#YellowRattle is used proactively to create & restore wildflower meadows, where it aids #biodiversity by suppressing dominant grasses & recycling of #soil nutrients. This improves chances of other species of wildflowers becoming established.
The #project will include a number of activities, such as the possible #reintroduction of lost wildlife like butterflies, rare #plants & beavers & the moving of #funghi to restore #soil.
Meet the woman turning Yellowknife's fish waste into gardening gold
Karine Gignac expects to start selling compost made of fish scraps, grain and wood chips this month
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In the future, Gignac envisions playing with different compost recipes, processing other animal carcasses, and extracting gasses from the composting process for electricity generation. She also wants to try using compost to remediate soil." #News#Gardening#Soil
If you plant a tree every day, in a lifetime you will plant a forest.
Our habits make us, #composting is a very rewarding habit, if you do it every day, in a matter of years you will be able to fix your topsoil, #GrowYourOwn plants, and create abundance.
You will also do your part in putting the carbon back into the #soil and help balance the #climate.
The most surprising revelation from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover — that methane is seeping from the surface of Gale Crater — has scientists scratching their heads.
The first sign of spring in an unintentional garden the past three years- daikon radish sprouts. We scattered seeds as a soil booster and I discovered that I don't much care for the radish part, but the greens and seed pods are really tasty and make a great salad. #Spring#Soil#Gardening
Scientists sound the alarm over dramatic loss of 3 billion #birds in #NorthAmerica: ‘We’re watching … #extinction happen’
Story by Brittany Davies, July 14, 2023
"Since the 1970s, bird enthusiasts have watched the skies empty and heard the #birdsongs go silent as nearly 3 billion birds vanished in North America. Disturbed by the findings of an expansive body of research, scientists across the globe are sounding the alarm as half of the world’s bird populations are in decline.
"Found in every corner of the world from the snowy tundra of the #Arctic to the lush rainforests of the #Amazon, birds play a critical role in maintaining the delicate balance of their #ecosystems. Robust and diverse bird populations advance #pollination, help transport #seeds, and fertilize the #soil with their droppings.
"Observing and cataloging these fascinating creatures has long been a popular hobby and an important source of data for researchers and conservationists. Thanks in part to #CitizenScience reporting sites such as eBird, researchers have collected a wealth of information documenting the troubling decline of bird populations on nearly every continent.
"Peter Marra, a conservation biologist and dean of Georgetown University’s #EarthCommons Institute, and his colleagues studied multiple bird-monitoring datasets and found a disturbing trend. Using different methods to estimate population changes, Marra told Knowable Magazine, 'they all told us the same thing, which was that we’re watching the process of extinction happen.'"
However, the article goes on to say:
"Although the situation may seem dire, the news is not all bad. The tireless work of conservationists has restored numerous bird species from the edge of extinction, and populations of wetland species are increasing due in part to political action to protect their habitats. These stories of hope show that it is not impossible to reverse the decline.
"In addition to supporting wide-scale change and devoting resources to protecting #CriticalHabitats, restoring the bird population can begin in your local community and even your own #backyard. Take action at home by creating a #BirdSanctuary by growing #NativePlants and providing safe spaces for birds to eat, rest, and reproduce. Join a birding organization and participate in bird data collection.
"The knowledge shared across important crowd-sourced databases provides essential information to researchers on the state of birds."
Some things just don't biodegrade well here, and part of it is that we're still perfecting our composting workflow and making sure our heaps don't overdry and die in our arid environment. We're getting better all the time, and it's a learning process. But in the meantime, I've been doing a lot of research on biochar. Most of the USDA fact sheets only talk about using biochar from wood or agricultural "wastes" like cornstalks, straw, etc. However, I know for a fact that in much of South America it's common to burn animal bones, manure, and more.
So, talk to me about biochar! Do you use it? What do you burn? What have your results been? Do you combine it with other soil remediation tactics (compost, compost teas, etc.)?
What lives under your feet? First graders learned today in our soil invertebrates session! Samples from various locations on campus were tested and students counted the invertebrates they saw!
The pachysandra terminalis #dikkemanskruid is doing great, it protects the ground underneath my apple tree and makes for a thriving #soil life. #gardening
‘Solar-powered vacuum cleaners’: the native plants that could clean toxic soil (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
Indigenous groups see hope in the environmentally friendly process of bioremediation. But will cities pay attention?