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Sunday, July 31, 2022
Wicker Park Fest @ Milwaukee Ave between Paulina St and North Ave. - thirdcoastreview.com
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Best VR fitness apps and games 2022 - Livescience.com
Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s why you can trust us.By published 21 July 22
Whether you’re dancing away in Beat Saber or livening up your exercise bike, these are the best VR fitness apps and games you can currently find.
What are the best VR fitness apps and games? Between dedicated workouts to games which simply get you moving, we’ve had many great choices these last few years that got us immersed in our VR headsets. If you’ve never liked visiting the gym or struggle to focus with more traditional home exercise, virtual reality offers a great means of mixing fitness with home entertainment, making it an ideal choice.
By utilizing your full body, there’s an inherent physicality which traditional games don’t provide, naturally lending itself to healthier lifestyles. So, even with less intense experiences, you’ll be burning through those calories quickly. For that reason, we’d recommend wearing a sweat band while playing, and make sure you clean your VR headset after use. Be sure to avoid any abrasive cleaning products, though, as these will likely damage your VR headset.
It’s worth mentioning now that this list doesn’t contain any VR experiences that weren’t specifically designed with fitness in mind, even if they provide a decent workout. That includes VR games that aren’t focused on fitness, yet still provide an incidental workout, like Pistol Whip, Synth Riders, and Creed: Rise to Glory. Undoubtedly, you’ll work up a sweat playing them, but those aren’t part of our list here for that reason. However, other games that’ve gone a step further have been considered.
So, if you’re looking to find out which are the best VR fitness apps and games, here’s our top five recommendations. And if you're looking to pick up a new VR headset to help with your fitness routine, our VR headset deals guide has all the latest offers and discounts.
Beat Saber is one of VR’s most acclaimed games, and for good reason. Created by Beat Games, this iconic rhythm game is a great example of a simple premise executed perfectly, swapping the plastic accessories of older music games for a VR headset and motion controllers. Giving you two colored light sabers in each hand, all you need to do is slice the corresponding blocks, avoiding any obstacles like bombs or walls along the way.
It's a brilliant workout and the game has always warned players this requires high physical activity levels, so get those warm ups in first. However, Beat Games took this a step further post-launch with FitBeat (opens in new tab), a free fitness focused song that’s an intense ride on higher difficulties. Beyond this, Beat Saber’s largely been fueled by an active modding community on PC and Quest, who’ve continued making new maps and songs at pace, alongside official DLC packs.
Following its success on Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Harmonix established itself as the king of rhythm games, and many of us remember Dance Central from the Xbox 360 days. Starting life as a Kinect launch game, Harmonix took a small hiatus before making a surprise return with Dance Central (2019) (opens in new tab). Bringing us a new 32-song soundtrack, this latest entry ditched those camera peripherals for VR.
It adapted to this new format well and Dance Central leaned into the fitness aspect of VR gracefully. However, this isn’t just another incidental workout. Harmonix went further by releasing an integrated fitness tracker. Appearing in-game as a virtual smartphone, Dance Central estimates how many calories you’ve burned during a dance off once you’ve input your weight and height. Even if you’re not playing to lose weight, it’s a great time that comes highly recommended.
Holofit is best described as a companion app to existing fitness equipment, compatible with any Bluetooth enabled exercise bike, rowing machine, or cross trainer. Featuring over 100 different workout settings, Holofit aims to liven up your home exercise experience when using these machines. This provides 10 different environments, taking us to space stations or tropical environments, instead of spending your time staring at walls.
Boosted by a virtual coach and five workout modes, there’s plenty to keep you occupied here. Because of its reliance on physical exercise machines, Holofit is best suited for those who already own one, so it won’t universally appeal. Still, you can trial it for seven days free first to decide if it’s for you. While it’s available on PC, the Meta Quest’s wireless design makes it a much more preferable platform to test this out on.
Fit Reality's Viro Move (opens in new tab) is a strong choice for PC players, aiming to replicate your gym results. Career Mode offers four sports with 30 levels each. Boxing turns your motion controllers into punching gloves, hitting blue and orange orbs while dodging incoming walls. Swords has you swiping through these orbs without the color coordination. Shooting sees you taking down enemies once a hitbox aligns with them. Finally, Weapon Master combines all three into one mode.
If Career Mode starts getting too easy, Viro Move houses some tougher ‘Challenges’ that’ll keep you on your toes, awarding new cosmetics once completed. Alternatively, should you seek variety without necessarily making it harder, ‘Playlists’ mix up the levels to keep it interesting. It's a good workout, there’s a fun EDM soundtrack backing it up, and if you’re playing alongside friends, you’ll also find some online leaderboards.
YUR.Fit is an app that provides a real-time overlay, monitoring your heart rate when playing VR games to track your weight loss. Ranking progress through a level system, YUR breaks down your workout for each game. So, when you’ve finished your latest round on Pistol Whip, expect an email detailing how long you played, calories burned, and more. It’s a good fitness companion and for greater accuracy, one that’s also compatible with Bluetooth heart rate monitors.
If you’re not fond of the set overlay, some games directly integrate YUR support. Often, that’s achieved via unofficial mods, though official adoption of the YUR Watch (opens in new tab) has increased. Allowing you to track progress through an in-game virtual watch, it’s supported by games like Gym Masters (opens in new tab), OhShape (opens in new tab), Synth Riders (opens in new tab), and more. Quest users can access it through SideQuest, though there’s a similar built-in app called Oculus Move (opens in new tab).
Henry Stockdale is a contributing freelancer for Live Science. Having graduated from Bournemouth University in 2015 with a Computing BSc, he's built-up years of experience writing about video games, tech, and virtual reality. He’s previously covered VR and its more technical aspects at PC Gamer, Upload VR, Eurogamer, and more. You can find him on Twitter at @Terranauts93 (opens in new tab).
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Saturday, July 30, 2022
Echelon EX5 Exercise Bike Review: 2022 - Healthline
We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process.Riding a stationary bike is a great way to get some movement in during your day and build strength. Plus, you can do it from the comfort of your own home regardless of the weather.
If you’re in the market for an indoor exercise bike, the Echelon EX5 might be a good option.
Since there are so many smart bikes available, it’s important to know which special features the EX5 has and how it compares with other popular bikes, like the Peloton and the NordicTrack s22i.
This article provides a thorough review of the Echelon EX5 to help you decide if it’s the right bike for your fitness goals.
