Spring Yard Work

/

There is always a lot to do in our yard after the winter months. Right now - mowing and cleaning up beds is not on my list. The temperature lows have not gotten reliably above 50 for enough days that the insects have emerged, so I am concentrating on all the rest – and enjoying some early blooms. The violets in the front (south) beds bloomed a couple of days before the ones on east side of the house.

The chive seeds I planted winter before last are now clumps of chives along the edge of the east facing bed as well. The seeds were from my mother’s garden. I’ll keep propagating them until they outline the bed. Maybe someday I will take out the metal edging completely. I like the way look and that, as soon as they are well established, they make excellent additions to salads. They are also a good reminder of my mother’s life and garden.

In the front flower bed, the space I cleared of rocks for the hens and chicks is overflowing with plants. Clearing more of the rocks (and the landscaping cloth underneath it) so that the group can expand further is on my list!

I picked up small branches around our yard – mostly from our neighbor’s river birch which is a prolific self-pruner. I piled them on the patio and made bundles of them to easily feed into our chiminea and

Waited for a calm day to burn them. I got about half of them burned before I felt thoroughly smoked and saved the rest for another day!

The highest priority task now is to remove rocks from around the hostas sprouting in the flowerbeds (some in places that are now under bushes), dig out the clump and divide them for transplanting into an area between a pine tree and the flower bed surrounding the patio. The area has been thoroughly mulched and is ready for them. I’ll not disturb the crocus bulbs that have multiplied there and have already finished blooming this season.

A challenge: the oak pollen is high and I am allergic. I’ll either wait a few days or wear a mask when I work on the hostas…or maybe I’ll be delayed by some spring showers.

May Yard Work

/

There is a noticeable uptick in yard work in May….always something to do. The temperature is warm enough – and there is sufficient rain – for the grass to need to be mowed (weed eating/edging) weekly. Most of the time my strategy is to do the front yard one day and the back the next. In the back I am realizing it was a mistake to plant alliums in the grass since they are not done yet….so there is a patch of taller grass along with them.

There was one week that had a lot of rain in the forecast, so I opted to mow everything in one day before the rain. I took a little break after I used up the batteries…only a little left to go and I needed some down time anyway. When I started again, the most robust pine in our yard was in my path. When I bumped it – yellow pollen swirled through the air – and I diverted to give it wide berth. Some of the grass near it did not get mowed! The allergic reaction didn’t start until somewhat later – one of the worst of the year so far; I didn’t even realize I was allergic to pine pollen until now.

One of our other pines is problematic. It is leaning toward other landscaping and our house – the ground freshly heaved upward. The arborist says it can’t be saved so they will come soon to take it down.    

Both rose bushes appear dead. They are older but the landscaping fabric/rocks were added by the previous owner before she put the house on the marker and they might have caused them a problem. I’ll start cutting them up and burning the sticks in my chiminea fire pit soon – a better solution than cutting them up and taking them to the recycling center (yard waste) since the thorns making handling hazardous.

I cleared away rocks and landscaping fabric from an area and planted sunflowers, black eyed susans, cone flowers, gladiolus, and a wildflower mix in the big plan and some mini-pumpkin seeds in a smaller area nearby.

I sprinkled the area with spent flowers and empty edamame pods as a kind of celebration of the bed after I finished. I’ll be collecting seeds from the things that grow this year (except for the gladiolus) to plant in other areas next year. Creating places to plant has been hard  work (rock is heavy and landscaping fabric is tough).

Realizing that the weight of the rocks might be a problem for some of our other plants, I raked rocks away from the small cedars that have looked sick from the beginning. And there are more plants that might need the same help. Always something else that needs to be done in the yard!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 30, 2022

/

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Furs from Danish Viking Burials Analyzed – Proteins extracted from animal furs found in 6 burials. The accessories/furnishings were domesticated animals. The items of clothing were wild beaver, squirrels, and weasels. The beaver furs were not native to the area so were probably luxury furs obtained by trade.

More Energy on Less Land: The Drive to Shrink Solar’s Footprint – Good ideas…if we must use agriculturally productive land for solar panels. I’d like to see cities with high density solar panels that generate electricity close to where it is needed (i.e., short distance between generation and use). Hopefully that is happening in parallel with the solar development described in this article.

