Tag Archives: spring

The Sea Around Us – Rachel Carson

by Myrna Posted on February 20, 2018

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The Sea Around Us
Rachel Carson

Genre: Nature

Price: $3.99

Publish Date: March 29, 2011

Publisher: Open Road Media

Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC


National Book Award Winner and New York Times Bestseller: Explore earth’s most precious, mysterious resource—the ocean—with the author of Silent Spring .  With more than one million copies sold, Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us became a cultural phenomenon when first published in 1951 and cemented Carson’s status as the preeminent natural history writer of her time. Her inspiring, intimate writing plumbs the depths of an enigmatic world—a place of hidden lands, islands newly risen from the earth’s crust, fish that pour through the water, and the unyielding, epic battle for survival. Firmly based in the scientific discoveries of the time, The Sea Around Us masterfully presents Carson’s commitment to a healthy planet and a fully realized sense of wonder.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rachel Carson including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.  “[Carson has] a rare gift for transmuting scientific fact into lucid, lyrical language.” — Time  “Her book remains fresh, in part because of her ability to convey scientific insight in vivid poetic language—but, perhaps more important, because what she has to say is still so relevant today.” — Scientific American  “As stimulating as a breeze from the oceans about which she writes; an invigorating and exciting book.” — Boston Herald  Award-winning author Rachel Carson (1907–1964) was one of the greatest American natural history writers of the twentieth century. In addition to the environmental classic Silent Spring , her books include Under the Sea Wind , The Edge of the Sea, and The Sea Around Us , which has sold more than one million copies, been translated into twenty-eight languages, and won the National Book Award and John Burroughs Award.

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The Sea Around Us – Rachel Carson

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Are you a news buff, justice reporter, or video producer? If so, the Grist fellowship is for you!

by AlannahBeaulieu Posted on November 9, 2017

Are you an early-career journalist, storyteller, or multimedia wizard who digs what we do? Grist wants you!

We are now accepting applications for the spring 2018 class of the Grist Fellowship Program.

This time around, we’re looking for all-stars in three primary areas: news, environmental justice, and video. You’ll find details on all three fellowship opportunities here.

The Grist Fellowship Program is a paid opportunity to hone your journalistic chops at a national news outlet, deepen your knowledge of environmental issues, and experiment with storytelling. We get to teach you, learn from you, and bring your work to our audience. The fellowship lasts six months.

For fellowships that begin in March 2018, please submit applications by December 29, 2017. Full application instructions here.

Good luck!

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Are you a news buff, justice reporter, or video producer? If so, the Grist fellowship is for you!

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What It’s Like to Be a Dog – Gregory Berns

by Myrna Posted on September 9, 2017

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What It’s Like to Be a Dog

And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience

Gregory Berns

Genre: Life Sciences

Price: $16.99

Publish Date: September 5, 2017

Publisher: Basic Books

Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.


A pathbreaking neuroscientist discovers the link between human and animal minds What is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist Gregory Berns and his team began with a radical step: they taught dogs to go into an MRI scanner–completely awake. They discovered what makes dogs individuals with varying capacities for self-control, different value systems, and a complex understanding of human speech. And dogs were just the beginning. In What It's Like to Be a Dog , Berns explores the fascinating inner lives of wild animals from dolphins and sea lions to the extinct Tasmanian tiger. Much as Silent Spring transformed how we thought about the environment, so What It's Like to Be a Dog will fundamentally reshape how we think about–and treat–animals. Groundbreaking and deeply humane, it is essential reading for animal lovers of all stripes.

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What It’s Like to Be a Dog – Gregory Berns

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12 of the Best Cover Crops for Your Garden

by GuadaluMJXP Posted on September 4, 2017

Also known as green manure, cover crops are plants grown for the purpose of adding organic matter to your soil.

Organic matter from broken down plant material is vital for soil health. Not only does it contain essential nutrients for the growth of new plants, organic matter also stores carbon in the soil. This is important for maintaining the earth?s atmosphere and mitigating climate change.

Cover crops are typically planted in the fall or early spring when your garden beds are empty. You can also plant them in open areas during your growing season.

They can either be pulled up or tilled under when finished, or left in place to die over winter. It?s best to wait 3 to 5 weeks after tilling for the cover crop to decompose before planting any food or ornamental plants.

Almost any plant could be used as a cover crop, although the plants given below stand out because they?re fast, easy to grow and have proven benefits for your soil. You can get seeds at most garden centers or online retailers.

