The phrase “free as the wind” is sounding more and more tempting to energy users beset by the ever-rising cost of oil, natural gas and other energy sources. And although wind power isn’t free, either, it is a key part of Oregon’s push for renewable energy. It may also offer an opportunity for rural landowners. […]
Spray night promises full coverage
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— PostedScientists from the USDA Application Technology Research Unit will present “Spray Night in the Nursery,” a workshop on sprayer technology, from 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9 at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Nursery in Boring, Ore. They will demonstrate various sprayer types and configurations by spraying fluorescent dye on crops, then using black lights to […]
My Douglas fir reaches acrooooossss the room
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— PostedI drink your milkshake! But I wouldn’t be able to drink it through a 350-foot straw.Neither could Daniel Day-Lewis.And as it turns out, neither could a Douglas fir tree – at least, not according to researchers led by Jean-Christophe Domec of North Carolina State University.They conducted a study which posits that the maximum height of […]
Card check legislation becomes hot campaign issue
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— PostedWith the fall political campaign season about to begin, ads are already flooding the airwaves concerning the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which would provide an alternate way for workers to form bargaining units. A card check allows employees to signify their support for forming a union by signing a card, rather than voting by […]
Checking out some gardens
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— PostedThe Garden Conservancy will hold an open tour of six private gardens in the Eugene area as part of its Open Days Program. On Sept. 6-7, six private gardens in Eugene, Veneta, Springfield, and Dexter will be open to the public. Three gardens west of Interstate 5 will be open on Saturday, Sept. 6, and […]
Le Tour des Plants: A Gardener’s Excursion
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— PostedOur very own Le Tour des Plants – a self-guided excursion to 48 garden centers and specialty nurseries from Eugene, Ore. to Woodland, Wash. – will be from Sept. 13-21. Its purpose is to build fall sales for OAN-member retailers by encouraging experienced gardeners and those new to gardening to look at fall as a […]
Friends of trees join Friends of Trees board
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— PostedBuley, Nilsen join Friends of Trees board of directorsTwo members of the OAN have been appointed to the board of directors for Friends of Trees, a Portland-based nonprofit that supports urban tree planting along streets and in natural areas.Nancy Buley is the marketing and communications director at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Nursery. She joined […]
Nursery Research and Extension Day 2008
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— PostedThe North Willamette Research and Extension Center and Oregon State University will present their 2008 Nursery Research and Extension Day from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11 at NWREC, 15210 N.E. Miley Road, Aurora, Ore. (directions via Google Maps). The day will include morning research presentations on P. ramorum, nursery production strategies, crop water use, […]
Asian longhorned beetle found in Illinois, Massachusetts
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— PostedIt’s long. It’s distinctive. And it chews dime-sized holes in many species of hardwood trees so that it can lay eggs in them, perpetuating a cycle that leads to infestation and the death of the tree.USDA officials are mobilizing a response after confirming the presence of the Asian longhorned beetle in Worcester, Mass. A resident […]
Nursery industry feels Olympic tragedy
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— PostedThe nursery industry suffered a tremendous loss on the opening day of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Fourth-generation nurseryman Todd Bachman – president and CEO of the Minnesota-based Bachman’s flower, home and garden stores – was murdered, apparently at random, by a distraught Chinese man. Bachman and his wife, Barbara, were both stabbed […]