Life is Like A Box of... Veggies!

I was walking around the flower market looking for some flowers for an order and my bud, Vikki at Florist at Large walks up to me with a box of veggies! She said she picked them all herself and they were looking for a home. I guess my part time vegan vibe was working overtime. She laid them on me and told me the big green ones were Armenian Cucumbers. I am totally into heirloom tomatoes and beets, but have never had Armenian Cucumbers. We used to sell seeds at our flower shop at The Cannery at Fisherman's Wharf back in the '70's and sold the seeds. Tonight I find out what they taste like! I go looking for flowers and end up with homegrown vegetables. Just goes to show that life is like a box of... veggies! You never know what you are going to get!

Survey Shows: San Francisco Residents Appreciate Tourists

Tourism is San Francisco’s most important industry according to resident survey

August 14, 2012  Residents of San Francisco named tourism the City’s most important industry in a survey released today by the San Francisco Travel Association.

The study found that San Franciscans were almost unanimous in understanding the economic importance of tourism 98% responding that tourism is very important or important to the vitality of the City’s economy.  Additionally, when directly asked if they believe tourism is The City’s most important industry, almost 70% agreed or strongly agreed. 

Based on these independent findings, it is deeply gratifying to see that the vast majority of San Francisco residents appreciate the important role tourism plays in the economic vitality of our city? reflected Joe D’Alessandro, President and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association.

The survey also found residents consider tourism important to the financial health of San Francisco’s city government with nearly all of the respondents ( 94%) agreeing that tourism has a strongly positive or positive impact on the San Francisco city budget.  When asked about paying for City services like police, schools, road repairs and firefighters, 91% “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that tourism plays an important role. Only 3% felt tourism has a negative impact on city finances.

“As a member of the travel and tourism sector, it is extremely rewarding to learn that our fellow San Franciscans value the benefits tourism provides in terms of city services,” said David Nadelman, Chairman of San Francisco Travel Association’s Board of Directors. “It was also exciting to discover that residents appreciate the benefits residents enjoy in their everyday lives as a result of tourism.”

Nadelman was referring to a finding that 78% of respondents agree that “tourism makes San Francisco a better place to live.”  The study also found 80% of residents agree there is a healthy balance of tourism and resident activity in the City. This may explain why most respondents believe their elected officials should support public policies that promote tourism with 76% saying they would be more likely to vote for a Mayor whose policies support tourism and 81% agreeing that “it is important for their district supervisor to support tourism.”

The survey was conducted by San Francisco-based Destination Analysts in early July 2012.  A total of 400 adult San Francisco residents were interviewed by telephone.  The survey included open-ended and close-ended questions gathering resident opinions on tourism-related topics and was commissioned by the San Francisco Travel Association.

The San Francisco Travel Association is a private, not-for-profit organization that markets the city as a leisure, convention and business travel destination.  With more than 1,500 partner businesses, San Francisco Travel is one of the largest membership-based tourism promotion agencies in the country. Tourism, San Francisco's largest industry, generates in excess of $8.4 billion annually for the local economy and supports over 71,000 jobs.

The San Francisco Travel business offices are located at 201 Third St., Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103. San Francisco Travel also operates the Visitor Information Center at Hallidie Plaza, 900 Market Street at the corner of Powell and Market streets. For more information, call 415-974-6900 or visit www.sanfrancisco.travel.

The San Francisco Resident Survey is available at  http://media.sanfrancisco.travel/documents/RESIDENT+SURVEY+-+EXEC+SUMMARY.pdf 

It's Dahlia Season (all photos in this post taken at the San Francisco Dahlia Garden in Golden Gate Park)

August Birth Month Flower is Gladiolus

Botanical Name :	Gladiolus spp.
Common Name :	Sword Lily
Product Use :	Cut Flower
Pronunciation :	glad-ee-O-lus
Family Roots :	Member of the Iridaceae (iris family). Native to South Africa. Cousins include Iris, freesia, crocus, ixia and Watsonia.
Personality :	Normally has 10-16 flowers (4-10 inches or more in length) on a one-sided spike at end of stem. Stems are thick, fleshy, up to 4 feet long. Plant is a perennial from corms, classed as a monocotyledon, leaves mostly parallel veined. While a few cultivars are sweetly scented, most have no fragrance.
Availability :	Mid-spring through fall.
Flower Color :	Most, except true blue.
Decorative Life :	6-10 days.
Ethylene Sensitivity :	Low
Ethylene Comments :	Gladiolus flowers are believed to be insensitive to ethylene. However, while STS treatment does not extend the life of open florets, it does promote the opening of more flowers on spikes with a net effect of increased vaselife. It is unknown at the time of this writing if MCP would provide the same results.
Post Harvest Care Opportunities :	Recut stems under water and place into a fresh flower food solution. Pulsing stems with a 20% sugar solution at room temperature for 24 hours can aid in the opening of more florets per stem, just like when treated with STS. To make a 20% solution, add 1.5 pounds of sugar to one gallon of a freshly made fresh flower food solution made with hot water. Note that the water needs to be hot to aid in dissolving the sugar. Stems are geotropic which means they bend upward from gravity. Handle in vertical position to prevent bending or handle horizontally only at 32-34 degrees F. Removing a few immature flower buds at the tip of the spike as recommended by some to help open lower, more mature flowers is not supported by research. Removal of lower, more mature flowers as they wilt will not help open upper flowers and in fact reduces their ability to open. Placing flowers in fluoride containing water can reduce vaselife, namely, levels as low as 0.25 ppm is all that is needed.
Storage Specifics :	Generally 32-38F. However, some cultivars grown in Florida are reported to be chill sensitive and therefore are stored at 45 degrees F. No research is available to confirm this report. In addition, there is data to support the use of low oxygen and high carbon dioxide storage and/or packaging of mini-glads ('Adi'). Flowers stored for 14 days at 35F had good subsequent vaselife.
Preharvest & Harvest Factors:	Cultivar selection is important. For example, some good mini glads are 'Adi' (currant-red), 'Kinnereth' (violet), 'Ronit' (purple), 'Yamit' (violet) and 'Nirit (blood-red). Spraying plants 2 weeks before flowers are harvested with a 2% calcium nitrate solution greatly reduces stem topple (breakage) disorder after harvest. Addition of calcium to the soil has little benefit in preventing this postharvest disorder. Harvest when 1-5 flowers on a spike are showing color.
Tidbits :	Gladiolus means sword in Latin, referring to the long pointed leaves. This might explain one early common name, sword lily. Miniature forms are available with stems under 2 feet long. Grown from corms, not bulbs. The first species as we know them today were introduced from Ghent, Belgium in 1841. Flower forms: ruffled, fringed, orchid-like, tulip-like and rose-like. Some cultivars are sensitive to fluoride found in water supplies, which can result in flower tip burn. Shorter cultivars are available which has transformed this stereotypic funeral flower into a contemporary favorite. See more Birth Month Flowers: http://www.hoogasian.com/BirthMonthFlowers.html