Podcasts about chihuahuan

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Best podcasts about chihuahuan

Latest podcast episodes about chihuahuan

Heritage Mezcal
Neverending Chihuahua

Heritage Mezcal

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 45:28


Chihuahua is not only Mexico's largest state but also full of neverending stories. The first episode I ever recorded about this state was more of an ode: two people who had recently found Chihuahua and had become hardcore fans overnight. But, after that, I wanted to record with someone that had deep roots and a fine-tuned expertise in the territory. This conversation with Alessandra Camino has become my new excuse to delve further into sotol and the many Chihuahuan delights I have yet to experience. I hope you enjoy it! 

MeatRx
Cows SAVE The Planet | Dr. Shawn Baker & Alejandro Carrillo

MeatRx

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2024 54:17


Alejandro Carrillo is a fourth-generation rancher in the Chihuahuan desert. Rarely his precipitation goes beyond 9” per year (less than 230mm). Every drop counts to grow more and better grasses and forbs. He is not willing to waste any water in such a brittle environment if he wants to graze year-round without inputs. Alejandro's ranch, Las Damas, has been part of multiple documentaries and studies focused on regenerative ranching such as Common Ground, Sacred Cow, To Which We Belong, and Water in Plain Sight. Alejandro established a solid relationship with bird conservation organizations 10+ years ago, working closely with them to protect migratory birds successfully. Alejandro's Grasslands Regeneration Project company assists ranchers and organizations on regenerative practices in North America, South America, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.  He also participates as a delegate to the United Nations to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation in multiple countries. Where to find Alejandro: https://www.instagram.com/lasdamascattleranch/ https://www.facebook.com/alejandro.carrillo.50951 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-carrillo-b3a7a7/ https://www.desertgrasslands.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Trailer. 00:45 Introduction. 06:44 Vegetation is critical for effective water cycle. 10:18 Ranchers strive for continuous improvement in land use. 11:04 Ranching can benefit nature and ranchers. 16:37 Transitioning to sustainable ranching: time and challenges. 19:05 Ranchers need to see practical results quickly. 22:16 Balancing different inputs for efficient environmental impact. 25:08 Educating consumers about ranching and sustainable practices. 26:39 Impact of ranching on sustainability and carbon emissions. 29:12 Hybrid system for small cow calf operations. 32:55 Farming focused on profit, resilience, and sustainability. 35:35 Use one species for small places, multi-species for large places to maximize land use. 40:49 Consumer awareness essential for better food choices. 42:02 Diverse forage, energy in food, Mexico's meat. 46:12 Desertification caused by lack of grazing. 49:04 Community effort to sustain Chihuahua Desert ecosystem. 51:09 Where to find Alejandro. See open positions at Revero: https://jobs.lever.co/Revero/ Join Carnivore Diet for a free 30 day trial: https://carnivore.diet/join/ Carnivore Shirts: https://merch.carnivore.diet Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://carnivore.diet/subscribe/ . ‪#revero #shawnbaker #Carnivorediet #MeatHeals #HealthCreation   #humanfood #AnimalBased #ZeroCarb #DietCoach  #FatAdapted #Carnivore #sugarfree  ‪

Starving for Darkness
Episode 130: The Predator Prey Arms Race with Brett Seymoure

Starving for Darkness

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2024 54:02


Nearly all animals see light differently than we do. Dr. Seymour endeavors to understand how light drives organismal behavior. To that end, he tries to bridge the gap between astronomers, light engineers and biologists. Each of these camps has elements of tools and measurement models that he thinks could be brought together collaboratively and synergistically to benefit our ecosystem and the study of it.Dr. Seymoure's research program is interdisciplinary and combines physiological, histological, and astronomical methods to understand the importance of natural light as well as the consequences of artificial light on animal behavior and ecology of animals. Overall objectives of his research are to: 1) determine how light cycles have driven visual adaptations and predator-prey dynamics; 2) quantify and investigate the myriad effects and consequences of artificial light at night on animals (mostly insects, spiders, and reptiles) from the cellular to landscape level; 3) investigate visual and morphological (e.g. coloration) adaptations that render individuals more evolutionarily successful; 4) develop techniques for quantifying light in a non-human and biologically relevant manner; 5) quantify and monitor insect populations in the Chihuahuan desert; and 6) utilize current biological research to increase learning efficacy in undergraduate courses. To accomplish these objectives, Dr. Seymoure relies upon both field and laboratory work that ranges from electrophysiology of animal eyes, automated video tracking of animal behavior, and predator-prey experiments under natural conditions.

Desert Oracle Radio
Materia Medica: On expedition with botanist-surgeon John Milton Bigelow

Desert Oracle Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2024 28:00


Dr. John Milton Bigelow did not shy away from hard work, challenges, or adventure. At the age of 46, he signed on as surgeon and botanist for the Mexican Boundary Survey, following the U.S.-Mexican War that fulfilled the gold-hungry manifest destiny of the Americans.  This adventure took him through the Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Colorado deserts, where he catalogued the great variety of desert plants along with several other botanists on the expedition — including C.C. Parry, namesake of Parry's Nolina. The work was so pleasing to Bigelow that he readily accepted similar appointments as field botanist in some of America's wildest lands. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2022 http://DesertOracle.comSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conspiracy Clearinghouse
Down in Bermuda, It's Easy to Believe – The Devil's Triangle

Conspiracy Clearinghouse

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2024 48:00


EPISODE 103 | Down in Bermuda, It's Easy to Believe – The Devil's Triangle Back in the 70s, the Bermuda Triangle was all over the place but today, not so much. Whatever happened with that? Did it go away? Was it debunked? Or did the woosphere simply get bored and move on to juicer subjects?  A bit of both. Plus, the are lots of other supposed interesting/mysterious/dangerous triangles out there. They do have sharp corners, after all.  Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. #ConspiracyClearinghouse #sharingiscaring #donations #support #buymeacoffee You can also SUBSCRIBE to this podcast. Review us here or on IMDb! SECTIONS 02:29 - New Frontier - How it all starts: Edward Van Winkle Jones gets the ball rolling in 1950, Allan W. Eckert picks it up in 1952, Vincent Gaddis expands the idea in 1962, as does John Wallace Spencer in 1969, and in 1974, Charles Berlitz and Richard Winer go all in on the Triangle; Larry Kusche thoroughly debunks it all in 1975, Hitchens' Razor and the Sagan Standard (ECREE) 11:31 - Strange Brew - Cayce's people weigh in as do plenty of other knowledge garglers, better woo comes along, Lloyds of London investigates, Gian J. Quasar tries to revive Triangle interest in the Noughties 15:17 - Your Haunted Head - The Sargasso Sea - an oceanic gyre surrounded by four currents, Donald Crowhurst gets stuck there and goes insane 19:36 - Long Way Down - Ocean farts, the Gulf Stream, the Milwaukee Deep, the agonic line and the North Poles (both true and magnetic) 24:59 - Hunting High and Low - The Dragon's Triangle near Japan, Ivan Sanderson develops his Twelve Vile Vortices theory: 27:31 - "Hamkulia Volcano", Hawaii; the Ring of Fire 29:14 - Jeddars in the Atlas Mountains, Algeria; fungoid rock art in the Tassili n'Ajjer  29:57 - Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley, ancient nuclear war, chicken city 34:00 - The Wharton Basin, Indian Ocean, Flight MH370 34:44 - The Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia; Sandy Island 35:52 - Easter Island, Rapa Nui,  Szukalski's Zermatism, Miroljub Petrović 37:26 - The Southern Atlantic Anomaly, the Mozambique Channel  38:22 - Fever to Tell - Ley lines, Ramsey's Theorem, the Bridgewater Triangle near Boston (home of the  Pukwudgie), the Bennington Triangle in Vermont, the Nevada Triangle, the Lake Michigan Triangle and yet another "America's Stonehenge" 41:45 - The Marysburgh Vortex in Lake Ontario, the Matlock Triangle and Falkirk Triangle in the UK, the Broad Haven Triangle in Wales, the Hoia Forest in Romania 42:47 - The Mapimí Silent Zone in Mexico's Chihuahuan desert  Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info Sea's Puzzles Still Baffle Men In Pushbutton Age by Edward Van Winkle Jones, Miami Herland, 1950 Sea Mystery at our Back Door by George X. Sand, Fate Magazine, 1952 The Mystery of the Lost Patrol by Allan W. Eckert, American Legion Magazine, April 1962, page 12 The Deadly Bermuda Triangle by Vincent Gaddis, The Argosy, February 1964 Invisible Horizons True Mysteries of the Sea by Vincent Gaddis Limbo of the Lost by John Wallace Spencer The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz The Devils' Triangle by Richard Winer The Devil's Triangle 2 by Richard Winer From the Devil's Triangle to the Devil's Jaw by Richard Winer Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved by Larry Kusche The Case of the Bermuda Triangle episode of NOVA What is the Bermuda Triangle? on the National Oceanic Service website Bermuda Triangle on Britannica What Is Known (and Not Known) About the Bermuda Triangle on Britannica Bermuda Triangle: Where Facts Disappear on LiveScience Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery by Gian Quasar Mysteries of the Sargasso Sea in The Bermudian The Mystery on the Sargasso on How Stuff Works Donald Crowhurst: The fake round-the-world sailing story behind The Mercy in Yachting World They Went to Sea in a Sieve, They Did by Shannon Proudfoot on Big Reads Off the Deep End: A History of Madness at Sea by Nic Compton Bermuda Triangle mystery solved? It's a load of gas on The Age 7 Chilling Conspiracy Theories About the Bermuda Triangle in Popular Mechanics Down in the Milwaukee Deep  Magnetic Declination Varies Considerably Across The United States on USGS The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Delusion: Looking Back after Forty Years by Larry Kuche for Skeptical Inquirer Mysterious waters: from the Bermuda Triangle to the Devil's Sea on CNN Beyond the Bermuda Triangle: The Devil's Sea documentary video Unexplained Mystery: The Devil's Sea – The Dragon's Triangle on Marine Insight The Vile Vortices Of Ivan T. Sanderson on History Daily Vile Vortices Part 2 – Hamakulia on CryptoVille Algeria's ancient pyramid tombs still shrouded in mystery on France24 What Happened to Mohenjo Daro? on Wonderopolis Rediscovering the lost city of Mohenjo Daro on National Geographic Uncovering the Secrets of the Indus Valley Civilization and Its Undeciphered Script The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjo-Daro Top Things to Do in the Loyalty Islands Now You See It, Now You Don't - Finland Doesn't Exist episode The Secrets of Easter Island on Smithsonian Easter Island - the Mystery of the Moai on Mountain Kingdoms Rapa Nui on IMDb What Lies Beneath - The Hollow Earth episode including Zermatism Weird behavior of Earth's magnetic field over South Atlantic dates back 11 million years NASA Is Tracking a Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field  10 Mozambique Channel Facts You Might Not Know Madagascar's Menagerie Floated from Africa from the University of Hong Kong It Happens Here: A look at the 'weirdness' of the Bridgewater Triangle Bennington Triangle, Vermont on Legends of America Mysteries of Flight: The Nevada Triangle Lake Michigan Triangle on Atlas Obscura What Is the Great Lakes Triangle? classroom activity Stonehenge-like Structure Found Under Lake Michigan ‘Strange things out there': Inside Lake Ontario's ‘Bermuda Triangle' The Great Lakes and the mystery of the Marysburgh Vortex Gateway to Oblivion: The Great Lakes' Bermuda Triangle by Hugh F. Cochrane The Falkirk Triangle in Scotland Why Is a Small Village in Scotland the UK's UFO Hotspot? What's inside Hoia Baciu Forest, the world's most haunted forest? Romania's Bermuda Triangle: The Creepy Hoia Forest of Transylvania What does the Mexican Bermuda Triangle look like Enter The Mapimi Zone Of Silence: Where Science Fiction Meets Reality The Zone of Silence in Northern Mexico: scientific marvel or just fiction? Zone Of Silence Mexico video Mexico: UFOs, magnetism, army: The strange zone of silence Follow us on social: Facebook Twitter Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it's a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it's going. It's Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

A Toast to the Arts
Shelley Armitage - A Habit of Landscape Poetry Book

A Toast to the Arts

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2023 37:53


Award-winning author and poet Shelley Armitage returns to Big Blend Radio to discuss her new poetry book, "A Habit of Landscape." This collection celebrates the convergent meanings of habit and habitat, each sharing the root words, “to dwell.” These poems hold sensate moments—family experiences, inner revelations, transformative places. WATCH THIS PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/-XwNOnSjRQg Shelley Armitage, a professor, writer, naturalist, and conservationist, lives in the Chihuahuan desert near Las Cruces, New Mexico. She is author of eight award-winning books, most recently "Walking the Llano: A Texas Memoir of Place," a Kirkus starred book cited as one of the best memoirs in 2017 and a finalist for the May Sarton prize, the New Mexico-Arizona book award, and the Collins P. Carr award from the Texas Institute of Letters. More: http://www.shelleyarmitage.com/ Special thanks to the National Parks Arts Foundation who create unique artist residency opportunities in parks across the country. More: https://www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Blend Radio Shows
Shelley Armitage - A Habit of Landscape Poetry Book

Big Blend Radio Shows

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2023 37:53


Award-winning author and poet Shelley Armitage returns to Big Blend Radio to discuss her new poetry book, "A Habit of Landscape." This collection celebrates the convergent meanings of habit and habitat, each sharing the root words, “to dwell.”  These poems hold sensate moments—family experiences, inner revelations, transformative places.   WATCH THIS PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/-XwNOnSjRQg  Shelley Armitage, a professor, writer, naturalist, and conservationist, lives in the Chihuahuan desert near Las Cruces, New Mexico. She is author of eight award-winning books, most recently "Walking the Llano: A Texas Memoir of Place," a Kirkus starred book cited as one of the best memoirs in 2017 and a finalist for the May Sarton prize, the New Mexico-Arizona book award, and the Collins P. Carr award from the Texas Institute of Letters.  More: http://www.shelleyarmitage.com/  Special thanks to the National Parks Arts Foundation who create unique artist residency opportunities in parks across the country. More: https://www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org/ 

EcoJustice Radio
Restoring Grasslands & Rainfall in the Desert

EcoJustice Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2023 62:13


Nature is not fixed, but ever changing. Some of the world's best known deserts were once fertile grasslands and forests, including the Sahara, the Mojave, the Kalahari, and Gobi deserts. Is it accurate to think of deserts as permanent? Ecosystem succession shows us that Nature can evolve from rock to forest as well as reverse itself back to dust or a barren state. According to National Geographic, drylands account for more than 40 percent of the world's terrestrial surface area. Human-caused desertification and soil erosion is changing the landscape of Earth, with Africa and Asia being particularly vulnerable; many in these regions rely on subsistence farming. Humans are accelerating the degradation of land through deforestation, urbanization, mining, monocrop industrial farming, and conventional ranching, however, turning land into desert is not a fixed or foregone conclusion. Our guest in this show, Alejandro Carrillo, Managing Partner, Grasslands Regeneration Project for Las Damas Ranch, has been working to green the Chihuahuan desert in northern Mexico. Droughts, floods and erosion need not be permanent realities if we change the behaviors that are causing them. We have the power to align with and assist Nature in a process of evolution that benefits and sustains life. Las Damas, Alejandro Carrillo's 30,000-acre ranch, is one of the world's best known examples of what is possible on dry land, these arid and brittle environments that receive low rainfall. Due to rotational grazing and other strategies, like supporting the work of dung beetles and termites, native grasslands have proliferated. Thus, water infiltrates into more productive soil, wildlife and plant diversity thrive, encouraging a microclimate where rainfall increases. Resiliency is possible and Alejandro is here to share his remarkable, regenerative journey. For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/94153636?pr=true Alejandro Carrillo, Managing Partner, Grasslands Regeneration Project [https://www.desertgrasslands.com/], is a regenerative rancher in the Chihuahuan Desert in Northern Mexico. In the last ten years, he has been able to grow tremendous amounts of grasses, forbes, and legumes in a climate zone that receives only eight inches of rainfall, thanks to holistic, rational grazing management. This has benefited both his ranching endeavor and the life in general of all organisms below and above ground. He has also made rainfall more abundant by creating a microclimate for his ranch. Before joining his father's cattle ranch called Las Damas in 2004, Alejandro worked for several years in the software industry in the financial sector in various countries in the Americas and Europe. Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, Indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt Hosted by Carry Kim Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 199

The Science of Birds
Meadowlarks

The Science of Birds

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2023 44:14


This episode—which is Number 85—is about the Meadowlarks of the world.And it's not just those three North American species: the Western, Eastern, and Chihuahuan. There are actually 8 bird species we call meadowlarks. The other five are found primarily in South America. We'll be talking about them today, too.Meadowlarks belong to the New World Blackbird family, Icteridae. This family includes birds like Red-winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and the Great-tailed Grackle.There's a lot to admire about meadowlarks. The 3 yellow-breasted and 5 red-breasted meadowlark species bring color and music to the windswept grasslands of the Americas. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show

THE WONDER: Science-Based Paganism
Dimming/Lammas/Lughnasadh

THE WONDER: Science-Based Paganism

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2023 28:01


Remember, we welcome comments, questions, and suggested topics at thewonderpodcastQs@gmail.com. S4E24 TRANSCRIPT:----more----   Yucca: Welcome back to The Wonder, Science Based Paganism. I'm one of your hosts, Yucca Mark: and then the other one, Mark. Yucca: And today we are talking about that, that August holiday. We are here already. And I think we should start with, with what we call it, right? Mark: Right, because this is one of those where there are multiple names out there with varying degrees of pronunciability, depending on what your linguistic background is. And part of understanding what it is, is understanding how we talk about it. So what do you call it, Yakko? Yucca: So usually for me, it's second summer or when speaking with other people, I might use Lamas. That's because it's the one that's easiest for me to spell and I am spelling challenged. So that's usually what it will be. Sometimes the whole season right now is monsoon for us. So it's the monsoons. So yeah. But, you know, I recognize the other names as well. Unasa and things like that. Mark: Sure. I've always had kind of a hard time naming this holiday and because as I've mentioned before, I prefer not to use the Celtic names because that's not really Yucca: It's not your background. Mark: anything that I resonate to. And I, you know, the Catholic holiday llamas, I'm not all that interested in Catholicism either. Yucca: It always Mark: but you know what? Oh, llamas. Yucca: Yeah. Mark: Yes, the Peruvian holiday. So, So, there was a member of the Atheopagan Facebook group several years ago who suggested that she is using and I don't remember her name or I would credit her that she is using the terms brightening and dimming for the cross quarters at the beginning of February and the beginning of August. And I like that a lot because it's universal. I've always celebrated that February holiday as river rain, which makes a lot of sense where I live, but not. Pretty much everywhere else. So, so I've, I've adopted those terms and I find them useful. You know, the days are noticeably shorter now. The, you know, we've, we've stepped off from the peak at the summer solstice. Still plenty hot, still plenty of light, but there's definitely been a step down from that really blazing peak. And so Dimming, Dimming is a name that works well for me. Yucca: You know, I think one of the challenges with names may be that the, what's happening in each person's climate is, is really very different. And it's not as drastic of a difference in terms of it's not a change of season. We're in the middle of a large season. It's not like in the autumn or the spring, really, when. There's this switch going on, but what summer is for me and what summer is for you is very different, right, and what summer is going to be for somebody somewhere else, and whether it's still summer or, or we're approaching getting into autumn, because for me, it's not, right, this is not, you know, you talk about it dimming, and I do notice that the days are getting shorter, but this really is Thanks. This is the peak of summer for us. Mark: Huh. Yucca: It's not, there's no, this is the point where there is, it is the hottest time of the year. It is the most summery of summer. The, the summer solstice, it's like spring Barely ended and it is just jumped into summer for us. And so a lot of the types of things that people would associate with the summer solstice are more appropriate for us here, like sunflowers and things like that, that like the sunflowers are barely opening right now for us. Whereas I know for other people, they've been going for months. Right? Mark: Right. Yucca: And I think that that's Mark: Yeah. Yucca: You know, kind of across a lot of different places where it's just, there just isn't really a unified, what is this time of year? What is this holiday for many Mark: Right. Well, and it's not just this holiday. I mean, when it comes to summer, the hottest time of the year where I live is September. Yucca: Mm Mark: And the reason for that is that the sun has weakened enough that that fog system that I've talked about before no longer works. And so we're under the full sun rather than under a nice blanket of cooling fog. So we get days in the hundreds in September, and that is entirely uncooperative with any pagan calendar I've ever seen. It just, just doesn't work, right? You know, Oh, yes, the harvest and the, you know, the, the, the leaves and all that great stuff. Well, yes, we're having a harvest, but Not so much the leaves and stuff, cuz it's still blazing hot and it's going to be for a while. It's gonna stay really warm into November. Yucca: Mm Mark: So, so that's one reason why I find this word di dimming appealing because it doesn't refer to what's happening climatically, it just refers to what's happening with the sun, which is more of a universal thing for people in the northern hemisphere. Yucca: Right. Where it's, where if you're at the same latitude, same things happening, sun wise. Mark: Yeah. Yeah. Yucca: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. So. What are some, let's talk about some of the themes, maybe some of the classical themes, and then how, how we approach those within our own climates. Mark: Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Sure. Well, to start with, In traditional paganism, and of course, we always have to issue the caveat that traditional neo paganism was put together 60 years ago or something. It's really not, you know, not something that goes way back, but it draws on folk traditions, which do go way back. And so this is traditionally the first harvest festival, the first of three, and this is associated with the grain harvest. So, the harvesting of barley and wheat and rye and it's associated with bread and with beer making and all of those things that we do with grain that around here, they actually get two harvests of of grain those that grow fodder for cattle. They're actually able to, you know, they get another growth of it that they can harvest before it starts to rain. But I like all those old associations. I like to bake a loaf of bread this time of year. It's the only time I ever do. Yucca: Mm Mark: and, you know, drink beer, which that's not the only time I ever do. And and just sort of enjoy, you know, reflecting on the season and thinking about what it must have been like for people in You know, the pre medieval medieval period, the classical period, you know, finally some real food is coming out of the ground. You know, the, the, the, the core food stuff that we eat, which is Yucca: stuff that lasts, right? That's the stuff that you store for the, you know, it's very different with the food that you're harvesting in the moment to eat. But that is what you're going to be able to store for a long period of time and know that, oh, we've got something. Right? When, when winter comes, I have something. Yeah. Mark: Yes. Yeah. So I enjoy all those associations. And then I have a bunch of other associations that I layer on top of that. But how about you? Are there other sort of the classical associations that you can think of that go with this as well? Yucca: The classical, I mean, there's, you know, there's some of the, like, the, the burning the straw man kind of stuff that happens. But a lot of what I, what I see kind of in the pegasphere the pagan sphere, would be would, a lot of that kind of bread. Association kind of stuff which definitely is not how I celebrate it. We, you know, we don't eat bread. We don't eat that kind of stuff. But it is the grass component is really important for us. That's a big, big theme. It's really honoring the ranges. I'm a range ecologist in particular. And we, we assign different associations throughout the year with different types of ecosystems. And so this is the other side from, even though it's not quite across but it's the other side from the winter solstice. For us where that's the forests and this is the grasslands. And this is when the grasslands are here. The grass is really at its at its fullest at its peak because it's monsoons. So for me, this this holiday is a lot about the monsoons. Mark: Uhhuh. for sure. Yeah. I mean that's a, in the southwestern deserts, that's probably the most influential climatic thing that happens all year round. It's the monsoon rains. Yucca: the monsoons and the snowpack, right? It's the moist, and those are, and that's when it's happening, right? We're hap it's happening, the snowpack is gonna be in that win in that winter kind of, really January, right? We're not really getting that much in December, it's not until January, so January and August. Although the monsoons will last for a few months, August really is the heart of it, Mark: Mm Yucca: we're lucky. Depends on the year. Mark: Right. Yucca: Yeah. Mark: The what was I going to say? Oh, but there are other meanings that I have kind of layered on to this time as well. This was the time when the ancient Greek Olympics would take place right around this time. And so, you know, naked men cavorting with javelins and pole vaulting and racing and all that kind of stuff. Yucca: Sounds great. Mark: so I tend to associate this time of year with skill and and I kind of, as our listeners, our regular listeners know, the other thing that I do is I tend to map the Sabbaths of the wheel of the year onto the arc of a human life. And that means that this point in the wheel of the year is for the middle aged. And I see the middle aged as people that are at the height of their intellectual and skill powers. They, you know, they are your senior engineers. They are your you know, your experienced inventors that have been through enough trial and error to know what's likely to work and what isn't. And so I associate technology. With this time of year as well, because one thing that note that I noticed was a glaring absence in the traditional pagan wheel of the year is any place for technology, because it's all kind of rooting this ye olde England the kind Yucca: of nostalgic for the past and yeah Mark: Right. Yeah. But believe me, at this time of year, if you didn't have a mill, you were you were not having a great time as a having a grain harvest. Yucca: Right. Mark: That technology is very valuable. Yucca: Well and and for today a Mark: to assume. Yucca: pretty pretty big fan of fans right now Mark: Yes. Yucca: Yep. Mark: Yeah, you bet. So, you know, technology, invention, skill, middle age all of those sort of I don't know. Summary and later in life kinds of things. Yucca: Mm hmm Mark: Not really elderly, but just, Yucca: mature. Mark: when I think of elderhood, I yeah, mature. When I think of elderhood, I think of people who have either retired or are near retirement or at least near the age when people used to be able to retire back when that was a thing we could do. Yucca: I have heard Mark: that, that I, yes, yes, I have heard the lore of the people that say that. The thing one can do but I associate that phase in life with the harvest festival at the Autumnal Equinox, which I associate with the elderly. And then of course, Hallows is death and decomposition. Yucca: Yeah. Mm Mark: So, so, you know, kind of a list of different sorts of themes to associate with, but I like having A different station in life for each of the Sabbaths because it gives an opportunity to celebrate people in my community that are of a particular age group Yucca: hmm Mark: and, you know, just to appreciate them for being in our community and what they bring and what they've been through, or what they're going to bring forth and, you know, the potential that they offer. And I just, I think that's a good thing for community building. So it's a, it's a thing I like to do. Yucca: And I really like your inclusion of the, the technology in there. I think that that's an important important thing to recognize, right? That it's, and it's kind of having a place to honor it because it isn't it's A bad thing, right? It's not like there's this competition between, like, natural and technology. Like, it's, no, no, this is all mixed in here together and, and, you know, like any tool, it's really just depends on what we're doing with those tools and what are, what's our intention behind the tools. But the tool itself, it's not necessarily, you know, a bad thing. Mark: right. Now, it doesn't reflect well that pretty much every technological innovation throughout history has been initially applied towards warfare. That, that's kind of a grim factoid. Yucca: Yeah, now I've heard that many times. I'm not I have to admit that I feel a little skeptical about that. I, but I don't have enough background to be able to point to something and say, ah, here's an example. But, I mean, it's something that I definitely hear is repeated, and there's certainly plenty of examples of it, but I don't know how, how fair of a representation that really is or isn't. Mm hmm. Mark: well, when you have a military dominated society and most societies throughout recorded history have been military dominated, then it's inevitable that what technologies arise are going to be applied to military applications. Yucca: Right. Mark: Like refrigeration, for example, refrigeration was initially used to transport food around for soldiers and then it got propagated out into various private applications. Yucca: Well, I can think of rockets, right? Or fire Mark: circuit, right, right. The integrated circuit was initially used in ICBMs and things like then fighter jets and things like that. But now we're talking over computers that use the integrated circuit. So there are many applications for technologies. And a part of a part of my, my rap about technology and. Capitalism and human society is that part of the problem that we've had is that the idea of science as this dispassionate value free proposition has allowed us to do research into areas that are very destructive. I mean, you know, doing research about how you can get more of an explosive yield out of a fusion reaction is pretty destructive. And if we had a society that was more informed by compassionate and humanitarian values. we would be less likely to invest money in that kind of research, I think. Yucca: hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mark: But there's a tangent.  Yucca: Well, we have to have at least Mark: anyway, yes, we do. That's true. Anyway, technology, it does lots of good stuff for us. Keeps me alive. I wouldn't, I'm, I'm sure I wouldn't be here if not for the technology that goes into my pharmaceuticals. So I'm happy about technology. Yucca: Mm hmm. Mark: So, those are themes. How about rituals? What are, what are things you like to do to celebrate the grasslands and and those and the rains, the monsoons? Yeah. Yucca: Well, when the rains come, we go out in them. Because going out in the rain is a very different thing depending on where the rain is. Right, it may not be something that you would want to do if you live in Connecticut and rain is a very different thing there than it is here. But when the storms come it's just we get so little moisture that it's just amazing that we go out barefoot and we watch the, we watch the water just moving across the land. Of course, there's very practical reasons as well, because I want to see where the water is moving to and, you know, how can I slow that down and redirect it and make sure it's not getting into the foundations of my house and all of that stuff. But but it also, we The kids have some clear umbrellas, right? We go out and look at the rain through the clear umbrellas and get wet and muddy like those cartoons where the kid is just completely covered except for their little blinking eyeballs, right? Like, we, we make sure to do that. And Just spending time outside a lot. The other thing that comes up is that this is the, the proceeds are coming up so it's right after, so the per, they usually peak around like the 12th or so. But they're already getting going for like about a week or, and so before and after. So we spend a lot of time outside with that and just Just being out, but being out in the evening times because right now it is really hot in the middle of the day and the sun is very intense because we're so high up that, Mark: Mm hmm. Mm Yucca: you know, there's just, there's no cloud cover. And when the rains do come, the clouds come in the afternoons, early evening, and then they're gone, right? It's not like it's cloudy all day. You'll get the, you'll get that Few hours, and then it's clear again, clear again. All right. Mark: Then you get a great sunset Yucca: Yes, and this time of year, the Mark: the remnants of the clouds. Yucca: Yeah, the sunsets. I mean, we have beautiful sunsets throughout the year, but there's something about the summer and the autumn. And then just the whole sky is just pink and golden and and the light on the, the trees that we have here are mostly. Pinyon and juniper. So they have the needles that the every single needle will catch the light and it looks like little spears of fire and it's, it's just, it's just hanging out a lot. Just being with, with the land and and we got lots of animals this time of year. I was telling Mark some stories about our adventures with, with some very large mammals in and You know, that's what we're, that's what we're doing, so, Mark: That's great. I love that blood warm rain of the monsoons. When we get rain here, it's always cold. But that, that tropical rain is just so amazing. It's lovely to go out and get soaked in it. Yucca: And it's different, right, depending on which, which desert you're in because we say the desert southwest, but there's like five different deserts here, right, and what elevation you're at, where, you know, it's the, the, the rains that we have up here, I'm just I'm not quite on the Colorado Plateau but I'm right now, I'm at this crossroad between like several different major geologic regions, but it's so different than if you go down into the Chihuahuan. Right, the rain, even though they're getting the same weather patterns coming through, but the rain is just it smells different. It feels different. It's just so different each place. And then, of course, this is when the grasses come alive. Right, they're waiting, they're sleeping throughout the whole year and then they. Wake up and here we have, we're on a migratory path. The elk will come through as they're going between these two main mountain ranges that we have. And this is when, you know, we're moving around the, my whole neighborhood. Neighborhood I put that that's again relative for different people. This is a very large area that we have, but you know, we're moving our our herds of animals around and it's just it's just a very alive. That's that's I think if I had to give this name, this holiday name. I say, maybe I'd call it alive, Mark: hmm. Yucca: right? Or awake, alive, awake, something like that. Yeah. Mark: I like that. Nice. So, well, I guess I'll talk a little bit about ways that I celebrate. I mean, I've already talked about making bread and drinking beer and, Yucca: Mm hmm. Mark: you know, that kind of thing. I do like to get together with friends at this time of year and, you know, kind of center grain stuffs in the meal. So, our Northern California Atheopagan Affinity group is going to get together on the 6th of August and celebrate, and we'll be doing that with bread and empanadas, actually, which will also be really nice. So, it's still a summer holiday and to me that means gatherings. And you know, the opportunity to have a highly constrained, safe fire, Yucca: Mm Mark: because unsafe fires are unpopular in California now. They they, that's a, that's a good way for you to get sideways of your neighbors is to have too big and uncontained a fire. But we'll, you know, we'll, we'll build a little fire in a fire pit and that'll be nice to be around and we'll hang out into the evening and talk about life and enjoy bread and beer and empanadas and snacks and early vegetables and all that good kind of stuff. And it'll just be a good way to celebrate the season. Yucca: Mm. Mark: yeah, I really find that the the, the summer Sabbaths really lend themselves so much more to just kind of general social gatherings than they do to more. formal rituals. I, I tend to do more formal rituals in the fall, the winter, and the spring. But after the Maypole at at May Day or Beltane everything relaxes a great deal. Yucca: Yeah. Mm Mark: Uh, and it, it, it turns into barbecues at the beach and stuff like that as my way of celebrating the holiday because it's a great time to be out, right, to be out. In the world and experiencing it. Yucca: Yeah Because the other half of the year is much more indoor focused, right? And for me, it's often there's a, it's a much more turned inwards. experience where the, Mark: Mm hmm. Yucca: the warm half of the year is a much more turned out experience, just in terms of where the focus is. It's about, you know, what's going on outside with everything else, with the whole, you know, and then outside of the home and then in the home. Mark: Right. Right. Even even to the extent of other people, whereas in the wintertime, I tend to be more inward and less social. And that's one of the reasons why the winter solstice is important, Yucca: Mm hmm. Mark: it's this sort midwinter. Now we're going to have a big gathering and we're, you know, we're all going to like look at each other's eyes and realize that we're still alive and, you know, pack in the calories because, you know, who knows what we're going to have to eat come the end of January and that sort of celebration. I appreciate that over the years I have come to feel, to feel the seasons in my body. Yucca: Mm hmm. Mark: In a way and not just from the standpoint of how much light there is, but sort of a calling towards a particular kind of celebration at a particular time of year. Yucca: Yeah. Mark: So this has been a good conversation. This is our 4th. Podcast episode about this particular holiday. So it's Yucca: Yeah. Mark: the calendar. It's like that. It just goes around and around and around. So, forgive us if a lot of it was repetition, but, you know, it's the same holiday. We're not inventing a new one. So, Yucca: about traditions. Mark: of course, Yucca: them again and again. Mark: right, right. And. Of course, we're always interested to hear what kind of things you're doing. You can contact us at the wonder podcast queues at gmail. com or the wonder podcast QS at gmail. com. And we love to hear from you. We always really appreciate that. Anything else, Yucca? Yucca: I think that's it. So thanks, Mark. Thank you, everyone. Mark: Yeah. Thank you Yucca and we'll see you next week.      

The Feathered Desert Podcast

Summary: The Southwest has 1,2,3,4 or more thrashers! Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk about the four thrashers found most commonly in Arizona.   For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.   Show Notes: www.allaboutbirds.org Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions:  thefeathereddesert@gmail.com   Transcript Cheryl: Intro Arizona sits in the middle of thrasher territory.  Our corner of the southwest has four different thrashers that call our deserts home.  All four of these thrashers are non-migratory, territorial, mate for life, and eat insects and spiders. Their territories might overlap only if they are not of the same species, such as the Curve-billed Thrasher would share territory with a Crissal Thrasher pair but not with another Curve-billed Thrasher pair.  They are similar, yet not.  As the saying goes so close yet so far… Our first one is the Curve-billed Thrasher which is the most widely dispersed and most adapted to living with humans. Kiersten: Curve-billed Thrasher Strong legs and a long, decurved bill give the Curve-billed thrashers the perfect tool for hunting insects in the punishing deserts, canyons, and brush lands that are its home.  That long bill also keeps that  insect prey at a safe distance and comes in handy for foraging and nesting among spiny plants, especially, cacti.  This species is so typical of the deserts of the American southwest and northern Mexico that its whistled “whit-wheet” call is often the first vocalization that visiting bird watchers learn. The Curve-billed thrasher, actually has two different looks. The Curve-billed thrasher of the Chihuahuan desert of Texas/central Mexico has a lighter breast, more contrasting spots, pale wing bars, and white tail corners. The Arizona (western) bird of the Sonoran Desert has grayer breast with less obvious spots and inconspicuous wing bars, and smaller, more grayish tail corners.  It's up for debate whether they are two separate species. The Curve-billed thrasher of Arizona-Sonoran Desert population favors creosote bushes, Saguaro and cholla cacti, and Paloverde trees.  These birds forage on the ground for a variety of insects, spiders and snails along with fruit and seeds.  They use their bills to sweep back and forth through leaf litter and soil, tossing large pieces of vegetation to one side to uncover insect prey including “flipping cow chips”.   Curve-billed thrashers do not use their strong legs for scratching in leaves, instead the legs provide leverage, and the tail provides support.  Not cavity nesters, these birds build stick nests in cactus such as ocotillo, cholla or in creosote bushes.   These birds' mate for life, and maintain a territory all year-round of about 5-11 acres. Cheryl: Crissal Thrasher A lanky, gray-brown bird of desert washes, the Crissal Thrasher generally stays hidden and close to the ground as it probes for insects and seeds with its long, curved-bill.  It may be easily mistaken for a curve-billed thrasher with its long tail and light orange eyes, except for a subtle black and white mustache, rich cinnamon patch under the tail, and pale, unspotted belly.  Its mellow, musical song makes it one of the finest desert songsters. Crissal thrashers are sedentary creatures.  They almost never venture more than a mile or so from their home point.  The Crissal thrasher walks and runs around its territory more than it flies.  Even when disturbed by a predator, this thrasher is most likely to run away to cover. Crissal thrashers live in desert and dry scrubby or brushy habitats, especially along dry creek beds, or in canyons and foothills.  Also, brushy riparian corridors and mesquite thickets.   Crissal thrasher habitats overlap Curve-billed thrasher habitats, but truly stays very much in the southwest corner of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southeastern corner of California.   Crissal thrashers are an insect and spider eater, like the curve-billed thrasher the Crissal uses its legs as leverage when foraging for insects.  Crissal thrasher pairs usually defend nesting territories year-round, and males sing anytime of the  year to mark their territory.  Crissal thrashers have nests that are set in very dense shrubs or trees about 4ft off the ground.  These thrashers will not be attracted to bird feeding stations. Kiersten: Bendire's Thrasher Bendire's thrasher is a secretive bird of open desert habitats; it is a lanky, dusty brown songster with a curved bill that is somewhat shorter than the other thrashers on our list today. Bendire's thrasher spends most of its time on the ground, catching insects or digging them out of crevices in the ground.  Bendire's thrasher's range overlaps with the curved-billed thrasher's but they are more comfortable in open areas with shorter vegetation while curve-billed thrashers use cactus forests and stream corridors.  Bendire's has a bill almost like a woodpecker and they use it to extract insects lodged in the ground. It will hammer away until it frees its prey.  Bendire's thrasher builds bowl shaped nests lined neatly with grasses, animal hair and feathers.  Crissal thrashers are non-migratory and their population is on the decline due to habitat loss. Cheryl: Le Conte's Thrasher A pale, sandy gray colored bird with unmarked wings, a dark eye, and a cured-bill,  Le conte's thrasher is a ghost of a bird that often runs on the ground with its tail held up across the desert flats.  Le conte's thrasher when alarmed chooses to flee on foot, like a miniature roadrunner.  This thrasher lives in low sandy, open deserts that are home to few bird species.  Over most of their range are plants like cholla, cactus, creosote, yucca and mesquite spread very thinly over open flats or sand dunes.   These birds thrive in desert habitats with very little rain fall and air temperatures that are among the highest recorded on earth, such as Death Valley. Le conte's thrashers eat insects and spiders along with lizards, snakes, and an occasional bird's egg. Le Conte's thrasher breeding season begins in December.  The female builds a twiggy cup nest in a thorny bush.  This bird lives in remote, forbidding habitats making it difficult to track their population trends.  It is on conservationist's watch list due to destruction of its desert habitat by development, cattle grazing, off-road vehicles and fire.  The Le Conte's has the smallest range of all four thrashers occupying just a sliver of SE California, a southern corner of Nevada, the very SW corner of Arizona and a slip of Mexico. Closing: As I said at the beginning, so close yet so far… two of the four southwest thrashers' bird populations are in decline, so hopefully putting this information out will help draw some attention their way so that they have a chance of adapting and overcoming man's intrusion into their landscapes.      

New Scientist Weekly
#192 Life-extending mutation; Kangaroo poo transplant for cows; irregular sleep linked to increased risk of death

New Scientist Weekly

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2023 18:13


Want to live 20 percent longer? Well, it may be possible in the future thanks to a new discovery. A life-extending mutation has been found in mice, and the team explains how its benefits can be transferred by transplanting blood stem cells. But will it work in humans?Cows' burps are a big problem for global warming - but could kangaroo poo be the solution? We hear about a novel new idea to replace the bacteria in cows' stomachs.A special kind of particle that can remember its past has been created using a quantum computer. The team explains the mind-bending qualities of this non-Abelian anyon, and how its creation could serve as a building block for advanced quantum computers.A new study has linked irregular sleeping patterns with an increased risk of death. The team finds out what's going on.Climate change may have broken a link between desert grasslands and the Pacific Ocean. We learn how this severed connection is impacting biodiversity in North America's Chihuahuan desert.On the pod are Chelsea Whyte, Sam Wong, Michael Le Page, James Dinneen, Alexandra Thompson and Alex Wilkins. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist magazine at newscientist.com.Events and discount codes:newscientist.com/wondersofspace Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dads Drinking Bourbon
Interview: Cardenxe Sotol with Luigi Ambrosi

Dads Drinking Bourbon

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2023 52:00


Sotol is a spirit from the Chihuahuan desert with comes from the Desert Spoon plant or otherwise known as Sotol plant in Spanish. Luigi Ambrosi is the owner of Cardenxe Sotol, a brand dedicated to elevate two very unique Mexican traditions that risk disappearing – that of Sotol and of Canto Cardenche. The brand brings forth a movement inspired by the message of love and beauty that the cardencheros like to sing about. Listen to Luigi's story as he tells us all about how he fell into owning a Sotol brand and his love for music.  You can always get 15% off at ORCA Coolers by going to www.orcacoolers.com/bourbon  Old Limestone Mixing Water is the same limestone spring water that's used to make your favorite Kentucky Bourbon. It's bottled in Central Kentucky in the heart of bourbon country. It's the perfect companion to any fine bourbon, whether you use it for your ice cubes or just add a splash to your pour. Find out more at www.oldlimestone.com  Want some DDB merch? Head over to www.dadsdrinkingbourbonstore.com  Make sure to get your tickets for this year's Bourbon and Beyond by going to www.bourbonandbeyond.com 

BirdNote
The Chihuahuan Meadowlark

BirdNote

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2023 1:34


In 2022, ornithologists recognized the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a separate species rather than a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark. Named after the northern region of Mexico where they're easy to find, Chihuahuan Meadowlarks live in dry desert grasslands. They form a distinct population in Mexico and the southwestern U.S., and have a song that sets them apart from other meadowlarks.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Sheep Fever
EP18 La Palmosa – A Family Tradition and Vision for Wildlife

Sheep Fever

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2023 55:29


The 100,000 acre Rancho La Palmosa is the result of a vision to restore native wildlife to the Chihuahuan desert of northern Coahuila including desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn, mule deer, whitetail deer (miquihuanenses subspecies), quail (scaled and Montezuma) and non-game species and to enhance and protect the biodiversity of native flora and fauna. The Rangel family has owned portions of the ranch for more than 50 years. La Palmosa encompasses 156 square miles of spectacular desert, mesa and mountain topography ranging from 4,200' to 8,600' in elevation in the San Marcos y Los Pinõs Mountains. Gray sits down with La Palmosa owners Emilio Rangel and his son Emilio Espino to discuss the history of the ranch and their repatriation efforts for desert bighorn sheep which from a source population of 133 released in 2005/2006 now numbers more than 700 free ranging bighorns.      

Growing Native
Breaking the Habit

Growing Native

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2022 4:35


The botanical name of our 3 needle per fascicle (bundle) Chihuahuan pine is Pinus leiophylla var. chihuahuana. Further south into Mexico where the 5 needle version occurs it becomes Pinus leiophylla var. leiophylla. Some botanists, by the way, list the variety as a subspecies. Well, either way it's really a neat native pine here in the borderlands. The photos are mine and taken in the Chiricahua Mountains where we were wandering around looking for a Christmas tree. Below is a photo of large sprout coming off a pine trunk. It was an area that burned during the 2011 Horseshoe Two Fire and some of the surviving fire damaged trees put out large crown-like sprouts. That's fascinating and unusual for a pine species. And now you know.

Rosie on the House
12/10/22 - OUTDOOR LIVING HOUR! Talking Trees! Winter Pruning Deciduous Trees!

Rosie on the House

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2022 39:01


Certified Arborist Richard Adkins discusses the Tree Of The Month:  The Texas Ebony.  Native to the Chihuahuan desert, a thorny drought tolerant tree that maintains its dark green color all year.  That's just for starters.  Plus careful attention to detail on pruning winter deciduous trees including Richard's  '3 cut method'.  And could you plant and grow your own Christmas tree?

Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]
S6 Ep123: Capítulo 123: An Interview With Flores

Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2022 34:12


On this brand new capítulo, we bring back a listener fave: Weird Things White Women Did & share why we started the segment back in 2018. For the second half, Mala interviews Flores, an Indigenous Mexican American R&B songstress  from the Chihuahuan desert of El Paso, TX. 

Growing Native
Asteraceae in the Chihuahuan Desert

Growing Native

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2021 5:02


Xanthisma gracilis is an annual and found all over the southwest and into Mexico as well. Duh. A common name is slender goldenweed or spiny zinnia. I do love the botanical Xanthisma. It sounds like a medication, doesn't it, and if you did a little homework you'd find out that it does have some medicinal uses. I was driving to Bisbee recently and saw stands of flowering tarbush and that is what somehow inspired this show about the different biotic communities that surround us here in the borderlands. Tarbush, Flourensia cernua, and creosote, Larrea tridentata, are the predominate plants in that wonderful piece of Chihuahuan desert scrub just outside of town. That's two species that also might be fun to do a little homework on and find their medicinal uses as well, so now you have an assignment. Oh, and if you get out of your truck and wander through that desert scrub it only gets better botanically. I do recommend that. The photos are mine. You can see the classic aster flower head of the Xanthisma and also the nodding flower heads of the Flourensia that the specific epithet cernua is refers to. The phrase nodding heads reminds me of Art History 101 at the University of Arizona and my nodding head during lectures.

Science Knights in the Morning
The Great North American Desert Road Trip

Science Knights in the Morning

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2021 58:55


Get your bags packed and bring plenty of dihydrogen monoxide! Sean and Conley are taking a virtual road trip across North America. Join them as they discuss the amazing deserts of North America. Great Basin, Mohave, Chihuahuan and Sonoran PLUS the Baja Desert! Don't forget your toothbrush!

Keep It Weird
The Real Fun Zone

Keep It Weird

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2021 71:10


All aboard, Weirdos!  It's time to have an adventure!  Lauren and Ashley are traveling the world to find Earth's STRANGEST places!! This episode is extra exciting because we actually discover the REAL FUN ZONE!! And you won't believe where we found it.... Lauren is going to be taking us to several of the strangest towns in the world including a city full of amputees, a community run entirely by women, a town where it's ILLEGAL to DIE, and a burning man-esque desert wasteland that's heaven on Earth to it's residents. Ashley is taking us to the Chihuahuan desert in Mexico as we explore a place where radio signals don't exist, compasses spin out of control and big fat meteors drop out of the sky at an inordinate rate.   Grab your fanny pack, make sure you have plenty of sunscreen and hop in!

Nature's Archive
#18: Kerry Knudsen - The Magic of Lichen

Nature's Archive

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2021 55:05


Kerry Knudsen is a lichenologist currently based at the University of Life Sciences in Prague. He founded the lichen collection at the University of California Riverside, has 161 peer-reviewed publications on ResearchGate (and more elsewhere), and is currently documenting the lichen of the Chihuahuan Desert. Kerry has discovered over 60 new lichen species that were previously undescribed.Kerry also has an amazing background story, getting started in lichen later in life after a health condition derailed a long career in construction, forcing him to reset. We discuss Kerry's unique journey to become a world-renowned expert not just in lichen, but in one of the most difficult genera (Acarosporaceae). We get into the life history of lichens, including the incredible serendipity that brings together a fungi and an algae (or cyanobacteria) to form a lichen in the first place, and how lichens form, reproduce, and propagate.Kerry describes recent advancements in understanding lichens, including the complicated microbiome of lichen that include other bacteria and fungi.I also ask Kerry a lot of questions intended to help amateur naturalists, and Kerry sets expectations on what amateur naturalists can see and identify in the field, and provides tips and suggestions for advancing lichen knowledge beyond field observation.We also spend some time discussing the impacts of wildfire on lichens, and some of the impact already being seen.Kerry is currently studying lichen diversity in the Chihuahuan desert in southern New Mexico, and has some surprising findings. And having spent time in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, he has some interesting hypothesis about his preliminary findings.This was a great opportunity to talk to someone several rungs up the knowledge ladder from me, so, as Alie Ward likes to say on her entertaining Ologies podcast, despite my preparation and research, I had a lot of freedom to ask a smart person stupid questions. And I thank Kerry for his patience and detail in his answers.LinksPeople and OrganizationsAndre Breton - the founder of Surrealism kept a lichen collection just for the beauty and inspirationCalifornia Lichen SocietyRick Halsey and the California Chaparral Institute. I interviewed Rick in a previous episode, focusing largely on wildfire ecologySteven Levitt - University of Chicago economist who analyzed the ranching use of the Amazon rainforest. He had a podcast episode with his solution.Theodore Payne Foundation - Kerry mentioned working here for a periodUniversity of California Riverside (UCR) HerbariumBooks and Other ThingsA Field Guide to California Lichens - Stephen SharnoffMacrolichens of the Pacific Northwest - Bruce McCuneUsnea - Kerry mentions Usnea several times. Usnea is a genus with over 600 species, and is difficult to identify in the field.

BirdNote
Bosque del Apache, High Desert Oasis

BirdNote

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2020


At this time of year, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico is a birder's paradise. The refuge — critical wintering habitat for great numbers of birds — sits where the north edge of the Chihuahuan desert meets the Rio Grande River. Witness the magnificent spectacle of the sunrise

Agave lessons and Mexican gastronomy with Dr. Ana Valenzuela Zapata
#121. Ricardo (García) Pico: Sotol de Chihuahua.

Agave lessons and Mexican gastronomy with Dr. Ana Valenzuela Zapata

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 37:26


Una plática muy agradable con alguien que recorre Chihuahua y valoriza los diferentes tipos de sotol, les recomiendo este podcast a quienes se aventuran en la pasión de descubrirse mexicanos a partir del patrimonio natural y cultural de bebidas emblemáticas. Ricardo Pico Nacido en Chihuahua, Chihuahua, tierra del sotol, Ricardo es cofundador de Sotol Clande, una marca que hace énfasis en la importancia del proceso artesanal de producción del sotol y la importancia del factor terruño. Lleva representando al Sotol Chihuahuense más de media década y hoy se dedica a trabajar con productores artesanales para reconstruir la historia del sotol y preservar sus métodos tradicionales de producción. Actualmente se enfoca en esfuerzos de reforestación para proteger el Dasylirion, planta utilizada para producir sotol así como buscar el desarrollo comunitario a través de la producción de destilados en zonas marginadas. Ricardo Pico Bio English Born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, the land of Sotol, Ricardo is the Co-Founder of Sotol Clande, a brand that emphasizes the importance of artisanal northern spirits like sotol and lechuguilla and their terroir. He has been representing Chihuahuan sotol for more than half a decade and focuses on working with small batch artisanal sotol producers and maintaining their traditional production methods. He is also involved in Dasylirion plant conservation projects to maintain sustainability in the Sotol industry, as well as creating economic development through distilled spirits in marginalized communities. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ana-g-valenzuela-zapata/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ana-g-valenzuela-zapata/support

Indiscriminate Interests
IIP Ep 30: Zona Del Silencio

Indiscriminate Interests

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2020 78:38


I personally never thought we would get even this far but here we are. 30 episodes! and heres to another at least 30 more! Today mike comes out from hiding and rejoins the IIP team. We sprayed him down and put him on the mic to talk with Travis about a Spoopy desert Chihuahua (Heh Heh....tiny dog). La Zona Del Silencio or for us english folks...THE ZONE OF SILENCE is located in northern Mexico in the Chihuahuan desert. In out humble opinion its one of the weirdest places on earth, UFOs Space rocks, Alien plants, Giant mutated bug, and all the cobalt 5 you drink. This place has it all but don't take my word for it. Listen to the episode and... i guess take my word for it? Visit our socials @interestspod-Twitter - @indiscriminateinterestspodcast-Instagram Indiscriminateinterestspodcast- Facebook Indiscriminateinterestspod@gmail.com Goblin sketches and background info https://themothman.fandom.com/wiki/Kentucky_Goblins --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/indiscriminateinterests/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/indiscriminateinterests/support

The Daily Gardener
December 10, 2019 Wild about Weeds, Botany at the Bar, Sweet Potatoes, Emily Dickinson, Howard Scott Gentry, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Carl English, A Year in Our Gardens by Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy, Herb Drier, and The Ungrateful Garden

The Daily Gardener

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2019 21:54


Today we celebrate the gardener poet known for writing “hope is the thing with feathers”, and the man who became the world authority on agaves. We'll learn about the Victorian botanist who was the first to speak in favor of Darwin’s theory and the man who created the Ballard Lock Garden in Seattle. We'll hear a December poem from the man known during the 20th century as the People's Poet. We Grow That Garden Library with a book of letters between two gardeners during the year between 1998 and 1999. I'll talk about an architectural element for your kitchen that makes a tremendous holiday gift and we wrap things up with a clever poem about King Midas and what would happen if his roses had turned to gold. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.     Today's Curated Articles: Book Review: Wild about Weeds, Garden Design with Rebel Plants by Jack Wallington Here's Alison Levey's review of the wonderful new book from @jackwallington on garden design with weeds and rebel plants #gardenblog #bookreview #gmg @LaurenceKingPub The book is one of my favorites for 2019. I especially enjoy the designer profiles and Jack's ability to defend the plants many of us secretly love but might not admit in certain circles.   Botany at the Bar Three scientists discuss the plant science and history of bitters—and share a Thanksgiving cocktail | Scientific American@sciam Take 3 researchers, add plant science, & a deep dive into the world of bitters& you have this phenomenal book of 75 botanically inspired craft cocktails! #BotanyattheBar #science #technology Great post to help you discover the fascinating and ancient #botanicalhistory behind bitters, plus a fun cocktail recipe - and, these scientists really know how to make a good cocktail! Folks on Social Media provided many ringing endorsements saying they had tried a number of their bitters and etc at conferences and were definite fans.     Who Doesn't Like Sweet Potatoes? This Kenyan Researcher, For One| @npr @estherngumbi Can you have too much of a good thing? Yes. Yes, you can. Here’s a very relatable post from Researcher Esther Ngumbi who grew up eating sweet potatoes for nearly every meal. Part of our desire for certain foods is their seasonality. Monotony is the death of pleasure. Now many of her family members are just done with these foods. "No one — and I mean no one — had any more appetite for these root vegetables." "True confession," she writes, "I will not eat sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving. Or any other time of the year. It all has to do with my Kenyan childhood." "I know it is many people's favorite food, especially during Thanksgiving, but as for me, I still say NO to sweet potatoes. They remind me of what it's like to grow up ... without being able to choose what kind of food you'd like to eat each day."     Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck - because I share all of it with the Listener Community on Facebook. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.     Here are Today's Brevities: #OTD Today is the birthday of Emily Dickenson who was born on this day in 1830. The Dickinson Author Judith Farr reminds us that during her lifetime, Emily Dickinson was "known more widely as a gardener,... than as a poet." Emily grew up gardening. She would help her mother with their large edible and ornamental garden. The flower garden became Emily’s responsibility when she got older. She planted in a carefree cottage garden style. After Emily died, her sister Lavinia took over the garden. Emily's niece and editor, Martha Dickinson Bianchi recalls: "All [Lavinia’s] flowers did as they liked: tyrannized over her, hopped out of their own beds and into each other’s beds, were never reproved or removed as long as they bloomed; for a live flower to Aunt Lavinia was more than any dead horticultural principle."     #OTD Today is the birthday of Howard Scott Gentry who was born on this day in 1903. A 1982 newspaper article shared a great story about Howard, saying: "This elder statesman of the botanical world [is] a first-class charmer when you get .... to his subject;... his love for the wilds of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico; [and] about the years he spent as an agricultural explorer for the USDA, and about how he gradually came to know more about agaves "than any other human being."   Concerning the hectic pace of his agave research after his retirement from the USDA in 1971, Howard said: "I don't like to start things and not finish them."   Several times a year, Howard would plunge into the rugged interior of Mexico perched atop a mule, just as he'd done during his first collecting trips nearly half a century earlier. [Howard graduated college with a degree in] vertebrate biology from the University of California at Berkeley [and he] concocted the notion of becoming a freelance biologist. To pay for his first field trip into Mexico, Howard sent 300 letters around the country - to scientific institutions, naturalists, really anybody he could think of - soliciting collection orders. "I came up with $3,000 worth of orders. For anything and everything, for an embryo of a white-tailed deer, which I did collect, for birds' eggs, for ticks, for plant specimens. I really got fascinated with that southern Sonoran and Chihuahuan country.”   After this trip, Howard wrote "Rio Mayo Plants." He recalled: "After that book came out, I became somewhat known as a botanist, which I wasn't. I was a zoologist doing exceptionally well writing as a botanist." Howard completed a doctorate in botany at the University of Michigan, where the well-known botanist Harley Harris Bartlett taught. In 1950, Howard became an agricultural explorer for the USDA. Based in Maryland, he traveled the world locating, researching and collecting plants for the government. [Howard was involved in a] spurt of postwar agave work when it was discovered that plants in the agave family and plants in the wild yam family contained compounds that seemed effective in treating arthritis. Because of his far-flung collecting (he traveled in 24 foreign countries), Howard was constantly introducing new plants to the United States. It was high-profile work in the botanical community. "I refused several times to become a desk man for USDA.  It was a chance to cut out all the travel, but I told them,  'No, not me. I want to work with plants, not people. People are problems."     #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the Victorian British botanist, explorer, President of the Royal Society, and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker who died on this day in 1911 at the age of 94. Hooker accomplished much during his long life. The botanic gardens of the world were a discovery and classification network he masterfully orchestrated into R&D facilities to enhance the world's economy and promote trade. Hooker was Charle’s Darwin’s closest friend and collaborator. In fact, they corresponded about Darwin's theory before it was made public. And, Hooker was instrumental in getting Darwin's work published. Many regard Hooker as Darwin’s personal PR man. In 1877, Hooker was knighted for scientific services to the British Empire. And here's an adorable factoid about Hooker: Kew Gardens recently shared that, during his travels, Hooker would address letters to his young son to “my dear little Lion” or “my dear cub”.     #OTD On this day in 1974, in Seattle, Washington, that seven acres of gardens were named in honor of the eminent horticulturist, Carl S. English Jr. The gardens are located on the Lake Washington Ship Canal and overlook the Hiram Chittenden Locks which connect Puget Sound to Lake Washington. The locks and the canal offer their own beauty and are fascinating to watch. And, every year, hundreds of thousands of salmon and trout climb the fish ladder in their annual migration. English was the supervisor of the gardens for 36 years, from 1940 until his death in 1976. After graduating with a degree in botany from Washington State University, Carl was hired by the locks to tend the grounds. The seven acres were intended to be used as a demonstration field where soldiers could march. In reality, the area sat idle. Being a botanist, Carl thought the grounds had potential and would have loved to install a garden on the spot, but there was no budget. So, Carl used his own time and went on many plant collecting trips around the world. Not surprisingly, Carl always brought back seeds and specimens for the garden. In addition, Carl and his wife, who was also a botanist, had a small seed business and published a seed catalog. Today, this lovely arboretum and specimen garden is home to nearly 1,500 flower varieties. There’s a charming description of the garden by Dr. Arthur Kruckeberg written in the Summer of 1959: “To be sure, the average visitor enters the grounds bent on viewing the activity of boats and people at the locksides. Yet, once entering the north gate, one senses the change from the clutter and crowding of city life to the serenity and expansive beauty of a park. To the knowing eye, the plantings are not at all typical of just any park. The keen gardener, horticulturalist, or botanist is at once convinced that he has stepped into a botanical sanctuary-a true arboretum.”     Unearthed Words Edgar Albert Guest, Winter in the Garden Gray skies above us, and the snow Blankets the frozen earth below. Where roses bloomed the drifts lie deep. The hollyhocks are fast asleep. The cedars green are wearing white Like rich men's wives on opera night. The elm tree strangely seems to throw A lean, gaunt shadow on the snow. The last brown leaves of twig and stem Have found the storms too much for them. Winter, the tyrant of the land, Once more is in supreme command. Guest was known as the People’s Poet during the first half of the 20th century. His poems were happy and hopeful; which is why people liked them.     It's Time to Grow That Garden Library with Today's Book: A Year in Our Gardens by Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy This is a book of letters that were exchanged between Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy during one year between 1998 and 1999. They were both enormously passionate gardeners and they drew inspiration from their shared zest for plants. Aside from sharing a growingng zone (7A), their gardens were very different. Allen gardened on sandy soil on a small lot while Nancy battled rich clay loam on more than sixty acres. Together Nancy and Allen swapped stories of their horticultural successes and failures; traded information about a great many plants; discussed their hopes, fears, and inspirations; and mused on the connections between gardening and music, family, and friendship. I love what it says in the description of this book: Any woman who buys a house because of the quality of its dirt is a true gardener. Any man who reads garden catalogs word for word, cover to cover, is equally enthusiastic about plants. Meet Goodwin and Lacy, two kindred spirits… who also reveal the changes in their lives, sharing their innermost feelings and experiences, as one does only with a very close friend. You can get a used copy and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4.     Today's Recommended Holiday Gift for Gardeners: Esschert Design C3000 Herb Drier With this hanging herb drier, you can enjoy aromatic herbs year-round Just tie herbs in bunches with string and hang upside down Herb drier made of rustic metal with hooks for hanging herbs Herb drier is 15.8 inches in diameter $23.99     Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart #OTD Today is the birthday of the poet Carolyn Kizer who was born on this day in 1925.  Kizer wrote occasionally about the garden and my favorite poem of hers is this charming piece about King Midas growing golden roses called The Ungrateful Garden. Here are some definitions to help you understand Carolyn’s poem: Ague is a shivering fever, serried means standing in a row, to "silt up" is to block or fill with silt, and a shift is a nightgown. To keep the show clean, I’ve eliminated all offensive language.   The Ungrateful Garden Midas watched the golden crust That formed over his steaming sores,  Hugged his agues, loved his lust,  But (cursed) the out-of-doors Where blazing motes of sun impaled The serried roses, metal-bright. "Those famous flowers," Midas wailed, "Have scorched my retina with light." This gift, he'd thought, would gild his joys, Silt up the waters of his grief; His lawns a wilderness of noise, The heavy clang of leaf on leaf. Within, the golden cup is good To lift, to sip the yellow mead. Outside, in summer's rage, the rude Gold thorn has made his fingers bleed. "I strolled my halls in golden shift, As ruddy as a lion’s meat. Then I rushed out to share my gift, And golden stubble cut my feet." Dazzled with wounds, he limped away To climb into his golden bed, Roses, roses can betray. "Nature is evil," Midas said.

The Daily Gardener
November 13, 2019 Coleus Cuttings, Air Plants, Make a Christmas Seedhead Wreath, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frederick Lueders, Chrysanthemum Show, Howard Scott Gentry, Square Foot Gardening 3rd Edition, Houseplant Spa Day, and Bedding Plants as Wealth Indic

The Daily Gardener

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2019 20:37


Today we celebrate the writer who dedicated his book called A Child's Garden of Verses to his childhood nurse and the German botanist who lost all of his work in the Columbia River. We'll learn about the big chrysanthemum show of 1916 in our Nation's capital and the botanist who was one with Agaves. We'll hear some November poetry. We Grow That Garden Library with a book now in its 3rd edition from the man who loved to say "Happy Gardening, friends." I'll talk about setting up a regular spa day for your Houseplants, and then we'll wrap things up with a little something Jane Powers wrote back in 2010 that I think was just so incredibly cool and memorable.   But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.       Coleus Cuttings | @WDCGardener I can't think of anyone I'd rather learn to take Coleus Cuttings from than @WDCGardener and her cat Santino - who is THE master when it comes to supervising cuttings. btw Santino means "little saint" Aw....    Recommended Air Plants | HEIRLOOM GARDENER Know Thy Air Plants - Here's a nice little post from Heirloom Gardener to help you Tell Your Air Plants Apart.   My favorite? Tillandsia xerographica - “Queen of Tillandsias.” I recently saw one in a wedding bouquet. Long Live the Queen!         Make a Christmas seedhead wreath| @GardensIllustrated I. Cannot. Stand. How. Adorable. This. IS! Just when I thought I was out of the garden... you pull me back in! @GardensIllustrated came up with this adorable project - Make a Christmas seedhead wreath. I love this idea for the She Shed at the cabin. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck - because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So there’s no need to take notes or track down links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Brevities       #OTD   Today is the birthday of Scottish-born writer and poet Robert Louis Stevenson, who was born on this day in 1850. Stevenson sickly little boy with no brothers or sisters. When he was just a toddler, a woman named Alison Cunningham was brought into the Stevenson home to help care for Robert. When Stevenson wrote a collection of poems called "A Child's Garden of Verses," he dedicated the book to Alison. Gardeners will be surprised to learn that Herbert Jekyll and Robert Louis Stevenson were friends.  Herbert was the brother of the  British horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll. Jekyll's last name was used in Stevenson's most famous work Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but of course, the popular pronunciation of the Jekyll name became Jekyll thanks to the book. It was Robert Louis Stevenson who said, "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant” And, here's an excerpt from Stevenson's The Gardener The gardener does not love to talk. He makes me keep the gravel walk; And when he puts his tools away, He locks the door and takes the key. Silly gardener! summer goes, And winter comes with pinching toes, When in the garden bare and brown You must lay your barrow down.     #OTD  Today is the 76th anniversary of the day that the German botanist, Frederick Lueders, lost all of his botanical work. On November 13, 1843, Lueders was botanizing along the Columbia River in Oregon. He'd been collecting specimens for three years. He had just encountered the explorer John Freemont, when all of his work, which was secured in a canoe nearby, was drawn into the rapids. Lueders plunged into the river and managed to retrieve only a copy of the Flora by Torrey and Gray. The devastating loss was recorded in Freemont's journal who wrote: "In the natural concern I felt for his misfortune, I gave to the little cove the name of Lueders' Bay." For Lueder's part, the loss of his specimens was devastating. However, the loss of his instruments and his correspondence with Asa Gray and Dr. Englemann was almost too great. Lueders determined his best course of action was to return home. He traveled south around the tip of Chile and then onto England. It took him a year to return to Hamburg a year after his mishap on the Columbia. Lueders didn't stay in Germany long. In fact,  he returned to America within the next year. By 1851, he had made his way to Wisconsin; he spent the rest of his life in Sauk City, and he dabbled in astronomy.  A biographical sketch said that in his old age, Lueders was mainly devoted to his flowers.       #OTD On this day in 1916, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shared a sweet little article about the 16th annual chrysanthemum flower show that had just been held in Washington DC. It began this way: "If you ever get the idea that people aren't interested in flowers, just give a flower show." said one of the guards at the government chrysanthemum show last week.  All morning he had been repeating "Keep to the right!" to the mass of visitors streaming into the greenhouse.  There had been a couple of disastrous jams that injured some valuable specimens, and he was quite bitter about it. "Sometimes people take entirely too much interest in flowers. If you don't watch them they break them off and take them home as souvenirs," he said.  One of the most noticeable features of this annual chrysanthemum show of the Department of Agriculture and of similar shows held in large cities throughout the country is the growing interest in chrysanthemum culture.  "Where can I buy seeds of such varieties as this?" is the question everybody asks, pointing to a big white "Queen Mary" or to a small lavender pompon.   At the show this year over 250 varieties of chrysanthemums were exhibited... The whole greenhouse was a riot of color, with yellow and lavender predominating. Interest in chrysanthemums is increasing every year. National shows have been held every season for the last 16 years, but there has never been such large attendance before."         #OTD  On this day in 1982, the newspaper shared a great story about the author of "Agaves of Continental North America," Howard Scott Gentry. "This elder statesman of the botanical world [is] a first-class charmer when you get .... to his subject;... his love for the wilds of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico; [and] about the years he spent overseas as an agricultural explorer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and about how he gradually came to know more about agaves "than any other human being." "I don't like to start things and not finish them," Gentry said concerning the hectic pace of his agave research after his retirement from the USDA in 1971. Several times a year he would plunge into the rugged interior of Mexico perched atop a mule, just as he'd been during his first collecting trips nearly half a century earlier. [Gentry graduated college with a degree in] vertebrate biology from the University of California at Berkeley [and he] concocted the notion of becoming a freelance biologist. To pay for his first field trip into Mexico, he sent 300 letters around the country to scientific institutions, to naturalists, to anybody he could think of, soliciting collection orders. "I came up with $3,000 worth of orders. For anything and everything, for an embryo of a white-tailed deer, which I did collect, for birds' eggs, for ticks, for plant specimens. I really got fascinated with that southern Sonoran and Chihuahuan country.  Gentry tackled it... producing the book "Rio Mayo Plants." "After that book came out, I became somewhat known as a botanist, which I wasn't. I was a zoologist doing exceptionally well writing as a botanist." Gentry completed a doctorate in botany at the University of Michigan, where the well-known botanist Harvey Harris Bartlet taught.  In 1950, Gentry became an agricultural explorer for the USDA. Based in Maryland, he traveled the world locating, researching and collecting plants for the government. [Gentry was involved in a] spurt of postwar agave work when it was discovered that plants in the agave family and plants in the wild yam family contained compounds that seemed effective in treating arthritis. Because of his far-flung collecting (he traveled in 24 foreign countries), Gentry was constantly introducing new plants to the United States and writing about their possible uses. It was high-profile work in the botanical community. "I refused several times to become a desk man for USDA," Gentry said. "It was a chance to cut out all the travel, but I told them, 'No, not me. I want to work with plants, not people. People are problems."       Unearthed Words "When the bold branches Bid farewell to rainbow leaves - Welcome wool sweaters." - B. Cybrill     "The wild November come at last Beneath a veil of rain; The night wind blows its folds aside - Her face is full of pain. The latest of her race, she takes The Autumn's vacant throne: She has but one short moon to live, And she must live alone. A barren realm of withered fields, Bleak woods, and falling leaves, The palest morns that ever dawned; The dreariest of eves. It is no wonder that she comes, Poor month! With tears of pain; For what can one so hopeless do But weep, and weep again? - Richard Henry Stoddard, poet, November     Today's book recommendation: Square Foot Gardening Third Edition by Mel Bartholomew In All-New Square Food Gardening, 3rd Edition, the best-selling gardening book in North America is re-launched and updated for the next generation of gardeners and beyond. Since Square Foot Gardening was first introduced in 1981, the revolutionary new way to garden developed by Mel Bartholomew has helped millions of home gardeners grow more fresh produce in less space and with less work. Now, based mostly on the input and experience of these millions, the system has been even further refined and improved to fully meet today's changing resources, needs, and challenges. With over 150 new photos and illustrations, this new edition makes it easier than ever to achieve nearly-foolproof results in virtually any situation: 100% of the produce; 20% of the water; 5% of the work. Perfect for experienced Square-Foot-Gardeners or beginners, the original method created by Mel has not changed in any significant way with this new 3rd edition of All New Square Foot Gardening. It remains: build a box; fill it with Mel's Mix; add a grid. But along with the classic steps, you will find some exciting and compelling new information, such as: Adding trellises and archways Substituting with new materials Adding automatic watering systems "Thinking Outside the Box" with creative configurations and shapes Square Foot Gardening in dense urban areas with little or no yard Square Foot Gardening with kids   Today's Garden Chore Set up a Houseplant Spa Day on your calendar every two weeks. During the winter, you can reduce the time between waterings as the days get shorter. A few weeks ago, I mentioned using a bar cart for staging your houseplants, and that sure comes in handy when it's time to wheel them all to the kitchen sink. Even a large tray can be of service if you prefer to shlep your plants over to the sink for a spray down instead of merely watering them with a watering can. Double potting, placing a smaller pot inside a larger pot, and insulating the plant with a double blanket of soil can help provide extra support to your plants in between waterings. Additionally, there is not much need to fertilize indoor houseplants until spring. So put the fertilizer down and concentrate on regular maintenance at the kitchen sink.     Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart It was on this day in 2010 that Jane Powers wrote an excellent article for the Irish Times. What I especially loved about this article was Jane's correlation between the number of bedding plants a person ordered during the middle of the 19th century and their corresponding personal wealth. Here's what she wrote: In the heyday of bedding, the amount of plants that a person displayed was a gauge of their wealth and status. According to the head gardener at the Rothschild estate at Halton in Buckinghamshire, it was 10,000 plants for a squire, 20,000 for a baronet, 30,000 for an earl, and 40,000 for a duke.     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Growing Native
Corvus in a Quercus

Growing Native

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2017


The Chihuahuan ravens (Corvus cryptoleucus) in this story have returned to the same nest in the Emory oak (Quercus emoryi)…

corvus quercus chihuahuan growing native
Hundpodden Vår Bästa Vän
Del 2 - Myter och uppfödning av Chihuahuan med Hanna Krohn

Hundpodden Vår Bästa Vän

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2014 18:45


Chihuahua - Hund eller accessoar? Fördomarna om chihuahuan haglar! Varför? Är allt Paris Hiltons fel? Vad är chihuahuan för ras egentligen? Det tar vi reda på i det här avsnittet! Gurgîn snackar med Hanna Krohn som driver chihuahuakenneln Making Magic om denna hundras och om hur det är att föda upp chihuahuan. Pratas det om hundens mentalitet inom uppfödargruppen? Görs det något medvetet avelsarbete hos chihuahua-uppfödarna? 

Hundpodden Vår Bästa Vän
Del 1 - Myter och uppfödning av Chihuahuan med Hanna Krohn

Hundpodden Vår Bästa Vän

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2014 18:08


Chihuahua - Hund eller accessoar? Fördomarna om chihuahuan haglar! Varför? Är allt Paris Hiltons fel? Vad är chihuahuan för ras egentligen? Det tar vi reda på i det här avsnittet! Gurgîn snackar med Hanna Krohn som driver chihuahuakenneln Making Magic om denna hundras och om hur det är att föda upp chihuahuan. Pratas det om hundens mentalitet inom uppfödargruppen? Görs det något medvetet avelsarbete hos chihuahua-uppfödarna? 

Words on a Wire
Interview with Ruben Martinez. Sunday, November 18, 2012.

Words on a Wire

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2012 29:00


58: The book, Desert America was written by Martinez fraternizing with his demons in the Joshua Tree desert, not from a book advance. There is a power involved in representing different ethnic, class or art histories of the Chihuahuan, New Mexican or Joshua Tree desert. This show talks about colonialization of the desert and the power of narration and the power of relationship. 'Mike Wilson is out in the desert right now, putting out water for people who are crossing it.'

C.M. Mayo's Podcast (Marfa Mondays & More)
Marfa Mondays 5: Cynthia McAlister: The Buzz on the Bees

C.M. Mayo's Podcast (Marfa Mondays & More)

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2012 66:08


An interview with Cynthia McAlister about the bees of West Texas, both imported and native to the northern Chihuahuan Desert. McAlister holds a masters degree in biology from Sul Ross University and is the author of several articles on bees, among them,"Our Native West Texas Bees," which appeared in the winter 2012 issue of Cenizo Journal. Recorded in late January 2012. > Transcript > MARFA MONDAYS PODCASTING PROJECT (ALL PODCASTS)  > World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas > C.M. Mayo's home page (books, articles, and more)

Drunken Monkey Podcast
Episode 7. The Legend Of Sunrise Beach - mixed by DJ Hans

Drunken Monkey Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2011 92:07


Back in 1998 DJ Hans recorded an epic set at the infamous Full Moon party on Sunrise Beach, Koh Phangan, Tailand. It was a bit of a big deal! People laughed, people cried and some believed he was the next messiah. Hans became a legend. It has even been said that in one night, Hans had singlehandedly set the stage for the popular surge in Trance music that lasted the next 5 years and beyond. Tragically the recording was lost. Perhaps taken, gone into the sand, or lost to the wind...no one knows. All Hans remembers is the smell of booze, cheap plastic women, a bright light at the end of a tunnel...then waking up face down in sand 5 days later in Northern Queensland with one missing hand. While legend of the tapes existence persisted, supposedly floating around on some damn thing called the "interweb", it never actually surfaced. Some say that on a full moon night the music can still be heard floating on the winds of the universe. 12 years later, Vancouver, Black Tiger Recordings studio on a full moon night. A dusty beat up package is deliverd by a smiling Buddha riding a white goat. Inside covered in sand is a busted up cassette, the tape is a mess of cut up strands. Is this real or is this just day 3 of Chihuahuan desert peyote? The Buddha becons Hans to follow him into the light at the end of the tunnel... Never one to conform, Hans grabs the tape and slams the door. 7 months later, with a shop vac, 9 rolls of tape, 5 recording engineers and a small team of experts, the recording was recoverd, restored and remastered. It was no small task. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to hear for the first time, DJ Hans lost tape of Sunrise Beach! Love always, The Drunken Monkey.  

On the Road with eTravelogue
Issue 23 Chiricahua National Monument

On the Road with eTravelogue

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2006


Twenty seven million years ago a volcanic eruption of immense proportions shook the land around Chiricahua National Monument. One thousand times greater than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the Turkey Creek Caldera eruption eventually laid down two thousand feet of highly silicious ash and pumice. This mixture fused into a rock called rhyolitic tuff and eventually eroded into the spires and unusual rock formations of today. The monument is a mecca for hikers and birders. At the intersection of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts, and the southern Rocky Mountains and northern Sierra Madre in Mexico, Chiricahua plants and animals represent one of the premier areas for biological diversity in the northern hemisphere.Of historic interest is the Faraway Ranch, a pioneer homestead and later a working cattle and guest ranch. It is a significant example of human transformation of the western frontier from wilderness to the present settlement. Faraway Ranch offers glimpses into the lives of Swedish immigrants Neil and Emma Erickson, and their children. The house is furnished with historic artifacts which not only give us reminders of our youth and our ancestors, but one can also trace the development of technology during the first half of the twentieth century.This week's interview: Chiricahua National MonumentWebsites:http://www.eTravelogue.com/http://www.nps.gov/chirBe sure to stop by our site and suggest attractions that you think we should cover on the program!Listen to this issue