All being well, the FLEX satellite will launch early tomorrow morning (alongside Sentinel-3C), giving us a way to monitor global plant health from orbit! spacebotany.uk/blog/how-doe...

How does your garden glow? - Space Botany

ESA's latest Earth Explorer mission - FLEX - will map the health of Earth's plants, from space!

spacebotany.uk

My latest round-up of stories from the world of space plants and gardening incudes safe-to-eat space crops, gardening in the Arctic, nitrogen uptake in space and cookies made from plastic and plant waste! spacebotany.uk/blog/mission... #SpacePlants #astrobotany #SpaceFood

Mission Report: 3 September 2026 - Space Botany

My latest round-up of stories from the world of space plants and gardening incudes safe-to-eat space crops, gardening in the Arctic, nitrogen uptake in space and cookies made from plastic and plant wa...

spacebotany.uk

In September, nitrogen-fixing bacteria will take a trip to space on a Brazilian suborbital flight. spacebotany.uk/blog/brazil-... #SpacePlants #astrobotany

Brazil is launching nitrogen-fixing bacteria into space - Space Botany

A Brazilian rocket will launch samples of two nitrogen-fixing bacteria – Bradyrhizobium and Azospirillum brasiliense – into space.

spacebotany.uk

I'm actually a big fan of wild/alpine strawberries, and I would happily have them in my space garden. #astrobotany #SpacePlants spacebotany.uk/blog/wild-st...

Wild strawberries audition as a future space crop - Space Botany

Wilder strawberries may be more suited to space missions than their highly-cultivated cousins.

spacebotany.uk

A few plants have evolved a trick to survive prolonged dessication, and that might prove useful in space. spacebotany.uk/blog/dead-an... #astrobotany #SpacePlants

Dead and Gone: Resurrection Plants in Space - Space Botany

A few plants have evolved a trick to survive prolonged dessication, and that might prove useful in space.

spacebotany.uk

Astronauts on the ISS are currently involved in a "grow what you want, where you want" experiment, which should lead to more autonomous space gardening.... spacebotany.uk/blog/astrona... #SpacePlants #astrobotany

Astronauts Get to Pick Their Own Space Garden - Space Botany

Astronauts on the ISS are growing their own space gardens.

spacebotany.uk

The University of South Florida is taking a multidisciplinary approach to #astrobotany, which includes testing mangroves in space environments. #SpacePlants spacebotany.uk/blog/one-goa...

One goal – three approaches - Space Botany

Mangroves might not be the first plant that springs to mind for space agriculture, but at USF they're part of a multidisciplinary approach to growing plants in space.

spacebotany.uk

Hey crafty hive mind, help pls! 🙏 Does anyone here know of anyone or have any resources on using okra mucus in paper-making? Specifically using it as a formation aid and/or in sizing/coating? Thanks friends 💖

Ooh, fun. The Plants4Space team has put together a (free, downloadable) book of recipes inspired by their space plants research. plants4space.com/resources/co... #SpacePlants #astrobotany #SpaceFood

Check out our team working on space botany inspired by #USFIB students Jessica Bains and Alex Smith! #USFNews: #Astrobiology #spacebiology #spacebotany #spaceag #Moon #Lunar #Artemis #AbSciCon28 #AbSciCon @spacebotany.uk.web.brid.gy @astrobiology.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaG...

I know it has been a while, but it's Gardeners of the Galaxy's sixth birthday, so I thought I would celebrate with a new episode. It looks into the history… and future… of wine in space. #SpacePlants #astrobotany spacebotany.uk/blog/gotg69-...

GotG69: Wine in Space - Space Botany

To celebrate six years of Gardeners of the Galaxy, Emma the Space Gardener is raising a glass and looking into the history… and future… of wine in space.

spacebotany.uk

This isn't about plants in space, but those of you who listen to Gardeners of the Galaxy might hear a familiar voice...

ESA Technology@technology.esa.int · 11mo ago

📢 🎧 New podcast alert! @esa.int’s Discovery and Preparation programme supports research that pushes boundaries of what’s possible – and now the team are sharing the innovation stories through a new podcast series. Listen to the first episode here 👉 open.spotify.com/episode/72VH...

What if Old McDonald had a farm… on the Moon? 🚜 🌕 In a recent activity supported by @esa.int, a Norwegian research team looked into how we could create fertiliser using nutrients from lunar soil to grow plants on the Moon 👉 www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

Mushrooms, a scientist who wasn’t really known in her day but managed to root herself in the field, and debating metaphors… It was inevitable that I would want to write about this fascinating little exhibit now up at the NY State Museum in Albany. Up @hyperallergic.com

The Woman Scientist and Artist Who Revolutionized the Study of Mushrooms

Scientists today still make use of Mary Banning’s research, examining the same mushrooms that she located, preserved, and packed away for posterity.

hyperallergic.com

Writers, If you'd like more writers to talk to during these quiet hours, let me know your country and I'll tag you in a thread! For 🇳🇿 New Zealand -island? 🇦🇺 Australia -state? Where are you in..? Asia, Africa 🇪🇺 Europe 🇬🇧UK Or are you a night owl/early riser ✍️ 🇨🇦 Canadian 🇺🇸 Usian Latinx

Interesting project from the Italian Space Agency and three universities, developing a new variety of rice for cultivation in space. spacebotany.uk/blog/how-moo... #SpacePlants #astrobotany

