Tell us about your green thumb (or lack thereof)

[samhexum]

 

First-ever World's Ugliest Lawn competition crowns woman who says 'ex-husband left with lawnmower back in 2016'

A yard in Australia took home first place in the first-ever World’s Ugliest Lawn competition.

[samhexum]

Scientists have confirmed the existence of the world’s oldest forest — and the ancient, secret spot is only a short drive from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.

First discovered at the bottom of an abandoned quarry near the town of Cairo in the Catskill Mountains back in 2009, the experts have been working to learn the exact ages of the plants and trees growing in the area, where rocks reportedly up to 385 million years old hold the wooded area’s fossilized treasure.

Researchers from SUNY Binghamton and the University of Cardiff in Wales, were excited to find evidence of extremely early plants — some that would have “even been seen by dinosaurs,” the BBC reported.

The forest, just over two hours’ drive from NYC’s George Washington Bridge, once spread out over an area of about 250 miles. The soil sifters are said to have been focusing their efforts on an area roughly half the size of a football field.

Rocks containing fossils dating back 385 million years were found in the scenic mountain region. brandtbolding – stock.adobe.com

“The Cairo site is very special,” Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, told Science in 2019.

“You are walking through the roots of ancient trees. Standing on the quarry surface we can reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination,” he said.

For years, Berry and his colleagues have been examining plant and tree fossils in the area to help them build their case.

The New York site joins more far-flung locales such as the Amazon rainforest and Japan’s Yakushima Forest in an elite group of O.G.’s.

The site isn’t currently open to the public, but is surrounded by a wealth of scenic beauty. demerzel21 – stock.adobe.com

Those interested in visiting the exact site will be disappointed, at least for the time being — the quarry is owned by the Town of Cairo, and is currently strictly reserved for scientific study, out of concern for preservation of the area.

There’s plenty else to see in the area however.

Skiing at Windham Mountain and the trendy shops and restaurants of the city of Hudson are both just minutes away, while the hiking trails of Catskill Park are right on Cairo’s doorstep.

The Cairo site isn’t the only extremely old find in the region — another forest site was previously discovered in nearby Gilboa, dating back just three years shy of the current crownbearer.

[samhexum]

 

Richmond Hill HS partners w/ NY Sun Works, launching Hydroponics Lab to cultivate sustainability education

Edited April 4 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[Welshman]

Chance would be a fine thing in this neck of the woods. On average between January and March, this part of the United Kingdom is supposed to get no more than ten inches of rain. In that same period this year we have recieved 13 inches of rain and as such the ground is so sodden everytime it rains thereafter, flooding happens in people's gardens

[samhexum]

On 8/13/2023 at 9:29 PM, sync said:

Kudos to all the green thumbs.

Artificial greenery has perished in my care.

What did you do, cook for it? 

@sync:

I am so envious of those with the ability/skill/desire to prepare food(s).  I've trained my body to endure my food preparations, but I wouldn't serve my preparations to other human beings unless they were starving on death row.  

 

[samhexum]

[ICTJOCK]

Ready for spring annuals.   It has been a busy spring with non escort clients and tax season for sure.    Ready to get out and with it with both annual planting and perennials.  I not only have a green thumb,  but a green hand as well.

[samhexum]

On 11/21/2023 at 2:47 PM, samhexum said:

Council Member James Gennaro and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams joined students and faculty at John Bowne High School to announce a $5 million donation to the school’s agricultural program, recognized nationally as an exceptional urban agricultural education for its students. Running since 1964 and currently consisting of more than 500 students and eight teachers, it is run in conjunction with the FFA (Future Farmers of America). 

One Iowa high school student thought of a moo-ving way to ask her boyfriend to prom.

Late last month, Emma Lihs, a junior at Bondurant-Farrar, asked her boyfriend Wyatt Carlson, a senior at Dowling Catholic, to the annual event by writing "prom?" on the side of her pet cow.

"It was awesome," Carlson tells PEOPLE of Lihs' creative promposal. "I live in the city but have always loved agriculture and livestock, and she knew that."

"I was shocked to say the least. It was awesome and of course I said yes," he adds. "Having a cow in your front yard is pretty uncommon, but always welcome."

According to Lihs, coming up with the idea to write "prom?" in white chalk on the side of her beloved pet cow — named Fern — was a no-brainer.

"You can say Fern and I share Wyatt. I’m pretty convinced she likes him more than me. She was totally on board to get dressed up to surprise our boyfriend," Lihs jokingly adds.

Carlson later returned the favor to his girlfriend not long after when he brought a horse to her house to ask her to prom at his school, holding up a sign that read: "I am not horsin' around this time, join this cowboy at prom!"

Carlson tells PEOPLE that he and girlfriend Lihs met through the National FFA Organization, which is a nonprofit career and technical student organization that teaches agricultural education to middle and high schoolers.

"He was a 2023-2024 officer, and I am now a 2024-2025 district officer," Lihs says, noting: "Wyatt and I honestly just clicked right off the bat and have been loving every moment since."

"We have a common love for agriculture and growing the community," Carlson adds. "We both are outgoing and love to try new things."

As for their future plans, Carlson says he and Lihs will be continuing to focus on all things animal-related. "We will be showing cow calf together at the county fair," he tells PEOPLE.

Edited April 14 by samhexum
for shits and giggles

[samhexum]

Honey, they're home! 

Birdhouse-style ‘bee hotels’ coming to 7 NYC plazas to help at-risk pollinators

The city’s buzzworthy project provides nutrition and nesting in the form of wooden boxes on poles and bee-friendly vegetation, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said Thursday.

 

Edited April 25 by samhexum
because he's bored as hell

[samhexum]