like insects, corn is pollinated by the wind. Corn plants grow tassels, which have pollen on them, and the wind blows the tassels and sends the pollen to fall on corn plants of the same variety. That same wind can carry corn pollen as far as a half mile (but generally, 20-50 feet is considered the usual distance, to be safe). In a home garden, you need to have enough corn in a block to have it pollinate itself (a six foot by six foot block is advisable), but you shouldn't plant multiple varieties of corn in your garden because the resulting ears can take on traits from both varieties, and it won't necessarily be the best traits of each. You can also control cross pollination by choosing two varieties that have wildly different periods of pollination, but that's tricky math to master, as pollination phasse are a result of many factors, most of which are beyond our control.Β
Unlike corn, cross pollinating squash will affect next yearβs crop instead of the current one. The vegetables formed by cross pollination wonβt be altered, but the seeds will be. If you save seeds and plant them, next yearβs crop will have traits of both parent squashes. Iβve seen it in practice, and it can be both interesting and frustrating: Friends grew mammoth squash one year, each weighing in over 100 pounds, but they were utterly tasteless and watery.
The good news is that this only happens within one species; cucumbers and squash donβt cross pollinate even though they're both cucurbits, for example. The following groups will cross pollinate each other and should be separated by as much as a half mile. Since that's impractical in most home gardens, itβs wiser to simply not seed save these crops:
Zucchini, Yellow Crookneck, Acorn, Spaghetti, Patty Pan, Delicata, Pumpkins and Gourds, except snake gourds
Butternut, Buttercup, Banana, Hubbard and Turban squashes
Muskmelon, Cantaloupe, Charentais; Honeydew; Casaba; Armenian Cucumber; Snake melon (gourd)
In addition to cross pollination, you also want to consider which plants do and don't benefit from companion or co-planting (planting near each other). Some pairings can have a dramatic effect on how well each plant flourishes. The term for these plants is "allelopathic," which just means they produce chemicals that are problematic for other types of plants. Planting members of the nightshade family (eggplant, tomato, pepper) near cruciferous plants (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale) risks both plants. However, some plants, like beans, benefit almost every other crop by being nearby.Β
As you plan your garden, be aware of how you space your plants and what seeds you save. For some crops, like squash, you want to ensure you are getting every single fruit, no matter how small, into the compost pile so it doesnβt have the ability to sprout. Even if you donβt intend to save seeds, paying attention will prevent you from mangling a crop through cross pollination or bad companion planting.
Β© Audra Melton for The New York Times
Β© Amanda Lucier for The New York Times
Β© SMLXL Company
Β© Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press
Plants come in two varieties: annuals, which will survive for a season, and perennials, which should come back year after year. Many of the plants in your vegetable garden, from carrots to tomatoes, are annuals, but you can grow quite a lot of perennial crops too.
In my book, growing your own perennial food forestβan enduring source of nourishmentβ of perennials is a sign of a true gardener. Here are all the edible perennial plants I recommend adding to your yard.Β Β (Note: Plants are all susceptible to weather, so which plants will "perennialize" is dependent on the USDA planting zone you live in. In some places with harsh winters, artichokes are treated as annuals, for instance. Talk to someone at your local garden center to learn what perennial plants will thrive in your zone.)
Most berry plants are perennials, including strawberries (in most ones). Planting a diversity of both June bearing (that is, plants that fruit in June) and ever bearing (plants that fruit all summer) strawberries mean you should have a full summer of berries. But strawberries arenβt the only game in town: Blueberries are outstanding shrubs that thrive in full sun or partial shade, and donβt require too much water. There are hundreds of varieties, and if you plant a mix of early, mid, and late varieties, youβll have blueberries from June to August.
Other berries grow on bushes as well, from currants, goji berries, thimbleberries, gooseberry, honeyberry, salmonberry, huckleberry, and more. Elderberries grow on shrubs that can reach 30 feet tall within a few years. Then there are all the cane-based berries, like raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, marionberry, loganberry and tayberries; these plants need support, like a trellis, but will grow prolifically and spread easily (with a little care, you can keep them in check).Β
Well cared-for Apple and pear trees will last for generations, providing harvests year after year. The same is true of stone fruits like apricot, peach, cherry, and nectarine. Iβd can't imagine my garden without a fig tree in itβalthough like elderberry, they can grow to immense heights if you don't keep them under control.
Within each type of fruit are many varieties that provide variance in terms of taste and timing of harvest. The same is true for nut treesβincluding almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts, and other nuts. These trees can also provide a canopy over other parts of your garden, benefitting plants that thrive in the shade.Β
An absolutely fascinating vegetable, asparagus is generally planted as a root in a ditch; each spring, it will send up the shoots we recognize as asparagus. (While you can grow asparagus from seed, it takes a few years for the spears to be ready to be plucked, so most people purchase crowns instead.) Watching my asparagus bed reappear each April is a delight; the crowns keep coming back, and an asparagus plant can live for 15-20 years.Β
A funny looking plant prized for its stalks, rather than its leaves or fruit, rhubarb grows from a rhizome. The stalks will have a green-red color, but you can blanche them stalks early in the growing process to get those prized cherry red stalks. Rhubarb is harvestable from spring through early fall, and is slow to spread. Itβs an ideal plant to put under trees (in the understory), as the less sunlight, the brighter red it will be.Β
Unlike rhubarb, horseradish is a taproot, and spreads quickly via a network of underground roots. Every spring it will shoot up tall green leaves which can also be eaten. At any time, you can dig up one of the roots to harvest it. As horseradish loses its spice the moment you cut into it, having fresh horseradish at your disposal is a real delight. You can even replant part of a root; it should take hold and produce more plants. Like rhubarb, horseradish is a great plant for an understory.Β
I dreamed of a garden full of artichokes my whole life, and now that I have one, it is as wonderful as I imagined. Artichokes slumber all winter, but come early spring, they come to life, growing as tall as seven feet, with sprawling silver-grey leaves. Shoots then appear, and at the end of each shoot, an artichoke. Each plant will produce a large artichoke, and then each successive one will be a bit smaller. Artichokes you donβt pick will open and flower into magnificent purple bee havens. They make a spectacular border plant when clustered together.Β
You canβt kill fennel. Iβve tried. And it canβt be grown with anything else, as it will keep other plants from flourishing. Even worse, it grows via a taproot and spreads easily. So why do you grow it? Because fresh fennel is lovely, and when fennel is allowed to go to seed, it produces bright yellow pollen you can harvest to use in cooking (and to save your own fennel seeds). Bees also adore fennel.
