Christina De La Rocha

After 20 years of working as a biogeochemist and oceanographer, Christina De La Rocha had a mid-life crisis, flew the coop of her career, landed in Germany, and decided to learn how to write.

So far she’s published a couple of short stories in Analog, and one book of popular science (Silica Stories) and, rural life being what it is, now spends more time with birds than with people.

See more of her work at her blog, Germanium Geranium.

What Is Soil? Side profile of soil, with fungal roots visible at the bottom while the layers transition through different colurs of earth

What Is Soil? A Close Look at the Ground Beneath our Food

When air, water, biology, and rocks interact with each other at the Earth’s surface, a life-giving property emerges. But what is soil exactly? Let’s dig deeper.
A bug's eye view of an organic wheat farm.

What is Organic Food? And What Does Organic Mean Anyway?

What does organic food mean? We explore the agricultural usage of the term ‘organic’, and the difference between conventional and organic farming.
Streetview of the German Farmers' Protests

The German Farmers’ Protests: Causes and Solutions

In the second week of January, 2024, the farmers’ protests erupted in Germany. We discuss the cause: Big Food, and a rotten system ripe for a radical overhaul.
Mosaic featuring different types of landscape: Forest, Mountain, Desert, City, Farmland with green crops, Cattle on farmland. The Devastation of Our Success

The Devastation of Our Success

A look back at the environmental devastation left in the wake of humanity’s rise to dominance, and a look forward at the ways in which we might make amends.
What Happens to Garbage: Tall grey building with some silos and smoke emitting from chimneys, under a dark blue evening sky

What Happens to Garbage: Insights into the Burning of Waste

We take a closer look at what happens to garbage, and why it might not be taken to landfill, as seen through this tour of a local garbage-burning facility.
up close shoe photo for 8000kicks review

8000Kicks Review: Eco-Friendly Shoes Made with Hemp Canvas

These waterproof hemp shoes look nice, are well made out of durable, reasonably sustainable materials, and they’re comfortable.
Trickle Up Economics: A purple 99 Cent Store shopping trolley abandoned in a grassy park in suburbia

Let’s Give Trickle Up Economics a Go

It’s time to give trickle up economics a go. It would rev up the economy, raise standards of living, improve public health, and reduce homelessness.
Iron Curtain Trail 1

The European Green Belt: Walking The Iron Curtain Trail

The Iron Curtain Trail, within the European Green Belt, stands as a symbol of progress and equality, unifying communities that still feel the scars of long separation.
cows at dusk

Living Sustainably: Why It Cannot Be All About Me

We all need to fight for our governments to deliver the broad-scale, top down changes that are needed so that we can live in a reasonable yet sustainable way.
Legumes in jars

Reducing Snack Packaging

The best way we can address the issue of plastic waste is to add our voices to the clamor pushing for systemic change. But what can we also do at home?