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People believe a lot of things that we have little to no evidence for, like that vikings wore horned helmets or that you can see the Great Wall of China from space. One of the things I like to do on my blogs is bust commonly held myths that I think matter. For example, I get really annoyed when I hear someone say sharks don't get cancer (I'll save that rant for another day). From now onward, posts that attack conventionally believed untruths will fall under a series I'm going to call "Mythbusting 101."
Ten years ago, Certified Organic didn't exist in the United States. Yet in 2010, a mere eight years after USDA's regulations officially went into effect, organic foods and beverages made $26.7 billion. In the past year or two, certified organic sales have jumped to about $52 billion worldwide despite the fact that organic foods cost up to three times as much as those produced by conventional methods. More and more, people are shelling out their hard-earned cash for what they believe are the best foods available. Imagine, people say: you can improve your nutrition while helping save the planet from the evils of conventional agriculture - a complete win-win. And who wouldn't buy organic, when it just sounds so good?
Here's the thing: there are a lot of myths out there about organic foods, and a lot of propaganda supporting methods that are rarely understood. It's like your mother used to say: just because everyone is jumping off a bridge doesn't mean you should do it, too. Now, before I get yelled at too much, let me state unequivocally that I'm not saying organic farming is bad - far from it. There are some definite upsides and benefits that come from many organic farming methods. For example, the efforts of organic farmers to move away from monocultures, where crops are farmed in single-species plots, are fantastic; crop rotations and mixed planting are much better for the soil and environment. My goal in this post isn't to bash organic farms, instead, it's to bust the worst of the myths that surround them so that everyone can judge organic farming based on facts. In particular, there are four myths thrown around like they're real that just drive me crazy.
Myth #1: Organic Farms Don't Use Pesticides
When the Soil Association, a major organic accreditation body in the UK, asked consumers why they buy organic food, 95% of them said their top reason was to avoid pesticides. They, like many people, believe that organic farming involves little to no pesticide use. I hate to burst the bubble, but that's simply not true. Organic farming, just like other forms of agriculture, still uses pesticides and fungicides to prevent critters from destroying their crops. Confused?
So was I, when I first learned this from a guy I was dating. His family owns a farm in rural Ohio. He was grumbling about how everyone praised the local organic farms for being so environmentally-conscientious, even though they sprayed their crops with pesticides all the time while his family farm got no credit for being pesticide-free (they're not organic because they use a non-organic herbicide once a year). I didn't believe him at first, so I looked into it: turns out that there are over 20 chemicals commonly used in the growing and processing of organic crops that are approved by the US Organic Standards. And, shockingly, the actual volume usage of pesticides on organic farms is not recorded by the government. Why the government isn't keeping watch on organic pesticide and fungicide use is a damn good question, especially considering that many organic pesticides that are also used by conventional farmers are used more intensively than synthetic ones due to their lower levels of effectiveness. According to the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, the top two organic fungicides, copper and sulfur, were used at a rate of 4 and 34 pounds per acre in 1971 1. In contrast, the synthetic fungicides only required a rate of 1.6 lbs per acre, less than half the amount of the organic alternatives.
The sad truth is, factory farming is factory farming, whether its organic or conventional. Many large organic farms use pesticides liberally. They're organic by certification, but you'd never know it if you saw their farming practices. As Michael Pollan, best-selling book author and organic supporter, said in an interview with Organic Gardening,
"They're organic by the letter, not organic in spirit... if most organic consumers went to those places, they would feel they were getting ripped off."
What makes organic farming different, then? It's not the use of pesticides, it's the origin of the pesticides used. Organic pesticides are those that are derived from natural sources and processed lightly if at all before use. This is different than the current pesticides used by conventional agriculture, which are generally synthetic. It has been assumed for years that pesticides that occur naturally (in certain plants, for example) are somehow better for us and the environment than those that have been created by man. As more research is done into their toxicity, however, this simply isn't true, either. Many natural pesticides have been found to be potential - or serious - health risks.2
Take the example of Rotenone. Rotenone was widely used in the US as an organic pesticide for decades 3. Because it is natural in origin, occurring in the roots and stems of a small number of subtropical plants, it was considered "safe" as well as "organic". However, research has shown that rotenone is highly dangerous because it kills by attacking mitochondria, the energy powerhouses of all living cells. Research found that exposure to rotenone caused Parkinson's Disease-like symptoms in rats 4, and had the potential to kill many species, including humans. Rotenone's use as a pesticide
has already been discontinued in the US as of 2005 due to health concerns***, but shockingly, it's still poured into our waters every year by fisheries management officials as a piscicide to remove unwanted fish species.
The point I'm driving home here is that just because something is natural doesn't make it non-toxic or safe. Many bacteria, fungi and plants produce poisons, toxins and chemicals that you definitely wouldn't want sprayed on your food.
Just last year, nearly half of the pesticides that are currently approved for use by organic farmers in Europe failed to pass the European Union's safety evaluation that is required by law 5. Among the chemicals failing the test was rotenone, as it had yet to be banned in Europe. Furthermore, just over 1% of organic foodstuffs produced in 2007 and tested by the European Food Safety Authority were found to contain pesticide levels above the legal maximum levels - and these are of pesticides that are not organic 6. Similarly, when Consumer Reports purchased a thousand pounds of tomatoes, peaches, green bell peppers, and apples in five cities and tested them for more than 300 synthetic pesticides, they found traces of them in 25% of the organically-labeled foods, but between all of the organic and non-organic foods tested, only one sample of each exceeded the federal limits8.
Not only are organic pesticides not safe, they might actually be worse than the ones used by the conventional agriculture industry. Canadian scientists pitted 'reduced-risk' organic and synthetic pesticides against each other in controlling a problematic pest, the soybean aphid. They found that not only were the synthetic pesticides more effective means of control, the organic pesticides were more ecologically damaging, including causing higher mortality in other, non-target species like the aphid's predators9. Of course, some organic pesticides may fare better than these ones did in similar head-to-head tests, but studies like this one reveal that the assumption that natural is better for the environment could be very dangerous.
Even if the organic food you're eating is from a farm which uses little to no pesticides at all, there is another problem: getting rid of pesticides doesn't mean your food is free from harmful things. Between 1990 and 2001, over 10,000 people fell ill due to foods contaminated with pathogens like E. coli, and many have organic foods to blame. That's because organic foods tend to have higher levels of potential pathogens. One study, for example, found E. coli in produce from almost 10% of organic farms samples, but only 2% of conventional ones10. The same study also found Salmonella only in samples from organic farms, though at a low prevalence rate. The reason for the higher pathogen prevalence is likely due to the use of manure instead of artificial fertilizers, as many pathogens are spread through fecal contamination. Conventional farms often use manure, too, but they use irradiation and a full array of non-organic anti-microbial agents as well, and without those, organic foods run a higher risk of containing something that will make a person sick.
In the end, it really depends on exactly what methods are used by crop producers. Both organic and conventional farms vary widely in this respect. Some conventional farms use no pesticides. Some organic farms spray their crops twice a month. Of course, some conventional farms spray just as frequently, if not more so, and some organic farms use no pesticides whatsoever. To really know what you're in for, it's best if you know your source, and a great way to do that is to buy locally. Talk to the person behind the crop stand, and actually ask them what their methods are if you want to be sure of what you're eating.
Myth #2: Organic Foods are Healthier
Some people believe that by not using manufactured chemicals or genetically modified organisms, organic farming produces more nutritious food. However, science simply cannot find any evidence that organic foods are in any way healthier than non-organic ones - and scientists have been comparing the two for over 50 years.
Just recently, an independent research project in the UK systematically reviewed the 162 articles on organic versus non-organic crops published in peer-reviewed journals between 1958 and 2008 11. These contained a total of 3558 comparisons of content of nutrients and other substances in organically and conventionally produced foods. They found absolutely no evidence for any differences in content of over 15 different nutrients including vitamin C, ?-carotene, and calcium. There were some differences, though; conventional crops had higher nitrogen levels, while organic ones had higher phosphorus and acidity - none of which factor in much to nutritional quality. Further analysis of similar studies on livestock products like meat, dairy, and eggs also found few differences in nutritional content. Organic foods did, however, have higher levels of overall fats, particularly trans fats. So if anything, the organic livestock products were found to be worse for us (though, to be fair, barely).
"This is great news for consumers. It proves that the 98% of food we consume, which is produced by technologically advanced agriculture, is equally nutritious to the less than 2% derived from what is commonly referred to as the 'organic' market," said Fredhelm Schmider, the Director General of the European Crop Protection Association said in a press release about the findings.12
Joseph D. Rosen, emeritus professor of food toxicology at Rutgers, puts it even more strongly. "Any consumers who buy organic food because they believe that it contains more healthful nutrients than conventional food are wasting their money," he writes in a comprehensive review of organic nutritional claims13.
Strong organic proponents also argue that organic food tastes better. In the same poll where 95% of UK organic consumers said they buy organic to avoid pesticides, over two-thirds of respondents said organic produce and meats taste better than non-organic ones. But when researchers had people put their mouths to the test, they found that people couldn't tell the difference between the two in blind taste tests14, 18.
So, in short, organics are not better for us and we can't tell the difference between them and non-organic foods. There may be many things that are good about organic farming, from increased biodiversity on farms to movement away from monocultures, but producing foods that are healthier and tastier simply isn't one of them.