The most fantastical vegetable there ever was, walking onions throw up a singular green stalk from the onion bulb in the soil. At the end of the stalk, three tiny onions will grow, flopping around in the air, until they are heavy enough to lean the plant over, where they will implant themselves in the soil and start overβhence the βwalkingβ name. You can harvest either the bulb in the soil or the ones at the top of the plant. (I give my walking onions more space than I should because when Iβm waiting for other things to sprout or fruit in late May-early June , the architecture of the walking onions keeps me amused.)Β
The red stamens used to delicately flavor and color rice are actually from crocuses. You can buy them as bulbs and watch them flower, and then harvest the red stamens for your own saffron bounty. Itβs important to put these bulbs where you can watch and access them so you don't miss your shot at a harvest, so planting boxes are a perfect choice.
Perennial herbs are the ultimate edible perennial staple. Bay leaves, rosemary, lavender, sage, mint, thyme and plenty more can be grown year round as hardy shrubs. In some cases, you can successfully perennialize herbs like parsley and dill, which means that they continually seed themselves and come back on their own, though this requires continually seeding in the same place for a few years until they take hold, and a bit of luck.Β
A relatively recent development, you can now purchase ethically farmed ramp bulbs specifically to grow in your own garden (I usually find them on Etsy). This means you'll have your very own ramp patch that will grow every year (if you're careful about harvesting them). Ramps need dappled light and a lot of moisture, so grow them alongside mushrooms.
There are a multitude of ways to grow mushrooms, whether in buckets, on logs, or just by throwing spawn down on your wood chipped pathways. Having access to mushrooms, which flush in waves, is economical, if nothing else, and thereβs something magical about going outside and find new shiitakes or wine cap mushrooms in my yard. Mushrooms require dappled light, which means you have to make them an understory plant.Β
Other edible plants can become perennials if you can get them into a cycle of reseeding themselves, including potatoes and sweet potatoesβif you leave some small potatoes behind when harvesting, youβll find the bed will regenerate come spring. Radicchio will often find a way to come back year to year, and onions may perennialize if you allow them to go seed, as might celery. I've had less luck with broccoli species that are claimed to return each year.
One of the best ways to define a garden space is with a path. Before considering hardscape options like concrete or stones, consider some cheaper options. Softer options like wood chips, clover or recycled pavers are all going to be better for the garden, easy to upkeep, and richer visually.
Thereβs just no end to the benefits of wood chips in your garden. Theyβre easy to get for free, they have superb drainage so theyβre easy to walk on even in wet weather, and as they compost, they feed your soil. Use enough of them and theyβre a weed suppressant, and mulch the ground so it retains moisture and soil. The contrast of color they have to grass, clover or other ground cover help to define a pathway. Upkeep is as simple as raking them out so they're flat, and occasionally topping up the pathway with new wood chips (Iβve found once a year is sufficient).
Start by defining where the walkway will be, using something long and flexible, like a garden hose. Remove grass or other groundcover in the space, and then use flattened cardboard as a base to smother any remaining seeds in the ground. Cover with four to six inches of wood chips, and rake them to be nice and flat. You can simply walk back and forth over them to settle them in. Large chips stay in place really well, but you can use garden edging to maintain lines if you prefer.Β
Everyone always thinks of grass for soft, green garden paths, but grass is expensive to upkeep, a lot of work to maintain and terrible for the soil. Worse, itβs miserable to walk on when itβs wet. One winter can kill the grass and make the path a muddy mess. Instead, use clover. It requires no mowing, very little water, and if you use a perennial variety like white clover, creates an incredibly thick mat that will stand up to the rain and snow. You can mow it, like lawn, if youβre a masochist who loves their mower. Otherwise, just let it grow and feed the bees and other pollinators. Clover will spread, so keeping it in line using curbing makes sense.Β
Someone in your neighborhood is trying to get rid of pavers, right now. Check NextDoor, Craigslist or Facebook: I guarantee you someone is currently dismantling a wall or chimney or just has a random pile of bricks thatβs been in their backyard, and it can be yours, for free. For straight pathways, bricks and the grid they create can be a powerful architectural detail in your yard. For curved spaces, you can place the bricks straight on and then easily cut the curves out of the finished pathway, or align the bricks to the curves using a formula. In either case, youβll want to dig out any grass or other groundcover, and start with a base of compacted sand that is level. This is followed by the bricks, and then the bricks can be filled in with paver sand, which actually locks the pavers in place.Β
Iβve built raised garden beds out of railroad ties or cedar fencing, 2x4s, bricks and even a beautiful woven lattice. But when I got serious about not having to build new raised beds every few years, I developed a simple, sturdy design that anyone can follow.
It is the only way Iβve bothered making raised beds for the last 10 years, regardless of where I was building themβthe Arizona desert, rainy Pacific Northwest or suburban Georgia. This design will provide you with a financially reasonable and technically easy way to get beds together quickly for any sized space. It offers a better amount of bed depth than most plans I see, and requires very few tools. The sturdiness of the beds mean they wonβt move over time, lean over, and are impervious to getting dinged up by your wheelbarrow.
