Peace in the Barnyard

by | Sep 26, 2012 | Talk Dirt to Me

We know now that, accepting the loch ness monster and Todd Akin, there are no dinosaurs left. However, paleontologists agree that birds evolved from dinosaurs. When I watch my chickens I wonder how much their behavior resembles dinosaurs. Did dinosaurs make throaty...

Asters and Eating

by | Oct 4, 2012 | Talk Dirt to Me

My ride to work has become much more beautiful in the last few weeks. The leaves are turning of course, but the show that really grabs me goes on a little lower. The fall flowers are bursting out everywhere I look. Little surprises like the white wood asters...

Fixers

by | Oct 11, 2012 | Talk Dirt to Me

We all need the most abundant element in the atmosphere, nitrogen. DNA and protein are both chock-a-block with nitrogen. But atmospheric nitrogen, N2, is entirely unusable by multicellular organisms. Animals get their nitrogen from plants (by eating plants or another...

A perfect melon.

by | Oct 17, 2012 | Talk Dirt to Me

I’ve read a lot of gardening books and looked at a lot of gardening blogs. The images that are included usually suggest perfect harmony with nature and abundant food production. I tend to doubt that even the superstar small farmers manage to escape the...

Frogs vs. plants

by | Oct 23, 2012 | Talk Dirt to Me

Many of our crops must live their lives bracketed by the last frost in the spring and the first frost in the fall. Some years that first frost just coats the plants with icy beards before giving way to another week or two of frost free nights. With the exception of...