The Horsetail (Equisetaceae) family comprises 30 species, all in the ancient genus Equisetum. During the Carboniferous age (more than 230 million years ago), the Horsetail family was the dominant plant group in the world, with plants reaching gigantic size. Two basic forms of horsetails survive today. One is the hollow,...
Yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) and Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria
dalmatica) are members of the figwort (Scrophulariaceae) family.
They were introduced into North America as ornamental plants because of their showy, snapdragon-like flowers. Yellow toadflax was brought from Wales in the mid-1800s as a garden flower by Ranstead, a Welsh Quaker who...
Oregon State University researchers made a significant discovery in 1958. They found that the underlying cause of white muscle disease is a dietary deficiency of the trace element selenium (Se). There is a fairly clear-cut relationship between soil, plant, and animal factors. Certain soils, including some formed by volcanic action...
Coastal waters, lakes, and streams in the Pacific Northwest provide a variety of seafoods including salmon and many other fish, clams, oysters, shrimp, and crab. You can enjoy these delicacies throughout the year if you preserve them when supplies are abundant. Canning is a popular method for preserving seafood. Products...
A bright sign of spring, Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) reminds us of its invasive presence each year as many acres of forests, pastures, and rights-of-way burst into golden bloom. Scotch broom is a native of Europe and North Africa, from Great Britain to the Ural Mountains, and from Sweden to...
Christmas trees are an enduring holiday tradition. U.S. producers supply about 35 million trees annually. The past few decades have seen the Pacific Northwest’s rise to prominence as the leading Christmas-tree producing region in the United States. With a combined annual production estimated at more than 11 million trees, Oregon,...
Adults often find an aging parent needs support at a time when their own lives and responsibilities are the most complicated. You may feel pulled in several directions—raising your children, being supportive to a spouse, helping parents, and/or working outside the home—all at the
same time. It’s not unusual to...
Pacific Northwest vegetable and fruit growers always have faced changing markets. To many growers, these changes have seemed faster than usual in recent years, fueled by shifting consumer preferences, increasing production costs, and new market logistics. The number of processing plants in the region continues to decline. Typically, plant closures...
Two factors have led to curtailment of some lethal methods of combating sheep predators and limit the use of others: changes in public attitudes and more restrictive state and federal regulations. Ranchers now use more nonlethal methods for reducing losses of sheep to predator attack. Electric fence tests in Oregon...
Freezing is one of the simplest and least time consuming methods of food preservation. For best quality, it is important to follow directions carefully. Color, flavor, and nutritive value can be affected by freshness of the produce selected, method of preparation and packaging, and conditions of freezing.