The most common mistake I see for raised bed building is not choosing the right wood. A lot of time is often spent on considering pressure treated (PT) wood versus untreated, or what variety of woodβcedar versus redwood. But the biggest problem is that people generally get lumber that's too thin and/or small. Messing around with cedar pickets, which are thin and flimsy, or 2x4s, which donβt give you any vertical height, doesnβt serve you long-term. The answer is to go large: I use 2x12s or 2x10s.Β This means that you need fewer planks of wood stacked vertically. I donβt use pressure-treated wood, because even though the methods they use currently to treat the wood arenβt considered toxic, I go out of my way to not introduce unneeded chemicals into my edible garden.
While you can use variety you want, and hardwoods or cedar will certainly last longer, itβs not essential. Using pine or redwood, in planks of wood this beefy, will still last eight years or longer. When the wood breaks down, it benefits your garden because itβs essentially compost, and by keeping the beds inexpensive and easy to make, creating new ones in eight to 10 years wonβt seem cumbersome.Β
Big box stores arenβt the only game in town for getting wood. Look specifically for lumber stores and get some prices, orβmy favorite hackβhit up Craigslist for independent millers selling βrough cutβ wood.
The benefit of independent millers (people with their own saw mill or setup) is that the wood is likely to be cheaper, and you might get a deal for all the cuts you need. Also, independent millers donβt cut everything down to the same length just for uniformity, like you get at Home Depot. As theyβre slicing a tree into 2x12s, if the plank ends up being 15 feet long, and you only need 12, they donβt chop the last three feet off, because itβs just more work, and thereβs no benefit to doing it. As a result, you get longer cuts for the same price, while supporting someone local. While I donβt see it as a downside, this wood is usually βrough cut"βit hasnβt gone through a sanding process to make the sides smooth. They also have not been kiln dried as they would be for a big box store, meaning they still hold a lot of moisture. For the purpose of building raised beds, neither of these issues is a problem. The raised beds will live outside under constant watering, and really doesnβt require the smooth sides. I actually prefer the rough cuts; I think it makes the beds less inviting to pests.Β
A raised bed is a rectangle. That rectangle can be any length you want; you are limited only by the length of wood planks you can obtain (12 or 16 feet is common). However, in terms of the width of the bed, you want to think really hard about making it any wider than four feet (but anything in the two to four foot range is fine). Thereβs a simple reason: You have to be able to reach everything in the middle of the bed, and anything wider than four feet makes that quite difficult. The height of the bed will always be 22 1/2β tall, because weβll use two 2x12s stacked vertically (and 2x12s are actually only 11 Β½β once dried).Β Consider, as you are designing the beds, if the space you are putting them in slopes dramatically, as this might mean breaking a long bed into two, so you can terrace the ground for each bed. Make sure you allow at least three feet between beds, but four feet is better. This will allow you to maneuver a wheelbarrow through the aisles, which youβll find really helpful. Donβt be afraid to grab some landscaping flags to lay out where the beds will go and just walk around, making sure you can reach everything and itβs comfortable to walk around.Β
Sketch out the entire space, laying out the final dimensions of the beds. This is going to help you visualize the wood you need. For each bed, youβll need one 2x12x16 for the shorter sides, and then two 2x12s for each of the longer sides, at whatever length you design the beds to be. Ideally, you get planks a little longer than the beds, so you can square off the ends of the planks.Β
The planks you lay horizontally will need vertical supports to keep the bed together. Youβll place these in every corner, and then every four feet of length along the long side. For an eight-foot-long bed, you need one additional vertical support in the middle. For a twelve-foot bed, you need two additional supports. This support is just a 2x4 that is 20β tall (roughly the same height as the beds). Add up the lengths to determine how much vertical plank you need. For instance, on an eight-foot bed, you need six vertical supports, which is 144β or a 2x4x12β plank. For beds that are longer than 12 feet, I like to put in some additional bracing in the middle of the bed, all the way across the width. This helps stop the bed from bowing in the middle over time. The brace is just additional 2x12s, stacked vertically, the entire width of the bed.Β
The beauty of this design is that you need very few tools. Youβll benefit from a chop saw, but a circular saw will do in a pinch. Also: a power drill, wood glue, 2 Β½β construction screws and a power sander, and the sander is optional.Β While you can get your cuts done at a big box store, youβll save a lot of money doing it yourself, and itβs very likely youβll make at least one mistake on the cuts you need, so having the ability to make cuts where youβre building is very helpful. The sander is used on corners to round sharp edges. This helps reduce clothing getting caught or getting scratches as you walk around the corners of the beds, but isnβt essential. Since youβll be using construction screws, you wonβt be pre-drilling anything (and construction screws come with the right drill bit in the package), but a decent power drill, even a hammer drill, is absolutely essential.Β While not essential, I benefited a lot from buying corner clamps so that I could get a real 90-degree corner on my beds.Β
This is obvious, but lumber is dimensional: Youβre not joining up two sheets of paper. Where two pieces of wood meet in a corner (where they join), you have to be deliberate about which piece of wood is on the βoutside,β through which youβll screw into the other piece of wood. The shorter pieces should always live on the outside, and you screw through the short side, into the longer piece of wood. Because of this, when accounting for the real length of the wood you need for those long sides, you deduct the three inches (1 Β½ inches from either end) because the width of the short end of the wood makes up the difference. In an eight-foot bed, rather than the long pieces of wood being 96β, youβd make them 93β. When they butt up against the short sides of the bed, they end up being 96β total length.Β
Start on a flat surface, and build the first level of the bed. Join one corner, using the clamps if you have them, making sure the short length of wood is on the outside. Take the time and care to make sure the cuts are all 90 degrees, and the wood is lined up precisely. Use wood glue between the two pieces of wood. Using your drill, screw through the shorter piece of wood into the longer piece of wood. Use two screws for this, one four inches off the ground and a second about eight inches off the ground. Be sure to place the screws an inch away from the edge of the wood, and ensure you are screwing perpendicular to the wood, so it goes in straight. Continue going around the bed screwing the corners together until you have a complete rectangle. Do this a second time, so now you have two rectangles. You can usually just put the second one together on top of the first, as they should be replicas of each other.Β
Next, put in your vertical supports. Place a 2x4 cut to 20β in each corner vertically. Put the longer side of the 2x4 along the longer side of the bed. Now, screw through the bed from the outside, into the vertical support, placing four screws on each side of the corner. Go around and do this in all four corners, and then every four feet along the length. The vertical support wonβt be as tall as the bedβit should be a little bit shorter. This will hide the supports once you have soil in the bed, for a cleaner look.Β
If the bed requires bracing in the middle, take another measurement of the distance between the width of the bed, and then cut two 2x12β inch pieces to that length. Put them in place with wood glue, and then screw from the outside of the bed into the ends of the 2x12s.
