I live in a lovely neighborhood, full of mature trees and sprinkled liberally with parks. My neighbors are all friendly, and many people walk regularly, usually with dogs and sometimes with kids. People have beautiful yards for the most part. Yet every fall, my neighbors unwittingly do something very bad for the climate, for the soil, and for the trees…
I teach four sections of 10th grade Earth and Space Science this year at a public charter school where I have been teaching for eleven years. I feel like the luckiest teacher on the planet. We get to learn about my darling planet and it’s place in the universe for a whole school year. We started the year learning about…
After a long wait, my Year 1 soil test results are in. Note: although there are some great soil tests you can do yourself – see the pictures in this post – the soil test results I will now share are from Colorado State University’s Soil, Water and Plant testing Laboratory. All of the researching, sampling, mailing and waiting while…
Back in February I posted about adding carbon in the form of compost or mulch to a young garden. Importing carbon in the beginning of a new garden’s life helps it establish. But it bears repeating that the carbon you import should be local, and your imports should be ever diminishing. Why? Let’s think about all the carbon we are…
If you could listen to your soil and it could talk, you would hear it asking for carbon. The very element that is accumulating in our atmosphere and threatening to disrupt the fabric of life on Earth is in great demand below our feet. Soil organic matter is to the microbial life of your soil as grass is to cows.…
Many of us have an evergreen tree in our living rooms right now, and it’s an excellent time to reflect on the wonder of trees. I have come to do so every winter, which is why I call the few weeks when we have our tree for the holidays Tree Time. It is also a good time to plan what…