Light Pollution Charges for Canadian Growers
You might remember that last summer Leamington, Ontario, home of many greenhouses, passed a bylaw to curb light pollution coming from local greenhouses. A sore spot among neighbors: the glow from greenhouses lighting their crops at night.
According to numerous news outlets, 12 greenhouse growers in Leamington have now accumulated a total of 88 charges of violating the new light-abatement rules. The matter will be heard by a court in coming months.
The bylaw, which passed last June, requires greenhouse growers using lights to install both sidewall and endwall curtains and keep them closed between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. An allowance was made for those still without curtains to submit proof that they would install them by October 1, 2023. For those not installing curtains, they were supposed to submit a declaration that the greenhouse lights would remain off. However, it sounds as though not a single business chose this last option.
FloraLife’s Paper Packets deemed carbon neutral
From my colleague Ellen Wells at Buzz, there’s this interesting news in packaging:
FloraLife, a division of Smithers-Oasis Company, has announced that its global line of FloraLife recyclable flower food paper packets are carbon neutral. They have worked with the folks at Carbon Footprint Ltd. to make the carbon emission assessments, as well as to offset any remainder of the packets’ carbon footprint.
Mark Allen, Global Product and Sustainability Manager at FloraLife, explained it this way in a press release: “By moving toward paper, the carbon footprint of the packets has been reduced, and we are also offsetting the remaining impact by our investment in the Pacajai REDD+ project, a program to prevent unplanned deforestation in the Amazon; the Longyuan Mulilo De Aar North Wind Energy Facility project, a project to supply wind-generated electricity to a grid in South Africa; and the 5MW Solar Power Plant in Rajasthan, India.”
Carbon offsetting plays the role of balancing out the emissions that have already been caused by supporting projects around the world that help provide solutions to climate change.
And with continued work, more of FloraLife’s products will be assessed and offset as part of its 2025 Sustainability Plan. FloraLife’s sustainability initiative is the company’s long-term plan targeted for 2025 that implements the reduce, re-use, recycle and respect principles in five commitment areas: climate change, water stewardship, product portfolio, sustainable packaging and stakeholder awareness.
Organic Farming: Europe vs. the U.S.
I just saw some interesting numbers come in from Europe: Organic farming in the European Union has increased by 41% in the last five years. In 2020, they had 14.8 million hectares (about 36.5 million acres) in production.
I don’t have a year-to-year comparison from the U.S. for you, but we know that between 2019 and 2021, the number of U.S. certified organic farms increased 5% to 17,445, while the number of certified acres decreased 11% to 4.9 million (1.9 million hectares).
You can dive into the numbers from the EU at
Agriland, and from the U.S.
HERE.
Free Webinar: New Perennials
Coming up this week, don’t miss this GrowerTalks webinar: Top New Perennials for 2023 Retail & a 2024 Preview from Proven Winners and Walters Gardens.
Date: Thursday, March 2
Time: 1:00 PM Eastern/12:00 PM Central
Join Walters Gardens Regional Product Manager Laura Robles for a preview of the new perennials from Proven Winners and Walters Gardens!
Laura will pick 15 of the most popular new perennials for the 2023 retail season, and review growing tips and talking points to help your staff get these plants looking good and into your customers’ gardens. She’ll also share 15 more to keep your eye out for at trade shows and in trial gardens through the summer months as you make plans for 2024 retail.
To sign up, head over to the
GrowerTalks website. You'll also find the archives of scores of previous webinars conducted over the past decade or more.
Virtual Garden Festival
Starting next week, the Great Grow Along virtual festival will begin, featuring 10 days packed with curated expert education, inspiration, and hands-on tips for gardeners of all levels. It might be a great way to get your customers primed for spring and give them the confidence to expand their repertoire. From sustainability to DIY landscaping, there are over 60 sessions to tune into.
The online event runs March 10-19 in partnership with Gardening Know-How.
The best part? The live stream is free!
Report from the MT Outpost
Frequent readers will know that at my little perch in the mountains of Montana, I’m not breaking ground in the gardens until late May, and last frost (often snow) can fly anytime in June. But the tease this time of year is the heights to which the sun has already climbed on the horizon. It warms the deck, melts ice on our dirt road in a matter of hours, and makes one believe spring flowers are just around the corner. (Reality check: in the last week, I think we had three nights below 0F and a good 16 in. of snow.)
Until next time,
Jennifer Duffield White
jwhite@ballpublishing.com
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