Happy Tuesday!

To ease back into the real world, here are a few happy news items:

Could the skills learned through growing marijuana be put to use growing sustainable food?  Treehugger kind of thinks so. “After all, growing illegal plants in illicit conditions requires a stealth and ingenuity that could prove useful as we try to figure out how to reintegrate food production into our everyday environments.”

The Acacia tree can be used to increase soil quality and decrease dependency on petroleum fertilizers in Africa, reported National Geographic.  The acacia tree drops its nitrogen rich leaves just when crop seeds need nitrogen. It also acts as a windbreak, provides wood for fuel and construction and prevents soil erosion.

Baby Snow Leopard! Via HuffPo Green

Elizabeth Ulion is a graduate student at Northwestern University. She needed an inspirational Tuesday after a Van Jones-less weekend.

Photos courtesy of HickoryHollow113/Flickr, Qfamily/Flickr and Neilsphotography/Flickr.