This ‘n’ that

I’ve been bumping into miscellaneous facts and words that I want to share.

First
Tafoni
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafoni

I’ve seen this geologic feature. In fact, the exposed stone at the top of my ridgetop has what we called fairy condos.

Chinampa

Raised bed gardens used by the pre-Aztecs as far back as the 1200s. They scooped up the rich River sediments and layered them with other organic matter and corralled them with pilings. These were sited in or near the water source.

https://www.thoughtco.com/chinampa-floating-gardens-170337

>1 2wonderY: Did you mean to post an image? If so, it's broken.

I know. I have a hard time with images using my phone. I’ll fix it later when I get to my laptop. But it’s the Wikipedia photo. Somewhere I posted a picture of my own tafoni and perhaps I’ll find it too.

>1 2wonderY: I've seen honeycomb weathering, a form of tafoni, most often in natural stone sea walls. It reminds me of morel mushrooms, which are also surreal.

Here is my example of tafoni:



giving up on importing the image at >1 2wonderY:

>6 2wonderY: That's lovely! I like learning the names of things so I don't have to always call it "you know those hollow pockmark thingies in rock."

Just found this thread, great idea and I hope to follow along and learn (and very likely promptly forget) new terms and things.

Akrasia - an Ancient Greek word describes the lack of will to do something that you know is good for you.

I’m familiar with this phenomenon, eh.

>9 2wonderY: Oh shit there's a word for that?

It me.

Name it to slay it. My neighbor showed me the exercises I need to practice to balance pelvis and back muscles so that my back can heal. Number of times I’ve done them this week = 0.

Tsundoku - a Japanese word. Refers to buying/acquiring books without reading them; letting books pile up.

**looking away innocently**

>12 2wonderY: I just said yesterday that despite having a HUGE TBR pile, I felt like I didn't have anything to read... it's all in the mood, I think. What do I feel like reading today...

“When we walk like we are rushing, we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth…Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

Uitwaaien - a Dutch word for walking in the wind; meant to refresh and relieve tension.

https://dutchreview.com/culture/uitwaaien-is-the-dutch-phenomenon-you-never-knew...

Not in the winter for me, thanks!

> 14 - How beautiful. It reminds me of a tip I once got that if you are dusting your house you should think you are caressing your house.

>15 2wonderY: - "Uitwaaien" is merely "getting a breath of fresh air while taking a brisk walk". Nothing special imo, but I live in Belgium (Flemish part) so I'm used to doing it. It never crossed my mind that other people might think of this as a "phenomenon" :-).

So, if you cut down a 140 year old tree, what do you replace it with?

Activists will tell you :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0ctJG1B97M

From a 2016 garden article in the NYT, Anna Wintour’s 40 acre garden done by Miranda Brooks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr9v9q-1L9Y

Fedor Grigorev, bottle pianist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pznEnwKZ4

Daisugi: This technique results in a harvest of straight logs without having to cut down the entire tree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisugi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcl4I5EF-do

So that you don’t have to actually contact the forest when you do forest meditation:

https://walden.us/products/forest-meditation-cushion-set

If you only want the cushion, it’s a mere $145.

Allemansrätten/allemannsretten - Every man’s right or the freedom to roam on public and private lands. Mostly a Northern European practice so ancient it’s just now being codified in law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam

>22 2wonderY: Yes. We were taught about this in the mountaineering class we took back in the seventies. (Austria) It is currently endangered because of idiots who take their dogs with them off the line and disturb cattle. The cattle then try to defend themselves from the next group going through. There have been some bad incidents.

petrichor - the earthy scent as rain hits dry soil. Identified as an organic compound called geosmin, which is produced by microbes, including the bacteria genus Streptomyces.

https://www.sciencealert.com/that-rain-smell-turns-out-we-re-smelling-the-circle...

Garden sign I love:

Trespassers will be composted

A new frog species has been identified in Costa Rica. Kermit’s long lost cousins:

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3042180.1429629088!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivat...

Feeding the Worms
by Danusha Laméris

Ever since I found out that earth worms have taste buds
all over the delicate pink strings of their bodies,
I pause dropping apple peels into the compost bin, imagine
the dark, writhing ecstasy, the sweetness of apples
permeating their pores. I offer beets and parsley,
avocado, and melon, the feathery tops of carrots.

