In our story about saving the earth, our hero tries to help the soil like they’re learning to dance in big, muddy boots. It’s a bit awkward but also kind of graceful. They’ve got a shovel in one hand and songs by Rick Astley in the other, ready to make the ground better with all… [Read More]
News
Cultivating Safety With Flowers and Veggies
Well, tickle me surprised, a bounty of research shows community gardening efforts sprout safety along with vegetable yields! Transforming abandoned urban spaces by planting posies, fruits, and veggies makes neighborhoods significantly less crime-ridden. A decade ago in Flint, Michigan, many streets were hazardous with dilapidated structures and overgrown lots. Resident Darnell Ishmel described waist-high scrub on… [Read More]
Gardening, Lunar Style
Question: What can grow in Blue Cheese? Answer: Nothing that I know of—except mold! Good thing then, as it turns out, that the moon is NOT made of Blue Cheese. Because now we know that things can grow in lunar soil. How do we know? Read on… When NASA launches astronauts back to the moon in… [Read More]
News Flash: Billions of Tons of Topsoil Has Disappeared!
According to a new study published in the journal “Earth’s Future,” the Midwest has lost approximately 57 billion metric tons of topsoil over the last 160 years. Can you imagine even with the EZ-Screen 1200XLS, how long it would take to screen 57 BILLION TONS of topsoil? As reported by NPR, a few years ago,… [Read More]
Don’t Call Soil Dirt (And Other Musings)
Ripley said, “Believe it or not!’ Which meant, I guess, that you don’t have to believe it (nothing wrong with healthy skepticism). But here’s something that even I as The Dirt Expert, didn’t believe: our Federal Government, specifically the Defense Department, more specifically the Army Corps of Engineers has a Soil Microbiology Research Team at…wait… [Read More]