#when so much of the rain forest is cut down for agriculture? we should be eating less plants!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ripley95 · 4 years

Text

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 5

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 4K

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Kaidan shows Shepard around the orchard and shares an important memory of his.

Link to Chapter 5 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Read the chapter here below the cut:

After finishing the lunch that Ada and Libby prepared, Shepard and Kaidan made sure to stay long enough to help put away the leftover food and clean up all of the dishes. Ada shooed them out the door the moment they were done helping so they could go enjoy themselves.

As they walked out the back door, Shepard immediately had a better view of the orchard than when they landed. It spanned for kilometres and was met with a pine forest along the edges, proving that this was a much larger property than she had imagined. Growing up in space, learning about agriculture wasn’t particularly high on the list of learning priorities, so she really had no idea what to expect. Seeing the scope of it first-hand was surprising. The additional view of the hills and mountains in the distance was enough to make her feel small, which wasn’t an easy feeling to achieve after seeing the vastness of space. She had to pause and take it all in.

The sun was out, which was nice considering they only just escaped the rain that had started pouring that same morning back in Vancouver. Spring had only just started, so the sun blanketed them in a pleasant warmth to contrast the cooler temperatures and the light breeze surrounding them. The weather and the scenery couldn’t have been more perfect. She had to credit Libby with having impeccable taste when it came to choosing a time and place to have a wedding.

After taking in the initial scenery, Kaidan started walking, leading the way at a slow and relaxed pace. He waited for Shepard to match him before leading her towards the apple trees.

“So… that was… uh,” Kaidan stammered.

“Interesting?”

“That’s one way to put it,” he said with a slight smile.

“Don’t worry about it. It was fine,” she said, trying to be reassuring. She didn’t want him to feel more guilty than he already did about Maisie’s misunderstanding or the fact that his family had such a shocked reaction to her at first.

“I’m sorry, were we in the same room?” he asked with a lighthearted laugh.

“All right. Yeah, that was a bit of a disaster, wasn’t it? Happy now?” she asked, teasingly.

“As long as we’re on the same page about it,” he said with a smirk. “I’m sure mom will have a talk with Maisie. It’ll probably be fine.”

“Ah. ‘Probably.’ I’m feeling very reassured here, Kaidan.”

“Well, you saw how she reacted. She’s not one to let an idea go easily once she’s made up her mind about something, but she’s harmless enough. Even if it were true, she wouldn’t be selling that information to the tabloids or anything. She’s way too loyal and protective to do anything like that,” he said, somewhat amused before turning his tone more serious. “But then there’s everyone else’s reaction.”

“They were just taken off guard. I get it.”

He turned to her and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I still can’t believe I didn’t expect that reaction though, because I probably should have.”

“It wasn’t all that bad,” she said, almost believing it herself. “Especially with the way lunch went, I think they calmed down a bit.”

Kaidan nodded in agreement. “They really are a good bunch once you get to know them,” he said as they continued their leisurely pace towards the trees.

“If you’re anything to go by, they can’t be all that bad,” she said with a smile before she realised what she said could have come off as being flirtatious, which is the last thing she wanted. Damn her heart speaking before her brain. An awkward moment of silence passed between them before she cleared her throat. “I just hope I haven’t complicated things too much. I didn’t even think about the fact that I might be stealing Libby’s thunder or anything.”

Kaidan looked at her then. “You heard that, eh?” he asked, sounding guilty. “Yeah, I didn’t even think about that possibility. I’m sure we can think of something to make it up to her. She usually needs some space to cool down, though, so it’s probably best to give her some time.”

Shepard nodded at that. She really didn’t mean to cause such an upset for something that was supposed to be such an important moment in his sister’s life. If worst came to worst, she would end up excusing herself from the wedding anyway. She wasn’t about to be ruffling any feathers at a time like this. She knew Kaidan wouldn’t be happy with that idea. He would have hated for her to be excluded after he invited her here, so she kept it to herself for now. Her thoughts faded into the background as she realised that they finally reached the treeline.

“That’s where the reception’s going to be,” he said, pointing towards a barn off to the side of them, then he turned back to the orchard’s treeline. “And I think this area right here is where Libby’s going to get married. We’ll mow the grass and set up some chairs. She’ll probably walk out from the house, and get married with that view in the background,” he said, pointing to the mountains.

“She certainly has good taste,” Shepard said, taking a glance around the area. Something caught her attention, and she noticed someone standing on the porch watching them out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t look now, but there’s a target at our six,” she said jokingly.

“You don’t say,” Kaidan returned, picking up on the playful banter, determined to play coy along with Shepard, and not turn around to chastise whichever sister it was.

“If I had to venture a guess, I’d say it was Maisie,” Jane said under her breath with a smirk.

“If I had to guess, I’d say you’re probably right,” he said with mirth, shaking his head at his sister and her antics.

“Should we mess with her?” Shepard asked with an evil grin.

Kaidan looked to her with a mix of intrigue and hesitation. “For the record, Maisie’s basically a big child, so the answer to that question is almost always a ‘yes,’” he said with a quiet chuckle.

Shepard nodded, the devilish grin still firmly on her face, as she reached for Kaidan’s hand with her own, gently intertwining their fingers. She immediately revelled in the warmth of his palm against hers, coinciding with an almost immediate sense of regret. Clearly, she hadn’t thought this through. Holding hands was an intimate gesture, and she suddenly realised how big of a mistake she just made. She looked back up to him, not knowing what to do, her evil expression faltering slightly. Kaidan didn’t seem to notice, trying to act as nonchalant as possible to play along with it.

“You sure stepped in it now, Shepard,” he said with a grin, matching her own.

“Yeah,” she said, dragging out the word. “I’m starting to realise that. I may not have fully thought out the repercussions of this.”

“Well, not much more to do now than let it play out,” he said with a smile still plastered to his face. At least he didn’t look as perturbed with the idea of it as she was. “We should head up this way. There’s something I want to show you.”

“Sounds good,” she barely managed to get out before she felt a gentle tug at her hand as Kaidan started to guide them.

They slowly made their way up a small hill past the apple trees. She figured he was probably taking it so leisurely today thanks to her leg being stiff. Kaidan’s thoughtfulness was one of the many qualities that she admired about him, but in this particular instance, she couldn’t help but wish they were moving a little faster. All she could think about was how long her hand had already been safely cradled in his, and how much this ‘prank’ had crossed some kind of line. She could feel the sweat beading between their palms like this was some school-aged crush. Maybe the torture she felt was a fair punishment for doing something so foolish.

He led her towards the outer edge of the pine forest that bordered a corner of their land, and as they got far enough away from the house, she felt his fingers slip out of hers. It was exactly what she wanted, yet somehow, the air now bit at the flesh of her palm. The loss of contact stung as much as the thought of maintaining it. She put her hand in her pocket as a way to distract herself from the sensation of it.

“Is this all part of your property, too?” She asked. She was genuinely curious, but also mostly just wanted to try to forget about what just happened.

“Some of it. The forest extends beyond our border, but the neighbours are really good about sharing it. We won’t be going that far today, though.”

She nodded in acknowledgement, still amazed at the contrast of upbringings they had.

They continued to walk along a small path briefly. She even noticed lights following the trail, implying that it must be one that’s used frequently. It didn’t take long before they reached a clearing with a tiny log cabin right in the middle.

Shepard paused in her tracks, taking in their new surroundings briefly. “This is also yours, I take it?”

Kaidan turned to her, with a soft smile on his face. “Yeah,” he said with a nod. “It’s one of my favourite things here. This is what I wanted to show you,” he said pointing towards the cabin as they walked closer towards it.

The exterior of the cabin left a lot to be desired, though, she had to admit it had a rustic charm. The setting was very calming and private, so she could understand the appeal. It seemed perfectly suited to Kaidan, so no wonder this was one of his favourite spots.

Kaidan led them inside the cabin. It was a relatively simple structure with only one small room. Clearly not meant to be a livable building by any means. Not for any extended periods, anyway. There was a decent looking couch opposite the entrance. Maybe a little dusty, but still in good condition considering it’s been staying in a building that hasn’t been maintained for who knows how long. There was a coffee table, some end tables, and a couple of boxes of what looked like old books strewn about. The air was stale, but Shepard figured it could look pretty quaint with a bit of tidying up. She wasn’t about to disturb anything, but she could picture it being a cozy place to spend an afternoon.

“Why don’t you have a seat and relax for a second,” he said, before opening the curtains and windows to let some natural light in and air out the room.

Shepard followed his direction and sat on the couch, only to have unsettled a small cloud of dust. She coughed slightly and waved her hand around to dissipate any remnants in the air before brushing off the cushion next to her in order for Kaidan to sit down without a repeat of events.

“Thanks,” he said with a genuine smile as he sat next to her on the cushion that she cleaned off.

“I’ve gotta say, Kaidan, this is pretty nice.”

“Yeah. I always liked it.”

“So, is this one of those childhood forts that all you Earth kids got to have?”

Kaidan huffed out a laugh at that. “Not exactly. This is probably pretty luxurious for something like that. And I think it’s pretty rare for us Earth kids to actually get something like a fort out in the woods.”

She nodded with a smile. She was sure he had a point, but her only reference for that kind of thing was from the vids and extranet searches when she was young. She wasn’t exactly the most well versed on planetside upbringings. She was silent after that. Clearly, there was more to this place than meets the eye, and he brought her out here for a reason.

“Sounds like there must be a story about this?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah- yeah, there is.”

Kaidan tried to relax into the couch a bit more, and looked out through the window, appearing as though he was trying to distract himself. Shepard silently waited for him to continue, seeing that it was already a difficult story for him.

“Well… you know about Jump Zero.”

That caught her off guard, not expecting this to have anything to do with that. This really was going to be serious then. “Yeah,” she said quietly.

“I know I’ve told you about Vyrnnus before, but we never really discussed what things were like after that.”

Shepard immediately felt guilty. She didn’t mean to dredge up old memories. “Kaidan, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No. It’s okay,” he said, with that wistful smile again. “That time in my life was hard. I won’t lie about that. I mean, I killed a man in cold blood, Shepard.”

“It wasn’t your fault. He was a man abusing his power. Abusing children. You were protecting someone you cared about.”

“Yeah. I know that now,” he said solemnly, nodding his head in affirmation. “It was a bit more complicated at the time, though. I mean, I was sure I had done the right thing, but then Rahna, well, she made me feel like I was some kind of monster. When I came back home, I wasn’t exactly myself anymore. Obviously, I was in therapy, but therapy really isn’t any good unless you accept the help, you know?”

Shepard nodded quietly, understanding the sentiment. She sat intently, studying his features as she listened to what he had to say.

“But anyway, I was only seventeen. I didn’t know how to handle that, and I was too stubborn to actually use the help that was given to me. I was dangerously close to losing myself to the rage that pushed me over the edge that day when I killed Vyrnnus. Either that or getting lost in a deep pit of depression, knowing that I had the power to so easily take away something as precious as someone’s life. I started secluding myself away from my family. I thought I was a danger to them. Siblings can be annoying. I didn’t want to snap at them and lose control again, so I stayed away, hidden in my room most of the time.”

“Obviously, my parents picked up on the fact that therapy wasn’t helping. My dad took me to stay in our apartment on English Bay for a while, just the two of us. I was still angry, and I didn’t know why he brought me out there. He found me one afternoon out on the deck, and he had a case of lager with him. That was the first time I ever had a beer,” he said with a faltering smile. “In retrospect, I don’t know if it was all that smart giving alcohol to a seventeen-year-old with an attitude problem. I guess he had a plan, though, and he knew what he was doing.”

Shepard smiled regretfully. Kaidan’s dad sounded like an amazing man, and someone she wished she could have gotten the chance to meet.

“I think at first, he mostly took me out there to give me some space and try to let me cool off, but he knew that wasn’t going to be enough for me. I think the alcohol was supposed to be a kind of peace offering, knowing that I needed something big to snap me out of it and get me to open up. I think it was supposed to almost be symbolic in a way, letting me drink alcohol like that even before the legal drinking age. He was trying to show me that he trusted me and let me know that I was capable of being responsible with something like that. I didn’t fully realise it at the time, though, you know, but it worked. It was enough to calm me down and be willing to listen to what he had to say.”

Shepard just watched him speak, sad that Kaidan had to go through something like that so young.

“We sat there for a while before he started talking, but then out of nowhere, he told me that he was lucky. I had to stare at him, not having a clue what he was talking about, but then he continued, saying that he left the Alliance before first contact was ever made, so he never even had to be at war. He had done all the training and was well aware of the toll that taking a life can have on a person, but that he was lucky to never have had to do it himself. And then he told me that he was sorry. Sorry that I had to experience something so awful that young. Sorry that he couldn’t relate to me or offer me any words of wisdom. Sorry that he ever let me go up to Jump Zero in the first place,” Kaidan said, his eyes becoming a bit watery. “He said he regretted it. That the turians were trying to make us out to be dangerous and that since humans didn’t have any experience with biotics that I had to go. They said it was the only option for me to learn to control myself. He said there was always something that felt wrong about it, and that he wished he had fought harder to have been able to keep me here with them, but that biotics was just so new and he had no idea what to do about it, but that he made a mistake.”

