We’re in the height of pollination season right now, with heavy tassels nodding and silks flowing. Things here in Iowa are going well, at least according to what I’ve seen and what I’ve read in the Iowa Farmer Today’s Crop Watch Blog. Some pests are appearing, but so far conditions are perfect for our research projects (as well as for the nation’s crops!).
I’ve been doing my best to keep up with lab work and help in the non-transgenic field – making for some very long days (so please excuse my lack of posts). I can’t complain about the hours, though. No matter how hot and sweaty it gets, I am constantly finding interesting things in the field. From odd maize phenotypes to insects I’ve never seen before, I’ve got tons of things to think about, and to photograph. Hopefully some of these things will end up in blog posts as well as being integrated into the decor of this new Squarespace site.
Yep, things are just ramping up in our nurseries. We have had uncommonly cold weather lately, so things were slow to flower. But I had to reload on bags multiple times today, so it’s all coming along. Here’s to a swift pollination season!
And I found a fortuitous mutant – double tassels! Too bad I broke one while taking a pollen bag off of it.