Founded in 2017, Echelon Fitness is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The company is known for producing high quality fitness equipment and often partners with celebrities to promote its products.
Echelon makes treadmills, rowers, fitness mirrors, and stationary exercise bikes. The Echelon EX5 is a step up from the brand’s EX3 bike.
While neither bike includes a built-in screen, the EX5 is more adjustable, has higher quality handlebars, and includes a few more features like water bottle holders.
The Echelon EX5 measures 58 x 20 x 55 inches (147.3 x 50.8 x 139.7 cm) and has a maximum recommended user weight of 300 pounds (136.1 kg). It also offers 32 levels of magnetic resistance that you can change with a resistance knob.
While the bike is recommended for users 4 feet 11 inches (150 cm) to 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall, people with heights ranging from 4 feet 5 inches (134 cm) to 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm) have reported using Echelon bikes.
The EX5 can be adjusted in many different ways, depending on your preferences. The elevated, Bullhorn-style handlebars on the EX5 can move up, down, forward, and backward. The vented competition style seat can be lowered or raised depending on your height. The bike’s pedals have both SPD compatible clips and toe cages.
Additionally, the bike has two water bottle holders and two dumbbell holders that can hold two-pound dumbbells, although the dumbbells are sold separately.
While it doesn’t have a built-in touchscreen, the Echelon EX5’s device holder can hold products from 2.5 to 12.9 inches (6.35–32.8 cm) and flips 180 degrees for off-bike workouts. The bike is also Bluetooth enabled.
The Echelon EX5 retails for $1,499.99, and Echelon also offers payment plans starting at $22 per month. Shipping costs $99, or $198 if you want the bike assembled for you as well.
It’s important to note that an Echelon Premier membership is required to purchase the bike through Echelon’s website. The subscription costs $39.99 per month. It includes up to 5 profiles, more than 40 daily live classes, and thousands of on-demand options for cycling classes and off-bike workouts.
Classes include cycling, HIIT, and yoga workouts, and you can keep track of your progress on the app’s live leaderboards. Echelon’s app offers an extensive library of workout music, and the brand also plans to add Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Samsung streaming options soon.
If you opt for a 1-year or 2-year subscription, you’ll make a payment of $399.99 every year or $699 every 2 years instead of paying each month. (The annual and biannual memberships end up being a little cheaper than paying month-to-month.)
While the bike comes with a 12-month limited warranty on parts and labor, you’ll need to pay extra if you want a 1-year or 2-year extended warranty (costing $109 for 1 year or $169 for 2 years) that covers repairs needed due to normal wear and tear or electronic issues.
In general, users give the Echelon EX5 positive reviews when it comes to ease of use and assembly. Reviewers suggest giving yourself between 30 minutes to an hour to put together your bike.
It weighs 106 pounds (48.1 kg), which makes it reasonably easy to move out of the way between workouts. Plus, it’s lighter and smaller than both the Peloton and the NordicTrack s22i.
The EX5 runs quietly and smoothly. It doesn’t have automatic resistance control, which allows your trainer to adjust the resistance for you, but the easy-to-reach resistance knob allows you to quickly adjust the difficulty of your workout.
The toe cages on the pedals allow you to ride without having to wear special clip-in shoes, and they make it easy for you to mix up your workout with some off-bike exercises. That said, you can also easily use cycling shoes if you prefer.
Being able to adjust both the seat and handlebars in four different directions can help you stay more comfortable during longer rides. Plus, the high level of adjustability makes the EX5 a good choice if you’ll be sharing the bike with other people.
The Echelon EX5 is good for those who like studio-style, rear flywheel design bikes and virtual training classes but don’t need a built-in screen. If you’re looking to save space but don’t want a folding bike, the EX5 might be worth considering.
If you intend to do a lot of riding and are concerned about maintenance issues due to wear and tear, the EX5 may not be the best option for you, unless you want to pay for the extended warranty.
Additionally, if you prefer a bike with a built-in touchscreen, you’ll want to pay a bit more for the Echelon EX5s or you’ll want to choose another brand.
Echelon Fitness is generally considered a popular, more budget-friendly alternative to other brands, like Peloton, although it’s worth noting that the EX5 and Peloton Bike are very similarly priced.
Echelon has a C+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, which reports over 370 complaints closed with the company in the last 3 years (over 130 in the last year).
Most customer complaints about Echelon express frustrations with the company’s customer service department. Some customers have had difficulties getting help when they’ve experienced connectivity issues with their equipment or wanted to change their warranty and subscription status.
Wondering how the Echelon EX5 stacks up against other popular exercise bike options? Here’s a quick run-down.
The Echelon EX5 does not come with a screen. It’s designed to hold a tablet or other device from 2.5 to 12.9 inches (6.35–32.8 cm) on the handlebar mount, which flips 180 degrees for off-bike workouts.
The biggest differences between the Echelon EX3 and EX5 are small upgrades in the EX5’s features.
For example, the EX3 has ergonomic handlebars with an adjustable console, while the EX5 has a Competition Aero handlebar system that can be adjusted in four directions: forward, backward, up, and down. The EX5 also has a nicer tablet holder and two water bottle holders.
Both Echelon and Peloton bikes allow you to get a studio-style cycling workout from your own home. To decide which brand is a better fit for you, you’ll want to consider a variety of factors, like:
If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, Echelon offers some more affordable bikes. Most Echelon bikes don’t come with a built-in screen for streaming classes though, so if that feature is important to you, you’ll want to consider an Echelon EX5s or a Peloton.
If you’re looking for a bike with Bluetooth connectivity, a membership option with plenty of classes, and a highly adjustable design, the Echelon EX5 is worth looking into.
While you’ll make some trade-offs (like no built-in screen), the price reduction may be worth it if you’re willing to provide your own tablet or smartphone.
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Friday, July 29, 2022
Court Decision Leaves Biden With Few Tools to Combat Climate Change - The New York Times
AdvertisementWASHINGTON — One by one, the tools available to President Biden to fight climate change are being stripped away.
After a Supreme Court decision on Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency will have less authority to limit carbon dioxide from power plants, a major source in this country of the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.
It’s one in a series of setbacks for Mr. Biden, who came into office with the most ambitious climate agenda of any president, pledging to the rest of the world that the United States, the world’s largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, would cut that pollution in half by the end of the decade.
