Salutes to the Soil Mockingbird To emancipate myself from mental slavery To break the restraint of life To be lost in one timeless scene To stare To stare as if it wasn’t considered impolite The time you get lost in the disturbance of the baby bird’s fur The waves generated by silent chewing When your head bobs simultaneously with his Down as he grasps the seed Up as he engulfs it Over and over Perched above is a single being Perched above is a mockingbird Mocking me because he knows None but ourselves can free our minds - Laurence Diarra
Things That Bite It’s quiet. Above me stands a palm tree, Tapered and still, Fronds erupting, Water in A fountain of silence. It stretches high like a marble pillar At Mount Olympus, Reaching to kiss the clouds, Kissing my eyelids shut. It’s quiet. White light floods my eyes, Blinds me. The clouds glare down at me, Spewing light like a hot iron, “Look at this thing you’ve done,”
Birds are twittering, Their sound pecks at the side of my head, But louder, Beating my right ear numb, The sounds of cars Peeking at me through the bushes, Following me like a shadow, Even the smell of greenery, The lush bushes flooding around me, Smells like smoke and lemons. It’s quiet. A woodchip wrestles between my fingers. A chill comes over me. The wood is smooth, Soft with a century of dust.
It squeezes beneath my fingers, And as I raise my eyes to meet it It bites me. “Rest your eyes, Your fingers will see.” “Look at this thing you’ve done.” - Sam Khalsa
Timeline Sitting here on this squeaky bench, I explore my vast surroundings, With curious eyes. Every acre of the ground is covered with pure beauty.
I hear the drip of the water from the tree, Ever so slowly filling up a pot. I smell the murky spicy scent that the various plants give off. I breathe in the fresh clean air, Filling my lungs up.
Tiny birdhouses of every color hang from a long tree.
As I look around again,
Warm and cool colors of plain nature.
What a variety of colors that exist in this world.
Everywhere I look, I see plants I take in my surroundings filled with nature, of every size and color. Colors that are vibrant and col- Colors I never knew existed before they blinded my sight. ors are dull,
For a moment, Everything is silent and still. Then I feel the gentle breeze flutter through the chilly air, Making everything sway just the slightest bit. I look up, And I see bugs of every size fly around in every direction, Unsure of where to go next.
Forever I will ponder in my busy head, Is there even a point in all this? Sitting here wasting the moments of my life. Will this ever help me in any way, Does any of this even matter? Why am I even here? --Elaine Yang
Organism of the Year: Mighty Mycorrhizae March 20, 2012 We are mycorrhizae, often known as root fungus, and we de‐ serve the title of “Organism of the year”. As you have learned over the past few days, soil is necessary to all life. Soil provides homes to all sorts of organisms, contains nutrients to support life, and most importantly, provides the means necessary for life. Soil provides a place for plants to grow which feed animals who feed us. Soil also provides a place for trees and plants to grow which release oxygen into the atmosphere, allowing us to survive. Many people forget that it is not just the soil that is important; if plants didn’t live in the soil to provide food for us, life as we know it would not exist. In fact, there wouldn’t be life at all. Roots, if I could be so blunt, are one of the main reasons why plants can survive in the soil. Roots collect nutrients and water from the soil, hold loose dirt in place, and pro‐ vide a base for plants. And my super important job is to help the roots. We mycorrhizae colonize plant roots and become fully func‐ tioning extensions of a plant’s root systems, often absorbing more nutrients and water for the plant than normal roots. In fact, because we gather more nutrients and water than regular roots, 90% of plants form symbiotic relationships with other beneficial my‐ corrhizae like us. We are like swords; extensions of the arm, or root in this case. To give you a better idea of our plant‐helping philan‐ thropy, we increase the surface absorption area of a plant’s roots by 100 to 1,000 times. In fact, several miles of fungal filaments can be present in just a thimbleful of soil!
Fun Fact of the Issue: It takes thousands of years for a rock to become soil, but wind and erosion can destroy soil at a much quicker pace. Let’s conserve our soil and switch to healthier farming methods!!! So how does these extra nutrients and water help plants? Well, mycorrhizae increase the total mass, strength, growth, and nutritional value of the plants whom we attach to. We also increase the growth rate of seedlings, the chances of survival after transplant, and the amount of flower buds, fruits, and stems the plant will grow. In all, we benefit plants because we make them stronger, healthier, and more fruitful. Just think, we bond with 90% of plants to give them these benefits and more. What would happen to the world if we weren’t here? Another issue that we mycorrhizae help fix is soil loss. The loss of soil through wind and water erosion is a very serious problem. Topsoil loss is the loss of the rich, nutrient filled soil making up the top layer of soil. This topsoil is the most nutrient‐rich and important layer of soil because it is provides the majority of nutrients our food needs to grow. Topsoil loss occurs when water and wind carry away layers of this soil faster than it can be created, polluting rivers with pesticides and chemicals and killing the bio‐diverse population that lives in the soil.
Soil Organism of the Year: Mighty Mycorrhizae One of the main reasons topsoil loss occurs is because we ruin the condition of dirt by farming the same crop and removing all dead plants before they can become humus to enrich the nutrient‐drained soil. Too often farmers remove plants right after a harvest and pull out their roots which hold soil in place which causes dirt to become loose and blow away easily. This loose dirt is the soil that is blown or washed away. What we mycorrhizae do to fix this problem is hold the dirt in place like roots in nature do. Because we are huge extensions of roots, we can hold a lot more dirt in place than a regular plant. This is why dirt with even small plants stays in place. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people." So let’s not destroy the earth any longer and instead, vote for mycorrhizae to save the world.
—Mycorrhizae Board of Directors
Fibonacci Numbers: Fibonacci discovered that a series of numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc., appear naturally in nature, usually in the amount of seeds, leaves, or petals. These numbers show up in flowers, trees, pinecones, and much more!!! Fibonacci numbers also form a spiral when boxes representing the numbers are connected!!! This spiral can be found in certain flowers and plants, too.
Victory Gardens A victory garden is a home garden used to create food production during WW1. However, Victory gardens were around long before the war, as early as the 1800’s. Victory gardens are wonderful ways to bring communities together. One of the most beneficial things about victory gardens is that, it reduces your carbon footprint! How you may ask, well we will tell you. If your food is locally grown then it won’t have to travel an average of 1,500 miles to get to your table, every single day of the week. Not only will locally grown fruits reduce your carbon footprint, but it is healthier for you too. Since the food doesn’t have to travel a long way to get to your dinner table, pesticides and preservatives are not used. The lesser amount of chemicals, the healthier it gets.
We felt that throughout the soil unit we learned a lot of information while having loads of fun. We felt that the soil unit was one if the most wonderful and enriching experiences that we ever had. Before the soil unit, we knew very little about soil. But, now we know how important it is, and how we can tend and care for the living things in the soil and how we can protect the soil. Elaine’s favorite activities were when we got to do hands-on activities. Sam’s favorite activity during the soil unit was finding a secret, peaceful spot in the Arlington Garden. Laurence really liked working together as a team on the magazine and propaganda posters. We really enjoyed working on the magazine and we hope that you would enjoy reading it. We are glad that you spent the time to read our paper. Hopefully, you learned something new and you will take better care of our planet. As you know, we are the future, so we have to save the planet before it is too late. Thank you so much! ~Elaine, Sam, and Laurence
Next Edition Release Date: 4/23/2557!!!!! - Ten Steps to Creating a Victory Garden - Win a thousand dollars by creating the best drought tolerant garden - Grow Your Own Edible Mushrooms!