Now, move the bed into place. What I like about this process is that once you put the bed down, youβll see precisely where you might need to level the ground a bit and can just do so with a shovel, with the bed in place. Lift the bed, dig it out a bit, and put it back down. You donβt need to be precise about pre-leveling the space. Fill the beds with good soil, and youβre ready to go. These beds are sturdy enough that you can tip a wheelbarrow into them and not damage the bed.Β
You can take a sander to the corners to smooth them out a littleβa power sander makes very quick work of this. I donβt stain or seal my raised beds, because I donβt want to introduce anything that can leach into the soil. However, there are whey-based stains that are okay to use in this instance.Β
Enlarge / Screen capture of a Runway Gen-3 Alpha video generated with the prompt "A giant humanoid, made of fluffy blue cotton candy, stomping on the ground, and roaring to the sky, clear blue sky behind them." (credit: Runway)
On Sunday, Runway announced a new AI video synthesis model called Gen-3 Alpha that's still under development, but it appears to create video of similar quality to OpenAI's Sora, which debuted earlier this year (and has also not yet been released). It can generate novel, high-definition video from text prompts that range from realistic humans to surrealistic monsters stomping the countryside.
Unlike Runway's previous best model from June 2023, which could only create two-second-long clips, Gen-3 Alpha can reportedly create 10-second-long video segments of people, places, and things that have a consistency and coherency that easily surpasses Gen-2. If 10 seconds sounds short compared to Sora's full minute of video, consider that the company is working with a shoestring budget of compute compared to more lavishly funded OpenAIβand actually has a history of shipping video generation capability to commercial users.
Gen-3 Alpha does not generate audio to accompany the video clips, and it's highly likely that temporally coherent generations (those that keep a character consistent over time) are dependent on similar high-quality training material. But Runway's improvement in visual fidelity over the past year is difficult to ignore.
Elon Musk is still frantically pushing to launch X payment services in the US by the end of 2024, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Launching payment services is arguably one of the reasons why Musk paid so much to acquire Twitter in 2022. His rebranding of the social platform into X revives a former dream he had as a PayPal co-founder who fought and failed to name the now-ubiquitous payments app X. Musk has told X staff that transforming the company into a payments provider would be critical to achieving his goal of turning X into a so-called everything app "within three to five years."
Late last year, Musk said it would "blow" his "mind" if X didn't roll out payments by the end of 2024, so Bloomberg's report likely comes as no big surprise to Musk's biggest fans who believe in his vision. At that time, Musk said he wanted X users' "entire financial lives" on the platform before 2024 ended, and a Bloomberg review of "more than 350 pages of documents and emails related to money transmitter licenses that X Payments submitted in 11 states" shows approximately how close he is to making that dream a reality on his platform.
Enlarge (credit: Samuel Axon)
A report by tech news site The Information suggests that Apple is shifting its augmented reality priorities. The next high-end version of the Vision Pro has purportedly been canceled while work continues on a more affordable version with a reduced feature set.
Citing both an employee in Apple's headset supply chain and one working in headset manufacturing for Apple, the report claims that the cheaper Vision productβperhaps around the $1,600 markβis due before the end of 2025. Apple had originally intended to present this headset alongside the Vision Pro, similar to the models available in each iPhone release. The more affordable model would likely have fewer cameras, smaller speakers, and weigh less, though Apple has struggled to bring down the cost of the unit's displays.
Apple's efforts in augmented reality are closely watched by other players in the headset space, so even a momentary, situational step back from high-end headsets could have significant repercussions. The Information cites current and former Meta employees in describing how the company had killed plans for its own higher-end headset in January 2023, but it then began work on a new premium model five months after Apple's Vision Pro debut.
Tomato plants are a popular addition to vegetable gardens, but they can be a real challenge. From the moment tomato seeds sprout to the day you compost the plant at the end of the season, tomato plants are surprisingly susceptible to problems.Β Now that most of you should have your tomato plants in the ground, hereβs how to identify problems on your plants, as well as prevent and treat them.Β
In order to produce tomatoes, you need flowers on your tomato plants, since the pollination of those flowers is what creates tomatoes. While theyβll usually do this on their own, if you notice there arenβt a lot of flowers or you just want to encourage more, you can try using products designed to stimulate flower growth. Sea Magic Organic Growth Activator, made from seaweed, should be used in addition to your regular fertilizer program because it will stimulate flower growth in tomato plants. Sea Magic is easy to use and safe for the home garden. ThisΒ Tomato & Vegetable Blossom Spray Set contains the plant hormone cytokinin and promotes cell division in plants, which leads to blossom set (flowers developing on the plants), fruit development, and increased yields. This means more potential for fruit set (fruit developing on the plants), even in less desirable weather, as the more flowers, the more fruit. Β
The most common tomato growing problem in the world is blossom end rot, which manifests as the bottom of your tomatoes being black, sunken or shriveled.