In a statement, Mr. Biden called the ruling “another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards” and said the conservative majority on the court was siding “with special interests that have waged a long-term campaign to strip away our right to breathe clean air.”
“The science confirms what we all see with our own eyes — the wildfires, droughts, extreme heat, and intense storms are endangering our lives and livelihoods,” Mr. Biden said. “I will take action. My administration will continue using lawful executive authority, including the EPA’s legally-upheld authorities, to keep our air clean, protect public health, and tackle the climate crisis.”
Some experts say that after the Supreme Court’s decision in the case, West Virginia v. E.P.A., it will soon be mathematically impossible for Mr. Biden to meet his goals.
“At this point I don’t see any way to hit the kind of targets they laid out,” said David G. Victor, an expert in climate policy at the University of California, San Diego.
The consequences could be severe. Scientists say the United States must hit Mr. Biden’s target if it is to do its part to limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with temperatures before the Industrial Revolution. That is the threshold beyond which the likelihood significantly increases of catastrophic impacts such as deadly heat waves, drought, wildfire and storms. The planet has already warmed an average of about 1.1 degrees Celsius.
But Mr. Biden has faced obstacle after obstacle in his push for climate action, ranging from conflicts within his own party to a worldwide energy crunch triggered by the war in Ukraine to well-funded legal challenges from Republicans and the fossil fuel industry.
Patrick Morrisey, the Republican attorney general of West Virginia and the lead plaintiff in the case, called the decision a “great win for West Virginia and her residents,” adding, “We are pleased this case returned the power to decide one of the major environmental issues of the day to the right place to decide it: the U.S. Congress, comprised of those elected by the people to serve the people.”
The problem for Mr. Biden is that Congress has so far failed to act on climate change. The centerpiece of the president’s climate plan, legislation to replace coal and gas-fired power plants with wind, solar and nuclear energy, was deleted from a major domestic policy bill last fall after objections from Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia. Mr. Manchin, who has personal financial ties to the coal industry, has been able to single-handedly set the limits of Mr. Biden’s legislative ambitions as the key swing vote in an evenly divided Senate.
The domestic policy bill in limbo on Capitol Hill still includes what would be a historic increase in tax credits to spur the wind and solar industries. But it is unclear if Mr. Manchin will support the plan and the legislation could die if Republicans, who have shown little interest in climate action, retake one or both chambers in the midterm elections.
Mr. Biden has focused on the nation’s top source of greenhouse gas pollution — transportation — by directing the E.P.A. to craft tough new limits on tailpipe emissions to speed up adoption of electric vehicles. But those rules are already under legal assault in lower courts by many of the same plaintiffs who were victorious in this week’s Supreme Court case.
A key decision. The Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to address climate change. Here’s what to know:
The case. The justices had been called to rule on whether the 1970 Clean Air Act allows the E.P.A. to issue sweeping regulations across the power sector or limits the agency to dictating changes at individual power plants.
A suspended rule. At issue in the case is the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era federal regulation adopted under the Clean Air Act that sought to govern emissions from power plants. After its announcement led to a barrage of lawsuits from Republican states and the coal industry, the Supreme Court put the program on hold in 2016 and it never took effect.
The stakes. The plaintiffs, which include several Republican attorneys general and coal companies, want to rein in the E.P.A. and other federal agencies that issue regulations that affect the American economy, arguing that it should be up to Congress to set the rules.
The ruling. The ruling curtails the E.P.A.’s ability to regulate the energy sector, limiting it to measures like emission controls at individual power plants and ruling out more ambitious approaches like a cap-and-trade system without the intervention of Congress.
Further implications. The decision could also pave the way for restrictions on federal agencies’ abilities to regulate health care, workplace safety, telecommunications and the financial sector.
As a candidate, Mr. Biden promised to end drilling on public lands — oil, gas and coal extraction from federal land and waters generates 25 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. But when he tried to pause new drilling, it was overturned by a legal challenge from Republican attorneys general from states that produce fossil fuels. The administration held its first onshore drilling lease sale this week in seven Western states.
“The judicial branch and the legislative branch are seriously hindering Joe Biden’s ability to get the job done on climate,” said Richard Lazarus, a professor of environmental law at Harvard, who served on Mr. Biden’s E.P.A. transition team. “A lot of the optimism that everyone had a year ago is being replaced by pessimism. They’re running out of options right now.”
The Biden administration contends that it remains possible for the United States to meet its climate targets, by cobbling together a mix of executive actions.
“Ambitious climate action presents a singular opportunity to ensure U.S. global competitiveness, create jobs, lower costs for families, and protect people’s health and well being, especially those who’ve long suffered the burden of inaction,” Michael S. Regan, the E.P.A. administrator, said in a statement. “E.P.A. will move forward with lawfully setting and implementing environmental standards that meet our obligation to protect all people and all communities from environmental harm.”
The Supreme Court ruling left intact the E.P.A.’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions but blocked any attempt by the agency to write regulations so broad that they force the closure of coal-fired plants, which generate the most carbon dioxide, or compel utilities to switch from fossil fuels to wind, solar and other clean sources.
The E.P.A. still plans to issue tougher regulations to control methane, a potent greenhouse gas that leaks from oil and gas wells. And it plans stricter limits on other types of pollution generated by power plants, such as mercury, smog and soot. The idea is that cracking down on those pollutants could force electric utilities to clean up or shut down the dirtiest facilities, such as coal-burning power plants, which produce more carbon dioxide than gas-fired plants.
“Those air pollution rules will have co-benefits — as they are being enforced, they will squeeze out some CO2 pollution,” said Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental policy at the University of Santa Barbara, California, who has advised congressional Democrats on climate legislation. “It wouldn’t be the same amount. Every time we take a tool off the table we’re in a worse position.”
Meanwhile, the private sector has already been shifting away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources.
Electric vehicle sales have doubled over the past year, making up about 5 percent of new vehicle sales in the United States in the first quarter of 2022, compared with about 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021. General Motors has pledged to stop producing gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, with other carmakers setting similar goals. Ford Motor is producing an electric version of the F-150 pickup truck, the country’s best-selling vehicle, and has taken customer reservations for more than 200,000 of them.
With the cost of solar and wind energy dropping below the price of coal and natural gas in many parts of the United States, renewable sources of electricity now make up 20 percent of the nation’s energy mix, up from 15 percent a decade ago.
