Fall 2024
Stone fruit
Sun-ripened peaches, apricots, nectarines, and cherries give us nature’s desserts. » More ...
Fruit Trees
Fall 2024
Everybody let’s get stone fruits
Stone fruits come in many varieties and make for great fresh eating. But there are lots more uses for these symbolic fruits of summer.
Here’s a roundup of recipes featuring stone fruits. If you try any of them, let us know how they turned out.
Former Washington State University executive chef Jamie Callison offers a recipe for Rainier Cherry Clafoutis in The Crimson Spoon, a cookbook he wrote with Linda Burner Augustine (’83 Home Econ., Honors). It was published in 2013 by WSU Press.
Try this recipe for Ricotta Toast with Plums and Hot Honey from Eating Well.
Former … » More …
Winter 2023
Food for a changing climate
Washington State University researchers adapt livestock and crops such as potatoes, apples, and wheat to feed a more crowded, warming planet. » More ...
Fall 2023
Kaitlyn Thornton
Agriculture looks pretty fun in Kaitlyn Thornton’s hands.
Big trucks, small trucks, pears and apples, belt buckles and boots, and lots of music.
Thornton, who’ll graduate from the Carson College of Business in December 2023, is an ag influencer on TikTok and Instagram with hundreds of thousands of followers.
Through videos and photos she educates her followers on what it takes to operate a more than 400-acre orchard in north-central Washington. For example, that “dust” on apples in the family orchards? It’s natural clay sprayed on the fruit to prevent sun damage. And imperfect fruit tastes … » More …
Spring 2023
Briefly noted
Books by WSU alumni, faculty, and WSU Press » More ...
Fall 2022
Smarter orchards
The promise and progress of intelligent automation at Washington State University » More ...
Fall 2022
Videos: Robots in orchards
The robots are coming…to an orchard or field near you.
Robots, drones, and automation are part of the smart agriculture movement with the aim of creating the farms of the future.
Watch some of the robots in action…
Robotic apple harvester making headway (Good Fruit Grower, January 14, 2022)
Automatic fruit picker demonstration by FF Robotics (Good Fruit Grower, 2017)
Mechanical pollination trials on a commercial cherry crop (Good Fruit Grower, 2016)
Featuring WSU horticulturist Matthew Whiting at the Prosser-based WSU research orchard
LaserWeeder implement (Carbon Robotics, … » More …
Spring 2022
Robot swarms, soft bots, and other robotic ideas
We’ve come a long way from clunky, claw-handed Robot from Lost in Space.
Robots have had industrial and entertainment uses for a number of years, but researchers at Washington State University are rethinking robots’ design, tasks, and collaboration with humans. From the tiniest self-powered robot to soft robots, fruit-picking bots, and swarms of small robots like bees that can search collapsed buildings, the very idea of what is a “robot” is changing.
The creation of the National Robotics Initiative in 2011 also pushed the field toward more collaborative robots (or co-robots), which are designed to work cooperatively with humans. The robots are no longer … » More …
Winter 2021
Ripe ideas
Pears are ripe for improvement—any way you slice it. » More ...
Summer 2021
A conversation about Difficult Fruit with Kate Lebo
Kate Lebo’s lyrical and literary Book of Difficult Fruit—part memoir, part cookbook, wholly wonderful—published April 6.
The compilation of essays, one for each letter of the alphabet, uses different fruits as key ingredients for recipes and storytelling. Each piece stands on its own. Collectively, though, the entries present an associative work that is altogether delightful, insightful, witty, surprising, and often deeply personal.
Lebo finished the final draft while working … » More …