1. Alfalfa

Scientific name: Medicago sativa

Benefits: Alfalfa?s long tap roots are good for breaking up hard soils, which improves soil aeration and drainage. The long roots can also bring up trace minerals from deep in the soil. Alfalfa is a legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Hardiness: Perennial in USDA zones 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall. Good to shear the plants periodically to prevent flowering and seeding.

2. Barley

Scientific name: Hordeum vulgare

Benefits: Barley has a short growing season, so it is ideal for northern gardens. It produces more biomass in a shorter time than other cereal grasses used for cover crops. Barley is also drought resistant.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher. Barley will die over winter in lower zones.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring in lower zones, or fall for zones 8 or higher.

Maintenance: Barley does not reseed very well, so you can let it grow throughout your regular season, and let it die over winter in lower zones or till in spring for higher zones.

3. Berseem Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium alexandrinum

Benefits: Berseem clover builds the most nitrogen in your soil compared to all other legume crops. It also creates the most biomass of all the clovers.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or early summer in lower zones, or fall for zones 8 or higher.

Maintenance: If you cut or mow the plants prior to seed set, they can grow back at least 2 to 3 times over your growing season to provide more organic matter.

4. Common Buckwheat

Scientific name: Fagopyrum esculentum

Benefits: Buckwheat can germinate within days of planting if planted in warmer weather. It can tolerate drought and poor soils. It will start to bloom after about 5 weeks and is excellent for supporting bees and other pollinators.

Hardiness: There are a few different varieties of buckwheat. Some are perennial, but common buckwheat is an annual. This is ideal because it dies over winter.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or early summer

Maintenance: Mow or cut down buckwheat within two weeks of the first flowering if you want to avoid setting seed.

5. Crimson Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium incarnatum

Benefits: The fastest growing annual nitrogen fixer, which makes it great for fall seeding. Grows well in many conditions, including shade.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Due to its rapid growth, you can seed in spring, summer or fall.

Maintenance: Cutting or mowing when crimson clover starts to set flower buds will kill the plants. If you want it to flower and reseed, it will naturally die back after flowering.

6. Fall Mustards

Scientific names: Sinapsis alba (aka. Brassica hirta), Brassica juncea, or Brassica nigra

Benefits: All plants in the cabbage family have been shown to release biotoxic compounds that act against bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes and weeds. These compounds are especially high in mustard crops.

Hardiness: Annuals, but may live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or summer

Maintenance: The biotoxic compounds of mustards are only released when individual plant cells are ruptured. In order to maximize this, it?s best to till the plants under to break them up and incorporate them into the soil during your growing season.

7. Fall or Winter Rye

Scientific name: Secale cereale

Benefits: Rye is the hardiest cereal crop, so it makes an excellent winter cover crop in most climates. Rye quickly establishes a dense root system, which effectively suppresses weeds and breaks up hard soils.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or fall

Maintenance: Beneficial to cut the plants periodically to prevent flowering and seeding.

8. Field Peas

Scientific name: Pisum sativum subsp. arvense

Benefits: Field peas grow rapidly in cool, moist weather. Their succulent stems break down easily for a quick source of available nitrogen.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 6 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Early spring

Maintenance: Field peas tend to stop growing in hot weather, so they?re best grown in spring and tilled under in early summer.


Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

9. Hairy Vetch

Scientific name: Vicia villosa

Benefits: Hairy vetch is the hardiest legume cover crop, so it overwinters well and provides plenty of soil nitrogen for spring.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 4 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Fall

Maintenance: Hairy vetch grows slowly at first, but will continue establishing roots over winter. In spring, it grows long, vine-like branches up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. This provides great biomass as long as you have a tiller strong enough to break them up. Otherwise, cut hairy vetch early to prevent its extensive growth.

10. Marigolds

Scientific name: Tagetes species

Benefits: Marigolds can control a variety of pests, including nematodes, fungi, bacteria, weeds and insects. Research has shown marigolds are most effective when planted in large quantities as a cover crop.

Hardiness: Annual, will die as soon as temperatures reach freezing.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall.

Related: Do Marigolds Really Repel Garden Pests?

11. Oats

Scientific name: Avena sativa

Benefits: Oats grow well in cool weather, so they can be planted in the fall. They also can improve the productivity of legumes when planted in a mixture.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 7 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Summer or fall alone, or spring as part of a mixture with legumes.

Maintenance: When planted in spring, oats can be tilled under with your legume crop. If planting in summer or fall alone, try to seed them 40 to 60 days before your first frost. This will give them enough time to mature, but they will be winter killed before they set seed.

12. White Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium repens

Benefits: White clover can make a good living mulch in areas such as footpaths, between shrubs and trees, or on slopes. It only grows 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) high and does well with regular mowing or foot traffic.

