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#Soil
ketyoulater · 1 year
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void-dragon4 · 19 days
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vote for one and when this poll closes we will see what we make!
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headspace-hotel · 1 year
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I don't think it really hits for most people how much topsoil is an incredibly depleted resource that is virtually nonrenewable under current land management practices.
Topsoil you buy at a garden center most likely is not real topsoil, but rather simply compost mixed with sand. Many people have never touched topsoil. In vast swathes of inhabited land, topsoil simply does not exist anymore.
On the lawn care subreddit, people will occasionally be alarmed that their soil feels "mushy" and "soft" after the addition of lots of organic matter, or post something greatly alarmed about the area of "soft" soil in their yard.
These people would shit their pants in awe if they felt the soil in a forest. Their frame of reference for "soil" is so completely, sadly spoiled by compacted, concrete-like lawn dirt. This is a big reason I'm "anti-lawn." Lawns consistently have some of the worst, most devastated soil imaginable.
Topsoil is a LIVING community of microbes, plant roots, decaying organic matter, and perhaps most importantly of all, fungal mycelium. You cannot buy it. You cannot synthesize it. No amount of fertilizer will turn compacted lawn dirt into topsoil. It takes a hundred years to build one inch of topsoil.
In the USA, prairie soil was plowed up to make fields, and we all learned about the Dust Bowl in school, but we don't talk enough about the fact that plowing up the prairies engulfed half the country in devastating dirt storms that turned the sky black and had people choking and coughing up dirt all the time and sweeping deep drifts of dirt out of their houses. Like that happened. Damn.
What we did was something utterly devastating, the near total destruction of hundreds and hundreds of years' worth of an irreplaceable natural resource. And it's happened all over the country. We will never comprehend how much we lost when we lost the topsoil.
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divine-nonchalance · 10 months
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Making Desert Land Fertile with Water Bunds
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gameraboy2 · 2 months
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Genuine soil from Dracula's Castle, 1981 ad
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theohnocorral · 1 year
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December 5th is WORLD SOIL DAY!!!!!
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Happy birthday dirt!
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keepingitneutral · 6 months
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Biblioteca Gabriel López Chiñas,
Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, Mexico
After two years of work, the RootStudio architectural firm completed this work that saw the restoration of the originalstructure, including adobe walls, tropical wood log and stick (morillos y biliguanas) roof which is catalogued by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) as part of the heritage of this municipality, located in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
RootStudio,
Photography: Lizet Ortíz
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records-of-dirt · 2 months
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Create Your Own Soil Profile!
A garden’s soil is the base of all its growth, and knowing how to properly  interact with your soil can make all the difference!
Step 1 Site Observations
Take a few photos of your site (project area)
Note down:
what vegetation is there?
is it near water?
the slope
approximate exposure to sun
Step 2 Take a soil profile
Set out a tarp or a garbage bag
Dig a hole about 3 feet deep (you may want a friend’s help!)
Place that soil in piles onto the tarp, sorted into different soil layers
Remember horizons! (O, A, E, B, C, R(bedrock))
Make a sketch of a soil profile, and measure the depth of each horizon
The top of the profile should start with 0 cm
Refill the hole, and try to return each type of soil in order!
Step 3 Build your profile
Describe each layer of soil, moisture/structure/color/smell
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Use the “feel” method to take notes
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Step 4 Drainage
Dig a hole 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide(ish)
Fill the hole with water and measure how long it takes to fully drain
An ideal time is around 10 to 30 minutes!
Note down the time
Keep in mind that even if the soil type would suit desert-like plants more, think of the weather. If it rains a good deal the drainage can matter less(or more!)
Step 5 Biological Activity
Bury a pair of cotton underwear(I know it’s silly)
Wait about 60 days
Unearth the undies, the more tattered they are the more activity there is!
Step 6 pH Testing
OSU Lab for Oregon, and many states have soil testing labs
Soil pH Meter
DIY Test
Step 7 Hardiness Zone
This just takes looking at a map!
Hardiness zones can tell you about the weather’s highs & lows in a particular area
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USDA Plant Hardiness Map
And that 's it! It's a lot, and you don’t have to do everything. Each step can provide a better view of how to properly support your garden, and can be fun activities to do with friends and family!
I’ve included a template for a complete soil profile, but feel free to make them as fancy as y’all want!
Sincerely,
records of dirt
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linseedling · 2 months
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Turning Over a New Leaf (To Find Critters Beneath) 🐛
This piece was part of a really fun make-a-thon created by @ohpatpatt! Check it out here
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mapsontheweb · 4 months
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Distribution of chernozem soils/black soil.
