By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

They started out as pets, perhaps living in little boys’ bedrooms, being shown off to friends and wrapping around arms. But then the Burmese pythons grew, and grew, and grew (about 7 feet in a year), and they weren’t so cute or easy to deal with any more.

So, trying to do the right thing, their owners gently released them into the wild, near the large, shallow “river of grass” that flows through much of south Florida, known as the Everglades.

Problem solved.

[Read more →]

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that it will become increasingly fashionable, practical and accepted to do away with your perfectly coiffed green velvet, water-sucking, chemically dependent lawn…and replace it with…a vegetable garden!

I’m not saying the neighbors will rush into your newly composted, tomato and potato plot with tambourines or anything, just that they might not file a homeowner’s association complaint.

There are just too many trendsetters in this arena for the concept of literally laying down roots to not take hold.

Remember the Eat the View campaign? A modest kitchen gardener in Maine and his like-minded buddies pushed through a petition with some 100,000 signers convincing the Obamas to convert some turf to veggie gardening at the White House. The presidential garden, although still surrounded by fields of grass, has been warmly watched by veggie gardeners and struck just the right note in this year of economic hardship.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

Very low doses of some types of the herbicide Roundup can disrupt human liver cell function; the formulations’ toxicity may be tied to their “inactive” ingredients rather than the active weed-killing ingredient glyphosate, according to a report this week from Environmental Health News.

French scientists report that a number of Roundup formulations tested at very dilute concentrations can alter hormone actions and cause human liver cells to die within 24 hours of treatment.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports:

Bonnie Plants, which recently removed more than $1 million in tomato plants from retail nurseries in the Northeast, reported in a statement this week that the move was preventative and aimed at curtailing the spread of Late Blight.

The recall should not be taken as an indication that its plants were responsible for the blight that is threatening tomatoes and potatoes in the region, the company said.

The first reports of tomato blight in the Northeast came in late June, yet even two weeks later on July 7 government inspectors had not detected any blight among plants being cultivated by any of Bonnie’s 61 growers, Bonnie reported.

[Read more →]

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

We’ve been looking at the parched parts of the yard and garden, and thinking about water, that precious commodity that’s been elusive in parts of the Southwest and over-abundant in the Northeast this year. You just can’t control rainfall. But you can capture it; direct it and supplement it with conservative watering strategies.

Here are some new (or newly revised) water-saving products for eco-minded veggie and flower gardeners.

• The Weed -Free Garden Watering Blanket by Evo Organic. This product performs as promised by providing a “blanket” that prevents weeds from overtaking your vegetable garden. We tried it out this spring and found that is was, indeed, a delight to not have to yank weeds. More importantly, an embedded drip irrigation hose sewn into the blanket served as a built-in watering system that kept watering to a minimum and helped prevent water loss to evaporation. This was the ingenious part, major water savings. Now for the downside: Rainfall hit the plants but ran off the blanket or remained on the surface of the blanket. So nature’s watering system was not as effective. The plants got a drink when it rained, via wet leaves, but the ground could not get a good soaking. Did some of the rain get through the blanket? We think so, but not to the degree we would have liked. The organic fertilizer that came with blanket kit ($69.95 MSRP) seemed to work just fine. The blanket and hose seemed durable enough for a few seasons.

[Read more →]

By Christopher Peake
Green Right Now

“Just the thought of tomato blight sends fear into the heart of every farmer.” Those are the words of organic farmer Charlie Reid, who operates two small farms in southeastern New Hampshire. “We’ve been lucky this year … so far,” says Reid. “Lots of farmers have had to pull (dig up and destroy) their entire tomato crops. But with all this rain and so little sun my luck could change (for the worse) overnight.”

Blight is a highly contagious fungus that hits both tomatoes and potatoes. The Potato Famine in Ireland in the late 19^th century was caused by blight. And now blight is killing both tomato and potato crops in New England and in some mid-Atlantic states. It’s not yet an epidemic, but cause for concern for both farmers and consumers, as well as home garden growers who unwittingly used infected seedlings.

[Read more →]

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Las Vegas is hot and dry, as it should be, since it’s in the desert. Years of droughts in southern Nevada have emphasized the point.

The area usually only gets about 4″ of rain a year, anyway.

Despite that, the allure of Vegas has drawn an estimated 400,000 new residents since 2002. And then all those thousands of newcomers planted pretty lawns and lush landscaping.

Green lawns don’t belong in the desert. Keeping them green means a constant drain on southern Nevada’s precious and limited amount of water.

Today, even though the recession has halted Las Vegas’ population growth, the city still has more than 1.8 million residents, and 40 million visitors a year.

The source of all water in southern Nevada is Lake Mead, fed by the Colorado River. The lake’s water level has dropped dramatically in the last decade. In 2008, one report said, the water level of the 250-square-mile lake was 102 feet below its old waterline.

[Read more →]

Photo: CDC Public Health Image Library

Female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads dengue

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Ahh, the sounds of summer. Birds chirping, food sizzling on the grill, the buzzing and buzzing and buzzing, the slapping, the spraying and, of course, the slamming of the back door as everyone races back inside.

Summer’s biggest bummer is that swarm of mosquitoes heading your way. As if their irritating blood-sucking isn’t bad enough, they can carry serious diseases.

Of the roughly 200 species of mosquitoes in the U.S., according to the fact-filled American Mosquito Control Association website, there are varieties that can transmit West Nile virus, malaria, dengue and Eastern Equine encephalitis.

There are lots of products on the market that promise to repel mosquitoes. The ones considered most effective, since 1957, contain the chemical DEET. It’s been approved by the EPA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control for use on anyone older than 2 months.

[Read more →]

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Here’s a tip from fellow blogger Obama Foodorama: Take a quick eco-detour while visiting the National Mall this summer and check out the USDA’s gardens and garden workshops.

USDA staff will be conducting noontime mini-seminars on Fridays at The People’s Garden, installed outside the Ag Department headquarters. Topics will deal with watering, window gardens, attracting wildlife to the garden and of course, the ever-popular and more-work-than-we’d-like-it-to-be composting. You can see the schedule in this USDA press release.

[Read more →]

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Monarch butterflies can be found in every continental state in America. Seven states have even named the monarch their “state insect,” according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

That’s good news for those who would like to create a backyard space to attract monarchs as they make their way north or south for their long annual migrations.

The first step is a to do a little research to learn what monarchs and other butterflies are fluttering around your community. Books can provide information, but lepidopterists (people who collect and study butterflies and moths) or butterfly organizations in your area also will have details.

[Read more →]

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
As summer sets in, many of us are looking to shade those windows any way we can, and one of the greenest solutions is to add greenery. Outside the window, that is.
A shade tree can mitigate the heat gain on a west or south-facing window and truly cut down on [...]

[Read more →]

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Frogs and toads across the country could use a helping hand.

Amphibians — from the endangered Houston Toad to the threatened Golden Coqui — are disappearing at an alarming rate, faster than any other vertebrate. Many species around the globe have disappeared entirely, according to the Animal Welfare Institute’s Endangered Species Handbook (as well as numerous other sources.)

[Read more →]