BER is hard to treatβthe problem happens long before you see it in the fruit and is usually a result of a plantβs lack of ability to absorb calcium. This can be because there isnβt enough calcium in the soil, or the plant suffers from another nutrient deficiency (too much nitrogen, not enough phosphorus/potassium) that causes it to not be able to access the calcium in the soil. It can also be due to drought stress, or inconsistent watering. Inconsistent can mean over- or under-watering, which is why itβs important to consistently deliver water directly at the root of your tomatoes. Soil conditions, like compacted or poorly draining soil, can also hinder calcium uptake.Β
According to Nancy Awot-Traut, Horticulture Expert at Burpee Gardening, a key challenge for gardeners is that the symptoms of BER, such as fruit rot, typically appear days to weeks after the initial water stress or nutrient imbalance occurs. The most critical time to avoid BER is the first two to three weeks after fruit set. Avoiding BER means getting your soil tested to make your pH is 6.2-6.8, and has enough calcium. According to Awot-Traut, itβs important to avoid over fertilization, since that can result in too much nitrogen. Mulching at the base of plants can help maintain consistent moisture, and ensuring that each tomato plant has enough space (this will depend on the variety and should appear on the seed packet or plant label, but at least 18 inches is standard).Β
Once you see BER, itβs too late for affected tomatoes, but you can try to treat the plant for future tomatoes by using a foliar spray like Rot Stop or Cal Mag.Β
With all the moisture involved in growing tomatoes as well as density of the leaves, thereβs a lot of opportunity for the spread of virus and funguses. One of the primary ways fungi spread is by splashing up from the soil when thereβs a lot of rain or overhead watering. Mulching and watering at the base of plants prevents this problem from happening. Ensuring that each plant has enough space around it and is pruned to create air flow can help mitigate the spread. Choosing to grow varieties that have good disease resistance can help as well.Β
Remember, in the garden you are the most likely vector of disease spread. When you go out into the garden and touch all your plants in the morning, with the dew still present, you may just be spreading whatever is on one plant to all the others. This is also the reason it is critical you keep your pruning shears clean between plants. A spray bottle of Lysol that you use between plants is effective.Β
Unlike other fruit that have only a few recognizable issues, tomatoes can suffer from a litany of different fungi or viruses. Septoria leaf spot is a fungus that appears as black spots on your leaves and spreads quickly. Leaves progressively turn yellow and die.
Blight, another common fungus, manifests as irregular black shapes on your tomato leaves.
Fusarium wilt fungus will yellow the leaves, which then turn brown, from the outside of the leaf towards the stem.
Anthracnose is a whole class of fungus that will cause large black or brown spots on your tomatoes.Β
Bacterial speck and bacterial spot show up as small brown spots, and are a result of bacteria in the soil that can overwinter.
Mosaic virus is likely the cause of shrunken, twisted and curled leaves.
The most effective treatment for virus or fungus is being bold about removal. Rather than treat plants, the best course is usually swiftly removing the affected plants and then ensuring they go in the trash, rather than compost. If you wait, you risk the problem spreading to all the other plants around the affected one, and in a short summer season, itβs rarely worth that risk. While some fungicides may help treat the problem, you are then introducing those chemicals into your food. Itβs safer to take the loss and hope your other plants do better.Β Remember that the fungus and viruses can remain in the soil over winter which is why crop rotation (moving your crops around in the garden every year) is essential.
As if the viral and fungal threats arenβt enough, you also have a lot of pests in the garden that will aim for your tomatoes. The best way to mitigate this is to ensure that you are checking your plants daily, diversifying your varieties and planting deterrents around the tomatoes like marigolds, sweet alyssum, dill, and nasturtiums, which will help drive these pests away.Β The upside is that many of these pest problems can be treated.Β
Tiny white or yellow spots can mean spider mites, which will steal chlorophyll from your plants.
Aphids, a common pest problem that you can actually solve, look like tiny white raised dots on your plants that cluster and cause tomato leaves to curl. Spray them off with water, plant nearby trap plants like nasturtiums and treat the tomato with a spray of soapy water.
Tiny round holes in tomato leaves are likely due to flea beetles, and can be managed the same way, with soapy water and nearby traps like yellow sticky traps.
Hornworms are gigantic green worms on your tomato stems that look like tomato stems but will devour your plants. They can simply be removed by hand.Β
Everyone thinks of tomatoes as the first thing to grow, and there are few treats as lovely as a sun-warmed, just-ripe tomato you grew yourself. But the road to getting a healthy tomato is long and full of threats to derail your fruit production. Knowing what those threats are, and working to prevent themβand, if possible, mitigate themβwill make it a more satisfying season.Β
Enlarge (credit: sesame | DigitalVision Vectors)
Apple has abruptly discontinued its "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) service, Apple Pay Later, which turned Apple into a money lender when it launched last March in the US and became widely available in October.
The service previously allowed users to split the cost of purchases of up to $1,000 into four installments that were repaid over six weeks without worrying about extra fees or paying interest. For Apple, it was likely a move to increase total Apple Pay users as the company sought to offer more core financial services through its devices.
Now, it appears that Apple has found a different route to offer short-term loans at checkout in Apple Pay. An Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac that the decision to end Apple Pay Later came ahead of the company's plan to start offering new types of installment loans globally.
Cinnamon, the popular GTK desktop environment developed by the Linux Mint project, pushed out Cinnamon 6.2 today, which will serve as the default desktop for Linux Mint 22. Itβs a relatively minor release, but it does contain a major new feature which is actually quite welcome: a new GTK frontend for GNOME Online Accounts, part of the XApp project. This makes it possible to use the excellent GNOME Online Accounts framework, without having to resort to a GNOME application β and will come in very handy on other GTK desktops, too, like Xfce.
The remainder of the changes consist of a slew of bugfixes, small new features, and nips and tucks here and there. Wayland support is still an in-progress effort for Cinnamon, so youβll be stuck with X for now.
