Straw bale-gardening instructions typically tell you to use ammonium nitrate to decay the bales, but Bea just watered them a little between rains to stimulate the process. Local feed and seed stores typically carry this fertilizer, which entices microbes to feed on the straw, causing it to rot. The bales are supposed to decompose some before you plant in them, so Bea plans to let decomposition happen over winter. Some straw bale gardeners get two season's use out of the bales but Bea...

Within a few hours, an armed militia showed up at the farm on a minibus and, shortly afterwards, Keno was killed and several more protesters were seriously injured. Keno died trying to stop the development of a research farm for genetically modified soya and corn next to the environmentally sensitive Iguacu National Park, becoming in the process a martyr for the anti-GM movement. by Leonard Doyle When a Brazilian peasant organiser led a group of landless farmers on to a European-owned farm...

International Energy is working to develop advanced biotechnology protocols for enhanced growth and biofuel productivity based entirely on the photosynthesis of algae, which have the unique capability of taking a waste (zero-energy) form of carbon (CO(2)) and converting it into a high-density liquid form of energy (natural oil) International Energy Launches 'Algae to Oil' Initiatives - Forbes.com. International Energy is working to develop advanced biotechnology protocols for enhanced...

Oil prices retreated as profit taking set in on Thursday after crude hit a hit a nominal record above $96 a barrel in after-hours trading on Wednesday following a sharp drop in US inventories that left them at their lowest level in two years. The tight stae of global energy markets was underlined by data from Japan on Wedneday where oil inventories also fell last week to 97. Dollar weakness following a further reduction in US interest rates by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday was a key...

Agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland co. provides corn feedstock for making Mirel, which requires genetically engineered bacteria to aid in fermentation. The materials are made from crops -- corn, switchgrass, sugar cane, even sweet potatoes -- that require land and water to grow. Plastics made from corn and other plants are carving a tiny niche from the market for conventional petroleum-based plastics and being promoted as green alternatives for everything from bulk-food...