Comments on: To Jeffers with Jaf: A trip across time, space, and culture.

By: jaf

jaf — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:15:05 +0000

Birger, I’m not sure, but some people are probably studying it at the University of MN here.

I believe the DNR works on that, too (like proper times to mow the ditches to avoid hurting ditch-dwellers.)

My parents built 3 rain gardens. Then tend to help use water properly (although they have been getting a lot of rain this year, so they have had to pump them out a few times.)

My grandparents’ land is prairie (with woods along the river) and they have a lot of rocks.

Oh, also what you plant should also depend on the soil chemistry and typical moisture or whether it’s planted in a natural depression (which will get more water). Stuff like that. My parents built a new house a year and a half ago and are finishing up the touches to get it certified MN Green Star. (Like Energy Star but specific to MN). This also includes getting rid of invasive species! (Booooo Buckthorn!)

By: Birger Johansson

Birger Johansson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:12:03 +0000

Jaf
Can you help praire biodiversity along? I was thinking, water holes/springs can be a limiting factor for wildlife when it is very hot, would an artificial pond or two help, or would they twist the wildlife species abundance away from the normal?
I recall that ditches act as small micro-refugia for birds and plants in agricultural areas, so do hedges.
Birches alas consume a lot of water, but would patches with other trees and bushes be helpful? Piles of stones buffer the temperature for insects and reptiles hiding inside, and so on. A flat prairie habitat has few rock outcroppings, and may be a bit short of stones.

By: jaf

jaf — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:40:29 +0000

@Birger: Prairie itself is actually quite beautiful. My parents planted some native prairie plants by their house (to minimize the area needing to be mowed, and they also planted a better, deeper rooted grass.) With prairie flowers, there is always something blooming. If you do it right (especially with getting rid of the exotic clovers early) you can have a beautiful, mostly native prairie in an area in your yard. It’s breathtaking!
You just have to (especially initially) be diligent at keeping out the naughty plants like red and white clovers, exotic thistles, and the weedy grasses.

Real prairie can make flat land beautiful 🙂

By: Birger Johansson

Birger Johansson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:19:34 +0000

A. Leahy @ 5
Regarding the misuse of the California landscape and nature, there is a book I think is named “Farewell promised land” about how this originaly wood- and savannah-covered place has been reduced to what it is today.
— — —
If Minnesotans are interested in landscaping, they should make a few artificial hills, they would stand out for miles in the flat landscape. I still recall the three burial mounds outside Uppsala, Sweden. They were not big as royal burial mounds go, but they still caught both the eye and the imagination. A Ziggurat, anyone? 🙂

By: A. Leahy

A. Leahy — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:07:11 +0000

We moved to Southern California two years ago, and I’m still trying to grasp the weather and geography. I earned my PhD in Athens, Ohio, and my husband earned his in Corvallis, Oregon. Knowing that Athens averages almost the same amount of annual precipitation as Corvallis (when we hear that it rains all the time in Oregon) really made me think about how we perceive our surroundings. Of course, Orange, California averages almost 30 inches less than Corvallis–I feel my lips cracking with the thought.

By: jaf

jaf — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:48:29 +0000

Taking someone unfamiliar to the territory reminded me how much history there is in southern MN!

It was a wonderful trip. (It was super awesome to see the kids enthralled by the science, history and culture).

I look forward to another adventure!

By: Mal Adapted

Mal Adapted — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:54:41 +0000

Darwin noted the tendency of rocks that were originally on the soil surface to sink out of sight, and concluded that earthworms buried them. He wrote it up in one of his last published works, “The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms”.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:15:22 +0000

No wasps that I could see! I’m sure there must be a signal of drier (or wetter) periods in the soil development, phytolihts etc of nearby sediments.

By: Birger Johansson

Birger Johansson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:38:04 +0000

Does the region have any relic features from the period during the medieval era when wind patterns were slightly different? During this time, winds came from the south (and the Mexican steppes/deserts) instead of south-east (the Mexican Gulf) making the conditions much drier, which is why the Anazasi society broke down.
There are even “fossil” sand dunes somewhere in the praire, created when the moist winds returned and grass suddenly was able to survive on the surface and freezing the shape of the dunes for posterity.
If the Native Americans who carved the symbols in the rock were living there only a relatively short period before shifting climate displaced them, it could account for the limited amount of glyphs.
Are there any signs of mud wasp nests covering the symbols? That would permit dating the maximum age.