Switzerland: Don’t Hurt Veggies’ Feelings

reply to post by Simplynoone


Having been raised on an orchard, one of the differences relates to the growing season of all things. If you leave the ripe cherries on the tree, they spoil quickly. The tree goes on, but its fruit, which may or may not be independently alive, or may simply be the trees reproductive system as I've read in horticulture, rots. It has brief period of being ideal, thats the period we eat it in. If you were planning on raising free roaming chickens to use mainly for eggs, and the occasional bird, as I would do if I had some land, the bird will still be there next year, if you decide to spare the chopping block, barring of course accidents and the neighbors little chihuahua, as happened to our chickens that we raised in incubators.

reply to post by mystiq


That is an excellent point about fruit.
But what of the massacre of veggies?
Actually, much to the dismay of my wife, I will not buy flowers for her.
I find that kind of "vanity" harvesting in poor taste.

Well, Venus Fly Traps seem to be alive...

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Originally posted by ALLis0NE
Well, Venus Fly Traps seem to be alive...

Technically, all plants are very much alive. I believe you were referring to the Venus Fly Trap’s ability for movement, though? Venus Fly Traps are part of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement; if the plant is healthy and the environmental conditions are good, they can close their traps in .1 seconds.

The plant itself does not contemplate the right time to ‘strike’ and close its traps, they are operated by a trigger mechanism. There are small hairs on the surface of the traps, and whenever something (spiders, flies, ext.) triggers one or more of those hairs twice in succession, the trap closes. The trigger is a safeguard to better preserve its energy, and not use it up on false starts.

I believe all plants are very capable of movement, though oftentimes it is a very slow process. I don’t think that their movements are premeditated; more that they happen to compensate for changes in their surroundings to better capture sunlight or nutrients. I personally have a plant that I have to turn every few hours; it tries to shove its leaves under the blinds and will end up hurting its leaves if I don’t watch it. (And I do realize this is because it needs light, I just usually forget to open the blinds when I get up, and this is a good reminder. )

One last comment, on the subject of their movements being premeditated: I think this could also be compared to other creatures that do not possess a brain, and run on instinct alone. Forgive me if this assessment is wrong, but I think it might make a good comparison.

I would like to say that the more you alter your food sources genetics,
the more likely it will be that one day that food source will no longer be compatible with you,
Now you may argue that 'they' could alter it to be more compatible,
But the more you alter something, the less of the 'original' it is