Pinnacle Peak Trail wallpaper, Global farmland rush promises more than it delivers

Pinnacle Peak Trail wallpaper. The trail is part of Mount Rainier National Park.

The Global Farmland Rush

According to Oxfam, land equivalent to eight times the size of Britain was sold or leased worldwide in the last 10 years. In northern Mozambique, a Brazilian-Japanese venture plans to farm more than 54,000 square miles — an area comparable to Pennsylvania and New Jersey combined — for food exports. In 2009, a Libyan firm leased 386 square miles of land from Mali without consulting local communities that had long used it. In the Philippines, the government is so enthusiastic to promote agribusiness that it lets foreigners register partnerships with local investors as domestic corporations.

While large international business ventures buying up land for farming might not be the perfect solution for local food security or jobs, one would think it would provide some substantial increase in the local standard of living. Not even that has been the case. Jobs that are promised never materialize and local supply of food has not substantially increased. In one instance the United Arab Emirates bought land to grow sorghum. Part of their sales pitch to the Sudanese government was the creation of 2000 local jobs. Once their farm was up and running they had only hired 50 locals.

String Gardens – petals and leaves and roots and shoots grace the open air.

Air tulip Most plants sit resigned to the ground or confined by a planter. Yet they grow, reaching up to the sun, anchored down to the earth
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Not so for String Gardens. These petals and leaves and roots and shoots grace the open air. Held aloft by a single line, these bright, blooming plants hang freely, defying the ground below.

With a bit of string, a willing subject, and his “secret” ingredients, Fedor van der Valk floats these magical gardens indoors and out. What could inspire such hovering horticulture?

There are more pictures at the link. Unfortunately he has not delve into how he creates the hanging plants.

 

How Pot Growers Ravage the Land: A Google Earth Tour

By one recent estimate, cannabis accounts for more than a quarter of Humboldt County’s $1.6 billion economy, a share that’s likely to grow with the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in nearby Washington State. But the pot economy’s need for land and water has sparked a whole new wave of environmental problems.

This might be another good reason to decriminalize marijuana everywhere. Instead of relying on massive illegal land use, everyone who wants to can grow a few plants for themselves.