$\"Volunteers$ <\/a>

Volunteers at the Native Plant Nursery at Glacier National Park<\/p><\/div>\n

When I tell someone I am a Horticulturist, I often have to explain what that is. Most people know that Botany <\/i>is the study of plants, so I often tell them that horticulture is the applied<\/i> science of botany.\u00a0 Horticulture comes from the Latin hortus<\/i> “garden” and cult\u016bra <\/i>“cultivation.\u201d Whereas agriculture (agri-=acre or field) usually refers to large-scale cultivation of single species crops such as grain, horticulture usually refers to gardening on a much smaller scale and the growing of a wider variety of crops.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

$\"Wheat$ <\/a>
Wheat field in Eastern Washington, an agricultural crop.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 There are many different specializations within the field of horticulture that generally can be grouped into two main categories \u2013 edibles and ornamentals.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Olericulture<\/i> is the production of herbaceous vegetables which includes: \u00a0Sweet corn, Greens such as spinach, lettuce, & celery; Cole crops \u2013 cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower; Root crops – beets, carrots, radishes; Bulb crops – onions, garlic, leeks; Legumes – beans, peas, lentils; Cucurbits – melons, squash, cucumber; and Solanaceous crops – tomatoes, peppers, potatoes.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
$\"091\"$ <\/a>
Chives, Allium schoenoprasum, is the only allium native to both the old & new worlds. It can be found in Alaska.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbalists <\/i>grow plants\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>for flavor, fragrance or medicinal purposes. Herbs are often included in the vegetable garden or grown in a special herb garden. They may also be incorporated into the ornamental landscape.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
$\"An$ <\/a>
An apple from my dad’s photo collection.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0 Pomology, <\/i>although most specifically applies to the cultivation of pome fruits (apples, pears), it is often used more generally to include stone fruits (cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, almonds) and every other tree fruit, nut or berry.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
$\"Grapes$ <\/a>
Grapes from my dad’s photo collection.<\/p><\/div>\n
Viticulture<\/i> (Viti<\/i>– = vine) is an even more specialized field usually applied to growing grapes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Ornamental Horticulture<\/i> includes:\u00a0 Arboriculture<\/i>, the evaluation, care, maintenance and pruning of trees; Floriculture,<\/i> the production of floral crops including cut flowers and potted gift plants; Greenhouse <\/i>& Nursery management<\/i>, the propagation, production and sales of plants; Landscape Architecture<\/i>, the art\u00a0 of landscape design; and Landscape Horticulture<\/i>, the planting, care, and maintenance of landscape plants.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 Forestry <\/i>is often allied with horticulture. It is the growing and management of timber crops. Other plants, such as bamboo and grasses & stems for weaving may also be grown for the useful materials they provide.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 The need for a secure food source caused many primitive societies to give up the nomadic \u201chunter-gatherer\u201d lifestyle and adopt a more sedentary life to plant and tend food crops. The traditional \u201cfamily farm\u201d or larger estate often incorporated both animal husbandry and the growing of crops. It was critical for survival to grow and preserve enough food for the whole community and their animals. The ownership of land became synony<\/span>mous with wealth which needed to be defended from plunderers.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes in the quest for wealth, we are more interested in \u201ccash crops.\u201d It is often forgotten that workers and their children, need a healthy diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables. In some places, indigenous peoples have had to give up traditional foods and now rely too heavily on imported rice or corn. Many people need to be reeducated on how to grow fresh fruits and vegetables for their families and how to prepare them for inclusion in their daily diet.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 $\"Maslow's$ <\/a>\u201cMaslow\u2019s Hierarchy of Needs\u201d ranks the most important human needs in five levels. The 1st is physiological needs, which includes breathing, water, food, clothing, shelter, and sleep.\u00a0 The 2nd is Safety: security of body, employment, resources, family, health, & property. The 3rd is Love & Belonging: friendship, family and intimacy.\u00a0 The 4th is Esteem: achievement, confidence and respect.\u00a0 The 5th is Self-actualization: creativity and striving to reach one\u2019s full potential. In theory, each fundamental need must be met before a person\u2019s energy and passion can fully attend to a higher level. These are all we really need to be happy, not the material things that we buy to try to make us feel good\u2014Money really \u201ccan\u2019t buy happiness\u201d after all our most basic needs are met.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The science of horticulture can do more than teach us how to grow the food that nourishes our bodies.\u00a0 It can be used therapeutically for our physical and mental well-being. Nurturing living things makes us feel good and encourages us to learn even more about plants and the garden ecosystem. It also fulfills higher level needs to artistically create beautiful gardens within which we can cocoon ourselves in visual and fragrant splendor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
(This article was first published in the Peninsula Gateway\u00a0<\/em>on Dec 7, 2011)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I tell someone I am a Horticulturist, I often have to explain what that is. Most people know that Botany is the study of plants, so I often tell them that horticulture is the applied science of botany.\u00a0 Horticulture comes from the Latin hortus “garden” and cult\u016bra “cultivation.\u201d Whereas agriculture (agri-=acre or field)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}