Myth #3: Organic Farming Is Better For The Environment
As an ecologist by training, this myth bothers me the most of all three. People seem to believe they're doing the world a favor by eating organic. The simple fact is that they're not - at least the issue is not that cut and dry.
Yes, organic farming practices use less synthetic pesticides which have been found to be ecologically damaging. But factory organic farms use their own barrage of chemicals that are still ecologically damaging, and refuse to endorse technologies that might reduce or eliminate the use of these all together. Take, for example, organic farming's adamant stance against genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
GMOs have the potential to up crop yields, increase nutritious value, and generally improve farming practices while reducing synthetic chemical use - which is exactly what organic farming seeks to do. As we speak, there are sweet potatoes are being engineered to be resistant to a virus that currently decimates the African harvest every year, which could feed millions in some of the poorest nations in the world15. Scientists have created carrots high in calcium to fight osteoperosis, and tomatoes high in antioxidants. Almost as important as what we can put into a plant is what we can take out; potatoes are being modified so that they do not produce high concentrations of toxic glycoalkaloids, and nuts are being engineered to lack the proteins which cause allergic reactions in most people. Perhaps even more amazingly, bananas are being engineered to produce vaccines against hepatitis B, allowing vaccination to occur where its otherwise too expensive or difficult to be administered. The benefits these plants could provide to human beings all over the planet are astronomical.
Yet organic proponents refuse to even give GMOs a chance, even to the point of hypocrisy. For example, organic farmers apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin (a small insecticidal protein from soil bacteria) unabashedly across their crops every year, as they have for decades. It's one of the most widely used organic pesticides by organic farmers. Yet when genetic engineering is used to place the gene encoding the Bt toxin into a plant's genome, the resulting GM plants are vilified by the very people willing to liberally spray the exact same toxin that the gene encodes for over the exact same species of plant. Ecologically, the GMO is a far better solution, as it reduces the amount of toxin being used and thus leeching into the surrounding landscape and waterways. Other GMOs have similar goals, like making food plants flood-tolerant so occasional flooding can replace herbicide use as a means of killing weeds. If the goal is protect the environment, why not incorporate the newest technologies which help us do so?
But the real reason organic farming isn't more green than conventional is that while it might be better for local environments on the small scale, organic farms produce far less food per unit land than conventional ones. Organic farms produce around 80% that what the same size conventional farm produces16 (some studies place organic yields below 50% those of conventional farms!).
Right now, roughly 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, and about 16 million of those will die from it17. If we were to switch to entirely organic farming, the number of people suffering would jump by 1.3 billion, assuming we use the same amount of land that we're using now. Unfortunately, what's far more likely is that switches to organic farming will result in the creation of new farms via the destruction of currently untouched habitats, thus plowing over the little wild habitat left for many threatened and endangered species.
Already, we have cleared more than 35% of the Earth's ice-free land surface for agriculture, an area 60 times larger than the combined area of all the world's cities and suburbs. Since the last ice age, nothing has been more disruptive to the planet's ecosystem and its inhabitants than agriculture. What will happen to what's left of our planet's wildlife habitats if we need to mow down another 20% or more of the world's ice-free land to accommodate for organic methods?
The unfortunate truth is that until organic farming can rival the production output of conventional farming, its ecological cost due to the need for space is devastating. As bad as any of the pesticides and fertilizers polluting the world's waterways from conventional agriculture are, it's a far better ecological situation than destroying those key habitats altogether. That's not to say that there's no hope for organic farming; better technology could overcome the production gap, allowing organic methods to produce on par with conventional agriculture. If that does occur, then organic agriculture becomes a lot more ecologically sustainable. On the small scale, particularly in areas where food surpluses already occur, organic farming could be beneficial, but presuming it's the end all be all of sustainable agriculture is a mistake.
Myth #4: It's all or none
The point of this piece isn't to vilify organic farming; it's merely to point out that it's not as black and white as it looks. Organic farming does have many potential upsides, and may indeed be the better way to go in the long run, but it really depends on technology and what we discover and learn in the future. Until organic farming can produce crops on par in terms of volume with conventional methods, it cannot be considered a viable option for the majority of the world. Nutritionally speaking, organic food is more like a brand name or luxury item. It's great if you can afford the higher price and want to have it, but it's not a panacea. You would improve your nutritional intake far more by eating a larger volume of fruits and vegetables than by eating organic ones instead of conventionally produced ones.
What bothers me most, however, is that both sides of the organic debate spend millions in press and advertising to attack each other instead of looking for a resolution. Organic supporters tend to vilify new technologies, while conventional supporters insist that chemicals and massive production monocultures are the only way to go. This simply strikes me as absurd. Synthetic doesn't necessarily mean bad for the environment. Just look at technological advances in creating biodegradable products; sometimes, we can use our knowledge and intelligence to create things that are both useful, cheap (enough) and ecologically responsible, as crazy as that idea may sound.
I also firmly believe that increasing the chemicals used in agriculture to support insanely over-harvested monocultures will never lead to ecological improvement. In my mind, the ideal future will merge conventional and organic methods, using GMOs and/or other new technologies to reduce pesticide use while increasing the bioavailability of soils, crop yield, nutritional quality and biodiversity in agricultural lands. New technology isn't the enemy of organic farming; it should be its strongest ally.
As far as I'm concerned, the biggest myth when it comes to organic farming is that you have to choose sides. Guess what? You don't. You can appreciate the upsides of rotating crops and how GMOs might improve output and nutrition. You, the wise and intelligent consumer, don't have to buy into either side's propaganda and polarize to one end or another. You can, instead, be somewhere along the spectrum, and encourage both ends to listen up and work together to improve our global food resources and act sustainably.
See more on this, in response to critiques: In the immortal words of Tom Petty: "I won't back down"
More Mythbusting 101:
*** Oh, it turns out Rotenone got re-approved for organic use in 2010. See for yourself.
Regarding the use of GMOs: perhaps Andy Revkin from The New York Times says it better.
Based on the responses, I just want to make this clear: this is NOT a comprehensive comparison of organic and conventional agriculture, nor is it intended to be. That post would be miles long and far more complex. My overall belief is that there shouldn't be a dichotomy in the first place - there are a variety of methods and practices that a farmer can use, each with its pros and cons. The main point here is that something "organic" isn't intrinsically better than something that isn't, and that you have to approach all kinds of agriculture critically to achieve optimum sustainability.
Ok, and while I'm adding in notes: stop citing Bedgley et al. 2007 as evidence that organic farming produces equal yields: this study has been shown to be flawed (see my comments in the follow up post to this article), and was strongly critiqued (e.g. this response article).
- National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, National Pesticide Use Database. Available from http://www.ncfap.org (Viewed 19 Nov, 2009).
- Gold, L., Slone, T., Stern, B., Manley, N., & Ames, B. (1992). Rodent carcinogens: setting priorities Science, 258 (5080), 261-265 DOI: 10.1126/science.1411524
- Rotenone: Resource Guide for Organic and Disease Management. Cornell University. Available at www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/resourceguide/mfs/11rotenone.php (Viewed 19 Nov, 2009).
- Caboni, P., Sherer, T., Zhang, N., Taylor, G., Na, H., Greenamyre, J., & Casida, J. (2004). Rotenone, Deguelin, Their Metabolites, and the Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease Chemical Research in Toxicology, 17 (11), 1540-1548 DOI: 10.1021/tx049867r
- EFSA 2009. Pesticides used in organic farming: some pass and some fail safety authorization. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Available from: www.ecpa.eu (Viewed 19 Nov, 2009).
- Reasoned opinion of EFSA prepared by the Pesticides Unit (PRAPeR) on the 2007 Annual Report on Pesticide Residues. EFSA Scientific Report (2009) 305, 1-106
- Consumer Reports 1998. Organic produce. Consumer Reports 63(1), 12-18.
- FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (2000). Pesticide Program: Residue Monitoring 1999. Available at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov (Viewed 19 Nov, 2009)
- Bahlai, C., Xue, Y., McCreary, C., Schaafsma, A., & Hallett, R. (2010). Choosing Organic Pesticides over Synthetic Pesticides May Not Effectively Mitigate Environmental Risk in Soybeans PLoS ONE, 5 (6) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011250
- Mukherjee A, Speh D, Dyck E, & Diez-Gonzalez F (2004). Preharvest evaluation of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in organic and conventional produce grown by Minnesota farmers. Journal of food protection, 67 (5), 894-900 PMID: 15151224
- Dangour, A., Lock, K., Hayter, A., Aikenhead, A., Allen, E., & Uauy, R. (2010). Nutrition-related health effects of organic foods: a systematic review American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 92 (1), 203-210 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29269
- EFSA 2009. Study finds no additional nutritional benefit in "organic" food. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Available from: www.ecpa.eu (Viewed Jul 2011)
- Rosen, J. (2010). A Review of the Nutrition Claims Made by Proponents of Organic Food Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 9 (3), 270-277 DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00108.x
- Fillion, L., & Arazi, S. (2002). Does organic food taste better? A claim substantiation approach Nutrition & Food Science, 32 (4), 153-157 DOI: 10.1108/00346650210436262
- Qaim, M. The Economic Effects of Genetically Modified Orphan
Commodities: Projections for Sweetpotato in Kenya. Agricultural Economist Center for Development Research (ZEF), No. 13-1999. PDF
- Mader, P. (2002). Soil Fertility and Biodiversity in Organic Farming Science, 296 (5573), 1694-1697 DOI: 10.1126/science.1071148
- Fedoroff, N. (1999). Plants and population: Is there time? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96 (11), 5903-5907 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.11.5903
- Basker, D. (2009). Comparison of taste quality between organically and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 7 (03) DOI: 10.1017/S0889189300004641


