Secrets of the City

The Rat has seen a few of those Natural Prairie lawns. They’re an utter mess. Want mice, snakes and whatnot running through your yard and the neighbors?

This is the Twin Cities, not Walnut Grove from Little House on the Prairie. Keep your yard neat.

1. I hate turf. Having said that, however, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want geese for lawnmowers. Holy poop.

2. It’s nice to see a bit more informative piece on North Mpls. There’s some really interesting history there.

See Sec. 90-37 for Blaine’s ordinance on natualized lawns. Before this language was added, anyone who tried to “go natural” with their landscaping risked being fined by the city.

Those geese are mostly strange-looking animals. I think many of them feed too much on stuff that’s been chemically treated. They have a kind of otherworldly look.

Wish people would stop feeding them. They could get off welfare and handouts and start behaving like real geese. Migrating in elegant V-shapes.

Rising milk prices? I blame ethanol!

Oh wait, they already did….

What hath you wrought, Bob?

You can’t find more ballanced and fair coverage on this controversial issue than in Ethanol Producer Magazine!

Actually, it is a rather well reseached and written article.

I love the natural lawn deal and/or providing a bit of urban habitat for critters. Rabbits, mice, butterflies, squirrels and birds of any feather are welcome to hang out in my yard. I’m a fan of the “wild” areas and restored wetlands around the lakes are beautiful and they smell really good, too. Probably even better than 3121.

Anybody else bummed out by all the trees and vegetation ripped out along 35W during construction? It’s a damn shame. It looks like a freakin war zone.

snakes and mice – eek! but what about the RATS. disgusting, kill me now! um, why would wild flowers attract mice? is this natural garden fear mongering?

try monarch butterflies, toads, humming birds, rabbits and honey bees.

I gave it a quick read, but it the story seems to skirt today’s issue Bob. We’re not talking about the supply of food, but the affects of the price of corn on milk prices.

Babies could one day develop rickets(!) because single mothers can’t afford milk. So you can be all high and mighty about your ethanol fuel.

Babies with rickets, Bob!

that’s a long article bob — i’ll have to read it sometime, but are you implying milk prices aren’t being affected by ethanol production (i’m just looking for clarification)

…are you implying milk prices aren’t being affected by ethanol production?

Not at all. It’s just that the “blame ethanol” excuse is rarely challenged by reporters and editors who should look a little deeper. WCCO’s Murphy did a good job of pointing out that it seems to be a “perfect storm” of causes of the milk price increase. Ethanol may be a factor in higher milk prices, but it certainly is not: starving the poor in developing nations, raising the cost of gasoline or sucking the state’s water dry, as some have suggested.

why would wild flowers attract mice?

Not so much flowers, but multiple three-foot-high thick clumps of stuff that looks like weeds will attract them.

While reading the Dakota language story I was struck by the similarities between a Dakota word and the moniker of a mnspeaker we all know:

“Pezutasapa mak’u wo.” (”I want some coffee.”)

Is “asapa” a suffix? Does Mazasapa translate as “I want some maize (you call it corn)”?

A friend that lives in Maple Grove got in trouble with their “Weed Inspector” for “noxious weeds” over 8 inches tall. Some suburbs may be slow in this particular area.

I dunno, I have tall prairie grass & wild flowers, and if they want to hang out there, seems better than my basement. We live in the city; there are going to be rodents.

I like this line from that ethanol article:

The argument that turning corn into fuel takes away from food supplies just doesnt add up. The large majority of U.S. corn crops go to feed livestock in developed nationsnot to feed people in third-world countries.

um, what does he think the livestock is for?

Babies could one day develop rickets(!) because single mothers can’t afford milk. So you can be all high and mighty about your ethanol fuel.

I believe Nature has already provided mothers with a solution that does not involve a trip to the grocery store, Rat.

The City Pages article was a convincing read. What’s the truth?

So infant formula isn’t bought anymore, Bob? Combined with jacked up priced milk by some artifcially created market for corn. Hmmmmm

Who knows how much one of those little jars of baby food is going to cost one day.

You wanna see the outcome of all this, Bob. Two words: Beanie Babies. Bottom fell out of that market.

Breast feeding story: (this fits in this thread, yes?)

A friend of mine grew up in Mississippi. He was home visiting a few years ago and stopped by a neighbor who had a few kids. While visiting on the couch, the neighbor’s 8 year old son runs into the house and heads straight for his mom. At which point he says, “Titty momma.” She obliged, he had a quick suckle, and then was on his way.

I love that story.

cabbage patch dolls too. used to fly off the shelves directly from the farm fields. and now?

