Well, it's really snowing today. Everything is white, it appears to be slowing down to a few flakes but the
Greenfield, Mass. – For the second consecutive year, U.S. acreage planted with organic cotton increased, according to research compiled by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and funded by Cotton Inc.
Analysis of available data found that the total acres planted in organic cotton grew by 9%, to 9,279 in 2008 from 8,510 the prior year.
Harvest acreage figures for 2008 are not yet available.
Other findings showed a significant boost – a 73% increase – in bales of organic cotton harvested in 2007 over the prior year. That figure translates to 14,025 bales last year compared to 8,116 in 2006. The U.S. organic cotton harvest represents about 2.1% of total global organic cotton production.
Other survey findings revealed that changes are taking place within the organic cotton market. Organic cotton farmers saw the range in average price they received per pound increase to between $1 and $1.50 in 2007 from between 85 cents and $1.25 for organic upland cotton in 2006.Organic pima cotton farmers reported a similar increase in price, to $1.05 to $3 in 2007 from $1.65 to $2.09 in 2006.
Additional findings from this year's survey confirm that several challenges lie ahead for U.S. organic cotton producers. They remain in need of educational and economic resources to support organic practices and build awareness of and access to high-quality markets for their organic cotton products.
Still, further survey data and projections from farmers forecast about a 29% growth from 2008 in production of U.S. organic cotton to approximately 12,000 acres.
The Sweet Potato Patch
By: Kent Wrench
In 1543 DeSoto’s Spanish explorers found sweet potatoes growing in “Indian gardens” in what became Louisiana. The sweet potatoes were also cultivated in the Carolina area of North America before the European colonization.
In Colonial days sweet potatoes were an item of trade and were shipped from the Carolinas out to northern cities. The potato was an essential food for all the colonies in the days before modern means of preservation.
This root crop kept hunger from the doors of many generations of our ancestors. During the trying times of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars it was a staple food.
A Colonial physician recommended sweet potatoes especially for children because of the sweet potatoes’ value in combating childhood nutritional diseases.
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This old pair of LEVI’S were found in a mine in the Rand Mining District, on the Mojave Desert,. California. They are covered in candlewax from the candle’s the miner was using to light the tunnel he was working in. They were found with and old paper bag with the name of a mercantile store which operated between 1895 and 1898 in the town or Randsburg. Their was also a gunny sack with the initials A.P.K. and Randsburg marked on it. A.P.K. is through to be Adam P. Kuffel who was a partner in the mercantile store. "
--From NeatoRama.com