Hardiness: Perennial in USDA zones 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or summer

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall, or left as a long-term, nitrogen-fixing groundcover.

Related
How to Share Extra Bounty from Your Garden with the Community
9 Mistakes to Avoid When Planting a New Vegetable Garden
Which Type of Mulch Is Best for Your Garden?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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12 of the Best Cover Crops for Your Garden

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The Soul of an Octopus – Sy Montgomery

by Myrna Posted on July 28, 2017

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The Soul of an Octopus
A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Sy Montgomery

Genre: Nature

Price: $11.99

Publish Date: May 12, 2015

Publisher: Atria Books

Seller: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc.


Finalist for the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction New York Times Bestseller “Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” — New Statesman , UK Starred Booklist and Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick “One of the best science books of the year” — Science Friday , NPR A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of 2015 An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year Another New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig , this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” ( Daily Beast ) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” ( Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

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The Soul of an Octopus – Sy Montgomery

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5 Green Gadgets That Will Make Spring Cleaning a Breeze

by KatlynEarnhardt Posted on March 31, 2017

It’s that time of year again. Time to roll up your sleeves and tackle all the dirt and clutter that happened while you were getting through the winter months. That’s right — it’s time to throw open the windows and get down to spring cleaning. To help you in your efforts, here are five green gadgets that will make spring cleaning a breeze.

Spring Cleaning Gadgets

1. Lay the Groundwork

First up is an app that will help you get started. While you’re perusing the cleaning aisle, list in hand, the GoodGuide app will help you find the best products. According to GoodGuide, the app gives ratings on more than 200,000 products based on their ingredients to determine if they are healthy, green and OK to use in your home. This app even gives information on the product’s manufacturer. Just type in the product or scan the bar code to view the details on the best products for spring cleaning.

Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you can use the GoodGuide database here.

2. Light It Up

If you’re like me, you don’t notice when a light has gone out in those multi-light fixtures until the last one goes. During spring cleaning, I make it a point to check all the light fixtures. I write down all the types of bulbs that are needed, and then when I’ve gone through them all, I go to my local hardware store to pick up replacement LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs.

Benefits of LED lights:

LED lights are extremely energy efficient. The U.S. Department of Energy says that increased adoption of LEDs over the next 15 years would “reduce electricity demands from lighting by 62 percent, prevent 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions, and eliminate the need for 133 new power plants.”
LEDs do not contain mercury (the other green bulb, CFL, or compact fluorescent lamp, does contain mercury).
LEDs do not heat up when they’re on, so they are safe to handle and less likely to start a fire.
LEDs last a long time. According to Bulbs.com: “Many LEDs have a rated life of up to 50,000 hours. This is approximately 50 times longer than a typical incandescent, 20-25 times longer than a typical halogen, and 8-10 times longer than a typical CFL. Used 12 hours a day, a 50,000 bulb will last more than 11 years.”

3. Dust and Dirt (and Other Yucky Things), Be Gone

My oldest daughter is like a canary in a coal mine. Whenever there’s a speck of dust in the house, she starts to sneeze. This makes dusting serious business in our house and dusting without toxic chemicals a necessity. The hardest places to dust are the softest places in our home: curtains, cloth upholstery and mattresses.

Dr. Michael Lee, the founder and president of Raycop, developed a green gadget that cleans and sterilizes these fabric surfaces. It’s an allergen vacuum that uses UV rays to sanitize these materials. Dr. Lee developed this product after hearing concerns from his patients about allergies and asthma symptoms caused by the microscopic irritants in dust, dirt and pollen.

Through Raycop’s scientific research and development, they have created this vacuum that traps and eliminates dust mites, pollen and dirt.

“Similar to the technology used in air purifiers and manufacturing cleanrooms, Raycop incorporates HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) into its devices. The HEPA filter captures particles as small as 0.3um and traps 99.9% of allergens without releasing them back into the air.”

This is a perfect green gadget for keeping your home clean and healthy all year-round.

Give It a Good Washing

This next on our list of spring cleaning gadgets is a must if you’re in the market for a new clothes washer. A front-load washing machine is the most energy efficient on the market and will help you wash all your linens and things as you march through your spring-cleaning to-do list.

Front-load washers require less water; they use between 18 to 25 gallons of water compared with around 40 gallons per wash for traditional top-load models.

Make sure you look for the Energy Star label, which is good advice when you’re looking for any new appliance. The Energy Star–certified clothes washers use about 25 percent less energy and 45 percent less water than regular washers, according to Energy Star.

Visit Consumer Reports to help find your new front-load washing machine.

