Winter Movies 2014: Dirt! The Movie

We’re in the grip of winter, here in the Bay Area, and that can mean an unseasonable hot streak, crisp clear days, or life-giving rains. Whatever the weather, January is a fine time to hunker down with hot cocoa and a good movie, and wait for the warmer days of spring in the garden. This year’s theme for our winter movies is documentaries with movie star plants. These films entertain us, enlighten us, horrify us, and make us smarter!

Dirt! The Movie

I first heard about Dirt! The Movie (2008) when I was taking a Soil Management class, at Merritt College, from Dr. Ed Brennan. This documentary by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow is a celebration of dirt, informing us about the living skin of soil that encircles the earth, and cautioning us about the continual mistreatment of soil by humans. The film is based on the book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, by Bill Logan, and narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.

The film introduces the idea that earth is surrounded with a thin covering of soil that is teaming with life (bacteria, fungi, and nematodes to name a few), making it a very unique planet. The film includes an entertaining summary of the origin of soil, and establishes how interconnected the planet’s processes are. Humans have disrupted the ecosystem through greed and ignorance, leaving a wake of destruction, deserts, and disaster. Over the last 100 years we have lost 1/3 of the topsoil. Fortunately, the earth is capable of healing itself, through its own processes, if we would only stop our destructive ways and adopt earth-friendly practices.

Many experts, from a wide variety of backgrounds and from all over the world, were interviewed in this film. The ideas are both sobering and hopeful. I especially liked learning about how dirt is used as a viable building material in many parts of the world. Vandana Shiva expressed interesting ideas about sustainable agriculture in India, and explained how traditional houses are plastered almost daily with a mixture of dirt and cow dung. The mixture keeps houses cool in summer and warm in winter; and the cow dung acts as an antiseptic. I also appreciated hearing many experts stress the importance of building and maintaining healthy soil to ensure our survival on earth. Humus-rich soil holds moisture, prevents erosion, and supports crops and forests. Take a look at the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1243971/

 

 

Winter Outing to the Oakland Zoo

Today, our son and his lovely fiancé (yes!) from Shanghai head back to University of Alaska, Anchorage to resume their studies for another semester. My husband and I will miss them, but look forward to more time together in the future. In the meantime, we have many happy memories of preparing for and celebrating Christmas as a family, and getting to know each other.

The weather has been unseasonably warm this holiday season (low to mid sixties during the day), and dry (an unprecedented number of "spare-the-air" days – meaning no traditional yuletide log in the fireplace). The light is fantastic and golden, and always in your eyes, no matter what time of day. Last year I reported on our expedition to the Presidio and Fort Point for a unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge. This year we headed for the Oakland Zoo in the East Bay – a first visit for all of us.

 Ancient alligator	 Hanging snake
 Long-necked love	 Quick snack

HTML Tables

The Oakland Zoo is part of the 500-acre Knowland Park, located in the Oakland Hills. The zoo covers 45 acres, and provides naturalistic settings for the animals. It is always a pleasure to watch animals move, interact, and eat. Some of my favorites are elephants and giraffes; Meer cats and otters; and snakes and alligators. It is also fun to watch human groups, enjoying leisure time together.

Young African elephant	 Meer cat on the alert
Grazing zebras	 Sun Bear out foraging

HTML Tables

I was surprised to see so many tree and plant species in the zoo, including bottle trees, olive trees, oak trees, and many types of grasses. The Native Plant Society (NPS) put together a plant list in 1995, which is quite comprehensive:  http://www.monocot.com/zoo/LeitnerZooPlantList1995Linked.html. This makes the Oakland Zoo a useful resource for observing plants and trees go through their seasonal cycles, in addition to observing the animals go through their life cycle in natural habitat. Plus, it is just a lot of fun!

Young Bottle tree at Oakland Zoo  

 

Looking Ahead to 2014

Happy New Year! I love the feeling of another year stretching out ahead of me. Granted, most of it is spent in the mundane – eating, sleeping, bathing, working, cleaning, and moving from place to place. But there is always room in the margins for exploration, fun, and trying something new!

Looking ahead, I plan to continue some of the themes started last year:

• Visit private and public gardens throughout the seasons, both locally and around the country. This includes exploring my family roots, and locating the family farm in Vermont!
• Identify some good native (or near native) plants that can thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area’s dry climate (whether sunny or shady), clay soil (hard but full of nutrients), and pests (especially deer). Using this information, I intend to rejuvenate the planters in my front yard.
• Continue exploring gardening history. As part of that, I plan to investigate the theme of “plants on the move”. With the discovery of the New World, the quest for marketable crops, Linnaeus and his disciples collecting specimens and spreading the new binomial classification system, the frenzy to collect exotic plants, and scientific curiosity, plants (and their diseases) experienced a “diaspora” of sorts all around the globe.
• Enjoy all the beauty and bounty of the San Francisco Bay Area, and its gardens, raised beds, roof gardens, hanging gardens, and wild preserves!

 Roots and the family farm	  Peaceful gardens and their plants
 Native and near-native plants	 Estate gardens

HTML Tables

I may publish once a week for part of the year, to give myself more time to research and immerse myself in my areas of study. But stay tuned, and continue with me on this quest for beautiful gardens in Eden By The Bay!