Moths are unsung heroes of pollination – The study was done with red clover…but probably applies to a broader range of plants. Moths are active during the night so have not been as easily observed as pollinators that are active during the day. The work was done with time lapse cameras.

Electric School Buses! – A blog post about the US Department of Energy’s ‘Flipping the Switch on Electric School Buses’ series. There are lots of communities that have been exploring making the transition and I am hopeful that it will be an escalating trend. I always cringed at the fumes that were so obvious when the buses arrived/departed from schools as I was growing up and when my daughter was in school. It would be good for the planet and good for children’s lungs to eliminate the school bus as a source of air pollution!

The habits that help prevent allergies – Studies that are improving our understanding of why allergies are increasing in the children….and strategies for addressing the problem. Evidently the time between 4 and 11 months is very important.

Harm from blue light exposure increases with age, research in flies suggests – Not good news. Maybe the default setting on our ‘screens’ (phones, computers, television) need to reduce blue light rather than it being a setting that everyone must intentionally set. And why don’t LED manufactures offer bulbs that are not so blue shifted?

Giant Snails take over Florida’s Gulf Coast - It is not the first time…probably won’t be the last. These snails are native to Africa and this the third time Florida has battled an invasion.

Water resources to become less predictable with climate change – The study focused primarily on areas that rely on snow for all or part of their water supply. Some of those areas are already relatively dry…and the populations are large enough that the unpredictability of water resources will be very problematic.

The best way to brush your teeth – This is going to take some practice to break old habits. I learned to brush my teeth a long time ago and probably am too sloppy even doing it the way I was taught!

New thought on Cahokia’s ancient wetlands – A large flat rectangular area that was previously thought to have been used as open, communal space might have been under water most of the year!

Patuxent Research Refuge – Milkweed and Goldenrod

/

The milkweeds are going to seed and the goldenrods are blooming at the South Tract of Patuxent Research Refuge last week – typical fall meadow views. The milkweed seed pods have burst open and are spilling their seeds to the wind. The seeds have the possibility of starting new stands of the plant next year. The stands that are healthy now will come up from the roots already well-established next spring (i.e. no seed sprouting required).

2021 09 IMG_9170 (1).jpg

My favorite picture of the morning was the very first one I took – with the dew still sparkling on the fluff and the seeds still neatly emerging from the opening pod.

Often the goldenrod and milkweed are mixed in meadow areas but there are some almost pure stands of the goldenrod. It is the hero in the fall for migrating Monarchs and other nectar feeding insects. Sometimes the plant gets blamed for allergies, but it is insect pollinated, rather than wind. People with fall allergies are more likely to be feeling the impact of ragweed pollen!

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/24/2020 - Gleanings

/

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Finishing Fashion as Design Coursera course. The theme for the last module was Expression. It was a good way to end the course. I have enjoyed both courses I’ve done from MoMA and will probably start a third one – What is Contemporary Art – early next week.

20200424_182855.jpg

Hearing a piano practice. My husband opted to start up piano practice…not sure why he hadn’t thought to play it weeks ago. What’s not to like about a grand piano? It was tuned last winter just before the coronavirus pandemic, so it is in excellent condition. His playing didn’t last for long, because the cat demanded attention…and has decided that the best place to sleep is under the piano.

Hearing a piano practice. My husband opted to start up piano practice…not sure why he hadn’t thought to play it weeks ago. What’s not to like about a grand piano? It was tuned last winter just before the coronavirus pandemic, so it is in excellent condition. His playing didn’t last for long, because the cat demanded attention…and has decided that the best place to sleep is under the piano.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And then there are the gleanings for the past week:

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

How Rain Evolved Its Distinct Scent—and Why Animals and Humans Love It | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The chemical that is the scent of newly moistened soil, geosmin, has been known to scientists since the 1960s….but now we are figuring out its purpose. It is made by 120 of 122 species of bacteria in the genus Streptomyces that have been studied. The scent attracts springtails (tiny arthropods) that eat the bacteria and spread the bacteria’s spores via their excrement or the spores that attach to their body and then fall off. Many other insects, fungi and nematodes are killed by chemicals produced by the bacteria. So – the scent after rain is connected to the lifecycle of bacteria that are one of the most important sources of antibiotics known to science!

Top 25 birds of the week: Terrestrial Birds - Wild Bird Revolution – Enjoying images of birds from around the world.

