The Jiffy Gets Stuck In The Mud

Hello and welcome to another issue of The Jiffy!

You know, there comes a time every spring in the Hudson Valley when the snow disappears, the birds return – and with them, the carpenter bees – the trees grow flowers before they grow leaves, and the ground betrays me.

Of course I’m talking about the 1.5th season of the year: not winter, maybe spring, but certainly Mud Season. A lot of people I know bemoan it, but I’ve come to think that it’s a special time of the year. Dr. Jane Lucas, a soil ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, has helped me see Mud Season more clearly.

In this episode of The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast, Jane kindly, patiently, and expertly explains the difference between dirt and mud, tells me what soil actually is, and then blows my mind with a lot of fascinating mud facts.

I always feel like science will help me see things more clearly, especially mud. So in this week’s episode Htalk to soil ecologist Jane Lucas, a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies who studies the many microbes of the dirt.

Jane also shows me why we have an especially muddy Mud Season in the northeast, and why she’s intentionally putting soil through stressful situations, when there’s already so much anxiety to go around.

This episode is part of The Hudson Valley Mud Index, my series about the beauty, nuisance nuance, and wonders of this winter-to-spring interlude. Jane helped me see dirt differently – listen below and let me know if she does the same for you!

You can check out the full episode here:

We talk about:

• What the microbial life in spring mud is doing for us

• What we’re doing to the microbial life in return

• How freeze/thaw cycles give us this certain kind of season

• And more, including what a Mud Season on Mars could look like*

Jane’s research focuses on the living and, in some cases, heavily breathing life of the dirt in the ground. Sink in to the episode above, and let me know what you think! Does Dr. Lucas help you see Mud Season a little differently, too?

*For J’Fay Supreme subscribers, there’s a secret bonus audio feature: Jane tells us a little story about why Mud Season on Mars might be a ways off. You can subscribe and join the J’Fay Supremer community here.

If you’re a Supremer, I hope you enjoy the Audio Exclusive, below!

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