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Set of 4 Liberty Bows - Capel Mustard
This product is currently sold out.
This set of 4 Liberty of London ribbon hair bows are bright and colorful!
Comes on a Ribbies headcard in clear bag packaging. Great to give as a gift! All bows are on alligator clips with no slip grips.

subset: commoncrawl


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GRID (hoops) silver earrings in tough design
Matching silver earrings (hoops) in the GRID collection.
Width: 3 cm diameter
Material: sterling silver (925), nickel free
GRID silver earrings (hoops) are designed by Heléne Wetterskog (Truly Me Jewelry Design).
Always a jewelry box on the purchase
When buying one or more Truly Me jewelry, we will always ship with the popular Truly Me jewelry box (value 395 kr). One box per purchase opportunity. A perfect storage of your silver jewelry … especially when you're on the move.
Open purchase 14 days
Please note that you always have an open purchase when you buy jewelry from us, ie the jewelry would not fit and you will always be able to change it or make a refund if it does not match your expectations.
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Truly Me uses Klarna's payment service, where you can safely choose to pay by card, partial payment or invoice 14 days. That is, you can order your goods, try the jewelry at home – before paying the Klarna invoice included in the package. If you choose to return the order, we will credit your invoice at Klarna only when we have returned the jewelry.
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When you shop with us, you always have a one-year warranty on manufacturing and material defects. However, the warranty does not cover wear, carefree handling or injury due to an accident. Read more – Terms and Info.
Clean the silver jewelry
Genuine silver jewelery can always be clean, unlike imitation jewelry (ie bijouterie). There are a variety of silver powders on the market, but we can recommend a more environmentally friendly alternative – read more here – how easy you can clean your silver jewelry at home, for example, the baking soda method.
For questions, you can always contact Truly Me's customer service at email@example.com or if you have the roads past the Truly Me store at Odengatan 36 in Stockholm.