But the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, combined with the war in Ukraine and the related ban on Russian oil, has scrambled global energy supplies, and prompted President Biden to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserves and urge producers to pump more oil, at least in the short term. Clean energy producers in the United States also face significant obstacles from an outdated electricity transmission system.
And the private sector is not moving quickly enough to cut emissions to the level that scientists say is needed to avert climate catastrophe. Mr. Biden wants half of new cars sold in the United States to be electric by 2030, and all electricity to come from wind, solar and other zero-carbon sources by 2035.
“We do see a powerful trend emerging in the private sector both driven by consumers who are demanding cleaner options, that is driving a shift in our energy mix, and toward electric vehicles, but that pace of change is really not sufficient to meet the long-term targets,” said Sasha Mackler, an energy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington research organization. “For that, you still need policy. The administration doesn’t have the right tools to get us all there. Success in the time that we need it, according to the scientific community — that requires Congress.”
Congress in the coming weeks could still pass a scaled-back version of the spending bill that has been stalled on Capitol Hill for months. A version of the bill that passed the House last year includes $300 billion in clean energy tax incentives for producers and purchasers of clean electricity and electric vehicles.
But its current status is uncertain: Mr. Manchin blocked the larger spending bill that includes the tax credits last December, although he has recently restarted talks with the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, about the prospects for a less ambitious version. Under Senate rules, that bill must be passed by Sept. 30. The Senate is in recess through the second week of July, and will break again for the month of August, leaving Democrats limited time to reach agreement on a package that has eluded consensus for the past year.
Democrats say the Supreme Court decision lends urgency to the push to pass that bill. Mr. Schumer said the decision will “put American lives at risk, making it all the more imperative that Democrats soon pass meaningful legislation to address the climate crisis.”
Stalled action on the federal level puts a spotlight on dozens of states that are moving ahead with their own climate plans. “If the state actions are put on steroids as the federal government realizes its impotence, the effects of that will be significant,” said Mr. Victor.
Just under half the states have already enacted significant climate policies. Their leader is California, which in the coming weeks is expected to finalize a first-in-the-nation regulation requiring that all new cars sold in the state must be electric or zero-emission by 2035. Seventeen other states are in line to adopt the same rule when it passes in Sacramento.
California also requires that 100 percent of its electricity be generated from zero-carbon sources by 2045. Twenty-one other states have some version of that clean electricity standard, and several are advancing legislation for even more stringent versions.
“Today’s ruling makes it even more imperative that California and other states succeed in our efforts to combat the climate crisis,” said Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California. “While the court has once again turned back the clock, California refuses to go backward — we’re just getting started.”
But those state-level tools are also in the sights of many of the same Republican attorneys general who brought the power plant case to the Supreme Court. They have already filed a suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — considered the second-most powerful court in the country — seeking to block state authority to mandate a transition to all-electric vehicle sales. Oral arguments have yet to be scheduled.
“It’s a knife fight,” said Ms. Stokes. “We have to fight with every single tool we have on every level and it’s going to get harder.”
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Thursday, July 28, 2022
Watering the garden, landscape and lawn | Features | messenger-inquirer.com - messenger-inquirer
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Does the time of day and amount of water really make a difference when watering plants?
Of course, the timing and amount of rain are out of our control, but when planning to water, it is important to consider the amount needed and the best time of day.
Water makes up about 80 to 90% of the composition of all actively growing plants. Water moves into the roots up through the plant and exits through the leaves in a process termed transpiration.
This process is responsible for moving nutrients from the roots up into the leaves, cooling the plant through evaporation, and getting rid of water used in nutrient uptake.
If leaves are oriented at right angles to the sun, transpiration is maximized. Plants that have rolled their leaves when they are drought-stressed lose less water. Plants with larger leaf areas lose more water through transpiration.
Plants will not grow if there is too much water in the soil, because the roots need to be able to remove oxygen from the soil to take up nutrients. Thus, excessive irrigation can be harmful.
When watering plants in the garden and landscape, morning is the best time. Morning watering gives wet foliage a chance to dry fairly rapidly while evening watering tends to result in foliage that remains wet throughout the night.
Foliage that stays wet for several hours has a much greater chance for disease to develop on the leaves.
However, watering in the evening is better than no water at all; just make sure that the water is directed at the plant base and away from the foliage.
Watering during midday is not recommended because rapid evaporation of water from a plant’s leaves may concentrate salts and burn the foliage.
Watering in the morning is best for the lawn also. The evaporative loss of water is lower at that time. In addition, the lawn benefits from the irrigation water removing dew from the leaf surface, which reduces disease problems.
The question arises, how much water should I apply to my plants? Think of this in terms of how much water it takes to satisfy you on a hot day.
A splash to the face is refreshing but usually only satisfies us for a short time, and is never meant to be our sole source of water. A similar dousing of plants on a hot day with a hose is rarely sufficient to supply the needed water. Such watering rarely penetrates more than an inch or so into the soil.
A thorough, deep watering is much more effective. This will encourage plants to develop deep and well-dispersed root systems that provide good anchorage and help them obtain water more effectively during drought.
At each watering, an application of at least 1 inch of water should be made to the area under the drip line of trees. If the water is being applied by a sprinkler, set an open-faced can in the area being watered.
When 1 inch of water accumulates in the bottom of the can, then you will know that 1 inch of water has been applied in areas covered by the sprinkler.
If a soaker hose or other type of drip irrigation is being used, make sure the top 6 inches of soil is wet. One inch of irrigation will usually wet the soil to a depth of approximately 6 inches. Drip irrigation is best to use under shrubs to prevent wetting the leaves.
When irrigation is possible for the lawn, it needs 1 inch of water per week. For the lawn, it is recommended to apply about one-half to two-thirds inch of water every 3 to 4 days. Concentrate on watering lawn areas most susceptible to drought injury, such as south and west facing slopes, poor and shallow soil areas of the lawn, and steep sloping areas where rainfall tends to not penetrate.
If a rainfall of one-quarter inch or more occurs, skip the next scheduled irrigation. Then return to the every 3 to 4 day schedule.
If the water runs off before all of it is applied at one time, stop and water again in one or two hours. The runoff water will be wasted.
Don’t forget to water trees and shrubs, even established trees that are evergreen, such as blue spruce, and those that lose their leaves in the fall.
For more information about watering plants, contact the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service or annette.heisdorffer@uky.edu.
