Variegated leaf porn

Whenever I put the word “porn” on my blog I get lots of hits. I need all the help I can get, so as a sort of follow-up to my post on the science behind variegated leaves, here’s some variegated leaf porn from Roger Williams Park Botanical Conservancy in Providence.

California dreamin’

all the leaves are brown
and the sky is grey
I’ve been for a walk
on a winter’s day

I was in California for a business trip for the last 5 days. It was great being back because I had the chance to visit several good friends and the weather was pretty decent except for one day when it poured in buckets. In the Bay Area, it wasn’t exactly warm–highs in the mid 50s–but it was mostly sunny and not too windy, and compared to Rhode Island–highs in the mid 30s–it was heaven. At Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, I was able to sit outside the library and soak in a little sun. The photo above was taken on the MPC campus.

Cranberry production: the journey from farm to juice bottle

With approximately 15,000 acres of cranberry bogs, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry-producing state. (Wisconsin is the first.) I recently spent an afternoon driving around southeastern Mass. looking at cranberry bogs and learning about cranberry farming.

Autumn in New England

I know I’m supposed to do a post on cranberry farming next…it’s coming. I’ve been traveling for the last week and am catching up with work in addition to writing the cranberry post. In the meantime, here are a few pics from some of my local travels.

Woonasquatucket River, near Johnston RI — Oct. 13, 2007

Cranberries–New England’s fall staple

The cranberry has a starring role in the agricultural history of Massachusetts and New England. It’s still a major crop in Mass., as well as Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Maine and many other U.S. states and Canadian provinces. (Other states/provinces: don’t flame me ‘cuz I called them New England’s fall staple. I know you have them too. I just happen to live in New England!)

Tree porn from Blithewold

I caught a terrible cold this week, plus I had an emergency request from a client, so I’ve delayed my next post about last week’s visit to Blithewold. But I promised tree porn, so here it is. These are a few of my favorite trees on the grounds of Blithewold.

To the left is a photo of one of the tallest giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) east of the Mississippi. Yep, you read that correctly, right here in little Rhody is a giant sequoia. It was planted in 1911 and is about 90 feet tall–a munchkin by California standards but still pretty impressive.