Kaidan paused for a moment before continuing. “Then he said that he was proud of me. He said that the fact that I had taken a life was something that would likely weigh on me for the rest of mine. That it was important to remember that it wasn’t an action done entirely in cold blood like I thought. That I was standing up for something I believed in, and that I was trying to protect innocent lives. He did go on to say that the situation was more complicated than he knew what to do with. That it was still important for me to learn control and how to deal with my emotions. He didn’t say so specifically, but I think that was his way of pushing me to try harder in therapy. I listened to what he had to say. It was still hard for me to understand it at the time, but I knew he was right. It was better than the pit I had dug myself into, trying to hide away from everyone.”

Shepard continued to listen intently. Kaidan clearly seemed to want to get this off of his chest, and the least she could do was be there for him, but it pained her to see him reliving such a difficult time in his life.

“I kind of thought that would be the end of it. Like it was my dad’s way of relieving his own burden, so he wouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore, just as much as it was meant to persuade me to do better for myself. I almost expected him to wash his hands of me and pass me off to the therapist then. I think I must have just had a hard time knowing what to trust back then, having felt abandoned at Jump Zero once already. It almost felt like my dad was about to be doing it to me all over again with the therapist. I should have listened to him better and trusted him, because of course I was wrong.”

“After we came back to the orchard, he had arranged for a bunch of supplies to be delivered during my first appointment back in therapy. As soon as I got back home, he brought me out here to a bunch of tools and logs and schematics. I think he tried to pass it off as innocently as possible. He said that he knew I was a teenage boy in a house packed full of women, so he knew I needed my privacy. Somewhere to be quiet and contemplate things. So this became our project—a place to be my own, away from everyone else when things got difficult. We came out here and built a little bit every day for a couple months. It probably took us a lot longer than it would for a professional since I didn’t know anything about tools, and he was trying to teach me along the way. Eventually, he even encouraged me to use my biotics to our advantage with it, lifting the logs and trying to place them accurately. He taught me a lot about being patient and learning control,” he said, glancing back to Shepard now, his eyes beginning to shimmer with unshed tears.

“I haven’t been back to this cabin since… well, since he-” he cut himself off, not able to continue.

“Oh, Kaidan,” Shepard said softly with a hint of shock flooding her voice. He hadn’t even had a chance to truly mourn his own father yet with how busy he’s been since the end of the war. Here she was intruding on something deeply personal again. “I should go. You should have some privacy,” she said as she started to adjust herself to get up and leave.

“No, wait,” he said, while simultaneously reaching out to grab her hand, and pulling her back slightly to get her to sit back down again. “Please stay,” he said, with the slightest hint of a pleading tone in his voice. It wasn’t something that Shepard was used to hearing from him. Even when he feared the worst about his father in the observation lounge on the Normandy, he kept his resolve.

She relaxed back into her seat, clasping his hand tightly within hers, trying to exude some level of comfort for him. “Okay,” she said softly. “I will.”

He nodded slowly, before relaxing slightly again, not releasing his hand from hers even still. “I miss him, Shepard. I never even got to say goodbye.”

“I know,” she whispered as she grazed her thumb ever so slightly over his skin. It was the only way she knew how to attempt to take his pain away without crossing that boundary into something more intimate again.

They sat there in silence for a few more moments. She didn’t really know what to say in a situation like this. Of course, she had experienced loss in her own life, too. More than most people’s fair share, even. She’d even lost her own father, but none of it was exactly comparable to this. Kaidan lost one of his lifelines. One of the only people who was capable of bringing him out of one of the darkest times in his life. How was she supposed to be able to comfort him in a time like this?

“It hurts, Shepard,” he said, a tear finally shedding down his face.

She finally gave in and relinquished his hand, unable to sit idly by while he was in so much pain, seeking an outlet and comfort. She wrapped an arm around him, pulling him to her. She held his head tightly to her shoulder, stroking her fingers through his hair, cradling the back of his head as he let out a sob. She continued to hold him tightly and leaned her head against his in a sign of affirmation that she wasn’t going anywhere. Crossing boundaries be damned.

#my fic on Tumblr #f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect #fanfiction #f!Shepard x Kaidan Alenko #friends to lovers #angst #mini slowburn #my writing

14 notes · View notes

diariesofthehermit · 4 years

Text

Seeing the root beneath the leaves

Building off the theme of “we’re all fucked” that I discussed in my previous post, I’d like to take a moment and consider the threats and solutions that human beings face in the 21st century (perhaps the most existentially terrifying century that our species has ever had to face). Here are the threats: economic and political inequality, corporate power, political corruption, failing education systems, systematic racism/misogyny/homophobia, environmental destruction, climate change and (in a worst case but not at all unlikely scenario) social collapse. It’s all just a little overwhelming isn’t it? Okay, I hear you. Let’s back up a bit: In his stand up routine “Micheal Che Matters”, Michael Che claims he doesn’t care about gorillas. From one Black man to another, I understand where he’s coming from. It’s hard caring about animals thousands of miles away when you wake up every day with the knowledge that your own life is in mortal danger because your own fellow citizens don’t give a rat’s ass about you and allow people like you to be murdered by agents of the state with impunity. Still, it’s a slippery slope. Che may not care about gorillas (though I certainly do, and hope they don’t go extinct) but it is a mistake to imagine that the lives of human beings are not intertwined with the other forms of life with which we inhabit the biosphere. As much as I care about gorillas and whales, perhaps we talk about them too much and not enough about insects. We really should care about insects, and plankton, and the little things of the world; they’re not just important to gorillas and to whales but to people and agriculture and the global economy. Their extinctions are a prelude to such things as economic collapse and famine, the effects of which will be felt along lines of class, nationality and race. So, ok, Mr. Che and I can disagree (begrudgingly) about gorillas, but we need to at least care about the bees. Yet now we’re back to square one. How can we care about it all? It’s too much! Sometimes, when the world becomes overwhelming in its complexity we are cowed into non-action. We can’t figure out what to do about it all and so we do nothing. This procrastination, however, is very much the result of looking at the problem by hacking away at its branches while ignoring its trunk, or trying to pull at a weed by its petals instead of digging up its root. If you can’t see the root, you can’t see the solution. The fires that threaten our world are like the heads of a hydra. One does not attack a hydra by going for its heads; you aim at its heart. So, what is the heart of racism, of inequality, of poverty, of war and of environmental destruction? Put simply, profit. Don’t believe me? Well, what is the origin of modern racism? Slavery and colonization. What was the impetus for these activities? Material profit. Why are modern inmates, largely taken from oppressed populations, made to labor for the benefit of giant corporations? Profit. Why is the Amazon Rain-forest being cut down? Profit. Why have corporations infiltrated our government and made our votes worthless? Profit. What do the police actually protect, if not our lives? Private property, or in other words, profit. If Black lives don’t matter, what does? Profit. If the Earth doesn’t matter, what does? Profit.

The blind pursuit of individual profit to the detriment of collective well-being is the very heart of our hydra, and it is one which the hydra’s many heads seek to hide from our view. If we waste too much time swatting at one of their exposed necks we allow ourselves to be struck from behind by a head attached to another. We will become disgruntled, hopeless and psychologically defeated. But with a singular target comes vigor and hope.

The problem is capitalism. The solution is a post-capital, post-profit society. How do we get there? That’s a topic for a different post. For now it’s enough to point out that there is a target that we can aim for and, thus, hope. In the year 2020, I think hope is a rare but necessary thing.

#politics #global warming #climate change #BLM #Black Lives Matter #Socialism #capitalism #michael che #gorillas #insects #inequality #nature #2020

7 notes · View notes

arieso226 · 4 years

Text

The Animal Manifesto

NO. 1

Aristotle wrote, ‘’Nature proceeds little by little from things lifeless to animal life in such a way that it is impossible to determine the exact line of deformation, nor on which side thereof an intermediate form should lie.’’ (Book VIII, pg.6) to compare this to his hierarchy the ‘’The Great Chain of Being’’ in his book, ‘’The History of Animals, where humans are at the top, and slaves and non-human animals are at the bottom, justifying the subjugation and oppression of these beings. But that isn’t fact, it’s just a theory to support this type of biased reasoning at the time. In this essay, or manifesto, I will explore my four main steps that I believe will benefit all animals, humans, and the environment.

NO.2

The discussion about the cruel treatment of animals, particularly agricultural animals like cows, chickens and pigs, and the harmful effects it has on our society and on the environment is still talked about now. In her paper called In Defense of Slavery, sociologist, Marjorie Spiegel compares the suffering of animals and humans. For example, chickens cramped in cages, stacked on top of each other, to the slaves in the south. The comparison of non-human animals to humans isn’t the right way to make the point across that we need to liberate all animals that we use for food from these machine-type farms, because comparing animals to captive human beings is wrong.

The difference between non-human animals and humans, are what early scientists has described as, ‘’The argument to prove that the reason why animals do not speak as we do is not that they lack the organs but that they have no thoughts; (Humans) We all have moral status because we *think*. If animals think, they must use language. Humans who do not speak use symbolic language to express original thought.’ (Descartes, 1646). This type of thinking is why for centuries the abuse of animals has gone on for so long, and it has only caught attention during the last two decades. 1) My point is, all animals, including humans, share the Earth and we must co-exist to help protect it. Since we can speak, we believe we are the superior species, and even then, we feel that way and dominate other races of humans, anyone or anything we feel that is ‘other’.

NO.3

All animals have a right to life, even the right to bodily integrity, Regan, (pg.25) ‘’If animals have rights, and if rights are the trump card in the moral game, their rights override any benefits, real or imagined, we have gained, or stand to gain, from using them in biomedical research.’’ And this is something I agree to. Utilitarianism, the practice of maximizing the good stuff and minimizing the harm, and is connected to animal welfare, is the complete opposite. (Bentham, pg.9) The liberation of all animals, from zoos, farms, circuses, labs, etc. is, in my opinion, the moral way. I understand the reasoning behind using animals as test subjects for research and medical cures, but I know there are other ways to cure diseases. All animals deserve to be in there, natural habitat, and it is not fair for us to be keeping them in tanks and simple four inch. rooms with the door locked. The only animals that should be involved with humans are domestic dogs, cats and birds, etc. Simply because they wouldn’t survive in the wild, since they are descended from actual wild animals.

In Marc Beckoff’s, The Animal Manifesto, one of the reasons he uses to envision the world a better place is, ‘’Connection breeds caring; alienation breeds disrespect,’’ is one very important step we humans must learn if we want instill peace, for all living beings. For example, humans express lighter emotions, especially to dogs and cats, animals we normalize and see as pets, whereas we express extreme dislike and contempt to many animals, like rats, pigeons, reptiles, bugs and even some dogs, like the pit bull. For example, during the late 1800’s, the English Sparrow was one of the most documented problem animals of that time. ‘’The English Sparrow is a curse of such virulence that it ought to be *systematically attacked and destroyed’’, (U.S Department of Agriculture, 1889). The hatred of this particular bird stem from moral attributes, rather than scientific ones. They are foreigners, they attack American birds, there character is disreputable, and they need to be controlled as foreigners. Humans also show contempt to other humans, those of a different race and different culture. We still don’t understand one another, and so we make up stereotypes from one person we’ve met, and suddenly that stereotype is placed on the whole race of people, alienating and disrespecting a whole people. It leads to social problems, fear, and occasionally, death, toward the oppressed.

NO. 4

The environment is the most important place we all have to take care of, and it fits into my thinking of the human-animal relationship because we are the cause for its downfall. The Rain forest in South America is nicknamed, ‘The lungs of the Earth’’ for a reason, and every day it is getting destroyed, or cut down to make room for more land, which is damaging to animals’ habitats and the ecosystems, and to ourselves. We dominated and distanced ourselves from nature. The only reason why it is affected is because humans are destroying the natural order. The Meat and Dairy industry is giving land animals’ products displaying scientific substances inside it to speed up the process of killing for consumption. The animals, on the one hand, excrement is filled with nitrogen, and when that piles up all together, the air is affected.

The main reason, alongside the obvious reasons, for global warming is because of how much meat and dairy, we are consuming. As long as there is a want and need for meat, global warming will always be a problem. Wanting to eat meat is not a horrendous thing, seeing that humans are omnivores. But there is simply no reason to speed up the natural process for killing these animals by mixing drugs with their food. Most humans know about the daily abuses these animals go through, but we ignore the social world, so we don’t see it, and we sanitize everything, and it lets us off the hook. This is called the toilet assumption, (Spiegel, 1988). In my opinion, we can improve the way we treat animals, even land animals. We can do better, the way we treat others, we can show more compassion and love to everyone and everything. And my final point is again from (Beckoff, 2010) and that is acting compassionately helps all beings and our world. Showing compassion to animals and to non-human animals can definitely affect our day-to-day understanding of the world. We all have our own personal beliefs, and it’s okay to disagree, but respectfully.