Freshen All the Air

The indoor air quality in our homes has become worse over the years. This is partly because we are building them more airtight and because of the army of cleaning products we unleash into our homes. To freshen your indoor air, open your windows to let in that fresh spring air.

Then employ our final green gadget, the Kuro Cube, to purify, refresh and reduce odors in your home. This little dynamo is made without artificial preservatives, parabens, harsh chemicals, dyes, fragrance, silicone, dimethicone, phthalates, sulphates, petroleum, talc, bismuth oxychloride or nanoparticles, according to CarbonBeauty.com. It works best in smaller spaces like drawers, closets, the car or your refrigerator. It remains active for one year.

Now that your indoor air is clean, instead of using toxic chemicals to tackle the rest of the house, check out “6 Simple DIY Cleaning Solution Recipes.”

Feature photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Read More:
10 Unconventional Tips to Help Minimize Home Allergies
Infographic: Spring Cleaning in the Bathroom
Earth911’s Green Spring Cleaning Guide

About
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Wendy Gabriel

Wendy Gabriel is a freelance eco-writer based in California. Wendy’s work has been featured in numerous publications and websites, including the Chicago Sun-Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox Business News and Mashable.com. For nearly six years, she was a weekly contributor on a popular radio talk show in the Upper Midwest with a segment titled “Simple Tips for Green Living.”

Latest posts by Wendy Gabriel (see all)

5 Green Gadgets That Will Make Spring Cleaning a Breeze – March 31, 2017
50 Days In: How Trump Is Handling Eco Issues – March 13, 2017
Meet the 7-Year-Old Who Started a Recycling Company – February 13, 2017

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5 Green Gadgets That Will Make Spring Cleaning a Breeze

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Now This Is One Hell Of A Rainbow Photo

by MervinValenti Posted on April 11, 2015

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

President Obama was in Jamaica this week on a mission of friendship. Before he left he took a moment to shoot a rainbow out of his hand.

So long Jamaica.

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Apr 10, 2015 at 5:32am PDT

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Now This Is One Hell Of A Rainbow Photo

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Now you can track just how crazy spring is in your region

by PEACarinzhpby Posted on March 19, 2015

Hot N Cold

Now you can track just how crazy spring is in your region

By on 18 Mar 2015commentsShare

Officially, the first day of spring is whatever Google says it is when one searches “first day of spring.” Scientifically (at least in the U.S.), it’s the day when the center of the sun passes over the equator. And to meteorologists, it’s always March 1 — but that makes everything confusing, so get out of here, meteorologists!

Regardless of the calendar date, the start of spring is that magical time of year when flowers bloom and the sun shines and birds chirp and blah blah blah — except it’s not due to magic at all. Leaves come out and flowers bloom in spring because weather conditions are right. And if weather conditions are altered due to climate change, that means the start of spring could come earlier or later than we’re used to — which could cause problems for, say, the agriculture industry or wildlife management.

Enter “springcasting,”which predicts when spring will start in a given area based on local, real-time weather data. The concept is based on research from University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Mark D. Schwartz, who studies the correlation between weather conditions and the timing of “leaf-out” (which is exactly what it sounds like) and bloom in certain plants.

This year’s map shows that spring already starting in the South and on the West Coast (stay strong, Northeast!).

Here’s last year’s map:

Ault et. al

If so inclined, citizen scientists can get involved by reporting on the accuracy of the model. Were you told you’d have spring by now, but all you see outside your window is a barren wasteland? Say something! Your feedback could help the scientists improve the model.

Beyond practical applications like helping farmers figure out when to plant their crops, springcasting can also help scientists track climate change and understand its effects on vegetation. In an interview with the University of Wisconsin-Madison news service, Schwartz said that it’s also useful for communicating with the public about climate change:

When I talk to people about change, I can say, for example, that over the Northern hemisphere from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s, the timing of the beginning of spring using my models has gotten earlier by about a week. It’s a very easy thing to explain. It’s something that most people can readily understand.

In case you haven’t Googled it yet, the first day of spring this year is technically Friday. But remember, there’s nothing magical about blooming flowers, so don’t be too jealous of the already-blossoming West Coast (sorry!) if your forecast remains depressing as hell for a while.

Source:
New online tracker allows you to watch spring start

, UWM News.

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Now you can track just how crazy spring is in your region

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Love to Garden? Here’s Your May ‘To-Do’ List!

by vbsubi Posted on May 8, 2014

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Love to Garden? Here’s Your May ‘To-Do’ List!

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Silent Spring

by Myrna Posted on April 8, 2013

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