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Product Description
Squash, cucumbers, melons, eggplant, okra, tomatoes and other vegetables in your garden depend on bees to set fruit, so plant yourself some insurance with flowers that will attract them. Wildflowers for Bees or a Bee balm is one of their favorites. As soon as the weather is dependably warm and sunny, you should see the bees visiting your plants. Bee balm is perennial in Zones 4 through 9, so put it in a corner of the garden were it can grow undisturbed. It will multiply, too. If you "deadhead," or cut off the old blooms when they fade, bee balm will bloom longer. Marigolds make good companion plants for tomatoes because the roots contain thiopene. Certain nematodes find this substance toxic and will either avoid it or meet more severe consequences. Plant tomatoes along side of radishes, spinach, lettuce and turnips to help shade them from the hot sun. Though there is some debate, cabbage and cauliflower may benefit from having tomatoes close because they discourage flea beetles from nibbling. Good plants to pair with tomatoes are basil, carrots, chamomile and marigolds but keep them separate from fennel and potatoes.
Vegetable Garden - Tips on Growing Tomato From Seeds
The main crop in some home gardens, and for the home gardener are tomatoes that deliver the taste of summer in every bite. Just a few healthy plants will produce buckets of beautiful Tomatoes loaded with flavor and nutrition. Tomatoes run on warmth, so they are best planted in late spring and early summer except in Zone 10, where they are a fall and winter crop. Choosing varieties can be confusing because there is such a large of selection of seeds to choose from, but it's a good idea to plant some of each for variety and length of season. Devote a prime, sunny spot for your tomatoes, which will grow into a tall screen of green foliage studded with ripening fruits in mid- to late summer. Tomatoes need at least 8 hours of sun to bring out their best flavors, and you will need to stake, trellis, or cage the sprawling plants to keep them off the ground. Deciding on a support plan before you set out your tomato plants out is suggested.
You can combine fast-maturing varieties with mid and late season, but wait until any danger of frost has passed to transplant your tomatoes.
in a warm, well-lighted area at least 5-7 weeks before last the last frost. Sow Tomato seeds ¼" deep in seed starting formula. Keep evenly moist. Tomato seedlings emerge in 5-8 days at 70º F. Prior to transplanting to the garden, accustom to outdoor conditions by moving to a sheltered place outside for a week.
The seedlings to stand 3-4" apart each way if left un staked; 2½" apart each way if staked or grown in cages. Tomatoes need full sun and well drained soil. Did you know that the best time to transplant is on a cloudy day or in the morning or evening hours when the sun is not as intense? And water your tomato seedlings just before you are ready to transplant to help the root ball intact.
Water deeply once a week in dry weather. Cultivate or mulch to control weeds. A trick that we learned from a grower of Hydroponics Tomatoes, that was in the absence of bees, he would flick the tomato flower with your index finger lightly, and this would help in the pollination process.
If you see cracking:
Both radical cracking ( from the stem downward) and concentric cracking( around the stem) is caused when the plant takes up too much water too quickly. As tomatoes begin turning red, their skin becomes less flexible. Uneven watering or rain following a dry period encourages the plant to drink too quickly, thus cracking the fruit in a radical direction. Later in the season cool nights combine with uneven moisture will then cause the concentric cracking. The smallest like cherry tomatoes and tomatoes over 3" in diameter are most susceptible, as well as old varieties. Some of the new tomatoes that are crack resistant would be a Celebrity Tomato.
For your information, you will see the initials below after the name of our Tomatoes. This guide is to inform you of the disease resistance or tolerance to common Tomato problems.
Tomato Disease Terminology


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Corpse driven 1,300 miles in suitcase, authorities say
By Kayla Rodgers and Ralph Ellis CNN
(CNN) -- Deputies didn't start investigating the man's death until somebody unzipped a blue suitcase and found his corpse, said Rick Hickman, sheriff of Prairie County, Arkansas.
Investigators said a woman and man drove the suitcase containing the body 1,300 miles from Johnstown, a small town in upstate New York, to central Arkansas -- but they don't know why.
The man has not been publicly identified, but authorities say he was in his 80s and comes from Johnstown. Arkansas Online reported that a preliminary autopsy shows he died of natural causes.
Hickman said his department's involvement started last Sunday.
"We got a call from someone in the Cross Roads community here in town complaining of a blue Toyota pickup truck filled with furniture and junk a couple was trying to (sell) in a parking lot," he said. "One of the patrons of this sale went to the back of the truck and unzipped a larger blue suitcase and saw a body."
Prairie County deputies started investigating and found two suspects about 15-20 miles away, but without the body, Hickman said.
The blue suitcase was found later in a field, Arkansas Online said.
Virginia Lee Colvin, 56, of Johnstown, and Michael Wayne Stivers were charged with abuse of a corpse, a felony, and are held in the Prairie County Jail, according to the sheriff's office and Arkansas State Police. Stivers faces other charges unrelated to the body. Arkansas Online said Stivers, whose age was not given, also comes from Johnstown.
Investigators believe the man died in Johnstown.
"We are currently working with the New York State Police forensics to confirm if this was the exact place of death, because evidence is showing the man was dead for some time," said Johnstown Police Detective James Rodecker of Johnstown New York Police.
Colvin may have been a caregiver for the elderly man, authorities said. No other suspects are being sought in Arkansas.
™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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- Available Colors: Available in thousands of colors
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Commercial cannabis activities will be allowed in specified zones subject to certain buffers. Buffers are 600 feet from schools, daycare establishments and youth centers, 200 feet from parks and libraries, and 100 feet from residential property. For further information regarding the buffer requirements, please visit the City Clerk Archive PDF of 2018 Ordinances and search for Ordinance 3684-C.S. within the archive document.
To view the zoning on a particular parcel, please visit our GIS site or contact the City of Modesto Planning Division at 209-577-5267.


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Bye Bye Back Pain
I was skeptical at first about a bed that can be put in a box, but I decided to give it a try anyway and so glad I did!! My wife and I have been having back pains probably due to our old mattress and I noticed the difference the first night of use.
Sandra Pearson


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It's a bad sign when the non-IT boss asks for an administrator password. Often it leads to some kind of disaster: being fired, a tech mess to clean up, and more such requests in the future. A few years ago my boss asked for the administrator password to our phone/voicemail system and, surprise surprise, ran into some snags.
It was a Friday morning, and I was planning to be out the following Monday for my kid's birthday party. My boss, "Sheryl," stopped by my desk and surprised me by asking for my administrator password. It would be an understatement to say that I was concerned.
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Sheryl is proficient with Microsoft Office, for example, but the phone/voicemail system isn't her forte for sure. She usually left the tech details to me, so this request was unusual. She'd never mentioned our phone systems before. What did she want with the password?
I asked, and Sheryl replied that she wanted to play around with trying to improve the handling of phone calls in the organization. I asked her what she wanted to improve, but she said she wasn't sure exactly. I told her I could provide phone call statistics from the system for her to review, but she insisted on taking a look herself.
I had a sinking feeling that I was facing not only a potential disaster with the phone system, but that this was only the beginning of Sheryl wanting to "take a look" at other systems as well. At that moment, I didn't see any alternative other than giving her the password. She is the boss, after all.
I gave her the password, but I also showed her how to back up all the settings on the phone system before she changed anything. In addition, I handed her the 500-page phone system administrator manual for reference.
Before leaving for the weekend, I made one more backup of the phone/voicemail configuration and stored it on one of our servers. Then I left, hoping for the best.
On Monday during my kid's birthday party, I got a call on my cellphone. I didn't recognize the number, so I didn't answer it. It rang again a few minutes later from the same phone number, but I let it go to voicemail. My phone rang a third time, but I was busy with the party and decided I'd look into it afterward. I helped my spouse clean up, then checked the voicemail from the unknown caller.
That caller turned out to be Sheryl, dialing from her personal cellphone, which is why I didn't recognize the phone number. She told me that the office phones weren't working.


text: Dean is proud to be part of the #1 real estate company in the Coachella Valley. As a full-time area real estate professional resident, he offers is full support and attention to his clients. His goal is to help you reach your goal whether it is buying or selling, and to guide you through the process with valuable information, resources, and insight to help you arrive at the best decision for you. Over the last 20 years Dean has owned, renovated and managed over 25 properties. His background as an artist and interior designer has given him the edge to do so profitably. He believes it is helpful to his clients in that he is able to A) Guide sellers in how to prepare their home to sell for the best price in the shortest time, and B) help buyers envision the possibilities of potential properties. Raised on a cattle ranch in Montana, Dean learned the value of utilizing property to its fullest potential. Twenty-three years of commercial photography experience taught Dean how to make a property stand out and attract the right attention. After years of experience working with numerous celebrities, he is well versed at maintaining strict confidentiality. His go-getter personality offers a competitive edge in overcoming obstacles and securing and negotiating for his clients. Details are important and he aims to always keep you informed of current market conditions and more importantly, where you are in the process. It is Dean's pleasure to help you with your Coachella Valley real estate needs.