What the City Pages article lacked was some perspective. Yes, ethanol plants do require lots of water, but how do they compare with other commercial uses, like paper mills, factories, etc? What percentage of the state’s commercial water usage is being dedicated to distilling ethanol? What solutions shold we consider?

The CP article ended with this stern warning from Bill Fink, described as an energy expert from Iowa (they couldn’t find a Minnesota energy expert?):

“Putting all of our energy eggs in one basket here would be very, very foolish”

Actually, that’s exactly what we have been doing with our vehicle fuels for more than 100 years. We put our our eggs in the petroleum basket, and yes, that is increasingly looking very, very foolish…

Interestingly, the American Academy for Pediatrics recommends that breastfed infants and toddlers receive vitamin D supplementation.

“Infants who are breastfed but do not receive supplemental vitamin D or adequate sunlight exposure are at increased risk of developing vitamin D deficiency or rickets. Human milk typically contains a vitamin D concentration of 25 IU/L or less. Thus, the recommended adequate intake of vitamin D cannot be met with human milk as the sole source of vitamin D for the breastfeeding infant. Although there is evidence that limited sunlight exposure prevents rickets in many breastfed infants, in light of growing concerns about sunlight and skin cancer and the various factors that negatively affect sunlight exposure, it seems prudent to recommend that all breastfed infants be given supplemental vitamin D. Supplementation should begin within the first 2 months of life.”

Okay, if they’re old enough to ask for it, they’re probably too old to have it.

i just leave my kid out in the sun during the day; takes care of the vitamin d problem anyway

Although there is evidence that limited sunlight exposure prevents rickets in many breastfed infants, in light of growing concerns about sunlight and skin cancer and the various factors that negatively affect sunlight exposure,

I don’t think these guys are up on the latest lit.

Ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen is usually sufficient to provide adequate vitamin D [14].

Are they really trying to tell us that 10-15 min of exposure for a baby 2 times a week is going to cause skin cancer or are they getting kick backs from the suppliment folks?

[14]Holick MF. Vitamin D: the underappreciated D-lightful hormone that is important for skeletal and cellular health. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes 2002;9:87-98.

Rickets is kind of fun to say. Rickets rickets rickets. Rickets.

I think back on my childhood, full of sunburns and no seat belts and bottle feeding and running around the neighborhood until well after dark on summer nights, and with what parenting “experts” say nowadays it’s amazing I survived to adulthood.

“probably” josie? I’d say “f-ing definitely!”

While reading the Dakota language story I was struck by the similarities between a Dakota word and the moniker of a mnspeaker we all know: “Pezutasapa mak’u wo.” (”I want some coffee.”)

I belive that Mazasapa is roughly translated as “Black Iron”…so perhaps Pezutsapa is Dakota for “Black Water” (coffee).

finally putting that 760 on the SAT Verbal to good use.

Also, with a full set of teeth? *shudder*

Bob–

It’s not so much that ethanol plants use more water than other commercial plants. It’s more about where the plants are being built and what the local water supplies are like. They want to build the ethanol plants near the corn belt (in Minnesota, the SW part of the state). However, that’s the part of the state that has less abundant groundwater. There aren’t too many paper mills over there, anyway.

In addition, higher corn prices could increase the water demand in those areas for irrigation.

are those Pokeman energy eggs? or something different?

nope…I was wrong…Pezuta = healer…so coffee = Black Healer. so true.

Good points, Elizabeth. The groundwater concerns in the CP article are valid, but I still think some additional perspective and comparison would have made it even better. Thankfully, the state of Minnesota is monitoring ethanol plant water use, no other state does.

Ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen is usually sufficient to provide adequate vitamin D [14].

If that’s the case, I’m just oozing vitamin D with this bronze tan…if anyone is feeling deficient, I can meet you in the skyway and allow you to lick me to supplement your lunch.

Your body is extremely bad at storing extra vitamins like D and C.
So that is why you need the exposure a few times a week.

Think of it like your pay check from the sawmill. You get a big check on Friday, you head to the Ol’ Drinking Hole, and on Monday you don’t have any cash left.

Isn’t D a fat-soluble vitamin? I thought the body held onto those (also A, E, and K) much better than water-soluble vitamins. It’s the fat-solubles that usually cause more of a risk of hypervitaminosis, because you can’t piss them out. For example, if you’re ever offered polar-bear liver, pass on it. It’s a good way to die of hypervitaminosis A.

