Philadelphia Flower Show- Don't Call it Trash

 I really liked this commercial exhibit. I thought it was perfect for the theme: Gardens of the Future. It was informative. It was colorful and artistic. It explained some current technology and innovation.

The full title was "Don't Call it Dirt, Don't Call it Trash." The explanation says, "This garden embodies the transformation of materials considered garbage... into recycled glass sand, biochar and compost."

I'll start with the one we are all familiar with- compost. "Food waste is combined with oxygen, water and microbes to break down scraps and make food waste compost." It talks about how much food waste is landfilled, and how Philadelphia now has a commercial composting business that is focused on reclaiming this resource to make rich soil.

They showed some of this soil, nicely decorated with some glass ornaments and garden plants

The glass is an important part of this exhibit, and one that I was a bit surprised at. I was vaguely aware of this use, but this educated me a lot more.

"Glass waste is crushed and seived to make glass sand." The explanation touches on a topic that is hot news in West Michigan- sand mining. It says that sand is an important component of engineered soil blends, and it is one of the most heavily extracted materials on the planet. Sources of construction-grade sand are running out, and there are increasing environmental concerns. (those of us near Ludington have sure heard about that in recent years!) Meanwhile, the US landfills 7 million tons of glass every year. Two businesses in Philadelphia are working to create sand from waste glass.

The display featured glass sand in several colors. I'm sure that for commercial use they don't pay much attention to color, but this was attractive.

I didn't know much at all about the third part of this exhibit. This is about biochar. "Wood waste is chipped and heated without oxygen to make biochar." OK, this is also how they used to make coke to smelt iron. Now I began to understand. This oven/kiln at Marquette along the NCT is one such structure. They would fill it tightly with wood, start it burning, seal it up to reduce the air and let it smoulder until the wood had all turned to charcoal/coke (both are high-carbon fuels mostly differentiated by various cantaminants they contain). This is the kiln at Marquette.


Then it is ground up. OK, so biochar can be used as a soil amendment. Reducing the amount of wood waste that is simply burned in the ordinary manner reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. That burning without much oxygen sequesters the carbon in the charred wood.

This is pure biochar. In actual use, it would be mixed with other soil components.

The exhibit also had some art made from recycled glass that I thought was cute.

The rest of the display featured nice plantings and more garden ornaments made of recycled glass.

I think that showcasing products and technologies like this are an important part of the Flower Show. Some displays I remember from other years are things like capturing rainwater, green roofs, urban gardens to reduce city temperatures, etc.

In other news, I was really tired today. Probably because yesterday was the first vendor event I've tried to do since being sick. I managed to do a few things, and walked 2 road miles with 15 pounds in my pack and an elevation change of 90 feet.

Miles hiked in 2025: 81.

See PFS-Florists of the Future

Working My Way East

  I left home at 7:45 am (on time, if you can believe it) with bags of recyclables for my companions.

First stop, Ann Arbor, to see my buddy Bill! No, the trail doesn't go through Ann Arbor, but Bill had to put a blaze on the pole in front of his house anyway. One really weird thing is that Bill lives very close to where my good friends Phil and Nan lived (where I stayed for a couple of summers while working in Ann Arbor). I used to walk Maggie on Bill's street, when she was a puppy.

We did all my errands and then Anne and Bill fed me dinner. Best part of it all is that I finally got to meet Anne.

After that, I moved on to the next leg of my journey. I'll tell you about that tomorrow, but I'm safely tucked in for a few hours until we have to head for the train station.

Woo hoo! I see Marie in about 18 hours, depending on how late the train runs.

See Ice- Not So Nice Today

The Orange Doors

 
I've wanted to show this on the blog for years. I finally stopped and took pictures.

This is fun on many levels. In the first place, it's a wall that hides a junk yard. Secondly, it's made from old steel doors, so it's a great upcycling project.



And it's rusted and weathered to the point where it has become almost a work of art. I always enjoy looking at it as I drive past.



On US 10, just west of MI-37.

In other news: Well, I worked on the book in the morning, but then I had to make yogurt, do a bunch of small odd tasks, errands, and then bell choir practice and writer's group. Long day. All good. I got through the entire list. Received a stunning review on Accidentally Yours, the collection of my short writings. I'll finish the formatting for that in the next few days, and then it will be available for purchase.

	See Maggie Says, "More Orange Mom"
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Saturday's Finds

 
Wonderful walk today. The temperature was in the 50s and the sun was shining. I walked about seven miles. I saw and heard red-wing blackbirds, and heard the first frogs of the year. In one lawn there were three chickens, all reddish with some gray feathers, strutting around hunting for a snack. In the very next lawn were three robins with their red breast and gray backs, strutting around hunting for a snack. It was as if the chickens suddenly shrank and became smooth and neat!

Of course I picked up empty cans. In Michigan, they are worth a dime apiece if they aren't smashed. Even if they are flat or too damaged, the aluminum can be sold for scrap. I came home with a whole garbage bag!



But, the best find of the day was in the morning. We walked out back and almost immediately noticed a piece of orange plastic caught in some shrubs.



We walked closer, and it looked like an orange parachute with a wad of white fabric underneath it.



The white stuff wasn't fabric at all, but heavy white latex. I followed the squiggly string attached to it.



At the other end we found a small carton.



It's a weather balloon! There is a postage-paid mailer inside and a message about how it's not dangerous, but to please return it for research purposes. I've always wanted to be the finder of one of these, and now one came down in my own back yard! I only wish I might have seen it drift in.

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The Blindness of Familiarity

Maggie and I walked to town today. Wowser! This is Michigan in March. Yesterday I was in shorts, today I underestimated the wind. I should have worn wind pants over my jeans and warmer gloves. We came home feeling like blocks of ice.

I was wondering what to post today. I have several fun things that can be posted most any time, but then I found something really cool. I am embarrassed to say that I "found" it. If you had asked me what kind of tree was growing outside the post office that I have visited at least 500 times in the past 40 years, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. But today I found that a very large and handsome white birch tree has appeared there. (haha... covering my shame with improbabilities)







On the way back I picked up all the aluminum cans that the melting snow has revealed. They weigh just over half a pound! The scrap aluminum market has tanked lately, but they are worth a few cents. All but 2 (not pictured) are too flat to return for the state deposit. Still, if people are going to throw money out of cars, I'll pick it up! (And I picked up a pretty rock too... I'm hopeless... like I need another rock.)

See Only a Few Miles for another white birch bark picture