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ginnyzero · 4 years ago

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Completely Harmless Ch. 24

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Twenty-Four A Magical (Very Pink) Circus

The Silver Drakes were having a bit too much fun helping Bjorn blast out the tunnel. They took turns pushing down the lever for the explosives and yelling “fire in the hole!” It made Bjorn laugh while Agnetha rolled her eyes.

Once they had a rough tunnel in the bedrock under the paddock, more contractors arrived to help make the tunnel something worthy of being part of Silverglade Manor. These contractors happened to be the same ones who were going to be doing the remodeling of the Wine Cellar for Aaron’s wine and ice cream bar.

The first thing they did was reinforce the tunnel with metal girders and braces that they used long steel screws to set them into place. Then the girls helped them lay out the wiring for the electric lights that both the Bar and the tunnel were going to need.

Once they had the tunnel reinforced and the archway in the Wine Cave, they could cover everything that needed to be covered in concrete and start doing the facings. But that wasn’t necessarily something that the girls could help with outside of getting the materials. The contractors shooed them away and told them to come back later once the place needed the finishing touches.

Agnetha set them right to work though. There were flowers to get from Jorvik City and to plant in the terrace gardens. The kit for the Duck Tower that looked like a rounded dome Greek oracle temple had come in along with the metal cages that went with it and needed to be picked up and installed.

Plus, there were still stray hedgehogs to return to Golden Hills before anyone could start building the new event pavilion by the riding arena and chipmunks still appeared in the terrace gardens to cause havoc by stealing tools and making tunnels under the plants.

So, in this hilarity, they held another meeting of all the Clubs. And this time, Loretta and her girls were supposed to show up. But they didn’t.

Annoyed, Lily and the other Club Presidents rode off to Moorland to find out what had happened to Loretta. Justin didn’t know. He was as confused as the girls, because all of the Bobcat Girls were missing.

Thomas didn’t know anything when they asked him. Jenna was quite frankly annoyed. She’d discovered the Bobcat Girls tendency to fob their work off to campers and she was over it. Maya had a clue. “Well, Loretta threw Tan a birthday party. I’d say it was Loretta but as usual she made the other girls do all the work. They were talking about seeing something new up near Nilmer’s Highland when they came back. I told them about the ghosts on the highland but they didn’t believe me. I thought it might be that, but now, I’m not so sure.”

“We’ll check it out.” Lily said.

They rode towards Nilmer’s Highland together keeping their eyes peeled. It was the bright bit of magenta that gave it away.

“No! No. No! That’s not working!” Someone shouted.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ami murmured.

But there was no help of it really. They rode down the road to where it took a sharp bend and off towards the right seated on the top of the plateau like cliff that overlooked Silverglade proper was a deflated pool of magenta and hot pink that could have been a tent, a handsome young man in a top hat, several carts, and a baker’s dozen of white horses with feather plumes in Bobcat Girl Pink on their heads.

“I really have a bad feeling about this,” Ami said.

“Ladies! Ladies!” The young man in the top hat bowed, taking off his top hat. “I am Ydris and this is my circus of dreams. Or, it would be,” he eyed the fallen tent with disdain. “It appears my help lacks the required amount of hands. My Zee is missing and the Fool has wandered off.”

“Zee?”

“My horse, she’s a very special horse,” Ydris waved his hands. He snapped his fingers. “Perhaps, you can help me!”

“We’re actually looking for some people,” Lily said.

“Then, I can help you find them in exchange,” Ydris smiled.

“Oh, no, we found them, ja,” Ingrid shifted on her horse and looked at the white horses. “Of course, calling them people at the moment might be redundant.”

Ydris waved his hand. “Those beauties said they wanted to be part of my circus.”

“Well, that will certainly teach Loretta and company to be a tad more specific, now won’t it?” Kate drawled out.

Lily sighed. “Ydris, I’m going to suppose that there is something they or we can do to get them back to normal.”

“But they are my star attraction.”

Ingrid grimaced. “We aren’t looking to take their places.”