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Pineapple Pear Wine Kit
Availability: In stock
Only 2 left
Pineapple Pear Pinot Grigio leaps out of the glass with juicy sweet pears, succulent, ripe pineapple, and a bright and flowery fragrance. Firm acidity from the Pinot Grigio gives it mouth watering juiciness and a refreshing finish. A perfect aperitif/cocktail, its crispness primes the palate for food. Pair with all seafood, whether raw, lightly sautéed, grilled or lightly sauced with cream or butter.
Write Your Own Review


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Is Mark Zuckerberg Too Old to Run Facebook?
The fable of the dropout prodigy is so widely-told in Silicon Valley that it even came back to bite the enfant terrible who inspired it. In a new Q&A in the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo asks 29-year-old Mark Zuckerberg if he's out of touch with teens.
It takes two strains of Silicon Valley folklore to get the point where the CEO of a $148 billion company is being politely nudged out to pasture before his 30th birthday. There's the notion that Facebook's success was due to Zuckerberg's age and phenotype. As Y Combinator founder Paul Graham put it:
"The cutoff in investors' heads is 32," Graham says. "After 32, they start to be a little skeptical." And Graham knew that he had his own biases. "I can be tricked by anyone who looks like Mark Zuckerberg. There was a guy once who we funded who was terrible. I said: 'How could he be bad? He looks like Zuckerberg!' "
Nevermind that WhatsApp, Facebook's $19 billion hope for the future, was built by a pair of industry veterans, ages 38 and 42.
Then there's the tech sector's version of a teenage dream. When the prevailing business model is if-you-grow-it, we-can-monetize-it it's only natural to be concerned about what happens if the hockey stick-shaped graph starts to droop. No one has yet invented a magical new way of making money besides advertising, e-commerce, or subscriptions. Advertisers, because let's be honest it's still mostly advertising when the product is free, like them young.
But the youth complex is more desperate in social networks or apps. Technology evolves rapidly and so does the way it's used. The logic is that any teen is a prognosticator of tech trends, just by virtue of being a teen. Scraps of information about their online habits are greeted in the tech press like the App Oracle of Delphi.
No such slavish attention is heaped on other untapped demographics, like non-white, rural, or foreign users, except for the occasional nod to China and now India. The lesson of the WhatsApp acquisition, however, seems to be all about the latter.
When Manjoo asks whether he gets Facebook's audience, Zuckerberg reframes it as question of growth for a corporation with 1.2 billion users. Then, he points to emerging markets where future Facebook users are not yet online:
Can I ask one personal question? You're turning 30 this year. And a number of these apps are being used by people who are way younger than that. When you started Facebook you were in the audience of people using Facebook. And now you're not for apps like Snapchat or some of the newer kinds of apps. Do you feel like you are in touch with the audience that's using some of these newer things?
It's not clear to me that when you look at younger folks or older folks that there's any trend of apps starting in one audience and going on to be more mainstream. Pinterest's early users were not tech people and not younger people, and it was very female-centric. Some of these other services might start with teens. But I think Twitter′s early strength wasn't younger folks. One of the companies I think is the most interesting right now is Tesla. People have been trying to do electric cars for years. They realized that they could deliver a very high-quality product if they marketed it as an upscale thing.
Oh, and most people who use Facebook have not been my age through the majority of my time here.
But understanding who you serve is always a very important problem, and it only gets harder the more people that you serve. We try to pay a lot of attention to this by a combination of very rigorous quantitative and qualitative feedback. But if you're serving 1.2 billion people, it's very hard.
And I think the age thing is probably not the biggest one I worry about. I'm focused on Internet.org and how to connect all these people. But my life is so different from the person who's going to be getting Internet in two years. One of the things that we do is ask product managers to go travel to an emerging-market country to see how people who are getting on the Internet use it. They learn the most interesting things. People ask questions like, 'It says here I'm supposed to put in my password — what's a password?' For us, that's a mind-boggling thing.
The old man's still got it! That's the way it should be answered. But rather than whether Facebook can innovate, the question I'm curious about is whether any company with a focus on social interactions will be around in 20 years. If a tech wunderkind is washed up by 30, what is the lifespan of the products and companies they build?
To contact the author of this post, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.


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On May 1, a group of 11 Maine legislators unveiled the fourth significant tax reform plan of the last decade. It would be unusual for a proposal as sweeping as this not to have major flaws, which it does. But, at its heart, it is a sincere, intelligent attempt to overhaul a tax code that nearly everyone agrees must change. It is an especially welcome offering in the face of Gov. Paul LePage's proposed 2014-15 budget.
Maine Revenue Services has not yet released a distributional analysis of LD 1496, largely designed by independent Sen. Dick Woodbury of Yarmouth, who has a Ph.D. in economics. More details about who, exactly, would benefit and who would suffer under the potential changes will continue to emerge. This plan should be viewed as a starting point for discussion and as a work in progress.
It would raise Maine's 5 percent sales tax to 6 percent and broaden it to apply to nearly all consumer purchases, such as groceries and heating oil, though it's designed to exclude business-to-business transactions, health care and education. Every tax reform plan of the last decade has attempted to raise sales tax revenue, as the state currently over-relies on the property tax revenue stream and under-relies on revenue from sales. This plan would use the expansion of the sales tax to fund income and property tax relief, with an overall goal of shifting more of the tax burden to nonresidents.
But Maine residents and legislators will have to be convinced that taxing essential household items such as food and heating oil is necessary. Doing so is possible if the financial impact is offset in other areas. And that is the goal. To mitigate the sales tax increase, the plan would create a sales tax fairness credit — for Maine residents only — worth up to $2,000, depending on the type of household. The question is whether it will be an adequate counter to the sales tax increase for specific groups of people, namely middle-income earners.
To offset the regressive burden of property taxes, the plan would expand the homestead exemption to apply to the first $50,000 worth of property, up from $10,000, and replace the circuit breaker program with a property tax fairness credit, worth up to $1,000. The expansion of the homestead exemption and an additional proposal, to replace the current municipal revenue sharing formula with one that directs more money to towns with higher-than-average property tax rates, offer more targeted property tax relief. But legislators should examine the impact of the proposal on people who rent apartments or business space, as they won't benefit from the homestead exemption and will be hit by an increased sales tax. The full implications of the revenue-sharing cut and homestead exemption increase on municipal budgets also needs to be better understood.
In a major shift, the tax reform plan would essentially cut the income tax rate in half, eliminating the three-bracket system currently in place and replacing it with a 4-percent flat rate for everyone except those with very low incomes. Nearly every tax exemption would be abolished. Some people testifying before the legislative Taxation Committee on Friday pointed out that the income tax reduction would help many Maine-based businesses, which often pay taxes through the individual income tax filings of their owners. But the Legislature will need to ensure that cutting the income tax so drastically — creating the greatest benefit for the very wealthy — won't stall the Maine economy's slow recovery. The revenue the state collects from the income tax tends to rebound most quickly after an economic slump. By cutting deeply now, the state could forgo an improving revenue stream and hurt long-term funding for education and other services.
The plan also would lower Maine's corporate income tax rate to 7.5 percent from 8.93 percent on income greater than $50,000. Because the tax is collected proportional to the amount of sales a business does in the state, lowering the rate would have no bearing on a corporation's decision to locate in Maine and would be an obvious giveaway of money. Lawmakers would be best advised to develop a plan that they favor, and not cater to LePage, so they can override a veto.
With some exceptions, that is what they've done. Having a tax reform plan spearheaded by five Democrats, five Republicans and one independent is rare. It ensures a greater chance of passage. Former state Sen. Peter Mills, a Republican who worked on previous tax reform proposals and now directs the Maine Turnpike Authority, said, "I think it's a good plan, an intelligent plan. These things keep getting better and better."
The plan may also have come at the right moment. Legislators can't return home having approved LePage's budget, which eliminates municipal revenue sharing, so this option will be appealing. And there is time to refine it. Many Maine residents will oppose the proposal because they dislike parts of it. But rather than reject it outright, they should speak to their local legislator and offer suggestions to help to make the plan work. It has promise.


