Earth Friendly Practices For Everyone

White man be damned.

Taken at the Michigan Carbon Works factory in Rougeville, the pile of bison skulls in this photo was slated to be processed and used in making products like bone glue, fertilizer, bone ash, bone char, and bone charcoal.

The number of bison skulls is a testament to the prevalence of the animal in the US, as well as why that number fell so significantly.

As many as 30-50 million bison existed at the start of the 1800s.

By the 1880s, that number was in the thousands and, in 1902, fewer than 100 bison were left.

Conservation efforts revitalized the bison population during the 20th century.

According to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, bison were no longer under threat of extinction (as of 2016) due to conservation efforts and commercial herds of roughly 500,000 bison.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/08/america-is-ignoring-its-public-pools/679428/

The Decline of America’s Public Pools As summers get hotter, public pools help people stay cool. Why are they so neglected?

"It makes sense that, as Musk’s influence shifts the platform to the right, his contemporaries feel comfortable following suit. As the venture capitalist Ben Horowitz said on his podcast last week: “The future of our business, the future of technology, new technology, and the future of America is really at stake … We think Donald Trump is actually the right choice. Sorry, Mom.”

If you need to apologize to your mom for who you are voting for as the most powerful man on the planet then you are making a serious mistake. This ain't no disco!

I'd like to make a public service announcement today, if I may. Since everyone's peonies are either ready to open or have just opened, I'd like to explain why you may have seen ants on the flower heads. Rest assured those ants aren’t harming those flower buds in the least. The buds actually contain what are called “extrafloral nectaries,” which secrete nectar. The ants are attracted to that nectar because it’s an excellent food source. I used to hear that the flowers needed ants to remove that sticky nectar in order for the petals to open. It turns out that isn’t true. What actually happens is that the nectar attracts the ants, which in turn will kill off insects such as thrips that would damage the flowers. This means the ants benefit from the nectar while the flowers benefit from the ants’ predation on troublesome insects. This is known as biological mutualism. And what if you see ladybugs on the peony buds? In addition to eating aphids, insect eggs, leafhoppers and whiteflies, they also eat pollen and nectar as a supplement to their diet. So there you have it! (NOTE: a few folks have been confused that there are ladybugs in the photo: I only use my own photos and did not have a peony photo with ants on the buds, so I used this photo as this is what I was seeing on my peonies last spring.)

Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium - Susan's in the Garden Learn about this year's virtual Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium, sponsored by the Spokane County Master Gardener Foundation. Sign up!

Congratulations on your book Susan Mulvihill!

A few days ago, I found out something really cool! (at least, I think so!) My newest book, The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, was named one of the TOP 10 GARDEN BOOKS OF 2023! Woohoo! This appeared in the Washington (D.C.) Gardener magazine (https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/) and here's what the reviewer, Erica H. Smith, had to say: "...let me assure you that this book will not, well, lead you down the garden path to unverified, nonscientific solutions. Mulvihill knows her stuff, and she knows how to present it. This is a well-written, encouraging guide to making your garden the best it can be." Wow. Thank you, Erica! So NOW do you want to get a personally signed copy of the book from me? 😆 If so, just drop me a note at [email protected]. Erica was right: I want YOU to be successful and have a great resource!

Relax. Take a powder. Enjoy the season. Let them live.

They're a family.

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