Silence
Or, the direct effect of a severe drought and the opportunistic growth of weeds
We’re on the far northeastern end of the regionally-extensive severe to extreme drought that extends from the US west coast to the Great Lakes region, so the weeds in our small hay fields have been having a great time, and I’ve been scurrying around in the humid heat trying to beat back their evolutionary advantages under such adverse conditions. Therefore, there has been no time to finish writing what I am currently working on.
In the meantime, during this continuing attack of various plant and animal weed species, I heartily recommend reading Matthew Crawford’s stuff posted at Substack, starting here (A Living Organized Summary of Rounding the Earth's Primary Mission). The guy is clearly very bright, numerate, scientifically-minded, writes very well, and exhibits a dry and wry sense of humor. Employing the shorthand phrase formerly employed by fans of the late Rush Limbaugh, I admiringly say “ditto” to Crawford’s work on Substack.
Note that nearly all of Crawford’s stuff is (so far) free to the public.
Ooh, goody! Substack has stuff other than covid! I hope time will come when my mind is not completely consumed by all of the viral and mandate madness. As for the weeds, I'm going to be a renegade and say that you should consider leaving some! (if you don't already) I went down a deep hole of permaculture youtubing in the last year and my approach to the garden has now changed to "leave 'em and see what they do"! That, and a determination to leave the soil as untouched as possible for all the soil-crittur cities of fungi and bacteria. I have delighted in seeing the dandelions pop up and am now using their leaves to make an infusion every day to try and repair my covid-addled and jab-forced body. The clover is also left alone and I can't for the life of me think why I ever thought of it as a weed - given that it covers the soil, fixes nitrogen, and is really pretty. That aside, though, I'm sure you know this, but no doubt need to keep the voracious and inedible ones at bay - so there's no judging! I have been impressed by the dedication of people like Ray Archuleta in his mission to help regenerate the soils of America and am hopeful that soon there will be a sea change in agriculture towards more regenerative farming, with the (hopefully) attendant carbon sequestration that that could mean.