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The Price of Crossing Steve Jobs
Gordon McLeod has been packing up his office; today is his last at the Wall Street Journal. His ejection is complicated. But some coworkers think they know what did him in: insulting Steve Jobs in Rupert Murdoch's presence.
McLeod's exchange with Jobs, the fiercely willful Apple CEO, came one night this past June, at Murdoch's ranch in Carmel, California. An annual News Corp. retreat was under way and the theme, at least for the evening in question, was apps of the sort that run on Jobs' iPhone and iPad.
Jobs arrived for dinner by helicopter. He stayed maybe an hour; two tops. But he left an outsized impression, and not an entirely pleasant one: Even accounting for his reputation, some present were struck by what they saw as his arrogance and disdain. Over the past three decades, Jobs has left plenty of people feeling that way — underlings, competitors and especially journalists. But in Carmel (pictured, right), the assembled crowd had a reason to take it personally:
In a Q&A session with the assembled executives and managers, including Journal editors, Jobs railed against the apps newspapers like the Journal have created for his iPad. Their interfaces are terrible, he said, and their content is all too often limited . That the Journal's archrival the New York Times was among those singled out for criticism — Jobs hates the limited NYT Editors' Choice app — must have helped take the sting off. And Jobs did praise the WSJ's iPad app as very attractive. But the CEO also said the app was too slow, essentially calling it a clunky reading experience.
It was on this point that McLeod, who wouldn't comment for this post, is said to have engaged with Jobs. As president of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, McLeod was at least a player on the paper's iPad strategy as well as a spokesman for it. It's not clear whether the Time Inc veteran got into it with Jobs during the more public Q&A or in a more private meeting afterward, but there was definitely a back and forth between the two men in front of other News Corp. hands: Word of McLeod's purportedly impertinent comments challenging Jobs ricocheted around the company almost instantly.
Jobs' visit to Murdoch's ranch was perhaps a more delicate occasion than McLeod had realized. On the one hand, you have a tightly wound tech executive — one with a rocky history with the Journal. It was the Journal's deputy managing editor who infuriated Jobs by tweeting from a prototype iPad that Jobs brought to the newspaper's office after the device was unveiled but before it was available for sale.
On the other hand you have News Corp. chairman Murdoch, an old school media mogul with, by all accounts, a huge admiration for Jobs and, in particular his iPad. Where Murdoch's digital nemesis Google specializes in indexing and aggregating free content and in offering free services, Jobs has built a brisk business selling old fashioned content for consumption on newfangled devices. Murdoch has called Jobs the best CEO in America.
That feeling is so genuine, some insiders believed, it's possible Murdoch would have seen any questioning of Jobs' statements as an insult to Jobs. The Apple CEO, after all, had been invited to hold forth, not necessarily to attend a press conference. (Wall Street Journal editor and ranch regular Robert Thomson was among those at News Corp. who declined to talk to us about McLeod's encounter and how it was received within News Corp.)
Or maybe McLeod really was over the line in whatever he said. Perhaps Jobs, who can be as icy as he is fiery, made it clear he felt insulted. It's not clear exactly how he reacted.
In any case, McLeod was not long for News Corp. Following the June Jobs encounter, his departure was announced publicly in early September. With no new gigs lined up and an avowed interest in finding similar work to tackle, McLeod did not appear to have planned his resignation.
It's widely agreed within the company that McLeod was not pushed out simply because of a conversation with Steve Jobs. There were other reasons the four year veteran didn't seem like the best fit for the company, which is trying to rapidly evolve its digital offerings. By some accounts, the Journal and News Corp. high command was already on the fence about whether they needed him prior to the Carmel retreat. There is a contingent who believe the Jobs encounter may have tipped the scales against him. And that perception alone testifies to the long shadow cast by America's most famous CEO — a shadow to be feared even in a different company, in a different industry, run by a CEO of very different generation, on a different side of the country thousands of miles away. Steve Jobs is the prototypical media mogul of the 21st Century, and you'd best not forget it.
[Photos of Jobs and Murdoch via Getty Images. Photo of McLeod via AllThingsD. Screenshot of Murdoch's ranch via NZ Life & Leisure.]


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The chronological age of any tire can be found on the tire sidewall by examining the characters following the symbol "DOT". The last four numbers identify the date of manufacture of the tire to the nearest week. The first two of these four numbers identify the week of manufacture (which range from "01" to "53"). The last two numbers identify the year of manufacture (e.g., a tire with the information "DOT XXXXXXX2714" was manufactured in the 27th week of 2014).
For tires manufactured prior to the year 2000, three numbers instead of four indicate the date of manufacture. Also, during the early 1990's, Continental added a triangle (◄) to the end of the character string to distinguish a tire built in the 1990's from previous decades (e.g., a tire with the information "DOT XXXXXXX274◄" was manufactured in the 27th week of 1994).
We recommend:
All tires (including spare tires) that were manufactured more than ten years ago should be replaced with new tires, even if they appear to be usable from their external appearance and if the tread depth may have not reached the minimum wear out depth.


