All posts tagged: planted

South African woman creates acclaimed wine from vineyard planted in her parents’ garden during lockdown

South African woman creates acclaimed wine from vineyard planted in her parents’ garden during lockdown

Published by Daniella Wilson

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Like millions confined to their homes during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Natasha Jacka found herself restless. Yet, amidst the global standstill, an extraordinary opportunity began to take root in her mind: a vineyard. With her agricultural college studies suspended, Jacka, then 27, seized the chance to fast-track her dream of becoming a winemaker. She transformed her family’s garden in Cape Town, South Africa, into a burgeoning vineyard, bringing her ambition literally within reach. The world of wine, however, moves at its own pace, and it would be four years before the first harvest and vintage. Jacka’s debut wines, crafted from grapes she personally planted, nurtured, and harvested in her parents’ sea-facing home – even stomping them herself – were met with resounding praise from critics. “It could have been so much work and if it doesn’t deliver, you know, then you just feel … I can’t imagine how I’d …

She tore out her L.A. hillside lawn and planted drought-tolerant plants

She tore out her L.A. hillside lawn and planted drought-tolerant plants

Published by Sam Flores

Water-hungry lawns are symbols of Los Angeles’ past. In this series, we spotlight yards with alternative, low-water landscaping built for the future. Julia Lee had no need for a new garden when she and her husband purchased their Cheviot Hills home eight years ago. The traditional 1950 home came with mature tropical plants in the back and a sprawling grass hillside lawn in front, and it suited them just fine. But as drought and wildfires dragged on in California in recent years, she started to question whether keeping the thirsty lawn made sense. “Our water bill was insane,” she says as she offers a tour of the former lawn, which is now filled with colorful native plants and drought-tolerant plants. “It was a waste of space. Our kids were getting older and didn’t play on the lawn. There was just no reason to keep a big green lawn.” After reading a Times story about Georg Kochi, a retiree who swapped his Koreatown lawn with plants suited for California, Lee was inspired by Kochi’s wild, wabi-sabi-style …

Someone planted backdoors in dozens of WordPress plug-ins used in thousands of websites

Someone planted backdoors in dozens of WordPress plug-ins used in thousands of websites

Published by skeptic

Dozens of plug-ins for the widely used open source web blogging software WordPress are now offline after a backdoor was discovered in them, used to push malicious code to any website that relied on the plug-ins. The backdoor was discovered after a new corporate owner bought these plug-ins. Anchor Hosting founder Austin Ginder sounded the alarm in a blog post last week describing a supply chain attack on a WordPress plug-in maker called Essential Plugin. Ginder said someone last year bought Essential Plugin and the backdoor was soon added to the plug-ins’ source code. The backdoor sat dormant until earlier this month when it activated and began distributing malicious code to any website with the plug-ins installed. Essential Plugin says on its website that it has over 400,000 plug-in installs and more than 15,000 customers. WordPress’ plug-in install page says the affected plug-ins are in over 20,000 active WordPress installations. Plug-ins allow owners of WordPress-based websites to extend the site’s functionality, but in doing so grant the plug-ins access to their installations, which can open …

Sycamore Gap tree sapling planted in Scottish national park | UK News

Sycamore Gap tree sapling planted in Scottish national park | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A sapling from the deliberately felled Sycamore Gap tree has been planted in a Scottish national park. Dozens of plants have been produced from seeds and material rescued from the famous tree, which stood for more than a century in a dip along Hadrian’s Wall before it was illegally cut down in September 2023. The incident sparked a national outcry and led to two men being jailed for more than four years for criminal damage to the Northumberland landmark. Image: The Sycamore Gap tree before it was felled. Pic: National Trust Image: The Sycamore Gap tree after it was felled. Pic: PA One of the saplings – named Tree of Hope – has now found a home at Benmore Botanic Garden within the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, which forms part of Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park. It is part of efforts to disperse the iconic tree’s living legacy across all 15 UK national parks, running in partnership with the National Trust. Image: Pic: Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Gordon …

Americans planted entire forests of exploding Australian trees

Americans planted entire forests of exploding Australian trees

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show. FACTS: Beaver Skull Obsession, Aussie Widowmakers, Koalas Eating $#!% By: Jess Boddy This week on Weirdest Thing (and for the next few episodes), I’ll be hosting the show without Rachel while she’s away on parental leave. That means I’m bringing on pairs of my favorite creator friends to host the show with me! This week, we’ve got two of the funniest people I know—rickypeacock and MattyisTalking. These two are members of the Goo Crew stream team, …