Squash plants wilting and dying may be a result of a squash bug feeding on the plants and transmitting a bacteria that plugs the phloem, which is the food conducting tissue in the plant. This disease is managed by controlling the insect and planting more squash. Plant summer squash up to about August 15 depending on the number of days to maturity as stated on the seed packet.
Consider participating in the Daviess County Lions Club Fair. Entries for youth and adult open classes and 4-H categories can be found in the fair book available at the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service Office or online at https://daviess.ca.uky.edu/fair. Fair categories include vegetables, fruit, flowers, herbs, farm crops, hay, canning, photography, cake decorating, and 4-H exhibits. Entries need to be delivered to the Exhibit Building at the fairgrounds on Tuesday, July 19, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the fairgrounds in Philpot. Ribbons and award money can be picked up on Sunday, July 24 from 2 to 4 p.m.
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Why Roger McGuinn Loves Rickenbacker Guitars: Exclusive Interview - Ultimate Classic Rock
As the Byrds declared in 1967, if you want to be a rock 'n' roll star, "Just get an electric guitar, then take some time and learn how to play."For many aspiring artists in the '60s, the electric guitar of choice was a Rickenbacker, which the Beatles popularized with their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. John Lennon had a Rickenbacker slung across his body in 1964; George Harrison frequently used one on tour, too, effectively cementing the Rickenbacker as the guitar for aspiring rockers. Since then, few instruments have held such an iconic foothold in the history of rock music as the Rickenbacker guitar. It's instantly recognizable to seasoned musicians and casual fans, thanks to its distinct shape and burning Fireglo finish.
The Rickenbacker had a fascinating history before the Beatles, as chronicled in the recently released book Rickenbacker Guitars: Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fireglo by Martin and Paul Kelly. (The pair also authored 2010's Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970.) The evolution of the instrument, from initial design blueprints to its place on the international rock 'n' roll stage, is chronicled inside the book.
"Electronic music and popular culture evolved simultaneously and that’s something that has always fascinated me — how technology enabled musicians and how the musicians helped to drive that technology forward," Martin Kelly tells UCR. "It changed our world. Cramming 90 years of history into a 330-page book was certainly a challenge, but I’m pleased with how it turned out."
Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fireglo also includes sections devoted to artists who brought the sight and sound of Rickenbackers to the wider public, like Lennon and Harrison, but also Tom Petty, Paul Weller, Susanna Hoffs, Johnny Marr, Geddy Lee, Peter Buck and probably the instrument's biggest fan, Roger McGuinn. The Byrds co-founder first saw Rickenbackers used by the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night. He'd seen the movie with his bandmates, all of whom became enamored with the idea of becoming bona fide rock 'n' roll musicians.
“When we came out of the theater, David Crosby was swinging around a light pole like Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain saying, ‘This is what I wanna do, this is great!’" McGuinn recalls in the book. At the time, Gibson and Fender were the most popular brands available; Rickenbacker was still fairly obscure, but Harrison's 12-string, in particular, caught McGuinn's attention. "George used it in a really cool way - he played melody lines up and down the G string. I thought that was really effective, a great sound."
Watch the Beatles Perform 'A Hard Day's Night'
McGuinn traded a couple of other guitars for his first Rickenbacker and he was smitten from the get-go. "Tim Dixon, our first manager asked me to describe the sound of it," McGuinn tells UCR. "And I said it's like a uranium isotope in a ball of butterscotch."
With McGuinn's help, the guitar went from a fairly obscure American brand to a coveted instrument worldwide. McGuinn frequently used his 12-string Rickenbacker on Byrds songs, lending an air of light, airy charm to classics like "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Eight Miles High" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Within a few years, it would be difficult to detach the sound of Laurel Canyon folk rock from the jangle of a 12-string Rickenbacker.
The Beatles' influence would come full circle in 1965. Harrison's Rubber Soul track "If I Needed Someone" was, as McGuinn was made aware by Beatles publicist Derek Taylor, directly inspired by the Byrds' "The Bells of Rhymney."
"We all lived in Laurel Canyon and [Taylor] came over to my house with this reel-to-reel tape ... a little three-inch reel of tape," McGuinn remembers. "And he said 'George wants you to know that he wrote this song based on your lick in 'Bells of Rhymney.'' ... I couldn't believe it. It was such an honor."
Listen to the Byrds' 'The Bells of Rhymney'
Years later, the pair would spend time together at Harrison's Friar Park estate, where Harrison brought out the same Rickenbacker he used on A Hard Day's Night.
In a lot of ways, Kelly says, the visibility of the Rickenbacker – on TV or famous album covers, like Petty's Damn the Torpedoes — is a huge reason the instrument has stuck around. "Player association has been a huge part of Rickenbacker's success and longevity. When it comes to rock ’n’ roll and pop culture, image is everything," he says, noting that after the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Rickenbacker CEO F.C. Hall was savvy enough to travel to New York to meet the band and supply them with more instruments.
"[McGuinn] was the first American player to really put Rickenbacker on the map, and his endorsement lead to Mike Campbell and Tom Petty choosing Ricks," Kelly says. "The baton still gets passed on from the likes of Radiohead to younger players like Laura Jane Grace from Against Me!"
source https://4awesome.streamstorecloud.com/why-roger-mcguinn-loves-rickenbacker-guitars-exclusive-interview-ultimate-classic-rock/?feed_id=452&_unique_id=62e2c1819e3ba
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Spotify is testing in-app podcast creation tools - TechCrunch
Spotify is testing new tools that will allow you to record, edit and publish podcasts directly from the company’s main app. The company introduced this feature in New Zealand last month. This will remove the need of having a separate app — like Spotify-owned Anchor — to record and publish a quick take for podcasts.Outgoing Spotify executive and Anchor co-founder Michael Mignano noted the launch of this feature and said this will allow users to make an episode with “no extra tools or hardware needed”. He joined the audio streaming company after it acquired Anchor in 2019.
We started @anchor with a mission to democratize audio.
So perhaps it’s only fitting that as I wrap up my time @spotify, we launch this:
Starting in NZ, now any Spotify user can make a podcast episode within the Spotify app, no extra tools or hardware needed. https://t.co/1ZV3yzefEh
— Michael Mignano (@mignano) June 17, 2022
The video posted by Spotify New Zealand gives us a lot of ideas about what kind of features we can expect with in-app podcast recording on Spotify. It shows that if you have the feature, you’ll see a + button next to “Your Library” in the bottom bar on the home screen. If you tap on it, you have options to “Record podcast” or “Create playlist”.
Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)
Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)
Once you tap on the Record podcast option, you’ll see a landing screen, and a record button to start recording a clip. You can record audio in one take or hit the pause button to take breaks. Once you finish the recording, you can edit the clip and add background music through a preset of available tracks. After editing, you can assign a title, put a description of the episode, tag another podcast or a song and publish it.
Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)
Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)
Spotify said that once you record the podcast, you’ll be able to access the number of streams through a section of published episodes under your profile.
“At Spotify, we are always looking for ways to enhance our users’ experience on our platform, and we regularly test features that we believe will bring value to listeners and creators. We are currently running a limited test of in-app audio creation, but have no further details to share at this time,” the company said in a statement.
The company had previously launched some Anchor-led features in the main app, like paid podcast subscriptions and video podcasts. However, these new podcast creation tools are probably the tightest integration of Anchor’s features to date.
Spotify tested another “Create podcast” button in 2019, but rather than providing in-app tools, it prompted users to download Anchor at that time.
Last month, during its investor day event, CEO Daniel Ek said that while the company is in investment mode for podcasts, it believes the vertical has potential for a 40-50% gross margin. The company said it registered $215 million in revenue in podcasting last year, after investing more than $1 billion in the sector over the last few years.
Update July 5, 4.50 PM IST: Updated the story with additional inputs from Spotify.
source https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/spotify-is-testing-in-app-podcast-creation-tools-techcrunch/?feed_id=441&_unique_id=62e1ace9a8535
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Is Old Music Killing New Music? - The Atlantic
Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market. Even worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking.About the author: Ted Gioia writes the music and popular-culture newsletter The Honest Broker on Substack. He is also the author of 11 books, including, most recently, Music: A Subversive History.
Updated at 5:20 p.m. ET on January 31, 2022.
Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market, according to the latest numbers from MRC Data, a music-analytics firm. Those who make a living from new music—especially that endangered species known as the working musician—should look at these figures with fear and trembling. But the news gets worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.
The 200 most popular new tracks now regularly account for less than 5 percent of total streams. That rate was twice as high just three years ago. The mix of songs actually purchased by consumers is even more tilted toward older music. The current list of most-downloaded tracks on iTunes is filled with the names of bands from the previous century, such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Police.
I encountered this phenomenon myself recently at a retail store, where the youngster at the cash register was singing along with Sting on “Message in a Bottle” (a hit from 1979) as it blasted on the radio. A few days earlier, I had a similar experience at a local diner, where the entire staff was under 30 but every song was more than 40 years old. I asked my server: “Why are you playing this old music?” She looked at me in surprise before answering: “Oh, I like these songs.”
Never before in history have new tracks attained hit status while generating so little cultural impact. In fact, the audience seems to be embracing the hits of decades past instead. Success was always short-lived in the music business, but now even new songs that become bona fide hits can pass unnoticed by much of the population.
Only songs released in the past 18 months get classified as “new” in the MRC database, so people could conceivably be listening to a lot of two-year-old songs, rather than 60-year-old ones. But I doubt these old playlists consist of songs from the year before last. Even if they did, that fact would still represent a repudiation of the pop-culture industry, which is almost entirely focused on what’s happening right now.
Every week I hear from hundreds of publicists, record labels, band managers, and other professionals who want to hype the newest new thing. Their livelihoods depend on it. The entire business model of the music industry is built on promoting new songs. As a music writer, I’m expected to do the same, as are radio stations, retailers, DJs, nightclub owners, editors, playlist curators, and everyone else with skin in the game. Yet all the evidence indicates that few listeners are paying attention.
Consider the recent reaction when the Grammy Awards were postponed. Perhaps I should say the lack of reaction, because the cultural response was little more than a yawn. I follow thousands of music professionals on social media, and I didn’t encounter a single expression of annoyance or regret that the biggest annual event in new music had been put on hold. That’s ominous.
Can you imagine how angry fans would be if the Super Bowl or NBA Finals were delayed? People would riot in the streets. But the Grammy Awards go missing in action, and hardly anyone notices.
The declining TV audience for the Grammy show underscores this shift. In 2021, viewership for the ceremony collapsed 53 percent from the previous year—from 18.7 million to 8.8 million. It was the least-watched Grammy broadcast of all time. Even the core audience for new music couldn’t be bothered—about 98 percent of people ages 18 to 49 had something better to do than watch the biggest music celebration of the year.
A decade ago, 40 million people watched the Grammy Awards. That’s a meaningful audience, but now the devoted fans of this event are starting to resemble a tiny subculture. More people pay attention to streams of video games on Twitch (which now gets 30 million daily visitors) or the latest reality-TV show. In fact, musicians would probably do better getting placement in Fortnite than signing a record deal in 2022. At least they would have access to a growing demographic.
Some would like to believe that this trend is just a short-term blip, perhaps caused by the pandemic. When clubs open up again, and DJs start spinning new records at parties, the world will return to normal, or so we’re told. The hottest songs will again be the newest songs. I’m not so optimistic.
Read: Why aren’t there more women working in audio?
A series of unfortunate events are conspiring to marginalize new music. The pandemic is one of these ugly facts, but hardly the only contributor to the growing crisis.
Consider these other trends:
As record labels lose interest in new music, emerging performers desperately search for other ways to get exposure. They hope to place their self-produced tracks on a curated streaming playlist, or license their songs for use in advertising or the closing credits of a TV show. Those options might generate some royalty income, but they do little to build name recognition. You might hear a cool song on a TV commercial, but do you even know the name of the artist? You love your workout playlist at the health club, but how many song titles and band names do you remember? You stream a Spotify new-music playlist in the background while you work, but did you bother to learn who’s singing the songs?
Decades ago, the composer Erik Satie announced the arrival of “furniture music,” a kind of song that would blend seamlessly into the background of our lives. His vision seems closer to reality than ever.
Some people—especially Baby Boomers—tell me that this decline in the popularity of new music is simply the result of lousy new songs. Music used to be better, or so they say. The old songs had better melodies, more interesting harmonies, and demonstrated genuine musicianship, not just software loops, Auto-Tuned vocals, and regurgitated samples.