I’d always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden,
almost vulgar—though now, it seems, they bear a pleasure
so sublime, so decadent, I want to contribute however I can,
forgetting, a moment, my place on the menu.

Oh, darn! We missed World Naked Gardening Day. (First Saturday in May).

I know I couldn’t wouldn’t do it, as I do real gardening tasks. Appears most of the young males just use it to visually boast and suggest with watering cans that are merely props.
The best image I found was this one:

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ycilsWD7xM4/Vyety9NkkPI/AAAAAAAAXg8/tdmcJEKKacU_9flWX...

Happy World Bee Day!
I hope you see bees today.

World Bee Day seems to have been on Thursday. I am fairly sure I saw some bees then. Won't be a lot of bee activity today in the rain.

Close enough. The only bees in my yard in town are carpenter bees. Going out to the ridgetop today and hope to see many others.

Psithurism - the sound of wind in the trees.

Now that the poppy is in full bloom, we can see the cloud of bees around it from inside. (Even without my glasses on.) We spent some time watching close up. One blossom had a beetle in it. Another had several bees in it, from a tiny one through a few species of 'normal' size ones up to a small bumble bee. All crawling around in the same poppy blossom at the same time.

Don’t know whether this will copy correctly.
Smile of the day:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterEveryLoop/comments/nqz38e/sit_on_the_egg_dummy_cr...

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
- Henry David Thoreau

From a 2012 report:

Young gorillas were seen dismantling poachers’ traps. It was done in a planned, coordinated way. The lookout even warned approaching humans to stop.

https://www.sciencealert.com/young-gorillas-have-learnt-to-dismantle-poachers-tr...

That's a cool story.

Rome’s starlings. Hadn’t thought about all the bird poop they produce. Wasn’t guano a valuable resource at one time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVko9jyAkQg

Box Wars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcEQ5N0qGeM

See the cool head bump at the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w2_D5CjS6c

Cute.

William Phelps Eno is the father of traffic safety. He began devising simple to explain and enforce regulations before motor cars were common. Horse drawn vehicles caused all kinds of problems in cities. As a child, he and his mother were caught in such a traffic jam. Though he never learned to drive, France gave him an honorary drivers license.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phelps_Eno

Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew
Buddhist temple made from beer bottles

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/this-thai-temple-built-using-millions-...

Chinese village built on a modern bridge. Sure would like to know more about the development history of how and why it was built like this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/mykuzy/a_chinese_communit...

The first comment gives a clue:

“Its just a tourist attraction. Its Chongqing...place has 14000 bridges...the houses are real...but its more an art piece. Half the bridge has houses that are "western" (those run down odd color jobs), half chinese style (modern, sleek, stylish). But its mostly shops, not proper homes....but I'm sure people live in the shops just the same.“

Perennial crops

Like fruit crops, other foods can be grown as perennials that don’t need yearly soil disturbances.

https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/

I have sorrel, rhubarb, and horseradish in a perennial bed. Actually, I'm trying to get rid of the horseradish.

>47 2wonderY: ha! I thought it was when you have flats of plants to put in the ground but are too busy to do it!

Thread found and starred.

To avoid strain on your eyes, follow the 20-20-20 rule. After 20 minutes of work, look at something 20 feet away, then spend 20 years in the forest.

>49 2wonderY: ha!

Has anyone tried Weed Tea? No, not pot. Dandelions! Harvest the nutrients pulled out of the ground by their taproots. For fertilizer.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/making-fertilize...

I’m gonna try this. Only I will remove the flowers and buds first.

Ray Archuleta on No-till benefits to soils

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&channel=iphone_bm&q=Ray+Arch...

https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/iris-national-park-battlefield-mark-raze...

In a Louisiana national park, plants have been found where a black community was demolished to create the park.

The biggest joke on mankind is that computers have started asking humans to prove that they aren’t robots.

>54 2wonderY: ha! I saw that somewhere else, very recently. Love it.

Undisturbed, a dandelion plant can live up to 13 years.
Huh.

And make how many seeds?

“Take your age, round to the nearest decade, and divide by 10. That’s the number of pillows you need to support your body for a decent night’s sleep.”

I think there are variables such as the quality of the pillows. I need 4, sometimes 5. But that last one is because my bed frame tends to swallow a pillow along the top of the mattress.

