Barbara Gillette, Master Gardener

Barbara Gillette is a Master Gardener, Herbalist, beekeeper, and journalist with three decades of experience propagating and growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals. From sowing seed to harvest, from heirloom tomatoes to wild orchids, her gardening experience encompasses first hand knowledge of best practices for success. 

She has worked with the University of Kentucky Department of Agricultural Communications and with several commercial greenhouse operations and was past president of the Anderson County Farmer's Market Cooperative. She has cultivated and planted more than 150 shrubs and trees on her eight acre property over the past 23 years.

Amanda Rose Newton, Board Certified Entomologist

Amanda Rose Newton is a pest specialist, reviewing pest control content for The Spruce's Cleaning Review Board. She is a board-certified entomologist and volunteers for USAIDs Farmer to Farmer program. Currently, she is a professor of Horticulture, an Education Specialist, and pest specialist.She has a decade's worth of experience in both the academic and professional sides of horticulture and entomology. Her focus is on educating gardeners to use sustainable practices that will lead to improved food security and quality for the next generation.

Julie Thompson-Adolf, Master Gardener

Julie Thompson-Adolf is a Master Gardener and author with over 30 years of experience with year-round organic gardening, seed starting and saving, growing heirloom plants, perennials, and annuals, and sustainable and urban farming.

She’s a Master Gardener, served on the National Garden Bureau’s Plant Nerds team, and joined with television host P. Allen Smith for Garden2Blog. Julie is a member of Garden Comm: Garden Communicators International, Slow Food, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and many other environmental and gardening groups.

Debra LaGattuta, Master Gardener

Debra is a Master Gardener who received her official title in 2015. She has over 30+ years of experience as a home gardener experienced in designing, planting, and maintaining cottage-style perennial, vegetable, and four-season container gardens.

She is the lead gardener in a Plant-A-Row, which is a program that offers thousands of pounds of organically-grown vegetables to local food banks. She is also the author of several gardening presentations on topics including perennial plant primers, hardy perennials for different zones, and vegetable gardening.

Andrew Hughes, Certified Arborist

Andrew Hughes is a certified arborist, member of the International Society of Arborists specializing in tree heal care, and reviews tree content on The Spruce's Gardening Review Board. He founded and runs Urban Loggers, LLC, a company offering residential tree services in the Midwest and Connecticut.

Mary Marlowe Levette, Master Gardener

Mary has been a Master Gardener for 30+ years and a commercial and residential gardener. She is a former Clemson University Extension Agent. She worked to develop the Riverbanks Botanical Garden that opened in 1995.

Along with her brother, Mary owns Marlowe Farms Apple Orchards and has 50+ years of experience in vegetables, annuals, and perennials in the home garden as well as commercial crops.

Sarhul the Spring Festival

Sarhul, the spring festival, holds significant cultural importance for indigenous tribes such as the Mundas, Oraons, and Santhals. Particularly for the Oraon community, it stands out as the largest spring festival observed during the months of March and April. In their native language, it is referred to as “Khaddi,” symbolizing the symbolic union or marriage of the earth. The significance of the forest flower known as sakhua or Sal is paramount as it symbolizes the cultural importance deeply rooted within the forest ecosystem. Despite their inherent significance, forest flowers often go unnoticed, highlighting the need to acknowledge and appreciate their cultural and ecological value. During this festival, reverence is bestowed upon Dharti Mata, as, the wife of Lord Rama encompassing the celebration of all forms of nature.This festival exemplifies the indigenous tribes’ conviction in the autonomy of their nature-centric worship practices which shows their core value of religion different from brahamnical ideologies. It underscores their deep-rooted gratitude towards nature for the sustenance and resources it provides, showcasing a distinct cultural reverence for their environment and its bounty.

This festival provides a strong sense of identity, particularly for theOraon tribe who predominantly engaged in agriculture, adheres to Sarnaism as its religious belief system which is not Hinduism revering nature as integral to their spirituality, this community celebrates the festival by offering homage to trees and various natural elements.

Photo taken from the seashore

Old and Gold Images of the Robel Hossen (April 2019) Laltila, Kathalia, Sonamura, Sepahijala, West Tripura

Water and forests in the South: New Southern Forest Outlook science synthesis

The new Southern Forest Outlook report on water is designed to inform forest sector decisionmakers and the interested public about observed trends, anticipated futures, and critical issues based on authoritative synthesis and interpretation of existing science, data, and 50-year projections.

African elephants (Loxodonta). African bush elephant (L. africana) and the smaller African forest

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The spots on ladybird beetles serve as a warning to predators

The spots on a ladybug aren't only for beautification purposes. They also serve as a warning to predators, thereby protecting the insect from predation. 

The bright colors and spots warn would-be predators that the insect is toxic and tastes horrible.

Apart from their colors, another one of the ladybug defenses is the foul-smelling blood they emit. This yellow liquid comes from their leg joints, leaving yellow stains on the surface below. This liquid is toxic to various ladybug predators, protecting these little creatures from harm as predators avoid the seemingly sickly beetle. They also have a third defense mechanism, which is to play dead.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard: The Swing

Rococo, style in interior design, the decorative arts, painting, architecture, and sculpture that originated in Paris in the early 18th century but was soon adopted throughout France and later in other countries, principally Germany and Austria. It is characterized by lightness, elegance, and an exuberant use of curving natural forms in ornamentation. The word Rococo is derived from the French word rocaille, which denoted the shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.

What Is The Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert spans approximately 9.2 million square kilometers and is in fact the largest hot desert in the world. Located in North Africa, it covers parts of eleven countries, including Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, Algeria, and Tunisia. This expanse of arid land is characterized by its often harsh climate, with massive temperature swings that can soar above 50 degrees Celsius during the day and plummet below freezing at night.

The Sahara's Geographic Landscapes

The Sahara is built up of a diverse amount of geographic landscapes, comprising mainly of sand dunes, gravel plains, rocky plateaus, and even some mountain ranges, such as the Ahaggar (with peaks rising above 9,500 feet) and Tibesti ranges (containing Mount Emi Koussi, a peak that rises a lofty 11,204 feet). Its iconic sand dunes, particularly in Algeria and Libya, can reach heights of up to 180 meters!

Is The Sahara Growing

The short answer is yes. But, how do we know this? A number of studies, including one that spanned 93 years by researchers at the University of Maryland, have concluded that the sands of the Sahara have been expanding for some time, primarily southward into the Sahel region. Having grown an estimated 10% since 1920, this is an undeniable fact that continues to be demonstrated year after year, with expansion often at its fastest during the summer months when the already dry desert becomes even more absent of water.

Strategies To Combat Desertification In The Sahara

As mentioned before, the Sahara's growth results from the complex interplay between natural cycles and climate change. Tackling this issue requires understanding these drivers and implementing strategies to mitigate their impacts on vulnerable regions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting sustainable land management practices are some of the steps we can also take part in to help address the root causes of desertification.