About 1500 patriots saying NO KINGS in a town of 5000. Beautiful sunshine and 40 F
Chelsea, Michigan
Remote
Definitely Doc D
@docdieterlen@urbanists.social
mastodon 4.7.3Author, podcaster, designer, scientist, intermittent visionary
Profile pic is an unstoppable seedling of Japanese Knotweed growing up through a rusty storm drain grate.
201 Followers
261 Following
28 Posts
Joined November 28, 2022
Website:
"30% Wild: Scary Animals in the Backyard" podcast:
"Design by Deficit: Neglect and the Accidental City" book/ebook:
Pronouns:
she/her
🌱 Celebrating the start of making newspaper pots in which to start seeds with the annual reposting of the instructions for the pots!
These are square pots. You can plant the entire pot into the ground, but I usually gently pull off at least some of the newspaper first.
https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Newspaper-Pots/
#gardening #seedstarting #reuse #growyourown #RaisedBed #vegetables #flowers #spring
When you're reading up on folklore for the "weeds and witches" season of your podcast and find this witchy beauty sprang up overnight your front step all on its own 👀
Bonus: I have open shopping tabs *right now* for a Foxglove-Daisy-Tulip flag - which will fly directly above this plant 👀👀🧚♀️
So...guess I should buy that flag, eh?
#foxglove #30PercentWild #rewilding #gardenmagic #resist #gardening #Bloomscrolling #wildflowers
New England moving toward legalizing plug-in/balcony solar
All 6 states- even New Hampshire- have legislation in process. Maine's could be signed into law next week.
Electricity is expensive in New England by US standards and prices are rising, like everywhere (thanks, 🍊)
Momentum is building on this!
#solar #cleanenergy #balconysolar #pluginsolar #electrification #climatechange #climatehope #maine #newengland
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/balcony-solar-bills-make-inroads-new-england
Outlining a new podcast episode on weeds and the Victorian language of flowers.
Can't place "Speedwell," so I go digging, and it's:
- Veronica spp, a mat-forming weed I pull up
- been used as a cure-all tea since the Romans
- edible
- everywhere because our Victorian forebears loved it in their gardens.
🤯
What else don't I know about these mundane-yet-amazing plants?
Anybody got a favorite Speedwell fact or myth?
#gardening #speedwell #herbology #tea #Victorian #weeds #bloomscrolling
One to bookmark and boost: https://www.climate.us/
New climate information website by ex-NOAA employees. Providing real factual and scientific information, in contrast to 🍊💩
Story about the site: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/26/nx-s1-5869615/climate-noaa-data-trump-doge
#climatechange #science #climate #ElNino #climatescience #NOAA
The classic spring question of what to pick, what to cover, and what to let tough out tonight's hard freeze.
Predicted low of 24 F (-4 C)
The Greek oregano I started from seed last year is flourishing (so proud!), and about to start flowering. So this is the moment: freeze or dry to preserve it for winter?
#gardening #herbgarden #herbs #oregano #eatwhatyougrow #foodpreservation #KitchenGarden
Record-breaking amount of wind and solar installed in 2025
Despite the irrational and weird vendetta of 🍊 toward wind:
From global energy think tank Ember: the world installed a record 814 GW of new solar and wind capacity in 2025, 17% more than in 2024 (696 GW).
Boosted by @octothorpe@mastodon.online
River otters are back, and Ohio has led the way. Yes, *that* Ohio:
"Otters are back. And their presence proves something worth remembering. Healing is possible. Ecosystems can recover. The story of the Great Lakes – its waters, its people, its wildlife – is still unfolding."
#wildlife #otter #greatlakes #Ohio #ontario #Michigan #newyork #cleanwater #waterquality #pollution #habitat #ecology #Minnesotahttps://www.rewildingmag.com/the-river-otters-remarkable-comeback/
First ebook from my podcast, out this week!
Leave scrolling behind with a walk in the spooky/funny/slightly delirious storybook world of "30% Wild"
All the Season 1 episode intro stories, plus a bonus one, full of wise coyotes, underwater panthers, disappearing farmhouses, lost sharks, and wolves making poor hiring decisions.
Not on Amazon, just right here: https://ko-fi.com/s/fc9563f5fd
#rewilding #wildlife #campfirestories #ghoststory #ebook #indie #podcast #nature
Replying to
@MostlyTato they really are attractive plants, and certainly trouble free
"Red flare for Trump: 'No Kings' rallies a show of political force"
I don't love everything about how this is written, but I do love its assertion that
💙 there was at least one No Kings event in every congressional district in the US on Saturday.
💙 And that more protesters were from rural or suburban areas than last time.
First time growing sweet potatoes!
Saw slips for sale and couldn't resist, even though it's still frosty at night here.
🥶
So....how long can I keep these slips in a jar of water? I need 2 weeks to heat the soil with black plastic. Will the slips last that long?
#gardening #sweetpotatoes #vegetablegardening #eatwhatyougrow #michigan
Replying to
@michaelgemar@cosocial.ca @hazelweakly@hachyderm.io @CowboyWho@libranigans.com underappreciated post!
Replying to
@shorooq@mastodon.social hi! There's a big, active, and very friendly gardening community here, so some of them will overlap with your specific interests. #gardening and #compost are pretty active. Not sure about your specific hashtags, so you might have more luck with those more general ones.
How has your experience on Upscrolled been, overall? I just learned about it.
Replying to
@virtuosew I will look this up!
Replying to
@ScribblersEmporium Alberta gonna Alberta, I guess?
Replying to
@LifeTimeCooking thanks for the link on uses for Yarrow! I'm outlining a podcast episode on "weeds for the medicine chest," and yarrow will be one of the featured plants.
At a previous house, I had it take over more or less everywhere: flower beds, in the lawn, even growing up through the gravel in the driveway. Unstoppable and dependable, marvelous qualities!
Replying to
@redcrew I saw someone comment that recycling centers often get stacks of unsold newspapers. So I'm thinking of trying that. We only have the little weekly papers from Chelsea and Stockbridge.
Replying to
@redcrew hi! I haven't worked out my schedule of what to start when yet, but I'm doing some perennials and a couple herbs besides basil this year. Those will probably be the earliest to get going inside.
I may also have ordered some seeds for annual flowers that will need an early start. Can't really recall- lost in the frenzy of ordering seeds 😂
How about you?
Replying to
@nxskok could be! I learned to fold a paper cup as a child, and I think that was similar as well
Replying to
@HeatherInNZ I used to make that kind, too, although I never bought the tool for it. They both work fine, in my experience. I find the square origami kind are a little sturdier, but OTOH you've got that fun little round pot maker already
Replying to
@AmateurExpert soon! A little early to be starting seeds here in Michigan, but it won't be long!
Replying to
@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social the bit in your linked article about the plan for a bigger better presidents' park with these and "interactivity" - 😱😱😱😱! Are these concrete? Because freeze/thaw will do some great work here if it gets a chance
Replying to
@redcrew let me know if it works! I'd be going to the Western Washtenaw drop off site, but they probably have the same policies
Replying to
@rooftopjaxx had to look that bee up. I'm in the US, but I'm sure we have local pollinators of some sort that rely on speedwells too 🐝
Replying to
@chertridge@beige.party thanks, this is reassuring!