>58 2wonderY: You know, I find I sleep better sitting up on the sofa (with my legs on a chaise) than I do lying down in bed...

>59 Maddz: I sleep very well in my recliner, usually when either my husband or I think we've got some illness and don't want to share it.

>58 2wonderY: 70 divided by 10 = 7 pillows. 7 PILLOWS! Where would I put my husband!?!

>61 perennialreader: You may subtract one pillow if you spoon. You may subtract another if you sling a leg overtop of said husband.

If I wake up before my husband, I often sneak a pillow where I was for him to put his arm over. He says he doesn't notice the difference and now I wonder just how "fluffly" I am... ;)

>61 perennialreader: time to get a California King bed?

Some Saturday music for you

https://www.google.com/search?q=bolero+on+one+cello&client=safari&channe...

>65 2wonderY: will check that out after my dad watches Jeopardy.

We like watching Song of the Mountains:

https://www.songofthemountains.org/videos

Scratching my head on this advice for growing tomatoes:

“ Netting is also a great way to protect your plants from birds, bugs, and beetles and it attracts beneficial insects like bees, wasps, It also keeps pollinators and bug eaters out.”

>67 2wonderY: who said that?

I didn’t save the link. Because with that amount of confused advice, it wasn’t worth looking at again.

Whoops! Missed celebrating

World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20. On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734.

I did notice yesterday that my bee hotel is about half full. What I don’t know is if the holes get re-used in the next years, or if I should construct a new hotel next year.
I think I’ll go have some tea with honey. Thank the bees!

Mulch glue?

I saw it on Instagram and had to google it.

After a page of advertisements for the products under various names, I found this comments site:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1892828/are-you-gonna-hairspray-your-mulch

Polyvinyl acetate is the main ingredient.
Decadence and stupidity abound.

>71 2wonderY: what the...?

I saw an ad for “humate” added to gardens. Googling it, I found all sorts of products for sale, but little in the way of knowledge. It sounds healthy, right, something related to humus and humin.

One note from an ag college professor explains it though:

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/hortupdate_archives/2...

So it may just be refined coal slurry, and not particularly useful to plants.

Honeybee venom and breast cancer treatment

For the layperson:
https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2020/09/07/Honeybee-venom-kills-aggre...

The original study:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-020-00129-0

And a follow-up study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35335887/

Dutch scientists left a hamster wheel outside. Then, all the animals started playing with it

https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/dutch-scientists-left-a-hamst...

The Rehbinder Effect

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcn0xzDr9D0

Gotta try this. I’ve been using masonry bits.

>76 2wonderY: wow! Fascinating.

Do male kangaroos have pouches?

https://luckykangaroos.com/en/do-male-kangaroos-have-pouches/

Wow! I’m gonna try vermicomposting. This looks super easy and takes care of kitchen scraps handily. And the cages are $1.25 at Dollar Tree.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0t1bb3LW-C/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

>79 2wonderY: Did she put cigarette butter in first?!

>80 MrsLee: Huh? Did you not have the sound on? Shredded cardboard is what she said.

>81 2wonderY: LOL, I did not have the sound on.

What is cigarette butter??!!!

>79 2wonderY: I've recently seen people do this with 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the sides.

Nice tree picture!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1CiVtmJodW/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Trees in film. Enjoy!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1Kew6QRbkU/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

>86 2wonderY: Ah, the memories.

Stumpery. I have name for it now. I do pick up stumps with roots up and incorporate them in my garden beds. I have a hollow log section as well, and I just picked up some lovely sections of bark.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3Q3yCjuVgc/?igsh=M21zOHYyZHpyaXR2

Seen on the marquee of a Hampton Inn:

“Imaginary friends stay for free”

Unless they cause damage to the room, then whoever signed the agreement at checkin pays the damages. As a former hotel manager, I can tell you that scenario is not as far fetched as you would think. :D

A post collecting earthquake damage photos from NYC:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5Zn37BJUYn/?igsh=emhxenZpenFmc3By

>91 2wonderY: LOL, I was going to say, 4.8 damages? In California those quakes aren't worth a mention. Though we do mention them. ;)

Anatomy of a bumblebee:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5yXU20NEXE/?igsh=MXJxaTI3M3RmZzhhMQ==

Cow snot and tugging on the plant do positive things to the forage ecosystem:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6hEv_3LsUb/?igsh=MXM0OWoweTFkY3djeA==

Termite control with fungus?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7ZL4OWvSaE/?igsh=MWlnM2h6ZjZxMnJuZQ==

5 types of lettuce:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7qsFT9MIfC/?igsh=cjNkdHFpcHgyaDVl

Cos/romaine
Chrisphead
Butterhead
Loose leaf
Batavian***

So which do you prefer? Which do you grow?
I’m interested to try Batavian.