Chernozem is a type of fertile black soil that is rich in organic matter and found in certain regions of the world. The term "chernozem" is of Russian origin, where "cherno" means black, and "zem" means earth or soil. This type of soil is known for its dark color, high fertility, and ability to support a variety of crops.
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chiharukihara · 7 months
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CERTAIN OWL 2023
oil on canvas 1000×803㎜/F40
Chiharu KIHARA
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mindblowingscience · 17 days
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Strategies deployed for the restoration of degraded land have had promising results in Brazil's semi-arid region, improving the microbial properties of the soil and contributing to a return of native ecosystem services. The techniques include removal of cattle or restriction of their access to specific areas of pasture; cultivation of cover crops; and terracing to control erosion. Recovery of soil microbial properties maintains biodiversity and raises crop yields, contributing to agricultural sustainability. These are the main findings of a study reported in the Journal of Environmental Management by a Brazilian research group comprising scientists affiliated with the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), and the Federal University of the Agreste of Pernambuco (UFAPE). The review article encompasses 18 studies conducted in the semi-arid region, especially the Caatinga, a local biome consisting mainly of deciduous thorn forest.
Continue Reading.
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petula-xx · 11 months
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International Compost Awareness week starts today!
Running from May 7-13 2023.  https://www.compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Home
Hooray for compost!!!!!!
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typhlonectes · 6 months
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Ancient Amazonians created mysterious ‘dark earth’ on purpose
Soil study suggests today’s Indigenous Amazonians are making new terra preta
Mysterious patches of fertile black soil pepper the verdant Amazon rainforest. They sit in stark contrast with the reddish, eroded soil that dominates the basin. Researchers have long thought this Amazonian dark earth—or terra preta—was created by pre-Hispanic Indigenous civilizations, which have inhabited the region for millennia, but it wasn’t clear how. Now, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and Indigenous partners suggests the ancient Amazonians intentionally created the rich soil thousands of years ago to better foster their crops, and that their modern-day descendants are still making new terra preta today.
Read more: https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-amazonians-created-mysterious-dark-earth-purpose
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wachinyeya · 10 months
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University of California, Riverside, chemical and environmental engineering scientists have identified two species of bacteria found in soil that break down a class of stubborn “forever chemicals,” giving hope for low-cost biological cleanup of industrial pollutants.
These bacteria destroy a subgroup of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that have one or more chlorine atoms within their chemical structure, Yujie Men, an assistant professor in the Bourns College of Engineering, and her UCR colleagues, reported in the journal Natural Water.
Unhealthful forever chemicals persist in the environment for decades or much longer because of their unusually strong carbon-to-fluorine bonds. Remarkably, the UCR team found that the bacteria cleave the pollutant’s chlorine-carbon bonds, which starts a chain of reactions that destroy the forever chemical structures, rendering them harmless.
“What we discovered is that bacteria can do carbon-chlorine bond cleavage first, generating unstable intermediates,” Men said. “And then those unstable intermediates undergo spontaneous defluorination, which is the cleavage of the carbon-fluorine bond.”
Chlorinated PFAS are a large group in the forever chemical family of thousands of compounds. They include a variety of non-flammable hydraulic fluids used in industry and compounds used to make chemically stable films that serve as moisture barriers in various industrial, packaging, and electronic applications.
The two bacteria species – Desulfovibrio aminophilus and Sporomusa sphaeroides – identified by Men’s group are naturally occurring and are known to live in the subterranean microbiomes where groundwater may be contaminated with PFAS. For expedited cleanups, an inexpensive nutrient, such as methanol, could be injected into groundwater to promote bacterial growth. This would greatly increase the bacteria’s presence to destroy the pollutants more effectively, Men said. If the bacteria are not already present, the contaminated water could be inoculated with one of the bacterium species.
But what’s known about using microorganisms to clean up PFAS is still in its infancy, Men said. Her discovery shows great promise because biological treatments, if effective pollutant-eating microbes are available, are generally less costly and more environmentally friendly than chemical treatments. Pollutant-eating microbes can also be injected into difficult-to-reach locations underground.
Men’s latest PFAS study comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is promulgating new regulations to spur cleanups of PFAS-contaminated groundwater sites throughout the nation because these chemicals have been linked to a host of ill health effects, including cancer, kidney disease, and hormone disruptions.
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zegalba · 8 months
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Robert Smithson: Nonsite (1969) medium: Essen Soil and Mirrors
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