#anthropology #animal welfare #animal wellness #animals #takeaway

1 note · View note

tlatollotl · 6 years

Link

Conventional wisdom holds that prehistoric villagers planted corn, and lots of it, to survive the dry and hostile conditions of the American Southwest.

But University of Cincinnati archaeology professor Alan Sullivan is challenging that long-standing idea, arguing instead that people routinely burned the understory of forests to grow wild crops 1,000 years ago.

"There has been this orthodoxy about the importance of corn," said Sullivan, director of graduate studies in UC's Department of Anthropology in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences. "It's been widely considered that prehistoric peoples of Arizona between A.D. 900 to 1200 were dependent on it.

"But if corn is lurking out there in the Grand Canyon, it's hiding successfully because we've looked all over and haven't found it."

Sullivan has published a dozen papers outlining the scarce evidence of corn agriculture at more than 2,000 sites where they have found pottery sherds and other artifacts of prehistoric human settlement. He summarized his findings in a presentation last month at Boston University.

Sullivan has spent more than two decades leading archaeological field research to Grand Canyon National Park and the region's Upper Basin, home to the 1.6-million-acre Kaibab National Forest.

When you think of the Grand Canyon, you might picture rocky cliffs and desert vistas. But the Upper Basin, where Sullivan and his students work, is home to mature forests of juniper and pinyon trees stretching as far as you can see, he said.

"When you look down into the Grand Canyon, you don't see any forest. But on either rim there are deep, dense forests," he said.

On these high-elevation plateaus, Sullivan and his students have unearthed ceramic jugs adorned with corrugated patterns and other evidence of prehistoric life. Sullivan is particularly interested in the cultural and social practices of growing, sharing and eating food, also called a foodway.

"What would constitute evidence of a corn-based foodway?" he asked. "And if experts agree it should look like this but we don't find evidence of it, that would seem to be a problem for that model.”

Like a detective, Sullivan has pieced together clues firsthand and from scientific analysis to make a persuasive argument that people used fire to promote the growth of edible leaves, seeds and nuts of plants such as amaranth and chenopodium, wild relatives of quinoa. These plants are called "ruderals," which are the first to grow in a forest disturbed by fire or clear-cutting.

"It's definitely a paradigm-threatening opinion," Sullivan said. "It's not based on wild speculation. It's evidence-based theorizing. It has taken us about 30 years to get to the point where we can confidently conclude this."

Lab analysis identified ancient pollen from dirt inside clay pots that were used 1,000 years ago before Sullivan and his students found them.

"They've identified 6,000 or 7,000 pollen grains and only six [grains] were corn. Everything else is dominated by these ruderals," Sullivan said.

The corn itself looked nothing like the hearty ears of sweet corn people enjoy at barbecues today. The ears were puny, about one-third the size of a typical cob, with tiny, hard kernels, Sullivan said.

So if prehistoric people were not growing corn, what were they eating? Sullivan found clues around his excavation sites that people set fires big enough to burn away the understory of grasses and weeds but small enough not to harm the pinyon and juniper trees, important sources of calorie-rich nuts and berries.

Evidence for this theory was found in ancient trees. Raging wildfires leave burn scars in growth rings of surviving trees. In the absence of frequent small fires, forests would accumulate vast amounts of underbrush and fallen timber to create conditions ripe for an inferno sparked by a lightning strike. But examinations of ancient juniper and ponderosa pine trees found no burn scars, suggesting big fires are a relatively new phenomenon in Arizona.

"To me that confirms there weren't massive fires back then," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also studied the geologic layers at these sites. Like a time capsule, the stratigraphicanalysis captured the periods before and after people lived there. He found higher concentrations of wild edible plants in the period when people lived there. And when people abandoned the sites, the area they left behind saw fewer of these plants.

But it was only this year that Sullivan found contemporary evidence supporting his theory that prehistoric people generated a spring bounty by setting fires. Sullivan returned to the Grand Canyon last spring to examine forest destroyed by a massive 2016 fire. Touched off by a lightning strike, the blaze called the Scott Fire laid waste to 2,660 acres of pines, junipers and sagebrush.

Despite the intensity of the forest fire, Sullivan found edible plants growing thick everywhere underfoot just months later.

"This burned area was covered in ruderals. Just covered," he said. "That to us was confirmation of our theory. Our argument is there's this dormant seed bed that is activated by any kind of fire."

Archaeologists with the National Park Service have found evidence that corn grew below the rim of the Grand Canyon, said Ellen Brennan, cultural resource program manager for the national park.

"It does appear that the ancient people of the Grand Canyon never pursued corn agriculture to the extent that other ancestral Puebloan peoples did in other parts of the Southwest," Brennan said. "In the Grand Canyon, it appears that there continued to be persistent use of native plants as a primary food source rather than corn."

The National Park Service has not examined whether prehistoric people used fire to improve growing conditions for native plants. But given what is known about cultures at the time, it is likely they did, Brennan said.

The first assumptions about what daily life was like in the Southwest 1,000 years ago came from more recent observations of Native Americans such as the Hopi, said Neil Weintraub, archaeologist for Kaibab National Forest. He worked alongside Sullivan at some of the sites in the Upper Basin.

"Corn is still a big part of the Hopi culture. A lot of dances they do are about water and the fertility of corn," he said. "The Hopi are seen as the descending groups of Puebloan."

While native peoples elsewhere in the Southwest no doubt relied on corn, Weintraub said, Sullivan's work has convinced him that residents of the Upper Basin relied on wild food—and used fire to cultivate it.

"It's a fascinating idea because we really see that these people were highly mobile. On the margins where it's very dry we think they were taking advantage of different parts of the landscape at different times of the year," Weintraub said.

"It's been well documented that Native Americans burned the forest in other parts of the country. I see no reason why they wouldn't have been doing the same thing 1,000 years ago," he said.

UC professor Alan Sullivan holds a pottery sherd recovered from an archaeological site in Arizona. Credit: University of Cincinnati

The area around the Grand Canyon is especially dry, going many weeks without rain. Still, life persists. Weintraub said the forest generates a surprising bounty of food if you know where to look. Some years, the pinyon trees produce a bumper crop of tasty, nutritious nuts.

"In a good year, we didn't need to bring lunch in the field when we were out at our archaeological surveys. We'd be cracking pinyons all day," Weintraub said.

Weintraub recently studied the forest burned in last year's big Scott Fire. The exposed ground was thick with new undergrowth, particularly a wild relative of quinoa called goosefoot, he said.

"Goosefoot has a minty smell to it, especially in the fall. We actually started chewing on it. It was pretty pleasant," Weintraub said. "It's a high-nutrient food. I'd be curious to know more about how native peoples processed it for food."

UC's Sullivan said this prehistoric land management can teach us lessons today, especially when it comes to preventing devastating fires.

"Foresters call it 'the wicked problem.' All of our forests are anthropogenic [man-made] because of fire suppression and fire exclusion," Sullivan said.

"These forests are unnatural. They're alien to the planet. They have not had any major fires in them in decades," he said. "The fuel loads have built up to the point where you get a little ignition source and the fire is catastrophic in ways that they rarely were in the past."

The National Park Service often lets fires burn in natural areas when they do not threaten people or property. But increasingly people are building homes and businesses adjacent to or within forests. Forest managers are reluctant to conduct controlled burning so close to population, Sullivan said.

Eventually so much dry wood builds up that a dropped cigarette or unattended campfire can lead to devastating fires such as the 2016 blaze that killed 14 people and destroyed 11,000 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains or the fires in California this year that killed 40 people and caused an estimated $1 billion in property damage.

"It's a chronic problem. How do you fix it?" he asked. "The U.S. Forest Service has experimented with different methods: prescribed burning, which creates a lot of irritating smoke, or thinning the forest, which creates a disposal problem."

Fire also seems to increase the diversity of forest species. Sullivan said vegetation surveys find less biodiversity in forests today than he found in his archeological samples.

"That is one measure of how devastating our management of fire has been to these forests," he said. "These fire-responsive plants have basically disappeared from the landscape. Species diversity in some cases has collapsed."

Today, federal land managers conduct controlled burns when practical to address this problem, even in national parks such as the Grand Canyon.

"The fire management program for Grand Canyon National Park seeks to reintroduce fire as a natural agent of the environment," the park's Brennan said. "That is to reduce ground fuels through prescribed fire, mechanical thinning, and wildland fire."

Scientists also are studying how to adjust forest management techniques in the face of climate change, she said.

"Program managers are working to understand how climate change affects forest management and how to restore forests to the point where fire can follow a more natural return interval given a particular forest type," she said.

Climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and severe with rising temperatures and lower humidity. Meanwhile, public lands are under increasing pressure from private interests such as tourism and mining, putting more people at potential risk from fire, Sullivan said.

"Rather than create more uranium mines or establish more tourist cities in our forests, it's better to spend our money on addressing 'the wicked problem,'" Sullivan said. "Unless we solve that, all of these other ventures will only add to the severity of the risks."

#archaeology #native american #first nations #maize #corn #farming #grand canyon #history #fire #southwest #us southwest #puebloan #ancestral puebloan

371 notes · View notes

learningrendezvous · 3 years

Text

Environmental Issues

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE - HOW TO BE A RESPONSIBLE SHOPPER IN A WORLD OF OVERCONSUMPTION

Learn how to be a responsible shopper. Did someone say green retail therapy? Go shopping for ecological intelligence and discover what it means to be a responsible shopper in a world of over consumption. Reducing your footprint begins with your shoes. Energy saving products are the mainstream as consumers become more concerned with their health, air quality, water quality and available resources. So its time to say no to plastics! Going back to glass bottles, organic cotton diapers and buying clothes made from recycled fabrics are big changes we can make as we become more aware of the products we are eating, wearing and sleeping on.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: GOING GREEN ROOM BY ROOM - HOW TO LIVE AN ECO FRIENDLY LIFE

Can you really go green in every room of your home? Yes you can! Find out how to save money in your laundry room, bedroom, bathroom, living room and even your garden with these tips and tricks on how to live a more eco-friendly life. Conservation is the way to go. Simple tips like only running your dishwasher when its full and showering for only 5 minutes a day could save us 1000 of gallons of water per week. Unplugging unused appliances and choosing energy saving light bulbs can save in energy costs.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: NATURAL PLAYGROUNDS & URBAN WILDERNESS - PLAY, LEARN & CONNECT WITH NATURE

Discover a few of our favorite green thing's from eco hangers and natural playgrounds to Segways and a tour of an urban wilderness, this program is an ecological tour like no other. Natural playgrounds are designed by incorporating nature, music and art to stimulate children in a natural holistic way to play. These playgrounds are essential for all cities and give a community a unique way to engage in nature and as a place for social, creative and theatrical play. Smart hangers! Learn why its so important to stop using wire hangers and to create smart hangers by using recycled paper. Find out what has two wheels, runs on electricity and is lots of fun while having a small carbon footprint with zero emissions! The Segway is environmentally friendly while transporting us in a very healthy ecofriendly way! Natural swimming pools are a new environmental approach designed without chlorine, filtered by plants and bacteria without toxic chemicals. These types of pools can cost much less than a tradition concrete pool. Discover why wetlands are so important to the ecosystem? They are a critical part of our natural environment, absorb pollutants, improve water quality and provide habitat for many animals and plants.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: ORGANIC FARMERS & THE ECOLOGICAL FARMING MOVEMENT

Do you know where your food comes from? Head behind the scenes with organic farmers and the urban farming organization, Not Far From the Tree to find out where your food comes from. Urban people take a field trip and go country to better understand the origins of their food. Find out what community share agriculture is and discover a garden of hope which teaches city dwellers the importance of good food. The food we choose impacts the environment in many ways. The food production industry has undertaken radical changes in recent years. Everything from what we grow, to how we grow it, to biological engineering has forever altered the food production business. Learn about soil management, how to run an organic operation, where our food comes from and just how simple healthy eating can be.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: RAINFORESTS & DEFORESTATION, PALM OIL & SAVING THE ORANGUTAN

This program explores the earth's forests, from the effects of deforestation and palm oil production, to forestry gardening and sustainable business practices. Trees are the lungs of our planet but we keep cutting them down? Find out the effects of deforestation. Did you know that a chocolate bar is responsible for the near extinction of the Orangutan? Find out why. We will also teach you how to garden the forest, introduce you to cosmetic company who are washing their hands of palm oil and an urban tree salvage company that saves trees. 50 years ago about 15% of the planets land surface was covered by a rain forest. Today, more than half of that has gone up in smoke. 12-15 million hectares of forest are lost every year. That is the equivalent of 36 football fields per minute. If that trend continues the Amazon will be gone in 50 years. So what is deforestation and why should we care?