While people donβt eat houseplants and rarely munch on shrubs or ground cover, your pets probably do. That's why you need to be really, really sure your pet wonβt try to snack on your plants before installing a plant that might be toxicβand it turns out that a lot of plants are.Β
Most people donβt know the name of every plant in their yard, but a plant ID app will help you close the loop. Snap a pic, and have the app identify it. Some of these apps will also tell you if plants are toxic to pets. If they donβt, you need to use a database to do a little digging. Rover has a new searchable database that will tell you if plants are toxic, and what symptoms to look for in a pet if ingested. Dogs and cats have different sensitivities, so what is toxic to dogs might be fine for cats and vice versa.Β
Not all plants are toxic to pets; some are merely poisonousβand yes, there's a difference. Toxic plants can do harm in all kinds of waysβthrough surface contact or inhalation. Just being around them can be bad for your pet, even if theyβre not likely to chew. Poisonous plants, on the other hand, have to be ingested to be dangerous, so they are mildly less problematic. That said, some plants are poisonous enough that they only need to be consumed once to have dire consequences, so youβd need to really trust that your pet is isolated from the plant or would never look at, for example, a hydrangea branch as a chew toy. Dan Teich, DVM, who runs District Veterinary Hospitals in Washington, DC, notes, "The good news is most plants will not cause permanent damage to your pet. Many are irritants, can cause excessive salivation, and upset stomach, but usually these signs will pass. This is common with philodendrons, poinsettias, pothos, and many common houseplants."
Teich notes that the most common plant-related incidents they see involve a commonly gifted flower. "True lilies are the most dangerous of all plants for cats; even the pollen can be deadly. Lilies can lead to irreversible kidney failure in a cat within days. Calla lilies and peace lilies are not true lilies and may cause intestinal upset in your pet." He warns that if you suspect lily ingestion, you should seek immediate care for your cat.
Other plants present similar risks, according to Teich. Consuming large amounts of azalea leaves can lead to cardiac collapse, and even death. Ingesting sago palmsβa popular outdoor and indoor plantβcan be fatal, and any consumption by a pet should be treated as an emergency.
Foxglove, an easily spread outdoor flower, is also dangerous. Like lily of the valley and oleander, it can have a grave effect on your pet's heart.
If you are uncertain if a plant is dangerous to your pet, you may contact the ASPCA 24/7 Poison Control Hotline at 888-426-4435 or the Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661.
The list of symptoms that pets can exhibit as a result of toxic exposure to plants is long and varied. There are extreme, easy-to-note symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, seizures, and excessive drooling. There are also symptoms that are harder to appreciate, like lack of appetite, lethargy, muscle tremors or uncoordinated movement, unusual bruising or bleeding and yellowing skin or eyes. Cats tend to exhibit more neurological symptoms, while dogs might experience more gastrointestinal symptoms. Since many of these symptoms can look like everyday living to a pet owner (pets routinely eat grass and vomit without there being any toxicity), itβs important to pay attention when the symptoms begin and take action if they continue. Your pet throwing up once might not be cause for alarmβcontinued vomiting is, regardless of the underlying reason.Β If you're not sure or want advice, call either of the above hotlines. You'll pay a fee (which some pet insurance plans may cover), but as Teich points out, "compared to the potential consequences, it might be worth the investment."
While the cost of emergency veterinary care is daunting, you should not try to induce vomiting in your pet unless under consultation with your veterinarianβdoing so can lead to esophageal problems. If you can identify the plant in question, or take a photo and/or sample of it with you to the vet, that will be helpful. Whether it should require emergency veterinary care versus waiting for your veterinarian to open is dependent on what was ingested, but the faster the care, the better.
When a pet with potential plant toxicity presents at the vet, Teich says the course of action depends on how fast the pet owner was able to act. "We first try to identify the plant to assess which treatment plan is best. If within an hour or two of ingestion, making the pet vomit up any remaining plant material is the first course of action. For certain plants, an activated charcoal slurry is then fed to the dog or cat, which absorbs remaining toxins in the stomach and intestines. Depending upon the plant and clinical signs noted, hospitalization in fluids with other supportive care may be necessary."
While not all plants are toxic enough to cause death, many can cause long-term effects, and that will carry with it costs for treatment, as well as pain for the animal. Your vet might have a community care program to help with emergency costs, and almost all animal treatment centers can help you obtain emergency credit specifically for care of your pet.
If you want to be prepared ahead of the game, always have your vetβs information, as well as the name, location and number of your closest 24-hour veterinary emergency care location printed out somewhere easy to access, and on your phone. Having pet insurance in place can help soften the financial blow of events like this.Β Whether or not you have insurance, you may need to pay out of pocket before getting reimbursed, so having money set aside, or a credit card for this purpose, might be smart. When you view it all through this lens, spending a little time and money now to ensure you have pet-safe plants, or appropriate barriers to keep your pets away from toxic plants, makes a lot of financial sense.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
Ransomware criminals have quickly weaponized an easy-to-exploit vulnerability in the PHP programming language that executes malicious code on web servers, security researchers said.
As of Thursday, Internet scans performed by security firm Censys had detected 1,000 servers infected by a ransomware strain known as TellYouThePass, down from 1,800 detected on Monday. The servers, primarily located in China, no longer display their usual content; instead, many list the siteβs file directory, which shows all files have been given a .locked extension, indicating they have been encrypted. An accompanying ransom note demands roughly $6,500 in exchange for the decryption key.
The output of PHP servers infected by TellYouThePass ransomware. (credit: Censys)
The accompanying ransom note. (credit: Censys)
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-4577 and carrying a severity rating of 9.8 out of 10, stems from errors in the way PHP converts Unicode characters into ASCII. A feature built into Windows known as Best Fit allows attackers to use a technique known as argument injection to convert user-supplied input into characters that pass malicious commands to the main PHP application. Exploits allow attackers to bypass CVE-2012-1823, a critical code execution vulnerability patched in PHP in 2012.
Enlarge / Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, made by Shire Plc, is shown in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Thursday, January 19, 2006. (credit: Getty | Jb Reed)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned that a federal indictment of an allegedly fraudulent telehealth company may lead to a massive, nationwide disruption in access to ADHD medicationsβnamely Adderall, but also other stimulantsβand could possibly increase the risk of injuries and overdoses.
"A disruption involving this large telehealth company could impact as many as 30,000 to 50,000 patients ages 18 years and older across all 50 US states," the CDC wrote in its health alert.