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Type of company:
Manufacturer (own production)
For over 90 years, Nikon has been making premium quality optical products for all types of outdoor pursuits. This long history of experience in engineering quality optics, aided by modern computer design, results in optical systems that achieve an ideal balance of maximized light transmission, high resolution and razor sharp, aberration-free images. With these optimized designs, Nikon utilizes the highest quality materials, superior production capabilities and strict quality control to build, service and support premium sport optics products.
Nikon offers a full line of quality binoculars, riflescopes, rangefinders, spotting scopes and Fieldscopes designed to meet the demands of our customers worldwide. Whether the requirement is for entry-level, advanced, mid-priced or high-end optics, Nikon remains committed to offering the discriminating user the finest selection of high quality optics available.
Nikon has been a longtime leader in the development and utilization of lens multicoatings in order to maximize light transmission. For instance, in the popular 10-lens surface riflescope optical system, Nikon was a driving force in genuinely bringing riflescopes up to an unprecedented level of 95% light transmission-the theoretical maximum- with well-balanced color contribution.
And while reducing the number of lenses in a scope in an effort to increase light transmission is possible, the compromise would be less compensation of aberration. Optical resolution can only be obtained through utilization of quality glass in sufficient quantity to form the optical composition. The combination of maximized light transmission, high-definition contrast and critical optical resolution is crucial for getting your crosshairs on game in dawn, dusk and twilight hours.
To learn about Nikon Corporation please visit:
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Welcome to Luffa.info. Here is information, photos and video about the amazing Luffa sponge gourd.
A loofah is a fibrous plant seed pod. The luffa plant is a cucurbit, a group of plants including gourds, pumpkins, and cucumbers. It grows as a flowering annual vine. The pollinated flowers grow cylindrical green fruits that eventually develop into a seed pod filled with many intertwined cellulose fibers. The outer skin is removed to reveal the "loofah" inside.
Sea sponges are members of the animal kingdom. They grow on the sea floor and filter food out of the water. The word sponge is often used to describe loofah and man made "sponges" with absorbent properties like sea sponges.
Luffa sponge gourds have many names, both common and scientific. They are known as loofah, smooth loofah, loofah sponge, loofa, luffa, loufa, loufah, luffah, sponge gourd, Chinese okra, elephant okra, dishrag gourd, towel gourd, and other common names in many different languages. The scientific name for the plant I grow is Luffa aegyptiaca. It may also be known as Luffa cylindrica.
There are other cultivated fiber-producing species within the Luffa genus including Luffa acutangula and Luffa operculata. Angled luffa or ridged luffa are common names for acutangula. Luffa operculata is known as the ball luffa or sponge cucumber. Humans have propagated these cultivated plants across the tropical to temperate regions of the earth.
Luffa fiber is a green renewable resource with many uses. I have been growing and enjoying natural homegrown luffa fiber since the 1990s here in Carter County Tennessee. I switched to organic growing methods in the 21st century.
When fully matured the fruits become a tough mass of fiber that makes a great scrubbing sponge. These natural cellulose fiber wonders of the vegetable world have many uses. They can exfoliate loose cells from your skin and make you squeaky clean or shine up your dirty dishes. Loofahs are most excellent in the bath or shower. The exfoliating action leaves your skin feeling the cleanest and tightest it could possibly be. Scrubbing your back with a luffa sponge in the bath or shower is an incredibly pleasurable experience. Soap and luffa fibers are a natural cleaning combination resulting in wonderful loofah soap. Home and professional artisan craft soap makers include slices of luffa fiber in their creations to add an extra cleaning boost to their soaps. A loofah section can be placed in a cylindrical mold, filled with soap, cured, and sliced. Shredded or powdered luffa fibers can also be mixed into a soap base before pouring into a mold.
Luffa sponges are great for washing items like large pots and other containers. I use them for cleaning almost everything, including cars, boats, plastic buckets, and anything that needs scrubbed but can't withstand steel wool. Non stick cookware is one example.
A large loofah or a smaller piece on a handle or rope makes a great back scratcher. They can be cut into many shapes for scrubbing pads, padding, and other craft uses. The loofahs can be cut lengthwise with the core removed to make sheets of sponge material. These sheets of luffa material can be sewn into items like table hot pads, sandals, bath mats, hats, or anything else you can imagine.
A piece of loofah can be used to apply paint for artistic effect. It can also impart texture to painted walls or plaster. Place the long side into a paint pan with paint barely covering the bottom. Rub excess paint off the loofah on newspaper or cardboard. The best effect is achieved with the smallest amount of paint. Too much and it looks like a blob. Simply push on to the surface and lift straight off. The final result may resemble a wallpaper pattern.
Luffa fiber is a green alternative to rock wool as a root medium in hydroponic plant growing systems. It is environmentally friendly and may be produced on site by the grower. The fibers work well to maintain proper moisture levels for seedling growth. It's another amazing luffa application that someone told me about.
The luffa buds, flowers, and soft young fruits are cooked and eaten like squash or okra. I sometimes eat small luffa fruits when in season but disclaim any legal responsibility for any bad reactions anyone might have from consuming luffa. Eat at your own risk. Those with sensitivities to certain foods should proceed with caution. Unknown allergy potential. That said, millions of people around the world eat parts of the plant. Luffa has been an important food source in many cultures. The tough fibrous vines are not edible, but leaves and roots may be eaten by some people depending how bitter they are. Sap in the luffa vines and leaves contains a bitter compound with a musky smell that seems to repel insects and animals. It can have a bitterness similar to that sometimes found in cucumbers, a close plant relative also in the Cucurbitaceae family.
The edible size fruits taste something like a cross between a zucchini and a cucumber. Some luffa varieties may produce fruits that are too bitter to eat. Peeling the skin off reduces bitterness but is not usually necessary. If it tastes bad, don't eat it. The many varieties we've grown have all tasted good to us, with some being better than others. Many commonly cultivated varieties are edible. Luffa of several different species are consumed by people around the world, especially in Asia and Africa. Edible luffa can sometimes be found in markets with Asian style vegetables. I like them sliced in a stir-fry or just sauteed in a little olive oil. Seasoning with a dash of soy sauce and cayenne pepper makes a tasty appetizer. The big yellow flowers have a crunchy green flavor similar to celery or cucumber. Luffa flowers make a colorful and unique salad.
Luffa, like many plants, contains a variety of substances. Parts of the plant and seeds have been used for the medicinal properties. Powdered luffa fibers have been an ingredient in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. One Egyptian study found the seeds of luffa reduced blood glucose levels in animals. More medicinal references can be found on the links page.
Large whole loofahs are a conversation starter. People tend to find them very interesting and useful. Some of the loofah sponges end up as gifts for family and friends. I sell the rest to an artisan soap maker. If you are looking for loofahs or seeds you can find them at the sources I have listed on the luffa sources page.
New unused luffa fiber can be stored for years if it is kept dry. It needs to be covered where dust won't settle on the surface. Working luffa sponges will last a surprisingly long time if they are allowed to dry between uses, usually a few months. When they stay wet all the time they tend to deteriorate more. Hanging on a hook or placing on end may help your loofah to dry. A luffa sponge can hold some dirt and should not be used for different purposes. If you scrub your cooking grill with it, then don't use it on your skin. It is probably difficult to fully sterilize a loofah. Enough heat applied long enough would do it but might damage the luffa fibers. A short soak in a mild bleach solution gets close, certainly killing off a vast majority of surface germs. A wash with antibacterial hand soap should quickly remove many germs too. The acidity of vinegar can clean out a lot of bacteria in a loofah. Sunlight can help keep your loofah in top shape by drying it faster and irradiating the surface with natural ultraviolet light. The drying UV rays will make it harder for germs, mold, or mildew to grow.
Some commercial luffa sponges are a light color from being bleached. Natural mature sponges can be any shade of dark brown to bright white in color. Most loofahs are fine in their natural state without any bleaching. If you want to lighten luffa fibers, they can be soaked in a weak chlorine bleach solution for about an hour or so. Some commercial growers may also use a hydrogen peroxide or caustic solution. Bleaching them for too long can weaken the fibers. Bleached sponges may look better for commerce. They are cleaner and less likely to contain insects or other organic matter. Green and/or dark stained luffa can benefit from bleaching. Exposure to sunlight can also lighten the color but not as dramatically as bleach. Leaving them in the sun for a day gives the loofah a rougher slightly scratchier feel. Leaving a loofah outside for longer periods will tend to break down the fibers.