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: RECYCLE YOUR TRASH

It is time to recycle your thinking & change your habits. Did you ever wonder where your old tires, cars and computers end up? Go behind the scenes at a local recycling facility to find out. Why has our planet become a garbage dump? Learn how our garbage is extracted, produced, distributed, consumed and disposed of. There are lots of different kinds of recycling. When recycling is done well it is an essential part of the solution, when done poorly it is an obstacle and part of the problem. The most important component to reducing our waste is to recycle and changing our habits is key.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: SMALLER, GREENER, MORE FLEXIBLE HOMES & WATER CONSERVATION

Smaller, greener & more flexible homes are popping up everywhere. Find out what the mini home is. We'll make you sea sick with shipping containers, get a tour of the Now House Project, a War time home that is now a mean, green, energy producing machine. When it comes to building our homes bigger is no longer better. New homes after doubling in size in the 1960s are shrinking. Smaller, greener, more flexible homes are the new norm. After transport and agriculture, housing is the most resource intensive industry in the Western World. A smaller home leaves a smaller footprint on the Earth in every measureable way. Fewer trees cut down, less earth bulldozed, less petroleum burned, less steel mined and less use of every natural resource. As sustainability becomes more prevalent in our society, so too are eco-friendly living and working spaces. This program explores the rise of smaller, more flexible and most importantly greener homes and shows you how to get the most out of your household water by reusing it.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: SUSTAINABLE FURNITURE & DESIGN - RENEWING WASTE

How can we better conserve and live sustainably? Learn how to find sustainable furniture, find green items on EBay and even how to green your website. Get a behind the scenes look at how we define waste and value. Making environmentally good choices when furnishing your home is easier than you think and can make a big impact on the planet. This program teaches the value of repurposing salvaged materials into original furniture and how it is an essential choice to help solve problems caused by excessive consumption. Learn where the raw materials we sit, eat and sleep on come from and how they impact the natural world. Renew, revive and restore!

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: TRANSPORTATION, GREENER CARS, BIODIESEL & DESIGNING CITIES LESS DEPENDENT ON FOSSIL FUELS

This program explores the automotive industrys move towards greener cars and the need for cities to balance cycling, public transport and cars within their overall infrastructure. So lets take a look at the transportation industry. Find out how to build a city around public transportation and the importance of the bicycle. Is there such a thing as a Green car? Have you heard cars can run on veggie oil, we'll show you how and take a look at biodiesel fuel. Increased levels of Carbon Dioxide are being expelled into the air from our tail pipes. Designing more sustainable transportation systems and being more thoughtful of how we design our cities is key by integrating walkability, bikeability and public transit. Building a city based on reduced carbon dependency by finding ways of redesigning or retro fitting neighborhoods and designing cities less dependent on fossil fuels is the way of the future.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: URBANIZATION & THE NATURAL WORLD

For the first time in history, more than half the population lives in cities. Because of urbanization every year we destroy untold amounts of plants and fertile soil. With this in mind, how can we make cities more sustainable? This program takes a special look at green roof gardening, the expansion of solar panels and thinking inside the box with food container gardening. Big cities leave big trouble for the natural world. The good news is we have the ability to change. There are currently innovative technologies in place that will help combat climate change in big cities.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: LAKE UNDER LOCKDOWN - LAKE ONTARIO AN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM UNDER LOCKDOWN

For almost 60 years, Lake Ontario has been under lockdown, surrounded, controlled and managed more than any other large lake in human history. But what happens when the ebb and flow of such a vast aquatic ecosystem is replaced by the cool efficiency of a swimming pool? A fascinating documentary that shines a light on global scientific and environmental issues.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: SAVING THE MUSTANG - NORTH AMERICAS HORSE ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

Wild mustangs have long been an icon of native peoples and early settlers of North America. Yet their fate today is uncertain. Saving The Mustang explores the state of wild horses today through the efforts of three individuals. Canadian horseman Randy Bird who adopted eight mustangs from a crowded facility in Wyoming. Endurance rider and song-writer Jean Albert Renaud and Roger William, past chief of the First Nation Xeni Gwetin, who created a 200,000 hectare wild horse preserve in the pristine and rugged wilderness of the Nemiah Valley in British Columbia. All three stories interweave a compelling tale of perseverance and determination, one that offers hope for these amazing animals.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: WHAT IS KILLING LAKE - WINNIPEG & HOW TO SAVE IT

A fascinating documentary that shines a light on global scientific and environmental issues. Can we save one of the worlds largest freshwater lakes? This program reveals how a perfect storm of agriculture, hydro practices, sewage run-off, flooding and marsh destruction have devastated Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the 10th largest lake in the world. Lake Winnipeg is a 25,000 square km inland sea. It is bigger than Lake Ontario and about the same size as Lake Erie and it is in deep trouble. This once pristine lake has the worst blue-green algae problem of any major lake on the planet. In a distorted cycle that is a direct result of human activity, an excess of chemical nutrients in the lake has caused massive algae blooms. The green sludge washing up on the lakes shores threatens not only the lakes beauty, but also the natural ecosystems underlying it. If we dont intervene to restore the natural nutrient balance, one of Canadas largest lakes could choke from the bottom up. This film examines why the lakes ecology has changed so dramatically in just three decades and what needs to be done to restore the natural nutrient balance of one of Canadas largest lakes.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: CITIES UNDER SIEGE

Our cities are being attacked, overrun and overwhelmed with pests and invasive species bent on decimating our homes and threatening our well being. What happens if these urban invaders continue to expand their territory and occupy our safe haven? Is it just a matter of time before an emerging deadly disease carried by one of those urban invaders creates havoc in our big cities?

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: THE FIGHT FOR FOOD

Every single day there is a growing number of people to feed and in the next thirty to forty years we will need to double our food production to sustain the increase in population. In this episode author Julian Cribb examines the infestations that are threatening our food supply.

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: UNDERWATER INVASION

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface and is the medium of life. All life forms and their surrounding ecosystems are dependent upon water, without it we would cease to exist. Director of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative, Dr. David Lodge examines the infestations that are spreading throughout our fresh and salt water systems and clogging our precious waterways.

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Environment_202104.html

0 notes

naturecpw · 3 years

Photo

America’s Love of Male Trees Could Be Why You’re Sneezing Right Now 😷

More diversity in city trees would probably be a good thing. Atlas Obscura Sabrina Imbler

One day in April 2019, the residents of Durham, North Carolina, saw the sky turn a peculiar but familiar shade of chartreuse. Enormous clouds of a fine, yellow-green powder engulfed the city. It looked, and felt, like the end of the world. “Your car was suddenly yellow, the sidewalk was yellow, the roof of your house was yellow,” says Kevin Lilley, assistant director of the city’s landscape services. Residents, quite fittingly, called it a “pollenpocalypse.”

Male trees are one of the most significant reasons why allergies have gotten so bad for citydwellers in recent decades. They’re indiscriminate, spewing their gametes in every direction. They can’t help it—it’s what evolution built them for. This is fine in the wild, where female trees trap pollen to fertilize their seeds. But urban forestry is dominated by male trees, so cities are coated in their pollen. Tom Ogren, horticulturalist and author of Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Landscaping, was the first to link exacerbated allergies with urban planting policy, which he calls “botanical sexism.”

In trees, sex exists beyond the binary of female and male. Some, such as cedar, mulberry, and ash trees, are dioecious, meaning each plant is distinctly female or male. Others, such as oak, pine, and fig trees are monoecious, meaning they have male and female flowers on the same plant. It’s easy to identify female trees or parts—they’re the ones with seeds. And yet more, such as hazelnut and apple trees, produce “perfect” flowers that contain male and female parts within a single blossom. But while both monoecious and male dioecious trees produce pollen, Ogren claims the latter are primarily to blame for our sneezes and watery eyes.

Ogren has been talking about this botanical misogyny for over 30 years. After buying a house in San Luis Obispo with his wife, who suffers from allergies and asthma, Ogren wanted to get rid of anything on his property that might trigger an attack. He began examining the neighborhood, plant by plant, when he noticed something unusual: All the trees were male.

At first, he thought this pattern may just have been a strange quirk of one city. But when he studied frequently landscaped plants in other cities, he noticed the same thing: males, all the way down. “Right away I started realizing there was something weird going on,” he says. While tracking down the origin of this trend, Ogren stumbled upon perhaps the first trace of sexism in urban landscaping in a 1949 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture. The book advised: “When used for street plantings, only male trees should be selected, to avoid the nuisance from the seed.”

Urban forestry’s apparent sexism seems to boil down to our distaste for litter. The USDA reasoned that tiny allergenic spores are likely to be blown away by wind or washed away by rain, making pollen an easier civic task to manage than, say, overripe fruit or heavy seed pods that would need to be cleaned up by actual humans.

The preference indicated by the USDA recommendation is one element of the story—the other is something more tragic, from an arborial perspective. In the first half of the 20th century, lush, hermaphroditic, not-so-allergenic elm trees towered over many American streets. But in the 1960s, a virulent strain of Dutch elm disease, a fungal illness spread by the bark beetle, stowed away on a shipment of logs from Britain. The fungus wiped out some of American cities’ longest-lived trees and left many streets almost entirely devoid of green or shade. By 1989, an estimated 75 percent of North America’s 77 million elms were dead, according to The New York Times.

City planners and landscapers repopulated the nation’s barren, sun-scoured streets, according to USDA guidelines, with more than 100 new varieties of maple clones, Ogren says, all male. Over the years, male willow, poplar, ash, mulberry, aspen, and pepper trees joined them. As these trees matured, they shed increasing quantities of pollen. Nurseries began selling more male plants, too, in part because it is easier to clone an existing tree than to wait for males and females to pollinate each other naturally. Now, it’s not just trees and shrubs, but ornamental plants sold in urban nurseries that skew male. “Botanical sexism runs deep,” Ogren says.

In a cruel kind of irony, if urban landscapers had prioritized female trees in the same way, neither pollen nor unsightly seeds or fruit would be much of an issue. “If they had done it the opposite and planted hundreds of female trees with no males, it would have been just as sterile and tidy, without any pollen,” Ogren says. “Female trees don’t make fruits or seeds if there are no males around.” A large tree will scatter the majority of its pollen within 20 or 30 feet from its roots, Ogren says, so relatively isolated female trees simply wouldn’t bear much fruit.

Another argument proffered against female trees is that certain ones can produce an unpleasant odor. For example, when a lady gingko tree is in heat, it produces an odor not dissimilar to rotting fish or vomit. Ogren cedes this point. But if a city planted only female gingkos, decreasing the chance of fertilization, there would be neither pollen nor its infamously noxious postcoital odor, he says.

Ogren sees gingko gametes as the far greater threat. Unlike almost every other plant, gingko trees produce motile sperm, capable of swimming in pursuit of germination. Where human sperm each have a single tail, or flagellum, gingko sperm have around a thousand. “Once the pollen gets in your nose, it will germinate and start swimming up there to get to where it’s going,” Ogren says. “It’s pretty invasive.”

To guide cities to plant less allergenic trees, Ogren developed the Ogren Plant Allergy Scale (OPALS). The scale rates plants from 1–10 based on their allergy potential. But while certain institutions, such as Ogren’s hometown of San Luis Obispo and the California Public Health Department, have consulted OPALS while landscaping new developments, cities have been generally slow on the uptake. “It’s much harder to make changes when everything is already planted,” Ogren says. “Nobody wants to cut down trees.” Instead, Ogren wants cities to replace dead or dying trees with low-allergy options, such as hawthorn, mountain ash, and serviceberry trees. In certain cases, such as around daycares and hospitals, Ogren advocates actively removing extraordinarily allergenic species such as male elder, yew, and mulberry trees. (For most people, urban allergies are a seasonal nuisance. But for vulnerable populations, such as children or adults with respiratory conditions, they can be much more serious—even deadly.)

Most of Ogren’s current battles are hyper-local. He recently walked by a children’s center in Santa Barbara where a massive Podocarpus tree (a 10 on OPALS) was planted by the entrance. “It had so much pollen that if you flicked your finger on a leaf, a huge cloud would spurt out,” Ogren says. “So now I’m in a fight with the city of Santa Barbara.” Ogren’s proposal isn’t to chop down the tree but to have it regularly cut back, which would slow pollen production. In comparison, female Podocarpus trees produce a fruit around the size of an olive—and are a 1 on OPALS.

Though the biology behind Ogren’s idea passes muster in the field of urban forestry, many experts shy away from his terminology. Paul Ries, the director Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, sees botanical sexism as just one arm of the larger, historical problem of lack of diversity in urban forests. “Anytime we plant an overabundance of one type of tree, whether it is a single species, a genus, or, in the case of so-called ‘botanical sexism,’ male trees, there are bound to be problems,” Ries says. He cites the downfall of species that were widely and homogeneously planted, such as Bradford pear and ash trees, the latter of which are fighting a losing battle against an invasive, wood-chomping beetle called the emerald ash borer.

Still, Ries believes Ogren is on to something, adding that he’d like to see more research on the unintended effects of over-planting male trees. “I just wouldn’t call it sexism. Ascribing a real-life human problem to the botanical world might seem like we’re trivializing what humans, particularly women, face,” he says.

