Category: agriculture
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture declares a State of Emergency over Oriental Fruit Fly infestation September 15, 2015
Adam Putnam has declared a State of Emergency as a result of state officials finding an infestation of Oriental Fruit Fly in the Redlands in south Miami-Dade County. A quarantine extends over 87 square miles prohibiting export of fruit and vegetables from the quarantined area. The area supplies much of the nation's winter vegetables. State [...]
The Ancient Floating Gardens and Canals of Mexico City’s Xochomilco (“So-Cho-Mil-Co”) Part I
Predating the Hispanic Period and geographically south of the main capital city of Mexico was an ancient large lake called Lake Xochomilco. Over the centuries, beautiful flowers and agricultural products were grown above the water on tall stalks, anchored to trees and filled in the rich mulch and soils from the lake bottom. Eventually, early farmers [...]
The Palm Beach Farms Company, Percy Hagerman, and Colorado silver mining
The Lake Worth Drainage District celebrated its (1915-2015) centennial yesterday. Between 1915 and 1935, more than 125 drainage districts formed in Florida to prevent flooding. Nineteen districts formed in Palm Beach County alone. These local districts (secondary drainage) are under the supervisory control of the South Florida Management District (primary drainage). Both monitor the weather [...]
History of invasive plant management in Florida’s public waters
Reportedly, water hyacinths were introduced into the waters of the St. Johns River and the Ocklawaha River as early as the 1880s. The history of the growth of invasive aquatic plants has paralleled the growth in the use of steamboats in these waters. By the turn of the century, the invasion of these plants interfered [...]
Middle River tributary to the New River (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) site of Ramie growing
In 1892, U.S. Senator Duncan U. Fletcher (a strong backer of the Florida canal company) and others attempted to exploit a form of fiber called Ramie. Several Florida canal company officials became increasingly interested when an inventor obtained a patent on a decorticating machine that efficiently stripped useful fiber from the plant, yielding many [...]
Boarding up Celery at Sanford, Florida, on the St. Johns River
It seems that celery has always been the staple crop of Sanford, Florida. One of my African-American friends, W. George Allen, just retired from the practice of law at 70 years old, a veteran of the civil rights movement. George grew up in Sanford. As a child, George picked celery every day during the dark [...]
The Chesapeake Bay from the Air (5 minutes)
http://youtu.be/FpJz1wsF6Z8. The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary lying inland from the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Encompassing over 4,479 square miles, it is the largest such body of water in the United States. More than 150 rivers and streams flow into this estuary. The Bay has become environmentally challenged by the [...]
Florida’s Big Dig 