On a serious note here, let’s not forget that besides the water actually used for ethanol production itself, growing corn takes water too. And unfortunately a lot of corn is grown in areas where they pump the water out of glacial aquifers that won’t really recharge until there’s another ice age. If the intensive level of farming is kept up large portions of the (lower) midwest might be in danger of desertification in 50-100 years.

reason number 12765 that i like MNSpeak:

Bob logs in for another of his PR potshots, implying those who question the wisdom of widespread ethanol production are conspiracy theorists.

But…

he gets called on it and then actually engages in a well reasoned and polite discussion.

(sigh)

also I didn’t read any of these articles, so if they already mentioned that sorry.

Isn’t D a fat-soluble vitamin

If it is, I ought to have plenty in store.

Thoughtful addition, wayne. The news isn’t getting any better on the oil front. Check the price at the pump on your way home tonight and you’ll see what I mean.

To heck with all the doom and gloom, let’s go racing! I’ll be in Montevideo for Friday’s event.

Hey, why does wayne get all the credit? I brought up irrigation in my first reply to you, Bob. I thought about including a link to the Ogallala Aquifer, but since it doesn’t really enter Minnesota, I decided not to include it.

Not really mad, just bored at work.

Do they even irrigate much for corn?

I tried to do a little digging and according to the MN EXt Office corn needs 18-22″ of rain a year for maximum yield. Blue Earth County gets about 20″ of rain on average from April to Sept. Wouldn’t this mean that farmers do little irrigation for corn except in dry years?

Anyone have more first hand farm/corn knowledge?

I’ve seen irrigators in SW Wisconsin and NW Illinois cornfields. Those were in areas with really sandy soil, though.

Here’s some colorfull charts on Minnesota water use, circa 2005.

Here is some very interesting data on water use in MN.

In 2005 it looks like only 31% of ground water used was for irrigation, 54% was used for Public Supply. 77% of surface water used was for irrigation. Lets stop talking about corn production draining the aquifers until you stop taking 15 minute showers.

Hey, why does wayne get all the credit?

Didn’t mean to slight you, Elizabeth. Wayne is offering some really good comments today.

My favorite MN watershed feature: the Anoka Sandplain!

Simpleton, I was talking more about down around oklahoma and those states. It’s not as big a deal for minnesota, but a prolonged dry spell a little further south means they’re gonna done pump up all that water and have nuthin left. There’s plenty of corn grown in other states too, you know.

Also it warms my heart to have a watershed/aquifer/etc. discussion.

Can we discuss urban runoff and storm drainage systems next? I love how all the crap that falls off/leaks out of cars washes into our lakes and rivers. Mmm!

And off turf lawns that use fertilizers and herbicides. Double snap!

Re: Lawns.

As many of you know, I live in North Minneapolis and as you all seem to know, every single lawn in North Minneapolis has garbage on it. Mine is no exception. Also, several homes in my neighborhood sit on steep hills, making it difficult to mow the lawn. Therefore, I’ve decided to start a business in my garage where I rent out billy goats to my neighbors to simultaneously ease the garbage problem and to take care of the grass.

Any backers?

SD has been going through multiple years of drought, but it seems to cycle…most farmers that I grew up knowing didn’t blow their proverbial wad all on one crop…they usually grew soybeans, corn, flax, etc. That said, from what my parents’ friend told me, it isn’t really about the amount of water you need for corn, it’s when. After a nice wet spring and mild June, the corn really shoots up high in July when the sun is hot and there’s not too much rain. That’s about all I know about farming…that and hog farms stink…

Are they gonna be fainty goats?
Cause that’s where the real money is.

Fainty goats in North Minneapolis would be the worst idea ever. Loud noises scare them. You’d be lucky to get one square foot of lawn finished each day. So, no. No, fainty goats in North Minneapolis.

Actually, you may want to get female goats. (Billy goat = male goat). You could milk the females and make feta cheese for extra money. Alternatively, you could use cashmere or angora goats and sell the wool. It would be a gold mine!!!

But think of the money you could charge just to watch the fainty goats.
Then have a few of the billy goats thown in to do the actual work.

munch, munch….plop

Could this turn into a Tuesday Poop thread.

Douglas–I was posting something in a similar vein, but the comment got eaten. Also, billies are smelly and mean.

Goats are being used in the South to take care of kudzu problems.

hmm…these all sound like good suggestions and I shall present them to my mom prior to taking over the garage. Should I call my company “Bixby’s Backyard Beautifying Billy Goats, LTD” or “GhettoGoats, Inc.”?

How about “Urban Animals, Inc?”

Capra hircus syncope, our special of the week!

Another thought for Bixby: “I’ve Got Your Goat(tm)”