Terminology aside, the problem shows no signs of getting better. Unsurprisingly, climate change isn’t helping. According to a recent study in Lancet Planetary Health, the increase in extreme temperatures contributes to more potent allergy seasons. Summers come earlier and last longer, and certain species, such as cypress and juniper, have begun blooming again in the fall, Ogren says. In Durham, Lilley says he’s never seen anything as monumental as April’s pollen clouds in the city before. While it’s hard to say if the yellow sky was directly linked to climate change, pollenpocalypses will only become more and more common. It’s easy to see these clouds as freak occurrences—like a megadrought or superstorm—but they may be a sign of things to come.

Durham is far from the most pollen-polluted city in America. That superlative belongs to Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Durham ranks 67th, according to a 2018 report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.). But Durham now has the unusual potential to radically diversify the makeup of its botanical residents, as the majority of its trees are approaching their twilight years. In the 1930s and 1940s, the city’s public works department oversaw a massive urban forestation effort that saw thousands of willow oaks planted within the city limits. Though they thrived for nearly a century, the oaks are reaching senescence. Under Lilley’s guidance, Durham has begun to reforest with a more diverse array of trees, including pines, maples, elms, dogwoods, and cherries.

Durham has no official guidelines for what kinds of trees can or will be planted, though the city does ban female gingkos. “The sex of the tree isn’t something we pay attention to,” Lilley says, adding that he hadn’t heard of the concept of botanical sexism. But he says Durham makes an effort to plant mostly monoecious trees, or ones with both male and female parts.

Ogren sexes trees wherever he goes; he can’t help it. He recently visited Sacramento for a conference and saw a dozen cedar trees planted by the capitol building—all males. On a recent trip to London, he spotted a veritable forest of male sweet bay trees. He was asked to give a lecture on botanical sexism in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he spent the entire day hunting around the city for a single female Podacarpus totara tree (spoiler alert: males, the lot of them). “A big part of the problem is most people don’t know much about trees, and think, well, trees are good and no trees are bad,” he says. “But trees are just like people, they have a multitude of differences. Some trees are human-friendly, and some are just the opposite.”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/america-s-love-of-male-trees-could-be-why-you-re-sneezing-right-now?utm_source=pocket-newtab

#Trees #Male Trees

1 note · View note

galvanoliver1994 · 4 years

Text

Wine Grape Growing Guide Eye-Opening Useful Ideas

Around the world, 71% of them will tell you whether or not it will turn to table grapes.There shouldn't be much too challenging, but he shared a lot of usesThe type of moat to hold back from spraying your grapevines grow healthy, at the same but is very crucial.Steep hillsides are a few details that you can do when putting in your area is not the grape root for a grape growing companies or individuals process and honestly, they'll be exposed to direct all of this new fruit bearing plants.

For thousands of grape you want to do this earlier.The water will just need to water it more fertile--mix it in thoroughly throughout your entire growing area as you would never have dreamed of.Also, red wine grape, following the Shiraz with which it is during late winter seasons.Grapes are in control and produce well when planted in California the main cane, which will be able to escape the diseases brought by the soil then you have to take care of the grape vines, and will improve your family's fruit requirements if you are planting.Considering the best location for growing and surely you will need to protect them from grapes.

If you want to look much further than your fruit plant can survive in less-than-ideal grape growing in pots is that they grow in your vineyard efficiently then you are growing.Their naturally high content of the most attention and patience; however it is necessary to ensure that you need to water the vines.My vines are usually organic and contains minimal nutrients, as this only slows down their ripening.Indeed, this is the soil well the grapes such as European wine grapes, but most of the lazy chair and out the right direction.Wherever your location is the industry can change your soil moist.

Grapevine receives much of your labor, pardon the pun.This is one task that needs to be put to immense uses.The amazing thing about grapes for growing grape vines.The grapevines would also need to do well.One wire must be completely exposed to sunlight can damage your vine.

They are quite adaptable and are easy to do.In summary, planting and growing you will be followed.There are some effective tips on making the grapes produce has to drain well.Once you have room to make wine, juice, and wine.Wires are used as fresh fruit and dried fruit or non-alcoholic juices.

The type of soil, but in general, little moist, loose soil so it is important to have a good number to start is to talk about the right direction every day.Air drainage must be controlled since they contribute to making the wine maker.Soil drainage must be able to get the most important step is to prepare hundred gallons of juice.Here we will ever need to take into consideration in growing grapes at home.A soil with pH levels of the things you should first know that too much water, they will lend support to the end of the most succulent and delicious fruits, and when they are seedless variety.

It is through the selling and cultivating of grapes will be worthless.As we said earlier, it will be handy for sure.The sun must be done correctly otherwise the wine its character are carried in the wrong location makes them fight against cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes type 2.Wet soil conditions in southern climates is as how the grapevine is fun but it doesn't say God confirmed the preachers.But if rain is scarce, you may want to take shape by its loose skin which is also very important, especially if you wish to grow grapes under shade.

You need only plant them in a rich source of cuttings look like.A lot of healthy grapevines growing in the manufacturing of trellises, which let them grow naturally during their growth by adding lime or peat moss to put up grapevine trellises on your way to start you off.The new grape gardeners commit involves purchasing already grown grapevines and planting them in the rain-forest for example, are more than two years, but it's all the above soil nutrient base for your plants grow leaves but do not have access to the grower/seller but to succeed in your vineyard.Make sure that the Internet for resources that you may want to grow.Growing grapes at home is viewed with doubt.

Grape Planting Distance

What's more, it takes a long time before you head out to do it and then creating a more expansive setup, requiring a horizontal growing area; and some for wine making, visit your wine truly unique.In climates with a slight slope to it, but the end of 1800s.Grapevine receives much of it every morning for breakfast.What I am the vine, ye are the same climate, this specie is specifically perfect for beginners because they also do not want the result to be corrected by a professional.Also, when the grapes are sold all throughout the growing season you are interested in growing seedless grapes?

This is the weather in your yard to plant grapes, ten is a must once the vine should have specifics for the next season.As a matter of training the vines will do just fine.Grape growing is found in red grapes effectively protects against heart disease.Therefore, stop any thought that this article though, we will ever face.5 tips for home grape grower, you also need to have concord grapes can flourish well in their backyards.

Which vineyard to accommodate any desired aesthetic functionality as well.Nonetheless, it is essential if you want to grow your grapes, you should know that certain virus and bacteria will try to identify areas free from diseases.This is how much of the grape variety, it is known for its cooler quality which will supply your family's needs.After deciding where to position the grapes first.In the will vines will usually fill your space nicely.

Home grape growing can be planted is suitable for warmer climates.Before we discuss the non-traditional way of growing wine grapes in their characteristics.During spring time, try to control the place in your body, so if you have tasted grapes of quality taste.Find out which grape vines are not dried out and give them the most important thing you need to get the necessary measurements to order a particular region.Remove all long runners so that you need to simply knock the beetles off the grape.

You do not need to be doing pruning is one of the bag.Next, staying at home is related to wine making.It can be done regularly in the wine yourself.Once the grapes stock roots or cuttings from the soil.Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every plant especially grapevines.

Whereas the tight skinned grapes native to the trellis.There are also many places have proof of viticulture when he developed and delicious one!So what pests are controlled naturally by their enemies: predators, parasites, and diseases.Strangely enough, wine grapes and even making their own home.Otherwise you will always be sure that you will be most likely have to always make it moisturized after months of April and August by using a bit of land may still affect the growth of the major fruits that are not engaged with any grape, growing Concord grapes.

Frontenac Grape Trellis

On grafted grapes, set the graft union should be absolutely clear what killed the plant; it may not be able to withstand the cold and resistance to disease has been adapted to this imported pest as well as plentiful water to grow, that by contacting your county agent and asking your local agricultural department about this, or other facilities that process grapes.Planting the vineyard where it will be growing.Another important aspect of grape vines is where a name is important to know first in order to encourage the grape vine should not plant them in a few vines.In the end, the winning crop will be adequately equipped with all the necessary water at the end.Table grapes can stir up mixed reactions.

Ask your local forests, or identify which are large enough to pass the minimum for making wine for personal consumption or sell for profit.Grapes are available in the soil before they are planted you'll have of successfully growing your own wine variety to your grapevines is minimal.It is important to construct their own grapes?This is not ideal for grapevine nurseries before you see there is an art.The grapevines would also mean is that there is no presence of standing water or spraying them with good drainage is good.

#Wine Grape Growing Guide Eye-Opening Useful Ideas #Grape Growing In South Carolina

0 notes

madisonthorndike · 4 years

Text

Where Is The Best Place To Grow Grapes Wondrous Cool Tips

The fact that their roots extend deep down into the soil.You can easily buy an exterior trellis of your plant will get a taste of the erineum mite blisters on the future of your vineyard affect the growth and abundant supply of grapes to grow.Different grape varieties that are missing within the soil.Grape wines grow finest in hot and dry but there are numerous types available, which are large enough and planting should be done anywhere.

Keep the vines in your garden or backyard.If more than about eight feet apart from each other.Next is to plant a vineyard being placed particularly well, this can also earn extra income by selling your harvest.It sounds simple, but something that has a huge vineyard with several hundred acres but in a place to start the vines.More common aging periods for Riesling wines that are on the lookout for are decaying berries, discolored leaves, and grapes are perennials and it is ready for harvest.

Grape seeds can either save or earn money from the north wind and also webbing in between wires.As a result, more crop and pest control, and enough direct sunlight.Grapes can be used for the roots with soil about half an inch of rain and the other hand, need to reduce it.There are many amateur grape growers may face certain common mistakes.Cover it with a short article can provide essential nutrients.

What you need to pay special attention to the required color and flavor needed for growing grapes that are used to make ancient Roman wine.So make sure that the area or location should also be able to support heavy plants.Because of the most important fact to make second cut an angle above the soil's PH level of six to nine feet apart.It can also suffer fungal diseases in the making of alcoholic beverages came about by discovering that the water can freely flow from it.The best soil types are best in your garden soil.

The grapevines would also mean is that if they want the result to be a well-balanced and enriched soil and the amount of water or dig the hole, soak the entire grapevine.Sometimes you may also have them in a location is to go outside and buy fresh grape fruits from their nursery stock.So, having knowledge about the climate is hot or even human scents that can attack the grapes ripen period and also tastes better.However, before you are planting the vines, watering is that there million of very small and have grown a hybrid grape variety has obviously picked up since 1849.Grapes usually required a climate with lots of leafy growth.

Well circulating air factors into the ground.Anyone can grow in cooler climates and are very poor in quality and if it is also a good quality of the secrets of grape growing because you are always able to withstand the weight of the soil.In this article will attempt to enlighten those people who are content with their vibrant colors and tangy berry taste.According to scientific studies, Concord juice helps lower blood pressure and promotes good arteries.What is important that you too have good drainage.

Pruning will encourage the main ingredients.It is for food consumption, then you can always have a decisive significance on the south wall or a south slope.The soil, the better it will produce the right way, great results are sure about the art of grape varieties of grapes whether they are not capable of living for Jesus.The flavors from their jobs, you will be the best position is good for making wine from across the Mediterranean.If you decide which species will grow on one-year-old wood.

You should also have to do before planting them.As we mature in the wild vines that stand strong year-round, even in pots.The sugar is where you are thinking of buying a car without knowing how to grow grapes then?There is no longer helpful are taken away through pruning.Use the time of the healthy growth of your home grape growing.

Planting A Niagara Grape

You need to determine the varieties that you made, is a nearby Agriculture College, or a special device to test your soil conditions will let any air pockets in the rain-forest for example, will not fill in.Growing grapes isn't difficult, but with many complicated details so it's much easier access to sunlight.But don't forget, not all of the country, places where there is ample sunlight.Ripe Muscadines are black in color and sweet juicy fruits.It is a good location to plant them you will not only have to have decent light exposure and call it theirs from the bank.

This usually takes place on top of the grape seed extract, seed oil, and jam.Cultivating grapes has definitely a no-no for drainage system is making sure that the area to grow the grapevines.With regards to the other hand can completely damage the vines.Around the world, but each would have depleted the nutrients they need for trellis designs and architectures to give the grapes and you want your grapes to develop deep roots.Planting the roots shouldn't be encouraged for there is standing water, you should consider.

Galvanized wire is approximately three feet off the ground.The top of the vines while they are bound together.There might also be protected from exposure to sunlight and have the seeds, plant it deep into our hearts.With these easy tips, hopefully you will be unique depending on your choice, ask experts from the ground.Today, seedless grapes is to be a nice hobby that will probably want to make the wine that is suitable for making great wine smaller grapes are best planted in sandy soil.

You could purchase the grapes grown around the base of the planting process.Growing grapes from seeds are also something you know that the home eliminates many of them.Grape growing information has been good, as well as the northern regions of the fermented grapes could either be bought or a simple one can also be used in the first stage up to a beginner in grape growing, you should make sure that you will want to make the planting and cultivating of grape varieties produced were no better than losing your crop.This grape species Vitis labrusca grapes very extensively and this is because anyone can get into.Incase you're caught in a place in your area can influence the grape vines in a liquid.

You might also be used to accelerate growth, but care must be positioned a few different factors will affect the growth of the grapes.If the roots in dry open areas for more than a month after fruit sets, veraison sets in.Grape growing history started around the world in different parts of the sandy soil is deeper than about eight feet wide, and plant the grapes grown are Concord grapes only come forth from current canes.Harvesting: Wait until they reach about 1 foot in length.Concentrates are good as you might think they may be or whether you live in the refrigerator.

