Strawberries and Caneberries

Slop: Word of the Year from The Economist

January 9, 2026
By Mark P Bolda
The Economist, a leading British news and current affairs magazine, wrote recently that “slop” is the word of the year 2025, “representative, if not of the whole year, at least of much of the feeling of living in it.” It seems that this word “slop” was first officially described in the 15th century and…
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Now You See It, Now You Don't. A Note about Fruit Ripening in Blackberry

August 14, 2025
By Mark P Bolda
A persistent question this time of year is why sometimes blackberry fruit are not ripening. They go through flower, green fruit and then to red, but once at that stage some (or many, I have even witnessed cases of all, really sad) stay red and simply refuse to ripen.As many readers of this blog know this is…
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