Harvard study about having cut flowers in your home:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C54RqqlPe7N/?igsh=MTA0bGdscnZ1dGJmcg==

Are we surprised?

NASA, Global Astronomers Await Rare Nova Explosion

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/nasa-global-astronomers-awa...

Frog calls through the spring and summer. The museum this video was sourced from is in Wisconsin.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5KUCmPM9Cb/?igsh=MWVpbXQyaGVjejR0Zg==

A great mosaic, found in Turkey:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/archaeologists-discover-ancient-mosaic-...



CNN calls it “don’t worry, be happy” and they are correct, I think.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/25/middleeast/turkish-skeleton-says-relax/index.html

Hessea cinnamomea

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8kEkZXoRTR/?igsh=MWVzN294OWRkcmNlaw==

>100 2wonderY: How long before they are making and selling prints of that do you think? I want one for my kitchen!

>102 MrsLee: It may not be on their agenda; though it ought to be. The discovery was made in 2016.

Garbage versus rubbish:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7zI67DRe6f/?igsh=bmx5dGlhbzJoOTdr

This is actually how I split my waste stream, though the garbage is composted into my gardens and recyclables, of course, go their own way.

Somewhere around here, I have a turn of the last century advertisement inviting subscribers to sign up for a pig. The city collected the food wastes (garbage) and fed a herd of pigs located up on a bluff across the Kanawha River from town. Citizens could pay to reserve a grown pig. There was no mention of who would do the slaughter. I’m guessing you picked up a live pig and the rest was up to you.
There is still a meat market just a block or so from my house. It has morphed into a very sweet deli-style corner grocery. But it’s possible the slaughter was done in the backyard. The butcher crew still does their work on butcher block tables and wraps the meat in brown paper.

For someone who does this for a living, I might suggest he get something more refined. But it worked!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Ue2-3oaNZ/?igsh=MXN6YzRhbzM4YmFidw==

Amazing footage

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9-AwHbsJn_/?igsh=b3VwaXRkOWt1OTYw

The comments are worth perusing too.

Hydrangea propagation using a slice of banana:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9_5J57yeIK/?igsh=cmtkcGUwb3B4bGEz

I’m gonna try it.

Moving VERY large blocks

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C80M0OZSPni/?igsh=MWx0M3VkZmVsbzVyYQ==

A spill plane?

I have heard of spills for lighting fires, but I thought they were hand twisted pieces of newspaper.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-xVhSnO_iL/?igsh=cG5jcWx4eDBnMmRj

The narrator’s voice is annoying, but check out this lady’s vegetable garden in a brick paved yard:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_ENiONsWKN/?igsh=dXV6OHJvYmNndG1j

The glorious headdress of the glowworm beetle.

MarthaJeanne, I thought you especially would enjoy seeing the pedal powered Dobby loom in action😁

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_OjgSXoP5k/?igsh=MWlsbGxwYW8zMDlnYg==

There is a tree in Georgia, and another in Alabama, that owns itself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_That_Owns_Itself

Seen on a shirt worn by a gardener:

“I soiled my plants.”

Raking your leaves…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA6IBLsOID5/?igsh=MXdrOGUxc3h4eGd4Nw==

The spaghetti technique for removing invasive vines:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBBoVYyxzEO/?igsh=MTRsNWF2dHNjOXk=

I love it!

A beautiful video compilation of birds protecting their chicks in the rain

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBUEV4ysO_O/?igsh=YzI2M2Zrc2gxMWRm

For the pollinators

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDAae6TsNiQ/?igsh=MWQ5dGd4cm8wY2piZw==

A wonderful video of a horse rescue

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCr2EUfhJ2H/?igsh=MWFydHNmZnhwMHlzbA==

Learned about the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee! Must check it out with grand, Elly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Fossil_Site

https://www.etsu.edu/gray-fossil-site-museum/

New red panda species, rhinoceros, camels!