How Moon-Rice Could Feed Astronauts – and Earthlings - Space Botany

Header image: Collection of CRISPR-Cas mutagenised rice plants. Image credit: University of Milan. There’s no doubt about it – anyone embarking on a long duration...

spacebotany.uk

My round-up of stories from the world of space plants and gardening this week includes an update on EDEN LUNA, a Biosphere 2 retrospective & French food heading for the ISS! emmadoughty.substack.com/p/gardeners-... #astrobotany #SpacePlants

Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report: 8 July 2025

My Top 10 Stories from the world of space plants and gardening. This week we've got an update on EDEN LUNA, a Biosphere 2 retrospective & French food heading for the ISS!

emmadoughty.substack.com

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot will have gourmet French cuisine for her εpsilon space mission, including: 🧅 Onion soup with pink peppercorns & gratinéed croutons 🍗 Poultry with voatsiperifery pepper, tonka bean & creamy comté cheese polenta #SpaceFood #ESA www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

A pinch of France in space

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot selected the French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to develop the bonus food she will bring to the International Space Station during her mission εpsilon.

esa.int

My top stories from the world of space plants and gardening include space bioreactors, a cultural crop seed payload, anthocyanins and synthetic lichen on Mars! emmadoughty.substack.com/p/gardeners-... #astrobotany #SpacePlants

Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report: 1 July 2025

My Top 10 Stories from the world of space plants and gardening. This week we've got space bioreactors, a cultural crop seed payload, anthocyanins and synthetic lichen on Mars!

emmadoughty.substack.com

This week’s Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report has plants for the Moon and for Mars, fungi to mine asteroids & people missing the point about space exploration. #astrobotany #SpacePlants #ethnobotany emmadoughty.substack.com/p/gardeners-...

Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report: 24 June 2025

My Top 10 Stories from the world of space plants and gardening. This week we've got plants for the Moon and for Mars, fungi to mine asteroids & people missing the point about space exploration.

emmadoughty.substack.com

Cannabis seeds were among the biological payloads in MayaSat-1, which launched on the SpaceX Transporter 14 rideshare mission last night. #SpacePlants #astrobotany www.wired.com/story/scient...

Scientists Are Sending Cannabis Seeds to Space

The versatile cannabis plant could, some scientists think, one day be useful for lunar and Martian colonists. For now, researchers will subject its seeds to radiation in orbit and see what happens.

wired.com

The Best Way to Farm on the Moon Uses Barely Any Fertiliser botany.one/2025/06/the-... Adding tiny amounts of organic waste transforms sterile lunar dust into farmland, but the secret lies in managing competing bacterial communities around plant roots. #Botany #PlantScience 🧪

No sun. No soil. Still: over a ton of veggies in Antarctica. @dlr-en.bsky.social & @awi.de show how food production could work in extreme environments. 🔗 Find out how: t1p.de/l9799 #Helmholtz30

"While proposed bases on the Moon or Mars might get all the headlines, there's another equally hostile and largely unknown location a lot closer to home that explorers are looking towards: the bottom of the ocean." www.sciencefocus.com/future-techn...

Can humans live under the sea? This live experiment plans to find out | BBC Science Focus Magazine

An advanced new research station is being developed to explore the potential for a human settlement under the ocean.

sciencefocus.com

Scientists in China reckon that adding diatoms to lunar regolith could make it more fertile for growing plants. #astrobotany #SpacePlants spacebotany.uk/blog/moon-di...

Moon Dirt, Meet Diatoms – A Recipe for Extraterrestrial Farming - Space Botany

To grow gardens on the Moon, we might need to invite some diatoms to the party.

spacebotany.uk

This week's Mission Report is now live. It has plants launching on (now delayed) Axiom-4, a 3D-printed module for space experiments, magnets for plants in microgravity and more! emmadoughty.substack.com/p/gardeners-... #astrobotany #SpacePlants

Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report: 10 June 2025

My Top 10 Stories from the world of space plants and gardening. This week we've got plants launching on Axiom-4, a 3D-printed module for space experiments, magnets for plants in microgravity and more!

emmadoughty.substack.com

Axiom-4 won't be launching today, and doesn't have a new launch date yet. www.nasa.gov/blogs/spaces...

NASA, Partners Delay Axiom Mission 4, Reviewing Launch Date  - NASA

NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are standing down from the launch opportunity on Wednesday, June 11, of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to re...

nasa.gov

Indian companies Jaguar Space and Protoplanet have announced they will be working together to explore how microgravity affects traditional Himalayan crops. #India #astrobotany #SpacePlants #Himalayas spacebotany.uk/blog/advanci...

Advancing Space Agriculture with Himalayan Crops - Space Botany

India’s Protoplanet and Jaguar Space Partner to Explore Space Agriculture with Himalayan Crops

spacebotany.uk

I've put my weekly newsletter on the website this week. It has space chiles, Moon roses, extraterrestrial dandelions and a space garden in Venice. Plus I saw the whole of the Moon! #SpacePlants #astrobotany spacebotany.uk/blog/mission...

Mission Report: 27 May 2025 - Space Botany

My round-up of stories from the world of space plants and gardening. This week we've got space chiles, Moon roses, extraterrestrial dandelions and a space garden in Venice. Plus I saw the Moon!

spacebotany.uk

We are pleased to announce the release of "PLACE", our 2024 annual report 🌱🚀 👉 To view and download the report, visit: plants4space.com/about #P4S #SpaceResearch #PlantScience