I think I may have found a closet "dirt digger" in my new friend Beverly Mickelson. I received my letter from the Governor's office quite some time ago, but wanted to do a little more research before posting. First of all, Beverly's letter was written with such enthusiasm I could tell, this wasn't just another assignment placed on her desk to complete. Or if it was, she made it a mission! A very big thanks goes out to her for the great letter and the sample that she collected in Pierre, South Dakota - specifically the Capitol Complex. Here too, is some awesome info she shared with me.
South Dakota has named "houdek" as the state soil. OKAY, you had me at houdek! To honor this natural resource, the South Dakota Legislature made houdek (pronounced hoo-deck)the official state soil in 1990. Houdek soil is not found in any other state. It was chosen because it and closely related soils occur on more than 2 million, (yes, you read that correctly) 2 million acres across South Dakota.
The following entities have additional general and / or technical information on South Dakota Soils:
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, South Dakota www.sd.nrcs.usda.gov/soi/soilinfo
The Professional Soil Scientists Association of South Dakota http://www.pssasd.org/
Soil and Water Conservation Society http://www.sdswcs.org/
And let us not forget, for more information on South Dakota http://www.sd.gov/
A final note added to the letter makes me want to go there for a personal visit as well, to experience "houdek" in person. Wow, to think, someone used the word experience in the same sentence as soil. Again, you had me at HOUDEK.
My most sincere thank you to Beverly and Mr. Rounds.
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2 comments:
A little off topic, but I saw last week where one of the cast-offs from this year's The Bachelor was from Orem. I couldn't help but yell out "Hey! That's where dirt lady's from!" My wife just looked at me and laughed.
yes yes yes. And, the winner of survivor last year, lives in a little town called Pleasant Grove which is about 2 miles from where I am and he lives in the house down the street from where I lived many years ago. I sure wish my dirt collection would give me the celebrity status they are getting! Who knows, I wrote Oprah many years ago requesting dirt. You just never know.....
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