Laura Helmuth
@laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Freelance writer, editor, columnist & consultant. Formerly at Scientific American, Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian & Science. Past president of National Association of Science Writers. Birder.
One fun thing about talking to parks department staff is you can say, “could anybody identify this scat” and they all come over to you all excited. (Even better is when they confirm it’s a bear)
November 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM
One fun thing about talking to parks department staff is you can say, “could anybody identify this scat” and they all come over to you all excited. (Even better is when they confirm it’s a bear)
Anyway it’s a fun little museum where the staff wear blue checkered gingham and love their jobs <end>
September 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Anyway it’s a fun little museum where the staff wear blue checkered gingham and love their jobs <end>
The whole town is committed to the bit. Statues of Toto everywhere, murals.
September 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
The whole town is committed to the bit. Statues of Toto everywhere, murals.
If you are ever near Wamego, Kansas, stop by their Wizard of Oz Museum.
September 21, 2025 at 9:46 PM
If you are ever near Wamego, Kansas, stop by their Wizard of Oz Museum.
Garden tip: if a crop comes in a purple or red variety, grow those. These purple flat beans and red long beans are much easier to find among the leaves and stems than the green varieties.
Also they’re pretty.
Also they’re pretty.
August 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Garden tip: if a crop comes in a purple or red variety, grow those. These purple flat beans and red long beans are much easier to find among the leaves and stems than the green varieties.
Also they’re pretty.
Also they’re pretty.
My new electric lawn mower lets you choose how much propulsion you want. The dial goes from tortoise to hare.
August 22, 2025 at 6:06 PM
My new electric lawn mower lets you choose how much propulsion you want. The dial goes from tortoise to hare.
Somebody’s been fixing a LOT of nitrogen.
August 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Somebody’s been fixing a LOT of nitrogen.
Happy What the Heck Am I Going to Do With All This Zucchini season to all who celebrate.
Also, favorite zucchini recipes?
(Chart shows results for the Google Trends search term "zucchini recipe" from 2004 to present)
Also, favorite zucchini recipes?
(Chart shows results for the Google Trends search term "zucchini recipe" from 2004 to present)
August 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Happy What the Heck Am I Going to Do With All This Zucchini season to all who celebrate.
Also, favorite zucchini recipes?
(Chart shows results for the Google Trends search term "zucchini recipe" from 2004 to present)
Also, favorite zucchini recipes?
(Chart shows results for the Google Trends search term "zucchini recipe" from 2004 to present)
This important report, "Saving America's Fourth Estate from Billionaires, Broligarchy and Trump," has a media capitulation index of one star to five chickens. www.freepress.net/sites/defaul... from @freepress.bsky.social (1/2)
July 29, 2025 at 12:20 PM
This important report, "Saving America's Fourth Estate from Billionaires, Broligarchy and Trump," has a media capitulation index of one star to five chickens. www.freepress.net/sites/defaul... from @freepress.bsky.social (1/2)
We should have memorials to the heroes and victims of covid everywhere
July 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
We should have memorials to the heroes and victims of covid everywhere
(I realize this observation could include the loggers in the Far Side cartoon.)
July 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
(I realize this observation could include the loggers in the Far Side cartoon.)
Coriander is just cilantro that has gone to seed.
July 20, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Coriander is just cilantro that has gone to seed.
One joy of gardening is learning how stuff grows. Green beans are just unripe beans. Hops grow on vines and smell like beer. Bay leaves come from bay trees. This is what asparagus looks like when you stop picking it.
July 20, 2025 at 2:26 PM
One joy of gardening is learning how stuff grows. Green beans are just unripe beans. Hops grow on vines and smell like beer. Bay leaves come from bay trees. This is what asparagus looks like when you stop picking it.
Now THAT’S transformative philanthropy.
July 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Now THAT’S transformative philanthropy.
The best trail food grows along the trail.
July 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The best trail food grows along the trail.
No matter how many summers you’ve spent on this Earth, it’s always exciting to catch a lightning bug in your hand
June 27, 2025 at 12:49 AM
No matter how many summers you’ve spent on this Earth, it’s always exciting to catch a lightning bug in your hand
They paved paradise,
Put up a parking lot.
Paradise said: That hurt, but let me tell you about geologic time
Put up a parking lot.
Paradise said: That hurt, but let me tell you about geologic time
June 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
They paved paradise,
Put up a parking lot.
Paradise said: That hurt, but let me tell you about geologic time
Put up a parking lot.
Paradise said: That hurt, but let me tell you about geologic time
Three cardinal chicks hatched in a nest by my window and just fledged, but to my mind, much too early. Is this what it’s like to be a parent
June 11, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Three cardinal chicks hatched in a nest by my window and just fledged, but to my mind, much too early. Is this what it’s like to be a parent
Bit of a property dispute here over who owns the boardwalk trail
May 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Bit of a property dispute here over who owns the boardwalk trail
The whole entire point of sexual reproduction is diversity, and imposing a binary on it is wrong evolutionarily, biologically & culturally. Great talk by @anthrofuentes.bsky.social and please read & share his book!
May 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
The whole entire point of sexual reproduction is diversity, and imposing a binary on it is wrong evolutionarily, biologically & culturally. Great talk by @anthrofuentes.bsky.social and please read & share his book!
This jade necklace is from either Guatemala or Myanmar. Does anyone recognize this style or leaf? Thanks a lot.
May 16, 2025 at 8:41 PM
This jade necklace is from either Guatemala or Myanmar. Does anyone recognize this style or leaf? Thanks a lot.