Long-living tropical trees play outsized role in carbon storage -- ScienceDaily – They used ‘hindcasting’ to validate their model: seeded the model with forest composition data collected at their site in Panama during the 1980s and then ran the model forward to see that it adequately represents the changes that occurred from then until now.  Once that was done…they can use the model to predict what will happen to the forest with climate change. Will the forest continue absorbing some of the excess carbon – or not?

Flamingos in Captivity Pick Favorite Friends Among the Flock | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – 2-4 birds…not limited to mated pairs. Some were together for the whole 5 years of the study! The study found no loners but some bounded between groups.

What do soap bubbles and butterflies have in common? Butterfly breeding gives insight into evolution of iridescence -- ScienceDaily – A 75% increase thickness in the chitin lamina of wing scales turned iridescent gold to shiny blue….the same way a soap bubble iridescence works! And now there is a whole new genetic approach to investigate structural color in butterflies – and may lead to new ways to produce photonic nanostructures for solar panels, paints, clothing, and cosmetics.

How to mine precious metals in your home - BBC Future – Theoretically - the “urban mine” is far richer in high value materials per ton than traditional metal ore mines….but we don’t quite have the way to collect the ‘ore’ or effectively extract the metals.  

Springfield Plateau: Cowbird Eggs – Cowbirds….I’m trying not to be too judgmental. (I’ve included a picture of cowbirds at our bird feeder below. The female is a more frequent visitor than the male.)

2020 04 IMG_8702.jpg

Colorful Image Lights Up Microscopic Guts of 'Water Bear' | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Enhancing our view of a tardigrade with fluorescent stain….and done close to where I live at University of Maryland Baltimore County!

Take a Free Virtual Tour of Five Egyptian Heritage Sites | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – These are best viewed on your largest monitor!

Common protein in skin can 'turn on' allergic itch -- ScienceDaily – Turning off the production of the protein periostin in the skin can reduce the itch from atopic dermatitis (in mice). More research needed to see if it works for humans too.

Gleanings of the Gleanings of the Week Ending April 27, 2019

/

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Berkeley Soda Tax, 3 Years In: What New Research Shows About Its Effectiveness | Berkeley Wellness - Consumption of sugary drinks has fallen by half in low-income areas of Berkeley, California.

The Real Reason You See Earthworms After Rain – Cool Green Science – There could be multiple reasons. Maybe they are moving to new territory while the surface is wet, and they won’t become dehydrated. Or maybe they want the extra oxygen that is at the surface.

Exploring The Parks: Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve – It’s been a long time since I have been to this park…and we didn’t explore it thoroughly when we were there. Maybe time to plan another trip.

Image of the Day: Pretty Jellies | The Scientist Magazine® - Genetic comparisons of jellyfish types

These Cities Are the Most Dangerous for Migrating Birds | Smart News | Smithsonian – Chicago, Dallas, and Houston….an area that Texas would probably prefer to not be at the top. Maybe the “Lights Out” trend with help.

Washington Monument Opening Pushed Back To August Due To Contaminated Soil – I was surprised when I saw this headline because I didn’t even know is was closed! The soil is below the surface and probably from the 1880s.

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year | Smart News | Smithsonian – It’s happened gradually but the length of allergy season and the amount of pollen has been increasing over the past 20 years. There are new treatments for those suffering enough to go to allergists - many allergists are prescribing immunotherapy tablets for people suffering from grass pollen, dust mite or ragweed allergies.

Scientists Say They Have Found a Viable Replacement for Petroleum-Based Plastic - Yale E360 – Plant based material that has the strength and aesthetics…suitable for food packaging. The research described in the article is from Ohio State but there are probably others working on the problem too. If a replacement for petroleum-based plastic can be found it would make it much easier to ‘go green.’

BBC - Future - How air pollution is doing more than killing us and Air Pollution Increases ER Visits — Largest US Study On The Topic Confirms It | CleanTechnica – Lots of public health issues being studied in light of air pollution….and the findings are concerning. The linkage to things like asthma has long been discussed but now there are more details and more negative impacts of air pollution on health being identified.  Emerging studies show that air pollution is linked to impaired judgement, mental health problems, poorer performance in school and most worryingly perhaps, higher levels of crime.

#IYPT2019 – What elements do you need to live? – in C&EN | Compound Interest – An infographic to answer the question.