Some garden varieties of luffa are coarser, less dense, and more flexible than the thicker pieces of commercial loofah. They are typically hardy fast growing types that give the average gardener a better chance at success than the high fiber ones. The commercial loofah is grown for consistent size and fiber density. Most are grown in a hot climate and have the benefit of a long growing season. Denser loofah is better for uses that require strength and durability. A less dense loofah is often flexible and more easily molded into things like luffa soap. Any loofah can be made more flexible by getting it wet. The thickness and number of the individual fibers can vary greatly among loofahs. A hard or soft sponge can have thin or thick fibers. Usually the more fiber, the stiffer the loofah, but finer fibers can result in more flexibility. There are also varieties that are grown primarily for eating and these may produce less fiber. Luffa can cross pollinate with nearby vines so it might be difficult to grow different varieties together. Whatever characteristics the luffa have, they can be altered somewhat by careful selection of the seeds. The plants have a lot of natural variability among different plants grown from the same seeds and even between luffa pods grown on the same vine. One vine could grow several different sizes and shapes.
I started with a typical garden variety and kept saving the best seeds. Over time, the quality and quantity of the sponges improved. I saved seeds from the earliest large sponges with good fiber. After a few seasons, they were arriving sooner and larger. I tried growing seeds from many sources and did find some thicker fiber that would still reach maturity in this climate. Generally the higher the density of the fiber, the longer it takes to reach maturity.
Luffa pods can grow arrow straight, slightly curved, or very curved. One luffa variety grows very short and wide sponges. These are typically used for pot scrubbers. Another type, grown more often for food, produces extremely thin long fruits. Seeds from straight ones tend to grow more straight ones, but a few curved ones usually appear. The curved ones make good back scratchers in the shower. When small, the fruits are very flexible and will conform to whatever shape they are against. This can result in some unusual shapes. Loofahs can also be much wider on one or both ends, usually the bottom.
The ridged or angled luffa (Luffa acutangula) is a different species of luffa. It produces a coarse fiber and is mostly used as a food crop. It can be identified by the pronounced ridges that run along the skin lengthwise. It tends to be thinner, bent or curved, and more elongated than the Luffa aegyptiaca. Edible luffa found in markets is probably more often acutangula than the aegyptiaca species. Luffa acutangula is also commonly known as Patola in the Tagalog language of the Philippines. Luffa foetida is another scientific name for the angled luffa.
The ball luffa or sponge cucumber (Luffa operculata) is another cultivated species. It is native to South America and produces rounded sponge pods with a spiky exterior skin. The other Luffa species, including aegyptiaca and acutangula, are natives of Asia or Africa. They have been cultivated in the Middle East since ancient times.
Growing your own loofahs is fun and rewarding. The plants are quite vigorous once they get established. They grow on vines that can reach 30 feet(9m) in length. A strong supporting trellis is a must. Chain link fence and lattice works great. The more support points the better. The fruits get very heavy. Luffa can be grown as a ground vine but it must be a weedless well drained area. The pods will tend to grow curved and deformed but may still get large. Luffa can often survive in partial shade with some direct sunlight but grow better in full sun. In a very hot dry climate they will need some watering as they tend to wilt if it gets too dry. Yearly rainfall here is typically 50 inches (127 cm) and the vines don't normally need extra water after the roots have developed. If the leaves are wilting noticeably they may need additional water.
Luffa plants grow as an annual with subtropical growth characteristics. They need a long hot growing season. Places like the US Gulf Coast and much of the southern US are plenty hot. Starting the plants indoors may work for cooler climates. I live around 36 degrees north latitude at 1700 ft (520m) altitude, USDA zone 7a. Find your zone here. My outdoor season is long enough to produce some mature sponges planted outside from seed but later ones are often lost to frost. Starting them indoors and moving them outside after the last frost normally gives us a few more loofahs in the fall. Planting directly into the ground is almost as good for my location. One year cool weather stunted the transplanted seedlings while seeds I planted in the ground sprouted and surpassed the older plants. Warm weather is necessary for growth. Germination rates may be slightly lower for outside plantings. Putting the seeds in a moist environment before planting helps increase germination rates. There can be a lot of variability in the time needed for germination. It could be 3 days or over 3 weeks! Usually it is about 7 to 10 days in ideal conditions. The drier and harder the seeds are, the longer they take to germinate.
The time it takes for luffa growth, flowering, and maturity can vary widely between plants. It usually requires around 160 days or more, but it could be anywhere from 130 to 220 days or more. Some of the sources on the luffa links page also have botanical and growing information.
The small seedlings grow slowly while the roots become established. Once they begin to make a vine the increase in growth rate is phenomenal. After 1 to 2 months of growing, the flower clusters appear. The flowers bloom in an orderly progression as the vine lengthens. Typically there is a larger solitary female flower on a thick stem and a thinner stem with a cluster of male flowers. When the vines are blooming, the bright yellow flowers attract many pollen gathering creatures including butterflies, ants, and bees. Bumblebees love luffa flowers and will travel great distances to reach them. Ants enjoy cruising all over the vines and cause little or no harm while assisting in pollination. Some female flowers will wilt and fall off while the pollinated ones will form a luffa seed pod. The male flowers fall off after they bloom in sequence up the stalk. The bright yellow flowers are quite pretty and abundant. See the luffa photos for some examples.
When the flowers get pollinated, slender cucumber-like vegetables appear. The fruits stay soft until the skin thickens. Then the fiber and seeds begin to form. The vines continue to grow and produce new fruits while the older loofah pods mature. They can be harvested whenever they feel ready. The earlier ones can be picked while the vine is still growing. Typically they turn a yellow/brown color and become lighter in weight from drying out. Mature luffa pods can be any color from green to nearly black. Very small sponges can be mature and very large ones may not be ready. Size and color doesn't matter much. The important thing is that they start to lose water weight. Time to maturity varies considerably as the sponges are picked from early September to late November. The last of the loofahs are harvested after a frost occurs and the vines quickly die off. The more mature they are, the better the sponge fiber quality. Some smaller ones may mature more quickly yielding a small soft sponge good for washing delicate skin.
When the loofahs are ready for harvest they can be peeled. The skin loses green color and becomes looser when mature. The mature sponges begin to dry and lose water weight. If the sponges have reached full growth and feel light, they will be ready to peel. If they are green, the loofah may contain some fiber but be much harder to peel. If it falls apart when you try to peel, it doesn't have enough fiber and is not mature enough.
It is always best to peel them as soon as possible if the vine has died. The longer the skin stays on, the darker the sponges will get. Peeling greener luffa is difficult but can be done if needed. Throwing the loofah at the ground is one trick. It's good exercise for relieving your stress too. The bad ones will break apart, while the good ones will crack and loosen the skin. Letting the luffa pods freeze and thaw once on the vine also makes them easier to peel.
If they have matured they are usually easy to get open. Getting them wet or soaking in water may help the opening process but is optional. After peeling, high water pressure from a hose sprayer can remove much of the remaining green and brown coloration. Wash them well, squeeze out excess water, lay out to dry, rotate occasionally as the water settles in the lower side. Placing them outside in the sun and wind dries them quickly. The sun also tends to lighten the color. Hanging or placing the loofahs on a screen works well for drying too.
If they are stained, a soak in some bleach and water will lighten them considerably. A wet harvest season tends to cause more decay and brown spots in the sponges. One year an unusually dry fall yielded loofahs that were very light in color, an almost fluorescent white, while late wet weather sponges can be very dark. Getting all the seeds out can be a challenge, but the drier the sponges are, the easier the seeds will fall out. Save the best ones for next year. You can also cut open the sponges in any shape you want to remove seeds or make a loofah fiber mat
Seeds should be allowed to dry enough so they won't rot or mold and then stored in a cool place. Refrigerate or freeze in a sealed airtight container for long term storage. We've had reports of seeds as old as ten years still germinating. If the seeds are allowed to get too hot and dry they become hard. Some hard seeds can still germinate but may take a month to sprout.
Copyright 2017 © Luffa.info This page can also be reached via the domain name loofahplant.com


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