The CDC warning came on the heels of an announcement from the Justice Department Thursday that federal agents had arrested two people in connection with an alleged scheme to illegally distribute Adderall and other stimulants through a subscription-based online telehealth company called Done Global. Β The company's CEO and founder, Ruthia He, was arrested in Los Angeles, and its clinical president, David Brody, was arrested in San Rafael, California.
Β© Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photos: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
Enlarge (credit: OpenAI / Apple / Benj Edwards)
On Monday, Apple announced it would be integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT AI assistant into upcoming versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. It paves the way for future third-party AI model integrations, but given Google's multi-billion-dollar deal with Apple for preferential web search, the OpenAI announcement inspired speculation about who is paying whom. According to a Bloomberg report published Wednesday, Apple considers ChatGPT's placement on its devices as compensation enough.
"Apple isnβt paying OpenAI as part of the partnership," writes Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, citing people familiar with the matter who wish to remain anonymous. "Instead, Apple believes pushing OpenAIβs brand and technology to hundreds of millions of its devices is of equal or greater value than monetary payments."
The Bloomberg report states that neither company expects the agreement to generate meaningful revenue in the short term, and in fact, the partnership could burn extra money for OpenAI, because it pays Microsoft to host ChatGPT's capabilities on its Azure cloud. However, OpenAI could benefit by converting free users to paid subscriptions, and Apple potentially benefits by providing easy, built-in access to ChatGPT during a time when its own in-house LLMs are still catching up.
Early summer marks the beginning of scape season, as youβll soon see at the farmers market and likely in your own garden. As the seasons change and we hit the right temperature range, onions, garlic, and shallots will try to shoot up a flower. Unlike the sprouted leaves of the plant, which stand hollow, straight, and tall, scapes have a solid stem and tend to grow in fantastical swirls and turns, making them easier to spot.
For most alliums, scapes represent a plant that has bolted, meaning that the taste will be ruined, since all the energy will go towards the flower rather than the bulb of the plant. (For garlic and shallots, this is not true: you can harvest the scape and the plant will quit being distracted and go back to working on producing a large bulb.) The good news is that scapes tend to erupt across your yard within a small window of a week or two, so if youβre diligent enough, youβll be able to grab them all and do something with the scape harvest.Β
Begin by paying attention to your garlic, which you (theoretically) planted in fall. You should start to notice a curvy, curled βleafβ and on inspection, that will be the scape. You want to wait until the scape is as tall as the leaves and separated from the leaves, and then just snap it off at the base, or clip it with clean shears. You do not want the blossom at the top of the scape to open; it should still be tightly closed.
Your onions may also bolt and produce a scape, and you can choose whether to harvest it or leave it on the plant and let it go to seed. At this point, the onion isnβt going to be edible anyway (onions are different than garlic), and if you let the flower go to seed, it makes a really stunning visual in the garden. It will also drop seeds, producing more onions next year.Β
It may sound basic, but this spicy, garlicky vinegar is one of the easiest and most visually pleasing ways to use your scapes or open onion flowers. Wash your scapes, chop them into one-inch pieces, fill a bottle or jar one quarter full with the chopped scapes or open onion blossoms, and then top with white vinegar. Let the vinegar sit for a few weeks, and then itβs ready for use. You can filter the scapes out, or leave them in. The blossoms, in particular, look really nice on the shelf.Β
I eagerly await scapes each year so I can make this garlic koshΕ from Jori Jayne Emde. Itβs essentially just scapes, blended with 20% of their weight in salt, and allowed to ferment. This is one of my favorite fast ways to prep any protein or vegetable. Simply add a little olive oil to the kosho, and then rub it all over what youβre prepping, and then cook it. The koshΕ imparts saltiness, umami, and a soft garlic flavor.Β
Scapes have a woody stem and a closed blossom, so texturally, theyβre different from garlic bulbs, but they have the same spicy taste profile. A thinly sliced or diced scape contributes the same taste as garlic, with a different mouth feel, and a little more bite. The different format of scapes to bulbs allows you to use the scapes creatively,Β including grilling or sautΓ©ing them, which will soften both the flavor and texture.Β
I used pickled onions all the time, but I save pickled scapes for a special occasion. I use a simple brining solution that is 50% vinegar and 50% brine. You can use any vinegar you want, and the brine is a 3% salt solution. Split the scapes along the length as many times as you can (usually it's just once or twice) and then cut into three-inch pieces. Add the scapes to a jar, and then cover with the hot brine. Cap the jar and allow it to sit for at least two weeks. At that point you can move it to the fridge.Β
Throw eight tablespoons (one stick) of your favorite room-temperature butter into a food processor with one scape. (Donβt add moreβone scape is plenty.) Add a pinch of salt and blend until the butter is a pale green and you see only small particles of the scape. Scrape the butter into a jar, and place in the fridge. The resulting butter is stupendous on biscuits or any other application that doesnβt need sweet.Β
If you hate the taste of scapes, you can still enjoy their beauty. Place them in a vase and turn them into a spectacular display on your table, either on their own, or with the snapdragons, sweet peas, or foxgloves that are blooming right now.
Hackers working for the Chinese government gained access to more than 20,000 VPN appliances sold by Fortinet using a critical vulnerability that the company failed to disclose for two weeks after fixing it, Netherlands government officials said.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-42475, is a heap-based buffer overflow that allows hackers to remotely execute malicious code. It carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of 10. A maker of network security software, Fortinet silently fixed the vulnerability on November 28, 2022, but failed to mention the threat until December 12 of that year, when the company said it became aware of an βinstance where this vulnerability was exploited in the wild.β On January 11, 2023βmore than six weeks after the vulnerability was fixedβFortinet warned a threat actor was exploiting it to infect government and government-related organizations with advanced custom-made malware.
