3/11/21 - Vermont Agency of Natural Resources staff scientists were alerted last week that an aquarium plant sold within Vermont and throughout the country may contain an invasive aquatic animal species, zebra mussels
(Dreissena polymorpha). The aquarium plant commonly known as moss balls, may be sold under names including “Beta Buddy Marimo Balls,” “Mini Marimo Moss Balls,” and “Marimo Moss Ball Plant” and were available to purchase in large department stores or through online sales. While the plant is benign, the plants may harbor zebra mussels within the plant, or within the packaging. Zebra mussels are a small freshwater mollusk aquatic invasive species that can reproduce rapidly and cause detrimental harm to the ecological balance within a water system. They can also cause an economic burden, clogging pipes and other underwater infrastructure. As filter-feeders, they prolifically consume microscopic aquatic life, which causes a potential impa
Zebra mussel found within a moss ball. USGS Photo.
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Agency of Natural Resources staff scientists were alerted last week that an aquarium plant sold within Vermont and throughout the country may contain an invasive aquatic animal species, zebra mussels
(Dreissena polymorpha). The aquarium plant commonly known as moss balls, may be sold under names including “Beta Buddy Marimo Balls,” “Mini Marimo Moss Balls,” and “Marimo Moss Ball Plant” and were available to purchase in large department stores or through online sales. While the plant is benign, the plants may harbor zebra mussels within the plant, or within the packaging.
Take a DIY cider tour of Vermont Diane Bair
Could Vermont become the Napa Valley of the cider industry? Why not, say the folks at the Vermont Cider Association (www.vermontcider.com). They’re planning to design a Vermont Cider Trail, “a real destination for cider enthusiasts,” says vice president Sara Trivelpiece of Champlain Orchards. “Cider is so versatile, and it can bridge the gap between wine, beer, cocktails, and seltzer while being made from real, sustainable fruit.”
For the record, we’re talking hard cider, or what the rest of the world calls, simply, cider. (What we call “cider,” they call “apple juice.”) Most have between 5 percent and 7 percent alcohol by volume. This beverage has a long history in New England. For Colonists, potable water was scarce, so drinking fermented beverages was the healthy choice. Historians note that even children drank a weakened hard cider called “ciderkin.”
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