Hi! It's Lauren. Thank you for signing up for updates about my book DIRT. I’m so glad you’re here.
In case you've forgotten how you got on this list or who I am, hopefully this helps. I’m a writer and editor between New York City and Western North Carolina. I work for New York Restoration Project, the city’s largest nature conservancy, and grew up on my family’s farm. Being in and nerding out on nature is who I am. It’s what I do. Sharing that curiosity and enthusiasm is what DIRT—and this occasional newsletter!—is all about.
So, the book. I finished my first manuscript almost a year ago on the pink moon. A lot has happened behind the scenes since then. More publicly, my publisher Workman was acquired by Hachette. You can read all about it in The New York Times. DIRT is still rolling along and I’m excited to share what I’m creating as I’m able. More soon!
There’s still so much to say about dirt right now, though! Earth Week or not 😇 Here’s some recent, family-friendly DIRT inspiration that I think you might enjoy, too:
WATCH: Mudskippers: The Fish That Walk on Land 🙊 — BBC Earth
Who better to get us invested in the lives of underground creatures than Sir David Attenborough?? I can’t help but gawk, squirm, and laugh out loud at these remarkable amphibious fish who defy any simple categorization. Tell me you haven’t ever retched while cleaning your house…
LISTEN: Animals in the soil make noise! 🪱— Knowable Magazine
Y’all, there is so much we don’t know about what’s happening underground. Maybe you’ve heard the stat that there are more soil microorganisms in a teaspoon of lively soil than there are people on Earth. Either way, let that sink in. Turns out all that life is pretty rowdy, too. That’s what researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich have learned at least by sticking a special mic in the dirt. I hear something like slime ASMR videos on TikTok… you?
LISTEN SOME MORE: Tree canopies have dirt! 👀 — Radiolab
Some trees don’t just soil at their roots… they also have it in their branches! Scientists have observed that there are entire gardens suspended in trees that are rooted in “canopy soil.” Mosses, ferns, fungi, and even an aquatic creatures called copepods have been found in this suspended dirt. Host trees spread roots in canopy soil, which can contain more nutrients per kilogram than the soil in the forest floor at certain times of the year! 😱
READ: “English Teenager Finds Bronze Age Ax Using Metal Detector” 🕵️♀️ — The New York Times
I’m so jealous of Milly Hardwick. Last year, the 13-year-old found a haul of Bronze Age artifacts on just her third day out with a metal detector. I’m not much of a dirt fisher to be fair, but actually finding buried treasure is the actual coolest.
LASTLY, DO: Show your tree pit some love 🌳
I spend a lot of time thinking about tree pits. For many of us in New York, they may be our closest access to nature apart from the sky above our heads (or maybe rats).
I hadn’t interacted with them much though until last fall when my partner Tommy and I joined our neighbors Perri and Althea to plant tulip and daffodil bulbs in a couple pits on our new block (one bed pictured here). Perri and Althea lead a group called P.L.A.N.T. that repeatedly wins awards for their outstanding cleaning, greening, and beautifying work. Their sincere care for the block is inspiring and Tommy and I try to support their efforts as we’re able.
Seeing that first daffodil bloom after a long winter’s nap was one of my proudest moments since I don’t know when! It’s still hard to believe that burying a bagful of bulbs in only a couple hours could yield weeks of blooms, but I’m grateful for the reminder.
There are lots of environmental reasons why city dwellers should appreciate our tree pits of course, but seizing their potential for beauty may be the most underrated.