There will never be another Sondheim, they tell me. Or Joni Mitchell. Or Bob Dylan. Or Cole Porter. Or Brian Wilson. I almost expect these doomsayers to break out in a stirring rendition of “Old Time Rock and Roll,” much like Tom Cruise in his underpants.
Just take those old records off the shelf
I’ll sit and listen to ’em by myself …
I can understand the frustrations of music lovers who get no satisfaction from current mainstream songs, though they try and they try. I also lament the lack of imagination on many modern hits. But I disagree with my Boomer friends’ larger verdict. I listen to two to three hours of new music every day, and I know that plenty of exceptional young musicians are out there trying to make it. They exist. But the music industry has lost its ability to discover and nurture their talents.
Music-industry bigwigs have plenty of excuses for their inability to discover and adequately promote great new artists. The fear of copyright lawsuits has made many in the industry deathly afraid of listening to unsolicited demo recordings. If you hear a demo today, you might get sued for stealing its melody—or maybe just its rhythmic groove—five years from now. Try mailing a demo to a label or producer, and watch it return unopened.
The people whose livelihood depends on discovering new musical talent face legal risks if they take their job seriously. That’s only one of the deleterious results of the music industry’s overreliance on lawyers and litigation, a hard-ass approach they once hoped would cure all their problems, but now does more harm than good. Everybody suffers in this litigious environment except for the partners at the entertainment-law firms, who enjoy the abundant fruits of all these lawsuits and legal threats.
The problem goes deeper than just copyright concerns. The people running the music industry have lost confidence in new music. They won’t admit it publicly—that would be like the priests of Jupiter and Apollo in ancient Rome admitting that their gods are dead. Even if they know it’s true, their job titles won’t allow such a humble and abject confession. Yet that is exactly what’s happening. The moguls have lost their faith in the redemptive and life-changing power of new music. How sad is that? Of course, the decision makers need to pretend that they still believe in the future of their business, and want to discover the next revolutionary talent. But that’s not what they really think. Their actions speak much louder than their empty words.
In fact, nothing is less interesting to music executives than a completely radical new kind of music. Who can blame them for feeling this way? The radio stations will play only songs that fit the dominant formulas, which haven’t changed much in decades. The algorithms curating so much of our new music are even worse. Music algorithms are designed to be feedback loops, ensuring that the promoted new songs are virtually identical to your favorite old songs. Anything that genuinely breaks the mold is excluded from consideration almost as a rule. That’s actually how the current system has been designed to work.
Even the music genres famous for shaking up the world—rock or jazz or hip-hop—face this same deadening industry mindset. I love jazz, but many of the radio stations focused on that genre play songs that sound almost the same as what they featured 10 or 20 years ago. In many instances, they actually are the same songs.
Read: BTS’s ‘Dynamite’ could upend the music industry
This state of affairs is not inevitable. A lot of musicians around the world—especially in Los Angeles and London—are conducting a bold dialogue between jazz and other contemporary styles. They are even bringing jazz back as dance music. But the songs they release sound dangerously different from older jazz, and are thus excluded from many radio stations for that same reason. The very boldness with which they embrace the future becomes the reason they get rejected by the gatekeepers.
A country record needs to sound a certain way to get played on most country radio stations or playlists, and the sound those DJs and algorithms are looking for dates back to the prior century. And don’t even get me started on the classical-music industry, which works hard to avoid showcasing the creativity of the current generation. We are living in an amazing era of classical composition, with one tiny problem: The institutions controlling the genre don’t want you to hear it.
The problem isn’t a lack of good new music. It’s an institutional failure to discover and nurture it.
I learned the danger of excessive caution long ago, when I consulted for huge Fortune 500 companies. The single biggest problem I encountered—shared by virtually every large company I analyzed—was investing too much of their time and money into defending old ways of doing business, rather than building new ones. We even had a proprietary tool for quantifying this misallocation of resources that spelled out the mistakes in precise dollars and cents.
Senior management hated hearing this, and always insisted that defending the old business units was their safest bet. After I encountered this embedded mindset again and again and saw its consequences, I reached the painful conclusion that the safest path is usually the most dangerous. If you pursue a strategy—whether in business or your personal life—that avoids all risk, you might flourish in the short run, but you flounder over the long term. That’s what is now happening in the music business.
Even so, I refuse to accept that we are in some grim endgame, witnessing the death throes of new music. And I say that because I know how much people crave something that sounds fresh and exciting and different. If they don’t find it from a major record label or algorithm-driven playlist, they will find it somewhere else. Songs can go viral nowadays without the entertainment industry even noticing until it has already happened. That will be how this story ends: not with the marginalization of new music, but with something radical emerging from an unexpected place.
The apparent dead ends of the past were circumvented the same way. Music-company execs in 1955 had no idea that rock and roll would soon sweep away everything in its path. When Elvis took over the culture—coming from the poorest state in America, lowly Mississippi—they were more shocked than anybody. It happened again the following decade, with the arrival of the British Invasion from lowly Liverpool (again, a working-class place, unnoticed by the entertainment industry). And it happened again when hip-hop, a true grassroots movement that didn’t give a damn how the close-minded CEOs of Sony or Universal viewed the marketplace, emerged from the Bronx and South Central and other impoverished neighborhoods.
If we had the time, I would tell you more about how the same thing has always happened. The troubadours of the 11th century, Sappho, the lyric singers of ancient Greece, and the artisan performers of the Middle Kingdom in ancient Egypt transformed their own cultures in a similar way. Musical revolutions come from the bottom up, not the top down. The CEOs are the last to know. That’s what gives me solace. New music always arises in the least expected place, and when the power brokers aren’t even paying attention. It will happen again. It certainly needs to. The decision makers controlling our music institutions have lost the thread. We’re lucky that the music is too powerful for them to kill.
Due to an editing error, this article originally stated that Erik Satie had "warned" of the arrival of "furniture music." Satie didn't oppose the idea of furniture music; he was simply announcing its arrival.
This story was adapted from a post on Ted Gioia’s Substack, The Honest Broker. When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
source https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/is-old-music-killing-new-music-the-atlantic/?feed_id=422&_unique_id=62e05b50502ff
Hold off on fertilizing and pruning during drought - Houston Chronicle
Harris County Master Gardeners will present an online lecture on fall vegetable gardening this month.Q: A friend thinks she should fertilize shrubs now to help them out in the drought and heat conditions. Is this advised?
A: Do not fertilize shrubs or trees right now. It will do more harm than good.