A cyanometer!!! I love it!
I used to ask my kids how many shades of blue they could count in the sky. I wanted them to appreciate the subtle variations.
Now we know - 53!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDIBpcAsLb1/?igsh=N3FpZ3MycHA5MjZl

A Prince Rupert’s drop:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDfHuFiyFdl/?igsh=NTE1NHpudzdiMXU3

Would you box yourself up for the chance to get these shots?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFLlcHrSy3I/?igsh=MXFxOWgxcTNwMzN1dw==

Garden math

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEf3nfHPdzo/?igsh=eG1ydGR3cXhiZ3Vm

Plant tags for the compleatist

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHJGCYUNKlN/?igsh=MTJ3Z2c0YXdiMTByaw==

>109 2wonderY: wow. I want one of those.

>124 2wonderY: yes, I certainly would.

>127 fuzzi: I love those. Just the kind my husband would understand. Garden Clubs used to come tour my grandmother's garden, where I live now. If they came today those tags would be the best descriptors.

>126 2wonderY: Hahahahahahahaha!

Have you seen the Daisyback caterpillar?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqktTMs_asA

Duh! I shoulda known better. My girls called it AI. Argh!!!!

How to accommodate your frogs:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHWSeyySbGl/?igsh=MWl6aTFjcjh5ejQzZg==

>131 2wonderY: I want him to come to my house! I really do need to do something for the frogs since we took out our pond. Ours would have to be racoon safe though and I'm not sure there is such a thing in the world.

>132 MrsLee: I loved the pool party and the possum that came for a drink of frog tea.

>133 2wonderY: Me too! Wouldn't it be grand to have a setup like that outside one's kitchen window? The drama!

Garden tool organizing

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI3ZdDJt6Zu/?igsh=MTNqYmtoZ2JsbGptbA==

Barbed wire adorned

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJYr6zGqRL9/?igsh=MTExeGFyYjh2eTFyag==

>135 2wonderY: I made one of those pallet tool organizers. Love it.

Next project?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIVJLWttDMw/?igsh=MWpmczQycnljbjg1cw==

A few ideas from the Chelsea Garden Show

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKAE1SRK5V8/?igsh=MWp0MGh2Nm90dWk4cA==

>139 2wonderY: It's so fast!

>140 MrsLee: If you are using your phone, put a finger or thumb on the screen to stop action.

>141 2wonderY: Ah, thank you.

Ga-HARD-ening

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKMiypiNL-O/?igsh=d3lzcGp1aDhxaXps

Costco?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKVA2uovTtA/?igsh=eTV4c3JzeGg5ZXUw

Fun fact:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKX6nm1O4Dp/?igsh=a3BvcGt2NXA3cWhl

(Bad language warning)

You’re about to relax in your garden…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLABun6t6q4/?igsh=MXVmN3pieGc1bml5ag==

Looks like me.

>146 2wonderY: Oh yes. When I want to relax I close the curtains!

Pasture politics

The flock held a meeting. No one is sure why…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLPurOIOYIu/?igsh=eTJzbjN2YWF2ODR6

Ruminant Rentals

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLDENHkxmna/?igsh=czhqODF6c3o2YTM2

Gardening is mostly…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMVEW-wRZ5j/?igsh=bjZleDZmbzBvbHNw

Demolitions

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLjlaBotA3V/?igsh=MTNmNGtmODhxbDNvZg==

Watch this guy build a brick patio

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6tNjNG7/?_ia=1lbnex99c9dlrE

Barns, guys!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNqHJH8R8gR/?img_index=9&igsh=MWdldmxpd2QwdGYz

Saliva on seeds reprograms them to produce the nutrition that you lack?????

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOX75kgkqaw/?igsh=MWtveWo3NjU1cjc5OA==

Oh well, the comments say this was suggested in The Ringing Cedars

Scribble chickens! ( my name for them)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMAqBTLS/

The ancestors of the corn plant

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMQJ2uFJ/

Tilt shift photography

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMqWNaBU/

“Cramscaping”

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMTvLW1b/

It’s a good term, I think!

The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Cramscaping’? (And Why Is this Trend Here to Stay?)

https://www.gardenista.com/posts/garden-decoder-what-is-cramscaping/

The story of making a blue rose

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTr9LDvDE/

Very cute as well as informative

Registered snail collector

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrCVtyUL/