plant and ecosystems nerd

Fuck it. I'm just going to put things I like here.

[aw-tysm]

"We're not supposed to be honest when people ask us how we are?"

Uhm.. Actually, you can be. There's a lot of people who are honest when answering that question. They just do it in ways that don't come across so upsetting or depressing.

Many people sugarcoat their answers to be more palatable for a greeting, or for a start of a conversation. It can also just be a polite way of giving others an out for a potential depressing conversation they may not want to be a part of.

These responses usually come in forms like, - "How are you?/How's it going?" - "Could be better." "It's definitely going." "I'm still alive." "I'm getting there." "New day, new problems." "Well, I'm still here." "Same old." "It's not all sunshine." "It's moving along". "It is what it is." "Not great but I'll survive." "Hoping tomorrow comes quickly." And many more responses like this. These are all ways of basically saying "Things are kinda/very shit at the moment for me". But they just don't go into detail about it. They are being honest, without the extra information.

If the other person doesn't want to go further into this then they may just responed with something like "I feel you", or "That's relatable", or "Yeh, that's life". Which are basically ways of saying "I acknowledge things aren't easy right now", without having to go into a conversation about it. Not everyone has the emotional energy to deal with conversations like that in that moment and that's okay.

Honesty doesn't need to come with the extra information. A lot of people won't give the extra information and that's the difference.

[todaysbird]

Weird q that’s a bit of a reach.

I’m writing a piece on the now-extinct NH native Smooth-slender Crabgrass. I’ve already had an interviewee back out, and my deadline is 7/23/26 (yeah I know). Since this plant has been extinct for close to a century, I’m not particularly looking for someone with close experience with this specific species, but am looking for botany/ecology informed interviewees who are some combination of:

Informed on this species

Informed on endangered plants/plant extinctions generally

Is familiar with Rock Rimmon Park (Manchester NH USA) & its diverse ecosystem

Might have a personal connection to NH / northeastern USA

If this is you and you’d like to be interviewed (will give publication details privately), shoot me a DM with some information about why you feel this would fit you!

[androdragynous]

there is a screen reader / magnification program that is the only one the low vision clinic knows of with these features and it is $650 Canadian Dollars behind specific approved vendors that require you to be geographically close to them and get government approval of a degree that I am only just now reaching after being visually impaired for going on seven years. I feel normal about this

[androdragynous]

if you can code a program that does any or all of the following:

Magnifies a display beyond standard options with keyboard / mouse movement inputs or voice commands,

Can read text on the screen,

Has different color filter options for text / background distinction,

Can change and magnify the cursor beyond standard amounts,

Works on Windows or more than just Windows,

Has a keyboard echo (says the character you've pressed on the keyboard out loud)

... there is a genuine, GENUINE need for you to code this and put it at a more accessible price point than $650 Canadian Dollars which I also just learned is a SUBSCRIPTION FEE AND NOT EVEN PERPETUAL. if you are reading this and able to code I am begging you. would genuinely change lives

[thickness-protection-program]

According to fox entertainment this is who we should be afraid of. I didn't know who Francesca Hong was 10 minutes ago but thankfully now I'm aware of this monster and her monsterous policies

[libraford]

An incomplete list of

Potions of Hydration!

Earlier this week I mentioned putting pickle juice in my water to replenish electrolytes. I work outside in a very hot and humid area, so it was very necessary.

Since then, a LOT of people have chimed in with their favorite hot weather drinks. I want to try... all of them. I've only had a few. Many of them are similar, but I still think its cool how many variations there are for 'its fucking hot out here and I don't want to die.'

So here is the incomplete list.

ORS (oral rehydration solution) (link has several recipes)

Shrub (sharaab)

Agua de pepino

Switchel

Posca

Ayran

Straight up drinking pickle juice (small doses)

Agua fresca

Sekanjabin

Pickle lemonade

Lebanese lemonade

Salted watermelon

Jamaica/hibiscus tea

Lebu pani

Ayuvedic gatorade

Soda chanh muôi

Suero

Aam paan

Sharbat

-

These ones were given to me without names, and were just lists of ingredients, to taste:

- water and umezu

- diluted apple juice with lemon and salt

-watermelon, lime juice, mint

- sparkling water, mint leaves, lemon or lime juice, cucumber

-coconut water, lime juice, salt

-salt, lemon juice, water

-orange juice, salt, sugar, water, lime or lemon juice

-elderflower syrup and lime juice in water.

There are probably more! Hydrate or die straight!

[catchymemes]

[aeliad]

HI LET’S SHARE NICOLE’S WORDS ON THE SUBJECT! 

It has been literal years but every time I see Martin’s tweets posted somewhere and his word is shared as truth while her post is not shared it sort of reiterates the fact that we trust men to speak about feminism more than we believe women who experience it. 

Interesting, innit? https://medium.com/@nickyknacks/working-while-female-59a5de3ad266

[wiseacrewhimsy]

Reading her account of how their boss treated her blows me away. Men are so emboldened that they will literally admit to illegal discrimination casually and face no consequences.

[the-geek-cornucopia]

In all the years of seeing this post I’ve never seen a link to her side. Didn’t even know she’d written one.

[pluts04]

Adding screenshots of her post. His whole post is there without needing a link. Hers should be, too.

Also, she posted this is 2017! It’s fucking 2020 and I’ve seen his side of this for years, but it took 3 years for her side to make its way to my dash…

[thou-creature-of-the-deep]

I’ve reblogged his story at least twice; it’s time for Nicole’s.

[samsaragalasinzaraxazeal]

Reblogged him, bout time I got to reblog her.

[petewentzisblack1312]

if you are from the united kingdom, do you know what apprenticeship was in the context of emancipation from chattel slavery?

yes

no

not from the uk

Remaining time: 5 days 4 hours

reblog for more responses please

[petewentzisblack1312]

if you are from the united kingdom, do you know what manumission was in the context of chattel slavery?

yes

no

not from the united kingdom

Remaining time: 5 days 4 hours

[petewentzisblack1312]

if you are from the united kingdom, do you know the details regarding reparations to involved parties in the emancipation proclaimation?

yes

no

not from the uk

Remaining time: 5 days 4 hours

[yeyinde]

Collins is gone.

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.

Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.

All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.

After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.

It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.

And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.

The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.

Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.

ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.

Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.

*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.

If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.

items needed are: food, diapers, medical masks, men’s and women’s joggers (all sizes), children’s clothing (newborn to size 14), children’s shoes, summer clothing, men’s clothing, toiletries (lotion, Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, etc.), strollers, adult depends-all sizes, dog & cat food

wīya ispīh iyiniw-kiskīyihtamowin pasikōpayiki kāwi askiy ta-iyihyīmakan

[plantnerderyallday]

In case I'm not the last to know, they figured out the source of the cyclospora outbreak:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday warned consumers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. A record number of cyclospora cases have been reported in more than 30 states, and experts have said not every recent U.S. illness might be caused by a single source.

A Food and Drug Administration investigation identified a single supplier of the lettuce. The federal warnings to consumers did not identify the company, but a federal official who was briefed on the investigation and not authorized to discuss it told The Associated Press it was Taylor Farms of Salinas, California.

Taylor Farms, which has been tied to foodborne outbreaks in the past, did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Taco Bell has removed the lettuce voluntarily. Read more:

Lettuce at Taco Bell in 5 states confirmed as a source of diarrhea-causing parasite

Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served by Taco Bell locations across five U.S. states as a source of the widesp

[starsandsupernovae]

"there's no platonic explanation for this" some of y'all need better friends

[starsandsupernovae]

"there's no platonic explanation for this" some of y'all need to be better friends

[plantnerderyallday]

I saw your native bees post and I have 1 question: do you know how the hell I get my Lomatium dissectum to flower?

I got a young plant from a nursery, it had 1 stalk sprouting, it got rained on for like 2 days and was upset enough to start shrivelling up.. I got it in a huge pot so that it won't get overwatered...... but still it's looking like it went dormant for the summer. Which i suppose is fine, but I have no clue how to make sure it stays alive until next spring 😭

Patience! Young plants can be finicky, and this species sometimes doesn't flower every year. All you have to do to keep it alive is give it the conditions of it's native range (well, and keep it weeded soit doesn't get out competed!). Assuming you're in it's native range, than the one concern is that pots can get hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than plants planted in the ground will experience. Concider shading the pot itself during the summer, and moving it to a sheltered spot in the winter. Or have it as a pot-in-a-pot. Another is, what kind of soil did you plant it in? It's going to want something that drains really well.

But yeah, they do go dormant in the summer typically, so that isn't a concern. It's just doing what it's supposed to do. Good luck with your plant, I hope it grows well for you!

(If you're outside it's native range, than pick a weather station from somewhere within it's native range, and only water it when it rains where that station is, and only as much as that station gets. Ideally a station from the location where it's population was collected from)

[turtlesandfrogs]

Practical tip for those dealing with wildfire smoke now: you can make a very effective air filter for a reasonable amount of money using a box fan & one of those filters meant for your furnace.

Also, I've managed to pick up 2 of the box fans for very cheap/free from yard sales. Make sure you get a filter rated for wildfire smoke, I think this one cost about $20.

These make a huge difference in the indoor air quality.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Posting again because of the fire situation up in Canada and resulting smoke. If you're dealing with wildfire smoke, these are surprisingly effective and relatively cheap.

Just tape the filter to the fan, making sure the air can't sneak around the edges. I used painter's tape, but I'm sure duct tape or similar would work just as well.

[femme-bo]

Also known as a Corsi-Rosenthal box, this DIY method of building your own air filter with MERV13 furnace filters and a box fan are an easy a

once again

[trigeda-republican-army-lexa]

If you make a triangle out of two filters and tape that to the back, it improves the flow rate through the box fan by a lot.

Also, apparently you can use 5 and make a box for even better airflow.

i guess you can just use 4 if you place the fan on top and the opening on the floor.

[turtlesandfrogs]

This is one way to do it, with some other tips:

[turtlesandfrogs]

Annual reblog: I've got (mild) asthma and allergies, and these fan+filter set ups make a huge difference during bad air quality events. I suggest buying a filter before you need it, both so that there's not a demand spike leading to shortages, and also so you just have it on hand.

[plantnerderyallday]

It's supposed to be a hot and dry summer, so here's an annual reminder that you can make effective filters that work very well while being pretty cheap.

They also really do work- as long as you get filters rated for wildfire smoke. The Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in particular have been tested throughly, including by people who actually know smart they're doing. You can look up the research. It's cool.

Here's the simplest version:

Pros:

- cheap, especially if you already have a box fan and a furnace filter.

- fast, so much better than nothing

Cons:

- will burn out your fan filter much more quickly than other options

- have to remember to change the filter more often

Here's the step up:

This uses two filters, and two triangles of cardboard top and bottom to fill the gap. Yes, this is a still from someone's youtube video showing how to make it, no I didn't actually watch the video.

Pros:

- still fairly cheap

- fan motors last longer

- have twice as long before you have to change the filters

Cons:

- fiddly to make

And then what I, and many others, now use, the corsi-rosenthal box:

Pros:

- since switching, I haven't burnt out a fan motor yet

- 4 filters means 4 times as long before you need to change them.

- easier to make than the triangle

Cons:

- have to buy 4 filters at once

- takes up a notable amount of space.

They also have helped my allergies considerably.

[geopsych]

Another public service announcement. This time it’s air quality. Some of you are probably in it already if you’re in eastern Canada, New England or New York, but it’s sliding south, a huge mass of wildfire smoke. Please be careful. When it starts getting bad, especially, like when the sky gets orange or brownish, it’s best to run air purifiers in the house and wear N95 or KN95 masks when you have to go outside.

It harms your lungs and it’s especially bad for children (and pets!) or anyone with health problems. There are all kinds of chemicals in that smoke. It’s not only trees that are burning. The heat already makes it harder to breath. This makes it worse.

If any of you are experiencing it, feel free to tell about it in the comments. 💚

Also, throw out the mask every day and shower before you get in bed if you’ve been out or you’ll be breathing the particles all night. Stuff like that. It gets all over you, your skin, your hair, your clothes.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

It's a large (and shifting) smoke plume, so stay safe, folks. Look up how to make a "Corsi-Rosenthal Box" if you need an air purifier inside.

[plantnerderyallday]

As someone who's been through really bad air quality and has mild asthma, heartily seconding the corsi-rosenthal boxes. Even a single (appropriately rated) furnace filter and a box fan will make an incredible difference. The difference between wheezing and not wheezing for me.

[plantanarchy]

pulling weeds is weirdly a learned skill that requires way more technical and practical knowledge than people realize

[plantnerderyallday]

Sometimes, when I go to learn something new, it feels like I've hit a brick wall. Terms feel slippery, concepts feel disconnected, and it's hard to see how to apply new knowledge to my life. That's kinda what learning about solar power is feeling like, so I had the thought to live blog as I read the books, to hopefully force my brain to process the information. Come with me as I learn the basics from library books!

I'd really like to have a small solar set up to help in the case that the power goes out. I don't want to run my whole house, I mean I would, but I think that is out of my budget and skill range.

I was thinking enough to run a electric burner and charge phones for when the power goes out in the winter, or enough to run a fan for a corsi-rosenthal box and a mini-fridge if the power goes out during a combined heat wave & wild fire smoke event. I've heard that ac units have a power usage spike when they first start running that makes them hard to power off smaller than whole house set ups, so I was thinking that I could use the fridge to cool water to then use to cool our bodies.

I'm going to start reading 'Off Grid Solar Power' by Mark Kessler.

[plantnerderyallday]

Fucking tumblr ate my post, but I am not redoing it as I have to get ready for tomorrow. But I'll do more tomorrow. Probably.

First bit was basic pros and cons of grid tie vs off grid, and basic electrical physics.

[plantnerderyallday]

Sometimes, when I go to learn something new, it feels like I've hit a brick wall. Terms feel slippery, concepts feel disconnected, and it's hard to see how to apply new knowledge to my life. That's kinda what learning about solar power is feeling like, so I had the thought to live blog as I read the books, to hopefully force my brain to process the information. Come with me as I learn the basics from library books!

I'd really like to have a small solar set up to help in the case that the power goes out. I don't want to run my whole house, I mean I would, but I think that is out of my budget and skill range.

I was thinking enough to run a electric burner and charge phones for when the power goes out in the winter, or enough to run a fan for a corsi-rosenthal box and a mini-fridge if the power goes out during a combined heat wave & wild fire smoke event. I've heard that ac units have a power usage spike when they first start running that makes them hard to power off smaller than whole house set ups, so I was thinking that I could use the fridge to cool water to then use to cool our bodies.

I'm going to start reading 'Off Grid Solar Power' by Mark Kessler.