Fertilizers are soluble salt compounds that are used to improve plant growth or fix a nutrient deficiency by adding one or more essential nutrients to the soil. However, plants need water to dissolve these nutrients before they can take them up. Without water, fertilizer salts build up in the soil and can lead to burned roots and/or leaves. This will only add another layer of stress.
During normal precipitation times, fertilizer should not be applied to mature shrubs and trees, unless a soil test states there is a deficiency.
If drought stress is observed, give supplemental water — but not the type of watering where you stand there and spray your hose at it for a couple of minutes until you get bored. If you do not have drip irrigation, provide a slower, deeper watering with a trickling hose lying under the shrub for 10-20 minutes. If the water runs off right away, the water stream is too high.
The only exceptions to this fertilizer advice are annuals and perennials that get adequate water from drip irrigation or watering by hand.
Reduce weeds, since they are competing for water, and avoid applying herbicides and pesticides.
Q: I read that I should not prune trees during the drought. What if there are issues that need to be addressed for hurricane season? I’ve consulted with an arborist to prune this month.
A: Courtney Blevins, Texas A&M Forest Service Urban Forester, says: “What you’re trying to do is reduce stress to the tree, so pruning, even when you have to, is adding stress because you are wounding the tree. If you’re pruning out live branches or live leaf areas of the tree, you’re removing food and the site where the tree’s root growth hormone is developed, affecting root growth and further stressing the tree at a time where it’s already too stressed.”
The exception is if the limbs and branches in question are dead or a hazard, then do what you must.
Since you have consulted with an arborist, they will be aware of the risks. It could be a two-phase pruning where the bare minimum is removed now and more removed later in the year, when rain and cooler temperatures return. If drought conditions persist, monitor the pruned tree and add supplemental water.
Garden calendar
OPEN GARDEN DAY: Harris County Master Gardeners host Open Garden Day the third Monday of each month. Tour a variety of plant exhibits, meet and talk with Master Gardeners, and purchase perennials and herb plants available in the greenhouse. 8:30-11 a.m. July 19. Free. Genoa Friendship Gardens, 1201 Genoa Red Bluff. For more info: hcmga.tamu.edu
CANNING 101: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present a hands-on class where participants learn the basics of food preservation safety and supplies needed for home canning. They will leave with a canned item to take home. Presented by Brazoria County AgriLife Extension. 6 p.m. July 19. $20. Register at brazoria.agrilife.org.
FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING: Harris County Master Gardeners will present an online lecture. Attendees will learn how to prepare your garden, prep the soil, use fertilizer, and discover which vegetable are best to grow for the fall season. Presented by the Harris County Public Library and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension via Facebook Live. 11 a.m. July 19. Free. No registration required. Visit harris.agrilife.org for link.
BUILD AN HERB GARDEN: Mercer Botanic Gardens will present a hands-on class for children and teens ages 6 to 17. Children younger than 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Participants will plant basil, cilantro, dill and fennel seeds in a miniature take-home greenhouse. One kit per child. Multiple start times. July 20. Register at pct3.com/MBG.
CULTIVATING SCHOOL GARDENS: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present a full day virtual gardening conference for school gardens, community gardens, or anyone wanting to learn more about maintaining a collaborative garden. Topics covered: layout design, soil, seeds, spring and fall vegetable gardening, irrigation, beneficial insects, maintenance, volunteer support, funding, health and wellness, and curriculum. 8 a.m. July 20. $30. Register at tx.ag/CSGC22Reg.
Brandi Keller is a Harris County Horticulture Agent with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
Instead of shutting down the program immediately, they let it fade away over the course of a year. A tidal wave of applicants has now rushed to seek billions of additional dollars in last-minute tax breaks.
source https://4awesome.streamstorecloud.com/hold-off-on-fertilizing-and-pruning-during-drought-houston-chronicle/?feed_id=414&_unique_id=62e01e610b997
Monday, July 25, 2022
Attracting pollinators to your yard: Garden Guy - FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
FOX 9 Garden Guy Dale K offers tips to help attract pollinators to your Minnesota yard. There are some key ways you can do this in the garden, from the plants you choose to the habitat you offer.(FOX 9) - From what you plant to the habitat you create, there are a few simple ways to attract bees and butterflies to your yard.
Pollinators are an important factor in growing vegetables, fruits and other plants in your home garden, as well as in global food production. FOX 9's Garden Guy Dale K has some tips for attracting them to your yard.
To create a welcoming habitat for a variety of pollinators, you should include water, such as a bird bath, in your yard. You can also purchase pollinator homes at your local garden store. And in early spring, it's important to leave that early lawn decay alone because it serves as a home for pollinators over the winter months.
There are also different plants you can incorporate into your yard. There's a honeybee mix that you seed like any other grass seed and includes thyme and clover, which bees love. You can also plant a variety of perennials that are pollinator-friendly, as well as many herb flowers, such as oregano, which help attract pollinators.
Watch the video above for more, and check out Dale K's other gardening tips here.
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source https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/attracting-pollinators-to-your-yard-garden-guy-fox-9-minneapolis-st-paul/?feed_id=399&_unique_id=62df09adddf5f
If There Are Only 4 Waterfall Hikes You Take In Florida, Make Them These - Only In Your State
Interestingly enough, the Sunshine State is not widely known for its waterfalls, being that it is a fairly flat state. It is, of course, famous for its ocean vistas and some of the best fun in the sun you can find. For something a little bit more novel, let’s do a deep dive into the waterfalls of Florida. These featured waterfall hikes are relatively short, but don’t let that deter you, as these hikes pack quite a punch just the same – unique beauty abounds. If there are only four waterfall hikes you take in Florida, make them these.Don’t go chasing waterfalls? In this particular case, we would like to suggest that you literally do just that! Even if they are not the tallest of falls to be found, Florida offers a few downright fascinating waterfalls. After enjoying the beautiful beaches and soaking up that Florida sun, you’ll be ready to add a little adventure to your week with one of these waterfall hikes, if not all of them.
What is your favorite waterfall in Florida? Share your thoughts with us!
Read our other articles to learn even more about Falling Waters State Park, Rainbow Springs State Park and Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park.
source https://4awesome.streamstorecloud.com/if-there-are-only-4-waterfall-hikes-you-take-in-florida-make-them-these-only-in-your-state/?feed_id=391&_unique_id=62deccc5b063c
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