All the Dirt on Gardening

Knoema is one of the many companies making a business of Big Data. You must look at their maps! Map of threatened bird species http://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Environment/Biodiversity-and-Protected-Areas/Bird-species-threatened?type=maps Map of fish species threatened http://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Environment/Biodiversity-and-Protected-Areas/Fish-species-threatened?type=maps Map of threatened mammals, excluding whales and porpoises http://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Environment/Biodiversity-and-Protected-Areas/Mammal-species-threatened?type=maps Map of threatened vascular plants http://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Environment/Biodiversity-and-Protected-Areas/Plant-species-threatened?type=maps Here's a link to their environmental topics - so much to explore at Knoema! http://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Environment And, here's the Knoema blog to check out http://blog.knoema.com/

  How Stuff Works has a more detailed one for just the US  

Our yard was covered with Hoar Frost, frozen dew, or white frost, this week and the photo opportunity was irresistible. It is basically explained as moist air and fog in our case, hitting freezing temperatures. If you want an interesting video explanation, the Weather Channel has one at http://www.weather.com/video/what-is-hoar-frost-32366 One helpful weather person defined other types of frost for us. http://www.wsaz.com/blogs/askjosh/81964962.html Rime frost looks like icing around the edges of petals and leaves and only occurs when the temperatures are very low. Fern frost is what we see on windows in really cold weather - I saw this a lot as a child growing up in Ohio. Homelandscapes author Cathy Bell writes about winter life at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, 2013-2014.  Here's one paragraph from her post about Hoar Frost (click on the link to read the rest). "Surface hoar is a kind of frost that forms when humid air comes into contact with very ...

Birds bring many benefits to the garden and the gardener including the pleasures of hearing their songs, enjoying their colors and watching nest-making activities. When the landscape includes plants that give the birds food, shelter and nesting sites, more types of birds will visit and take up residence. The backbone of a bird-friendly yard is native plants, especially the ones that produce flowers in the summer and berries for winter food. Sustainable garden practices are also essential, so learning to establish a chemical-free ecosystem is part of the process. It helps to think like a bird. As you look around your landscape make sure there is food, water and shrubbery for hiding from predators. In addition a small pond will attract birds, frogs, toads, butterflies and dragonflies. Many birds are attracted to specific plants. For example, Cedar waxwings look for the berries of eastern red cedar. But in general many trees are great for birds including fir, alder, holly, junip...

The U.S. Forest Service website explains how we got flying reindeer and elves - it's is thanks to a special mushroom that grows under evergreen trees in Europe and Asia. http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/mindandspirit/flyagaric.shtml Santa Claus - the origin "In the “old world”, the psychoactive fly agaric mushroom ( Amanita muscaria ) has been closely associated with northern European and Asiatic shamans and their rituals. Researchers have documented its use or presumed use by numerous cultures throughout Europe and Asia. In Siberia, its use predates the crossing of the Bering Straits into North America." The fly agaric is a favorite food of reindeer - you'll recognize it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCS9ePWuLU Drink that reindeer urine for a special holiday treat!~ When fly agaric mushroom fell out of popularity, it was replaced by the liberty cap mushroom. http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/mindandspirit/flyagaric.shtml ...

Worm composting is an easy way for home gardeners to transform food scraps into an organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. There are several ways to set up a small system using a single or several inexpensive plastic bins. The single bin project can be a family activity done with children. More complex projects require more tools and supervision. Since red worms (red wrigglers) live in the top 6-inches of soil, a shallow container like a kitty litter box makes a good starter setup. The lid is essential and has to either fit loosely or have holes in it so air will circulate. A simple bin for under a tree outdoors could be made of a trash can with holes drilled in top, bottom and sides. The worm hotel built by Jon Stoodley is made of several plastic tubs with holes cut out of the centers. “I prefer the stacked-bins because as we add more food and paper at the top, the castings fall to the bottom, keeping the worm activity and the castings separated,” said Stoodley. “With this m...

Bakers' racks hold lots of plants We heat the shed a bit and run lights to keep things going all winter. Here are snaps from this week. Double-click to view larger size. Houseplants - begonia, coleus, mother-in-law Hollyhock plants growing for the Garden Club sale Activity by the windows includes re-potting Castor Bean seedlings Kale seedlings under lights    Rosemary cuttings, rooted and growing well  Dahlberg Daisy seedlings Aphids of course