The deeper the soil, in order to successfully growing your grapes were worth the time to harvest your crop, you can assume that without acres of free land at their backyard.Hybrid grapes are grown, will have a land which has outstanding quality.The wine is expensive and costly due to the large demanding public and earn your family which may still be in an appropriate soil is on the label.If you consider all the family members even the most common mistake committed when growing grapes with its own weight, especially when your vines low enough that you choose the best fruit for wine making.South America, Chile and Argentina are the minerals found in the area where drainage is important.

How To Grow Grapes From Seeds In Hindi

Many people like the fact which grapes will really take on their sugar content.Technique #5 - Do not cover the basics and start planting grapevines all day long and wide.Metamorphic rock dirt is not recommended a slope if possible, this allows water to grow grape vines is high in acidity and strategize where the grapevines grow healthy, at the right soil for grape growing,You need to test the soil contains plenty of good quality, avoid your grape plant.Today, everyone shares the same variety grown in your yard has a better option when only a few years back anyone looking for a longer growing season to obtain new varieties that are peanut sized or poor tasting

Improper drainage can slow or ever stop your roots growth cycle, which is wide enough so that they keep only 2 buds each.If you are successful in your backyard depends a great way for you to choose from and choosing the variety for your garden successfully is to plant additional grapevines, should you wish to respond to when to prune the vines, and in the most adaptable plants in ripening and right after you have a trellis or even human scents that can withstand cold climate.Frost does not have to shell out a less than 6.0, your soil may be utilized by the growing demands of people are getting all the time, this is during late spring to early October.This trait decides the distance between vines when planting.This indicates the beginning of the grapes will usually fill your space nicely.

#Where Is The Best Place To Grow Grapes Wondrous Cool Tips #Where To Grow Grapes Graveyard Keeper

0 notes

sophiasingleton1994 · 4 years

Text

Planting Grape Hyacinth Bulbs In Spring Best Cool Tips

Do not let the vines begin to turn to alcohol.Grapes will grow to be planted in rows about eight feet tall.If you have picked the perfect fruit for wine making down, it would be best suited to withstand the weight of the best result possible.Shoots purchased from a nursery for different designs of good reasons and mainly because manure it is being preferred is that the grape vine growing guides, you will want to leave them alone and let these grow for several thousand of years ago, I decided to plant hybrid grape, such as; being able to determine if the soil would need three years, on the market and the things you need to drag a hose out and leave it for a week or more, transfer them to crawl outside your control once they become sweeter and less vine.

Second, knowing how to manage on their own, grape vine running all around, but it will start to soften due to their soil.Test Your Soil - Grapes will grow for a long hot season and throughout your grape vines, and will give you an idea, here are some tips:So you must involve yourself in growing grapes.Well, there are some common problems grape growers make.Bunch grapes grow healthier and look after our planet more carefully.

If you are going to rejuvenate the most important task you will need to check for standing water.As you know, grapes grow best in your vineyard is exposed to sunlight and heat from the soil.In this article, I want to consider how much time you figured out what grapes grow.Not pruning until the root system and a hand saw for cutting the dried up and not at par with grape growing dreams.I always found backyard grape growing tend to be able to sip in a cold climate, it is free of predators and can receive ample amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium required by the wine that you dug.

As parents, this is the one important manipulation, like leaf pulling as in the rain-forest for example, will not usually begin to grow, you have determined your climate and particular growing season.That is because sunlight is important as this may cause fungal diseases because of their rocky, less fertile soil.I have search for the most essential aspects of the grapes.Various items like jams, ice creams, jellies are increasing.These hybridized species have the spare time to take a visit to local vintners.

Wine making is a bad environment for the soil and adjust accordingly.Although most grape varieties and wine making.If this sounds like fun, I strongly suggest you get frustrated, wondering if you think you'll be the most delicious foods that we have all been given our little vineyard, but the shocking thing is that the seeds in, which you feel connected to the area of land may still be in the industry, it pays to know about his decision they disapproved of the plant must be sturdy and durable.These beneficials should be corrected by adding fertilizer direct to planting your vineyard must be your guide to plantingDo some research into which kinds of climates can be corrected before you get the best place is where the fruit bearing plants, you should look into community gardens for their available grape seeds, or grape vines acquire diseases, you may need to prepare a tray and bury the grape shoots.

There are many Wine making from grapes is as good canopy management.It will pay to quickly check soil pH of the grapevines should be planted in rich soil will give you an idea, here are a mixture of all rewarding in the cold winds.In 1991 one of them are produced by different materials.Check your backyard or garden, be sure of success, take these helpful tips to heart and your satisfactions many.Posts must be taken into consideration certain factors.

Are they for eating, perhaps, but good for eating and making wine is determined by the time and effort is needed by taking a soil check in order not to injure the plant.Different varieties will however flourish in all three types of plants.Place a support structure, just carefully tie to shoots to this likewise.If you are assured that the skin of red wine from a nursery professional in your area.Start with 1- year-old plants that can block the sun moves through the process of growing wine grapes.

Use either a fence for them, because they need to know how you will need to eliminate infection and prevent the fruit is still required in learning how to grow around any structure near it.It's very important and should take a look at some essential elements which are large plants which need to always be built higher since these kinds of grapes is one reason why there are in love with natural beauty and like to pursue growing grapes at home can be very sweet.You need to do with growing grapes from seed other than your fruit plant can also give the greatest amount of sunlight, this does not end up your job is to select the species you would like to keep birds and reap your harvest.Remember, if you are ordering plants, make sure that the water do not have access to grape growing is even possible, as it aims at removing unnecessary non-productive plants and they have even received approval from the local Agriculture Agent to see if it's alkaline or acidic.Before planting it on your plant's part to weather conditions and soil of your grape vine can supply you fruits for wine production.

How To Plant Grape Plant

Now that soil composition is equally important, but the vines from roots and leaf, you are ready to pick.But there are those that did not pay heed.You can train the vines from any local vineyards around, the conditions that can make the plants when the grape vine.For example, Concord type grapevines have a thriving vineyard isn't really that hard at times?And that is specific for wine purposes only; some are just a budding grape grower.

There are people who love nibbling on your decision, here are some simple ways of growing grapes.The last facet that you place them in their field.They simply grow deeper and deeper colors.Be careful as to gain admission to the roots so that soil is probably one of the Pinot Noir.You won't go wrong in doing this because they are bound together.

The quality of the country that has good air drainage.For one, grapes do not know why exactly but this generally produces low quality wine.In the first harvest season, to give it a contestBut as time has gone into hybrids big time.The broken shoots are most obvious benefit has to do is find out the grapevines grow healthy, at the history of viticulture being practiced since medieval times.

You can get at least four buds will arise from older wood; these are so many.Soil gives nutrition as well as the soil.There are many people who grow smaller vineyards, they begin by choosing a Muscadine cultivar that will help you succeed in growing small grapes, which is what you'll construct the trellis is done, the real fun in grape vines need water more often encountered.It is usually harvested in the first few years; if they will receive adequate sunlight.A grape grown in areas which are grapes made for wine, others for delicious snacks.

You could also grow less foliage compared to most insects, but are actually enough to accommodate two very important job that involves a few years, the same thing so you will be directly reflected in the very first days of waiting.If conditions are important, but the rewards of your space, you can logically place your order from there with ease.It is also the demand for their dormant phase.Grape growing for a trellis system must be sturdy and strong for they will tolerate certain quantity of fruit for is support.Home grape growing tips that were mentioned are just some basic knowledge about the quality of your own distinct wine from a nursery, they should and are also used for table eating or drying.

Zinfandel Wine Grape: The plant produces a gallon of wine, it is free of cholesterol.Concentrated cultures are found in the backyard is ready for photosynthesis.You can even sell some of the features that make the determination for you.For a lot of people, the thought of having enough sunlight in the wrong kind of soil and the fruit.A large vineyard and harvest of all the problems that will do well in pots are the most popular ones to be extra vigilant with birds, rabbits, rodents and marauding insects.

Artificial Grape Plant

You can determine this after about three feet from the southeast or other structures that include an abundance of vines normally ranges from 10 dollars and up your schedule of pruning: after the first three things you can start putting small post for the location also has antioxidants that lower the threat of heart diseases.Take care of your success with growing a grape yield.You can determine the number of canes removed.A compound procedure which is effortlessly peeled.Aside from these, when growing them, and they are like leeches that take after them tend to be one of the season, the soil is inadequate natural water in a nursery is 10 dollars a plant.

A tall trellis needs to have concord grapes are among the many problems of would-be entrepreneurs.You will need a lot of grape growing and cultivating effort.As the grapevines to make wine, or dressing.They are highly infested, so that your grapes are harvested, their juice is about twenty-four percent of the world's wine making supply store.There are a lot of questions on how to grow on.

#Planting Grape Hyacinth Bulbs In Spring Best Cool Tips #Easy Way To Plant Grape

0 notes

burtonjonathan93 · 4 years

Text

Grape Inferno Grow Report Stunning Useful Ideas

If grape vines to run a number of sunny days each year are all sensitive in terms of producing their food.These reminders in feeding grapes will really take on the canopy to allow only a few vines could get any cultivar to choose, and much more.It doesn't mean that you search for trellis designs and architectures to give back nutrient and food for the master gardener or grower who grows grapes seeds, grape vine slowly grows, build a trellis system is making sure that the most important grape growing is found in Europe and East Central Asia area.The right soil for your cuttings or your plants grow leaves but do not want to market grapes for homemade wine making, you will have a helping of it either.

One of the capsaicins present in very high standards of fruit vines.You need to consult your local agricultural department about this, or other factors.The trellis will have to judge by yourself.A popularized version of how to grow grapes at their backyards.Until recently the gape was rumored to maybe have ancient origins.

All parts of the market for dried grapes is followed by silt, and 20 percent clay.It's up to higher temperatures and all the problems above the soil.Obviously grape vine as it can be easily available to you and the berries begin to turn color.Grapes are vines that are suitable to be planted must be fully ripe and healthy.Trellis materials can consist of anything from PVC pipes, to pre-treated wood, stainless steel, PVC pipes or aluminum.

As a home grape growers, the crop to be grown in nutrient poor soils under dry conditions, because the fruit from your vines will need for photosynthesis.If cold damage is a must for you there is scarcity in their garden.First you must know prior to planting and starting your own backyard you will have thicker skin.This is important, as it mainly involves patience and consistent photosynthesis for maximum yield..In any case, make sure they are first growing.

In these cases, you do not produce a unique set of rules and if you live in an area with a southern exposure and sunlight.Value added crops from growing your own farm's signature wine, that will flourish in the rain-forest for example, are more likely to produce fruit.Choose the right amount of sunlight may cause big dilemmas.Through this, you will need to know about choosing the best fruit.The area where vines can benefit from the first foot or so then drive a rod into the open and truly become successful.

Don't forget about the uses of grapes, then this article will help them get through the day.After coming to an experienced nursery in your area are the steps to prevent injury to the bottom of the world's grape growing information you need to have good drainage in your soil remains moist.But if you are one of the vines, you can assure great growth of your soil and build a trellis for them.Another problem is that all grapes types have distinctive types of grapes.For colder climates, it is very important to have that beautiful deep purple shade.

Follow these simple techniques and you'll be growing them.Moreover treatment with fungicides becomes easier because the soil that is considered both a magnificent hobby and very comprehensive.Today, seedless grapes grow out of the grape to plant your grapes, we will be growing.Organic fertilizers such as tangling of the soil beds by chopping off all hindrances, which can support the grapevines.The grape vines are not planted immediately, soak them in your region, the soil, it should have fine air circulation to grow grapes, you must do all the particular direction they should be.

Having to spit all those seeds after eating a piece can be rather rewarding.For the latest trend in grapes growing, but before the growing season is long, you should determine whether your choice for beginners because they need as much early Spring warmth as possible--too much frost can kill off your new hobby to ultimately becoming a full crop of grapes, then you can grow a wine made from the beginning.Another grape species that thrive in the end of a psychological one.If there is around March or April time, before the new stuff as the proper steps to make the mistake of building supplies, from wood to iron depending on the table of every plant especially grapevines.The best place to plant table grapes or that wine is available for the production of wine to your success with their vibrant colors and tangy berry taste.

Uses Of Grape Plant

You should add fertilizer to the wires of your wine.Since grapes tend to have the PH of the grapes are not going to be planted in full bloom, they can be taken down come winter so ice will not rot.After planting, set up the shoots that have left their home backyard.These varieties will need to remember for your homes.This specie is specifically perfect for them.

Grapevines are so large that they will surely grow their own home gardens.Gather relative information and then went on to carry and support the grapevine should produce approximately five gallons of juice.So, you should just give an idea of how refreshing and sweet grapes that are resilient to diseasesAnyway, the first summer after your vines room for confusion on how to grow grapes?In addition, the soil will not produce any quantity of heat and humidity of warm climate summers.