The Netherlands officials first reported in February that Chinese state hackers had exploited CVE-2022-42475 to install an advanced and stealthy backdoor tracked as CoatHanger on Fortigate appliances inside the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Once installed, the never-before-seen malware, specifically designed for the underlying FortiOS operating system, was able to permanently reside on devices even when rebooted or receiving a firmware update. CoatHanger could also escape traditional detection measures, the officials warned. The damage resulting from the breach was limited, however, because infections were contained inside a segment reserved for non-classified uses.
Enlarge (credit: Buena Vista Images)
Lots of animals communicate with each other, from tiny mice to enormous whales. But none of those forms of communication share even a small fraction of the richness of human language. Still, finding new examples of complex communications can tell us things about the evolution of language and what cognitive capabilities are needed for it.
On Monday, researchers report what may be the first instance of a human-like language ability in another species. They report that elephants refer to each other by individual names, and the elephant being referred to recognizes when it's being mentioned. The work could be replicated with a larger population and number of calls, but the finding is consistent with what we know about the sophisticated social interactions of these creatures.
We use names to refer to each other so often that it's possible to forget just how involved their use is. We recognize formal and informal names that refer to the same individual, even though those names often have nothing to do with the features or history of that person. We easily handle hundreds of names, including those of people we haven't interacted with in decades. And we do this in parallel with the names of thousands of places, products, items, and so on.
Enlarge / Artistβs rendition of how the angle of polarized light from a fast radio burst changes as it journeys through space. (credit: CHIME/Dunlap Institute)
Astronomers have been puzzling over the origins of mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) since the first one was spotted in 2007. Researchers now have their first look at non-repeating FRBs, i.e., those that have only produced a single burst of light to date. The authors of a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal looked specifically at the properties of polarized light emitting from these FRBs, yielding further insight into the origins of the phenomenon. The analysis supports the hypothesis that there are different origins for repeating and non-repeating FRBs.
βThis is a new way to analyze the data we have on FRBs. Instead of just looking at how bright something is, weβre also looking at the angle of the lightβs vibrating electromagnetic waves,β said co-author Ayush Pandhi, a graduate student at the University of Toronto's Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics. βIt gives you additional information about how and where that light is produced and what it has passed through on its journey to us over many millions of light years.β
As we've reported previously, FRBs involve a sudden blast of radio-frequency radiation that lasts just a few microseconds. Astronomers have over a thousand of them to date; some come from sources that repeatedly emit FRBs, while others seem to burst once and go silent. You can produce this sort of sudden surge of energy by destroying something. But the existence of repeating sources suggests that at least some of them are produced by an object that survives the event. That has led to a focus on compact objects, like neutron stars and black holesβespecially a class of neutron stars called magnetarsβas likely sources.
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Enlarge (credit: Getty | Yui Mok)
The strain of H5N1 bird flu isolated from a dairy worker in Texas was 100 percent fatal in ferrets used to model influenza illnesses in humans. However, the virus appeared inefficient at spreading via respiratory droplets, according to newly released study results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data confirms that H5N1 infections are significantly different from seasonal influenza viruses that circulate in humans. Those annual viruses make ferrets sick but are not deadly. They have also shown to be highly efficient at spreading via respiratory droplets, with 100 percent transmission rates in laboratory settings. In contrast, the strain from the Texas man (A/Texas/37/2024) appeared to have only a 33 percent transmission rate via respiratory droplets among ferrets.
"This suggests that A/Texas/37/2024-like viruses would need to undergo changes to spread efficiently by droplets through the air, such as from coughs and sneezes," the CDC said in its data summary. The agency went on to note that "efficient respiratory droplet spread, like what is seen with seasonal influenza viruses, is needed for sustained person-to-person spread to happen."
Enlarge (credit: gmast3r | iStock / Getty Images Plus)
After the most downloaded local news app in the US, NewsBreak, shared an AI-generated story about a fake New Jersey shooting last Christmas Eve, New Jersey police had to post a statement online to reassure troubled citizens that the story was "entirely false," Reuters reported.
"Nothing even similar to this story occurred on or around Christmas, or even in recent memory for the area they described," the cops' Facebook post said. "It seems this 'news' outlet's AI writes fiction they have no problem publishing to readers."
It took NewsBreakβwhich attracts over 50 million monthly usersβfour days to remove the fake shooting story, and it apparently wasn't an isolated incident. According to Reuters, NewsBreak's AI tool, which scrapes the web and helps rewrite local news stories, has been used to publish at least 40 misleading or erroneous stories since 2021.
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Β© Daniel Leal/Agence France-Presse β Getty Images
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Β© Christoph Hitz
As its first alpha release is closing in, we have another monthly update about COSMIC, System76βs new Linux desktop environment written in Rust. This month, theyβve further polished and shored up their application store, imaginatively named COSMIC App Store, and itβs supposedly incredibly fast β something I canβt say for its GNOME and KDE counterparts, which tend to be so slow Iβve always just defaulted to updating through the command line, mostly.
The file manager now has support for GVfs (GNOME Virtual file system) for making external storage like USB drives work properly, and Greeter login screen, Edit text editor, drag and drop, and copy/paste have been improved in various ways as well. Theming has seen a lot of work this month, with support for icon themes added to the App Library, fixed applet sizes, and more tweaks, while light themes have been disabled for now to fix a number of issues with colour selection being too dark.
Thereβs also display mirroring now, which even works when the individual displays have different resolutions, orientations, and refresh rates. Pop!_OS is now also being built for ARM64, which makes sense because System76 is now also selling ARM servers. Thereβs also a bunch of work being done by the community as the alpha release nears.
Β© Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times
COSMIC Desktop Environment (DE) is a new project by System76, the company behind the popular Linux distribution Pop!_OS. In this tutorial, we will give you an overview about COSMIC DE and its features, and then we will walk you through the steps to install COSMIC Desktop Environment in the latest Fedora 40 Linux system.
β« Senthilkumar Palani at OSTechNix
A very easy way to try out the current pre-alpha state of COSMIC. Iβll definitely be waiting on a more official release later this year, but man, does COSMIC ever seem way more polished and complete than it has any right to be at this point in time.
Β© Qilai Shen for The New York Times