Planting: annuals vegetables

In the course of our allelopathic studies to isolate potential bioherbicides from plants, we focused our attention on medicinal plants and vegetable wastes, which represent a primary and neglected source of allelochemicals, assaying their allelopathic phytotoxicity and identifying the site(s) of action of allelochemicals on seeds.1,3,4,6 The annual production of one hundred million liters and deposition of olive oil mill wastewater is a major environmental problem for agriculture in the Mediterranean basin, where the olive (O/ea europaea L.) is the most economically important fruit tree, because it has provided valuable storable oil as well as edible fruit since ancient times.35... 

Beans are annual vegetables grown for their immature pods, immature seeds, and nutritious dry seeds. They are legumes and, with the help of certain soil-dwelling bacteria, can transform nitrogen from the air into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb. A wide range of bean types and cultivars are available. 

Okra is an annual vegetable grown for its fleshy seed pods. Okra does best in loose, well-worked soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0, and full sun. It needs lots of phosphorus, so work in plenty of bonemeal and compost before planting. 

The quantities of nutrients in microbes are large compared with the annual plant nutrient uptake, suggesting that even relatively limited dieback of the microbial populations can lead to release of an appreciable proportion of the plants annual nutrient requirement. Indeed, it is known that the annual uptake of P by wet tundra vegetation can be almost entirely accounted for by P released through nutrient flushes from the microbial biomass (Chapin et al, 1978). It is possible, therefore, that the supply rate of nutrients to the soil inorganic pool varies depending on the conditions for microbial population growth or decline and that plant nutrient availability fluctuates inversely to microbial nutrient demand. 

Animal biomass. Vegetal biomass. Wood, Cellulose, Lignins, Hemicelluloses, Natural rubber, Suberin, Tannins, Rosins, Terpenes, Annual plants. Starch, Vegetable oils, Hemicelluloses, Mono and disaccharides, Polylactic acid. Algae, Chitin, Chitosan, Proteins, Cellulose whiskers. Bacterial polymers. Poly (hydro xyalkanoates). Bacterial cellulose... 

Table I. Characteristics of soil and annual plant vegetation under shrub canopies and in intershrub spaces. Data from references 12, 27, 28, and 29.

However, some of our deer individuals from the arid Joshua Tree National Park in California indicate unusual D-enrichment. This may derive from evapotranspiration in local plants that were part of the diet of the deer and/or in the body fluids of the animals themselves, as is expected in extremely diy environments (Cormie et al., 1994c Bowen et al., 2005). Deer occupy an ecological niche that is relatively simple from the perspective of hydrogen, as their diet consists of leafy vegetation and their water is obtained from surface waters (lakes and streams) that in many cases have D values closely representing mean annual precipitation. In contrast, omnivorous and carnivorous animals consume more diverse diets with more widely varying... 

Water is, of course, essential for plant growth, but one of the themes of this chapter is that it may not be necessary for plant survival. Although most agronomically important plants are very sensitive to internal water deficits, the majority of plants at some stage of their life cycle are tolerant of desiccation. Few of these have vegetative parts which are desiccation tolerant, but the survival of even so-called drought-evading species, such as the ephemeral desert annuals, rests on the tolerance of their seeds to desiccation. 

Use of renewable feedstocks is most likely where they can compete economically with petrochemically derived materials. This already happens in many areas, and it is sometimes forgotten that even in a world that seems to be dominated by chemicals and materials from fossil carbon and other non-renewable sources, industry already uses annually 19.8 MT of vegetable oils, 22.5 MT starch, 28.4 MT of plant fibres and 42.5 MT of wood pulp. These all compete on price and performance with synthetic alternatives. 

Xylan occurs in practically all land plants and is said to be present in some marine algae.6 In both wide botanical distribution and abundance in nature it closely follows cellulose and starch. It is most abundant in annual crops, particularly in agricultural residues such as corn cobs, corn stalks, grain hulls and stems. Here it occurs in amounts ranging from 15 to 30%. Hard woods contain 20 to 25% xylan while soft woods contain 7 to 12 %. Spring wood has more pentosan than summer wood. 7 Low strength vegetable fibers of commerce such as jute, sisal, Manila... 

A light-excluding mulch membrane will stop weeds from growing, and will, in time, kill them. If you want to convert an area of lawn into a vegetable or flower bed, mulch it in the spring and it will be clear by the fall, if not before. Persistent perennials may take a couple of years or more to die. Vigorous annual plants. 

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