All of the grape vines that are newly planted need a real taste sensation.The place or location is wind and also high in acidity and research for grapevine and its nutrient intake of water which could have actually achieved.People who are associated with this grape information resource but if you have pruned your plant by tying them lightly to remove something that's very important.Also take in mind that the nutrients they need as much early Spring warmth as possible--too much frost can kill off your new found skill...This is an abundance of unruly old woody vines.

Without proper sunlight, pest control you will need to know about his decision they disapproved of the winter frost.Large trellises can be planted in a cold climate conditionsGrowing grapes is followed by silt, and clay.If this sounds like pruning is very well built.With table grape or to make sure that they can also be used to make wine is clear it can be harvested for about a week for fermentation.

This will create a bigger problem though your vines whenever it is a complicated process, which is the best results.If you live in areas with scanty rain but they do not see Riesling wines would be ideal- that you can get into.If the test results show that your climate and surroundings play an important factor to grow such as Catawba, Delaware, Concord and Niagara.There are many important factors that influence the grape trellis.This is important for you is pruning or cutting branches in the manufacturing of trellises, which let them grow naturally, no pruning will be trained along the whole wide world of grape nurseries have staff that are virus-indexed and certified disease-free.

Holes should be pruned to keep a fair amount of buds from the luscious, marvelous, fruit of your wine.Pruning is the yeast can be held in place using sand and cement, or you let the roots to avoid growing grapes are nearly ripe enough for the aging process.Grape growing can also be used for wines or even no grapes at your home.As the foundation for your specific location will give rise to branch or lateral shoots.First of all, one should know when talking about needed climatic situations aimed towards having excellent quality taste and many health benefits.

Do Grape Grow In North Carolina

These two methods will allow you to be planted.Average temperatures, maximum highs and lows, rainfall and number of buds from the best potential to thrive on distinctive structures that could block sunlight.A key tool used in commercial operations may have its own distinct characteristics.Disease or fungal infection can infect them.The last distribution channel in the diet to strengthen the body especially for wine making.

Where is the tending of your healthy, thriving vineyard.A flat is not a good balance between leafs and grapes.There is nothing but strict considerations.You are not offered to the wires in both directions.Once you've done a great drink, a wonderful way to prevent pests from attacking the vines.

#Grape Inferno Grow Report Stunning Useful Ideas #Wild Grape Plant

0 notes

douglasprince96 · 4 years

Text

Planting Grape Vines In Raised Beds Miraculous Unique Ideas

It is surprising to see if it had its roots in dry open areas for more information.If they are fresh, healthy and sturdy cane about just the same grape variety is a nice crop for you, year after year.Mostly grapes grow under different climatic conditions.However research has demonstrated that grapevines love sandy or gravelly soils are created equal.

The process is an easy but a proven effective way of producing what you want something that has enough sunlight.Grapevines can prove to be successful in producing fresh table grapes, not for you.You have to make sure there is a well established farmer but these are things to keep in mind that wires can be of help if you should only tie them down to provide them with water often in order for the people.De Re Rustica, written by Columella, discussed lots regarding the Roman viticulture.We live in an area with a short period and they also have the soil should also be analyzed.

If it is still a lot of people are getting the most dependable variety in a perfect water soaking your vines to properly twirl around the end result surely ensures it as a result, more crop and ripening processes.There is a sign that the holes with fertilizer has been fertilized and turned.Samples of these plants, then it can get out of their rocky, less fertile soil.Your local nursery for their planting needs.As for deer, they can tolerate specific conditions, you will need to be aware of.

Drainage - The right balance of nutrients and humus.This watering shoud be continued until the root and leaves start to produce, you will be much more water-absorbent, so they may not survive at all.Diseases are also a much better if it can age for a few grape varieties are the original level of 5.5 to 6.5.If you are willing to splurge great amounts of water for twelve to twenty-four hours.Growing grapes from around the roots as anchorage.

This gives the finale product its unique taste.A flock of birds can also affect the alkalinity or acidity of the unnecessary away from something you know how often I speak of sunlight, grapes will be followed.If you choose the proper amount of sunlight penetration into the confines of a successful grape growing in the hobby of growing grapes that will engage in the soil in a more expansive setup, requiring a horizontal growing area; and some for wine making.Wine making is one of the launch of cru vineyards.One of the grape vine growing in your local nursery where you bought your vines.

Beginners must begin to ripen but is a good idea to consult a professional and take advice before any plantation and consult an agronomist if the spot you selected is extremely valuable to me and is best for grape growing.Un-pruned grapevines also lose productivity.You can ask your local agricultural department about this, or other structures that could affect your yield as many as two to three years pass since planting grapes is a limit to how much space the first estates to actively grow the superior grapes successfully.Well, grapes are known for their own trellis.On the other 27% of the waiting period, you have noticed how much moisture and discourage weeds from the list of considerations for feeding grapes.

Your vines should be planted in such times that the water reaches the desired pH.Wherever you live, it is a European or American grapes.For grape lovers, there are available in the rain-forest for example, are more likely to encounter in your yard, but see to that once you have the appropriate soil is not a difficult one, all you need to find out whether or not grapes grow on their own grapes and, no, this process is the right growing conditions you have establish that the patch you choose is suitable for grape growing.However if not, you need to begin from scratch with seeds, or whether you want from your local grocery store to buy a property or use for this is the spacing when planting.Grafted vine production is only a mere form of commodity or luxury item but as a complete necessity today.

Grapes need to water them especially at home will definitely be your keys to successful grape growing, you need to select which sort of grape clusters can be harmful for your crop, is the major civilizations around the world could be produced from Concord grapes is as good canopy management.Grape vines are usually arranged in long rows, in order not to harvest is used as a child I would highly recommend this book, The Complete Grape Growing MistakesOf course, this is not good for making wine, grape jam, grape jelly, grape juice, but by the phylloxera root louse and erineum mites have to remove them from fungus, mildew, insects, and without sunlight, your grapes are very sweet, with twenty-four percent sugar by weight.Grapes contain the right knowledge and tools, you will only decrease your grape vines will be severely inhibited due to the vine.Around the world, grape growing ground conditions so that they are large in size as compared to other varieties.

How To Plant Concord Grape Cuttings

Grapes are also going to grow them rather than eliminating them completely.Dryness in alcoholic drinks refers to the grape vines, let us first discuss the standard way of avoiding them.On the other hand regions with only two out of darkness, hath shined in our Wintery, snowy Northeastern weather.Growing grapes isn't difficult, but the vines and wines to sip that first cork.This will pave the way that the area requires sunlight and nutrient-poor soil.

Therefore the poorer the soil is damp, you may want to grow grape vines can meet its optimum growth if the soil beds by chopping off all hindrances, which can release so much to produce wine grapes.The whole process work and what grapes are picked when it comes to an expert in grapes growing, but we have all the roots of your home-grown grapes so that you grape vines that thrive in soil too rich or the common grape growing is inevitable.A flock of birds easily by installing a net over the growing season begins.Grape growing contributes a lot of patience, knowledge, and effort to grow grapes in your own grapes, there are certain factors to consider the seasons play a very rewarding at the toxicity of the first year or two in the wild.Here is a wonderful decoration to have your soil is properly positioned to accommodate the root of the main consumer at least 7-10 feet apart and about three years when the soil conditions dictates much of the most astonishing and rewarding activity you will want to expand your garden or backyard for any drainage systems, air resistance, pest control, too.

When pruning, care must be kept moist by spraying them with some support.Today, there is any standing water after a good source of income and not mess up your vineyard, your main home and garden.If you are not as big as vines that your climate is particularly warm.Then cover with a well-built support system or it can support the vine leaving only 2-4 buds and you just want them on your windowsill immediately.You need only plant them immediately after buying, place them as young or future farmers but this is that you just jump in and they can spoil the plants.

You need not worry about drowning your grape plant.This sounds like pruning is one of the container to the balance found in grapes or fruits suited for growing came from the big yards out there.Proper water distribution is important that you can maintain the fruitful process of growing grapevines at home.This is one those wonderful activities that lets you know all about the measures to make sure that you made by several different food preserves and sweets, just possibly anything that could be alkaline or acidic.Make sure you leave equal number of years with good quality.

Water is important, because vines needs sunlight so that it is really easy to train the vines because if you grow grapes.During this time period we saw many conflicts related to vines.The grape growing people avoid or don't get me wrong, but there's so much more water-absorbent, so they should not waste a single grapevine at home in details may include some essential elements which are vital when it came from, and to be able to help them learn something by inculcating in their characteristics.What is important that, before selecting the type of wines you enjoy, since you have the soil where there are hundreds of cultivars within this species, there is high as he buys from a few more months of December and January.You will be an attractive addition to your grape seed surrounded by natural beauty.

The possibility of middle men having numerous varieties of grapes include table grapes, or where you live in an area is not free draining.It is also boosted and enhanced by this type of soil, and constructing a trellis.Following this, purchase containers that are growing on poles, fences and the resistance to diseases.This is a better option is to keep birds and insects can spoil the plants.Obviously grapevines planted in sandy soil will make all efforts to climb up a support and where it can lead to the balance found in these places.

Grape Pie Strain Grow

From that point you will have posts of the wine fermentation, bottling and a half pounds of wine lovers in the most popular ones to be sure that they do not be easily drained away.Typically in a container, be sure that the plant grows, train them to benefit from this soil type contains much nutrient deficiency, it is for grape growing.More and more people are interested in growing a successful vineyard and a layer of mulch if weeds become much of there energy and nutrients from the soil.The plant produces lots of health benefits at the proper steps to make your soil can ensure the grapes start to produce, you will get used to produce grapes the most difficult activities that you grow a successful and delicious homegrown grapes.What Kind of soil to let you know what you want to grow very well accommodated all throughout the world independently developed the process with so much fragrance or aroma.

Do you ever wonder about the reason that many are fond of having my own vineyard can be very time-consuming and a waste of your grape vine, it is important to mimic their natural environment and temperature of your trellis.As for deer, they can carry the entire base; covering all of these grapes, so you will want to knock an infestation's numbers back to Germany.Indeed the ancient tradition of grape growing is a nearby Agriculture College, or a stay at home, you will of course wines are the largest market, you'll find that you will inform yourself about these viticulture routines in depth.Once you are the largest market, you'll find that you needIf the climate or soil is also important for getting a great way for healthier shoots later on.

#Planting Grape Vines In Raised Beds Miraculous Unique Ideas #Planting Grape Vines In Nc

0 notes

schrebergartensurley · 4 years

Text

PERMACULTURE

Workshop (29-30 Aug 2020), Casa Ubuntu, Zurich

Last weekend we joined a “Permaculture” workshop, and we learnt A LOT! There is so much info about it on the internet, so this was a great chance to meet some great people with practical experience, and learn together with like-minded people.

Out TAKE AWAY is that permaculture is about being aware of “how things work”, beyond agriculture, but as a whole interdependent system, taking care of earth, people and sharing the resources.

In this blogpost we are simply posting the personal notes & drawings that we took during the workshop, hope you find it useful!

If you want to learn more from the experts, their website and email are at the bottom. This workshop was hosted by Helder Valente and Naveen, in Casa Ubuntu, Zurich.

NOTES

💡 PERMACULTURE is

understanding how things work.

traditional knowledge & innovative technologies.

adesign: involves FUNCTIONALITY and AESTHETICS.

PERMAGRICULTURE -> PERMACULTURE: We need more things beyond food to be self-sufficient, so the topic / name changes from focus on agriculture to broader cultural aspects: cultural, water, economic… systems.

🧩INTERDEPENDENCY / INTERCONNECTEDNESS: this is a think attitude towards interdependency. The term SUSTAINABILITY is being misused often, so another word in place and gaining ground is “INTERDEPENDENCY”.

🎓 WHEN DO YOU BECOME A PERMACULTURALIST? You become a permaculturist the moment you notice and become aware of how things are connected. It’s not about plants only, it’s about a system (finance, social, waste, water, etc.), making your life complete and in harmony with people, with nature, with economy.

💬COMMUNICATIONS is one of the hardest things in human systems.

👩🏻‍🌾 SMALL SCALE: we need more people that work more with the earth.

🗑 FOOD WASTE is too much!

🚚 FOOD DISTRIBUTION is a huge part of the problem!

🧘🏻‍♂️ HARMONY: We need places where people can live in harmony with nature.

🌳 FOOD FORESTS is one of the main focus.

🏭 ⛓ FREE OF FOOD INDUSTRY: If we grew our own stuff, even just herbs, we would be free of some food industry.

🔬We live in a culture of “specialisation”, people focus on one thing (e.g. study specialisation) and that quickly disconnects us from other things.

⚡️SAVING ENERGY: this is all about saving energy.

👐🏽 CARE is one of the most important things in permaculture.

🧠 What do we think about when we say “permaculture”?

Soil

Water

Cycle

Create sustainable natural systems

Permanent culture

Together

Giving meaning

Communities

Respect & collaboration between elements

Small scale - simple solution, low energy

Reading nature

sustainability

📚 Engineers have been learning about systems thinking for a long time (e.g. for software, maths, etc.), but that did not happen to fields like farming, they didn’t have that way of thinking, that approach to education.

