Every spring, raptors return to nesting sites across northern Michigan. The smallest of these birds of prey, a falcon called the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), flies through the region’s many cherry orchards and spends its days hunting for even tinier creatures to eat. This quest keeps the kestrels fed, but it also benefits the region’s cherry farmers.

Fruit farmers have been working symbiotically with kestrels for decades, adding nesting boxes and reaping the benefits of the birds eliminating the mice, voles, songbirds, and other pests that wreak havoc by feeding on not-yet-harvested crops. In addition to limiting the crop damage caused by hungry critters, new research suggests kestrels also lower the risk of food-borne illnesses.

The study, published in November in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests the kestrels help keep harmful pathogens off of fruit headed to consumers by eating and scaring off small birds that carry those pathogens. Orchards housing the birds in nest boxes saw fewer cherry-eating birds than orchards without kestrels on site. This translated to an 81 percent reduction in crop damage—such as bite marks or missing fruit—and a 66 percent decrease in branches contaminated with bird feces.

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The quintessential Black Forest Cake has got easy enough elements to play around with, and takes well to add ins like a dark chocolate ganache etc. And as always, the outcome is always spoon licking or bowl licking if not finger kicking good! Here are a few reimagined eggless black forest cake ideas to keep you busy through summer!

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The classic black forest cake is very inspirational and quite simple to reimagine. It's got easy enough elements to play around with, and takes well to add ins like a dark chocolate ganache etc. This reimagined eggless black forest cake trifle is as simple as it is delicious!

The post Inspired by the classic Black Forest Cake, this eggless trifle is a ‘cherry good treat’! appeared first on Passionate About Baking.

This Eggless Cherry Chocolate Tart Cake is a delicious and easy-to-make dessert perfect for hot summer days when cherries are abundant. The tart cake is one I make quite often, and this tart tin was one of my best buys. This versatile dessert can be soaked in Kirsch or cherry juice for added flavor. The raised flan tart tin ensures perfect results, inspiring creativity with various flavor combinations and customizations.

The post Eggless Cherry Chocolate Tart Cake … delicious cakes for summer! appeared first on Passionate About Baking.

From the Greek physa, a bladder, an allusion to the inflated calyx (Solanaceae). A genus of 100 or more species of which the two most well-known are P. alkekengi, the Bladder Cherry or Chinese Lantern Plant, with its brilliant, flame-coloured, air-filled calyces, and P. peruviana, the Cape Gooseberry, which is a greenhouse species. They are annual and perennial herbaceous plants, […]

The post Physalis – Perennial Plant, How to grow appeared first on Backyard Gardener.