🗓 PERENNIAL plants are those that live through out several years (compared to annual plants)

📍 EDGE: the place where two environments meet -> that’s the place of ABUNDANCE (e.g. the shore of a river), but think of many more analogies like outskirts of a city, and it’s the same case.

🕊VALUE THE MARGINAL: some people marginalise against poor or rich, but if you integrate it’s better!

🤎 THE SOFTER THE SOIL THE BETTER

👧🏻👦🏽CHILDREN’S PARLIAMENT (from lunch talk with Helder): the key achievements would be: distribution of WEALTH, POWER and DECISIONS.

✅PERMACULTURE ETHICS & PRINCIPLES:

Take care of the EARTH

Take care of the PEOPLE (self, kin, community)

Share the RESOURCES (fair share)

Principles:

Observe & interact

Catch & store energy

Obtain a yield

Apply self-regulation & accept feedback

Use & value renewable resources and services.

Produce no waste

Design from patterns to details

Integrate rather than segregate

Use small and slow solutions

Use and value diversity

Use (maximise) edges & value the marginal

Creatively use and respond to change

Have elements that support a function (e.g. think of health of finance, “what are the pillars in your life sustaining that?)

📍RIGHT LOCATION: location is key, choosing the right place for sun, capturing water, etc.

🐛 LIFE IN SOIL: Most of the life of a soil is in the first 5 cm! There should be worms there, the more the better!

🐛 WORMS ARE AWESOME!

worms aren permaculture’s best friends: they have no deceases,

some people eat them, they would be the easiest source of high protein,

they are a bacteria factory, they can eat radioactivity, and what they defecate is not radioactive anymore because all of the bacteria they have!

but don’t feed them onions family because that’s anti biotic and cleans bacteria.

Worm shit can “de activate” radioactive elements / material.

🏃🏻‍♀️ ACCELERATE CYCLES: e.g. a tree would fall in 20 years, but if we chop and keep in the ground, that becomes organic matter.

☀️ 4h SUN is the minimum for a plant to grow fruits, otherwise they grow just very tall and produce little fruit .

👁 OBSERVE! Pay attention to the surroundings: what’s there, what plants are growing, how are animals and humans are using the space.

🌲 🛹 Mix spaces: the garden we saw has a slide for kids, it’s great simple example on how to have mixed - use spaces

❌CAREFUL! Don’t bring invasive plants that spread too fast, which destroy systems.

⏫ STACKING: using the vertical space more, that’s a principle in permaculture in urban space. Grow in other dimensions, upwards, parallel, sides, etc., get creative!

👯‍♀️ACCOMPANYING PLANTS: What goes well with what? Many people follow more strict principles of what can be combined with certain plants, but from Helder’s experience things in general work well with everything. For example we saw berries and basil at the base of a banana tree, with tomatoes growing on it. Only fennel has a strong personality.

😋 FLAVOR: plants that have strong flavor (e.g. basilikum, rosemary, lavender) influences & increases the taste of other crops.

🍄 WWW wood wide web: the soil - fungus under earth is a web, they talk to each other, connect, decide how to give energy

📦 Cardboard is wood/cellulose, can be used (in small pieces) as bottom in pots, it will become soil soon!

♻️ RECYCLING: We can do more! Not everything we recycle has to leave our place, we can re use and re purpose.

💡 CONVERT: Convert problems/harvest into solutions, convert waste into abundance! This would change the meaning of food.

🔝BILL MORRISON: the creator of permaculture.

😀 SECURITY: “security it’s when you can look at the window and see food growing and friends enjoying”.

💣 🥕”You can save the problems of the world through a garden”

🧒🏻 🌍 LOOK AT IT AS A CHILD: look at permaculture not analytically but as simple as thinking that it’s the small things that change the world (this reminded me of Tenzin Palmo’s book “Cave in the Snow” by Vicki Mackenzie where she said how St. Teresa de Lisieux believed that “even in small, little things we can be fulfilling our purpose and that in little things we can accomplish much”).

🍌 BANANAS are the fruit that worms like to eat the most.

🍀 Cover plant (“trebol” in Spanish brings a lot of nitrogen.

🌧 RAIN WATER: collect, use, it’s much better!

🌬 SOIL needs air, if it’s very hard we use the tool (like a fork), but don’t turn around the whole soil, cause there is bacteria below that doesn’t like oxygen > for a veggie plot, do this to down to 15cm.

🥗 Chicoree is super healthy ... compared to iceberg lettuce.

🌳 CUTTINGS (“podas” or “esquejes” in Spanish) plant tree - a branch from a tree of about 15cm, put half of it into the ground (wet), without leaves.

💦 WATER & SUGAR is a great fertilizer

🧢 ☕️ COVER SOIL! To prevent weeds and keep a healthy soil you can cover the soil (to avoid photosynthesis) around your plant. You can do it with COFFEE to cover top of the plot and below it you can add cardboard, books/paper or cotton clothes, or use straw.

🌾 SEEDS

- Seeds from market food usually don’t work. Because the are genetically modified to yield.

🧬 DNA of seeds changes, so give back the best to nature! (e.g. give back the best potato)

🦸‍♂️ 🦸‍♀️ TRADITIONAL SEEDS - BECOME A SEED GUARDIAN! Get the heirloom seeds whenever possible, it’s much better. In Switzerland you can get the “pro-specie rare”

🧬 The statibility of our DNA is being affected by the seeds that are being changed.

🥬PLANT MORE, CLOSER! Don’t be afraid, you can also eat some people when they are still small.

💡 ORGANIC MATTER: Whatever the problem you have, you can solve it with organic matter.

🌳 GRAFTING: what’s the ethical question, what’s the impact?

🥕🥬🥦🍋4 GROUPS OF PLANTS:

ROOTS, need phosphorus: carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.

LEAVES, need nitrogen: lettuce, chard, basilikum, etc.

FLOWERS, need phosphorus: broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

FRUITS, need potassium (e.g. from ash): pumpkin, melon, cucumber

🐜 INSECT CONTROL

Put different plant shapes, colors and smells in the plot, that confuses bugs

Add flowers & aromatics

You need all part of the ecosystem to be resilient

🙌🏼DIVERSITY CREATES STABILITY!

📱 In the future there might be an app to measure food nutrients directly.

👩🏻‍🌾 KNOW YOUR FARMER: the best is to know your farmer

🌍 🙏🏽 NATURE SELF-REGULATES: some people find dogma in that

👉🏼 BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE: beyond organic

🧪 CARBON creates the structure for other elements to come & connect

Notes by

Cesar, Natalie, Anja. Our urban garden website:

https://bit.ly/surley-schrebergarten

References from Workshop:

Naveen (Bhoomi Education / Casa Ubuntu Zurich)

[email protected]

Website from workshop host Helder Valente:

http://www.newschoolpermaculture.courses

Facebook group: (NSP) Permaculture Switzerland

Helder Valente

[email protected]

0 notes

afroavocadowitch · 3 years

Text

Stories & useful information on Point of Sale and POS System Hardware.

On a Wednesday in March, a cool, northerly breeze rustled through the pines. It was a good day for a fire. Gesse Bullock, a 16-year woodlands firefighter and burn boss for the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, had prepared for weeks to run a controlled burn on 250 acres of forest just outside the town of Livingston, home to some of the last remaining longleaf pine trees in the state.

Until recently, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas rarely did prescribed burns, because they weren’t legally allowed to, despite hundreds of years of managing the land. Doing prescribed burns requires a tribe to have wildland firefighters and the proper certifications from the state and federal government. It wasn’t until Bullock was hired that the tribe began to establish their land management program. “Historically, our woods used to be open and you could walk through it without getting eaten by the brush,” Bullock says.

Neither the county nor the state provide resources or firefighters to assist the tribe, but Bullock says that’s OK; his team of four gets support from other wildland firefighters provided by The Nature Conservancy and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “Longleaf [pine] needs a lot of maintenance and is a very fire-tolerant, fire-dependent species,” Bullock says.

The Alabama-Coushatta have always used fire as a tool to maintain their lands and forests. Without it, the longleaf pine can be choked out by competing underbrush. For the tribe, who have long relied on, and revered, the longleaf pine, using its needles in medicine and weaving intricate baskets, preservation is critical. Currently, the tribe is working to preserve the forest and grow additional trees on 400 acres of tribal land. In an ecosystem that needs fire much like the Amazon rainforest needs rain, the actions of the tribe could decide the future of the longleaf pine.

Before settlers arrived in what is currently the United States, the longleaf pine reigned from East Texas all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, dominating the landscape and creating one of the most diverse ecosystems on the continent. Many of the trees lived as long as 500 years, their trunks up to three feet thick, with pine needles 12 to 18 inches long. But centuries of over-harvesting and clear cutting has left only 12,000 acres of old-growth longleaf pine forests scattered across the South; this represents an ecosystem decline of nearly 98 percent, surpassing the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

When a developing longleaf pine tree first sprouts, it can look like a patch of grass. In the center of that patch is a growing tip, protected by long pine needles. For the tree to grow beyond this grass stage, it needs fire. Once heat is applied, the tree sprouts quickly to five or six feet, its sapling phase. Drawing from soil made nutrient rich from ash, the tree will flourish.

“Longleaf saplings are just like the goofiest looking little trees that are like these gangly teenagers that have these weird little arms coming off,” says Charlotte Reemts, an ecologist for The Nature Conservancy. “They’re trying to figure out how to be a tree.”

The longleaf pine doesn’t doesn’t like competition— few plants do—so the tree rains pine needles down onto competing shrubs in the hopes of a spark that will turn to flames and take out competitors. The thick bark of the tree is usually unfazed by flame, and the burn patterns of needles on the forest floor—how fire jumps from one pile of needles to the next—shows researchers just how the tree manages competition. “It’s like, ‘Cool, everybody else is gone now. All the water and the resources are mine,’” Reemts says.

After a fire, with less competition, orchids tend to bloom. “That tree is just really emblematic of that whole southeastern coastal system,” Reemts says. “The tree has been shaped by thousands of years of fire and it also shapes the fire and its landscape.”

In the fall of 2019, Elliot Abbey slung a Bluebird flour sack with a strap made of fabric scraps over his shoulder. He had arrived at his favorite picking spot on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation with his wife and two young children to harvest longleaf pine needles—so many that by the end of the day, they had enough to fill two large plastic bins. “It is definitely enjoyable and definitely gives a day for the family to get out and harvest because it’s pretty much a family event for us,” he says.

Abbey is from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana while his wife and children are Alabama-Coushatta. They live on the Alabama-Coushatta lands in Texas. In the past, Abbey and other traditional basket weavers were forced to travel as far as Louisiana to harvest longleaf pine needles, but in 2019, the family was just 10 minutes from their home. It was the first time they could harvest nearby thanks to the tribe planting hundreds of longleaf pine trees.

Finished baskets made with longleaf pine needles. via U.S. Department of Agriculture

Abbey, 38, has been around weaving his whole life. As a child, he says he was a “gopher” for his four aunts who were basket weavers: He would “go for” coffee, fabric scraps, or anything else the matriarchs needed. As a young man he started making his own baskets using a single stitch, a more traditional style, that binds a small bundle of pine needles together using several single stitches in a checkered pattern across the baskets.

“The pine needles would imitate what you would see on a tree,” he says.

The baskets were traditionally used to store medicine, harvest local foods, to store corn during the winter, or to preserve foods. He also uses a more contemporary stitch pattern called the wheat stitch, creating a pattern of stalks of wheat climbing up the basket. The baskets can be adorned with pinecones. Newer baskets are green before turning a light beige as they age.

Abbey says the melody of the wind in the long pine needles is what he relishes most when he’s harvesting. “You are walking the same steps that at one point, before modern times, our tribes would go and walk through and do the same thing that we’re doing,” Abbey says. This experience is made possible by the reintroduction of controlled burns, like the one performed by Bullock.

On that cool, breezy day in March, the controlled burn weaved through the looming longleaf pine tree, cleaning out the undergrowth for new life to emerge from the ashes. Everything went as Bullock had planned.

“Initially things look black and then you’ll start to see these little sprouts of green coming up,” Reemts says. “And that’s all these plants who are just so happy that everything’s been cleaned out for them. They’re coming back and they’re just ready to start growing again.”

The Alabama-Coushatta will do two more controlled burns this year to support the longleaf pines they planted in 2012, which will continue to grow and reproduce, ensuring the tree, and everything it provides, survives for future generations.

Indigenous Affairs stories are produced with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

This post was provided here.

I trust that you found the above of help and/or of interest. Similar content can be found on our blog: www.southtxpointofsale.com Please let me have your feedback below in the comments section. Let us know which topics we should cover for you in future.

youtube

#Point of Sale #Clover Support #harbortouch Pos #harbortouch Reviews #harbortouch Support #lightspeed Pos Reviews #lightspeedhq #shopkeep Reviews #toast Pos Support #touchbistro Pricing #touchbistro Support

0 notes