“They shall bring delight and happiness to this world. Isn’t that the greatest joy of all?”

“They’re also people,” Lily pointed out.

Ydris heaved a great sigh. “Very well, lovely ones. I shall restore their forms in return for a favor from me.”

“Or, we can set up your tent, find your missing horse, and return your fool.” Ingrid smiled.

“The fool no doubt went for a walk, I can hear the jingle of his bells off to the south. Do not be frightened of him, fair maids, for despite his ugly face, there beats within his chest a heart of solid gold.”

“I’ll go get him,” Kate said and trotted away.

“Now, about your tent,” Lily said.

“No matter how hard I try, it won’t stay up. I wave my hands like so, and gesture like this,” Ydris waved his hands and the tent rose into the air and hovered forming the proper shape with clouds of purple energy around it. “But it won’t stay like it’s supposed to.” He lowered his hands and the purple clouds disappeared and the tent collapsed into a heap of garish silk.

“Are you forgetting you need poles and rope?”

Ydris put his hand to his forehead. “Poles and rope. Oh, yes, what mundane things to need. They must be around here somewhere,” he gestured and a rather large group of red and white striped boxes appeared in puffs of purple smoke.

The girls methodically opened the boxes. They found some twigs and twine, but not poles and rope.

Ydris laughed at their findings as Kate returned with a dwarf of a man. “Hahahah, we can make these work my lovelies. Now, watch the Great Ydris perform marvels.” He put his fingers near his forehead, his brow furrowed. And the twigs and twin popped turning into long wooden poles and thick ropes. “Will that do?”

“Well enough,” Pia said.

They dismounted their horses and by dint of picking up the tent and trial and error managed to get the poles and the ropes situated.

“It seems a bit, floppy. It is far too sad to be a carnival of dreams, a festival of delights!” Ydris waved his hands.

The girls struggled not to glare at him.

“How foolish, how unprofessional. Xin, I thought better of you!” Ydris exclaimed. “How will we look if you’re doing that when the customers appear?”

Riley helped the fool who had gotten tangled in the ropes to get down.

“Perhaps they need to be tightened,” Ydris waved his hands and the ropes tightened and the tent straightened. But as soon as he lowered them, they all fell back. “My powers aren’t as strong here on this side of the veil.”

The girls mounted their horses, attached the ropes to the saddle. “All together now, pull,” Lily shouted.

The tent slowly rose up.

“Yes. Yes, that’s it. That is my desire!”

The girls got it tight and then lashed off the ropes.

“Now, to truly be a circus, it needs, a sign!” Ydris gestured broadly but nothing happened. “Over there,” he pointed.

Luciana retrieved the sign and they put it over the door.

“Now, about your missing horse,” Sonja said.

“Zee does so enjoy running off,” Ydris sighed. “She’s mad at me you see for saying there could be a better attraction of horses than her. But the beautiful ladies offered and how could I refuse?”

“By not turning them into horses,” Lily said.

A bunch of the girls giggled.

“We shall go ask around if anyone has seen your missing horse,” Kelsey said. She and a couple of the other girls left at a trot to check with Steve, Ed, and Maya if anyone had rumors of an unclaimed horse around.

Kelsey returned with a silver dapple draft horse tagging along behind her. She was teasing it along with cookies.

“Zee!” Ydris exclaimed. “Did you have a marvelous adventure?”

Zee huffed and glared at the white horses.

“Oh yes, erm,” Ydris gestured with his hands and a cloud of purple and pink smoke surrounded the white horses. They returned to being girls, coughing and looking quite embarrassed.

“Thank you,” Lily said sweetly. “Now, before we get going. Is there anything else you need help with?”

“Well, it would be nice to have a tent to part the mists of the future.” Ydris said. “And a way for people to visit me.”

“Then, I’m sure Loretta and her club can return to help you tomorrow,” Lily said with a smile. “And you can work out an equitable way for them to be part of your circus then without changing them into horses.” Lily waved her hand. “Come along, ladies. We have a meeting!”

They offered the Bobcat girls seats on the back of their horses so they didn’t have to return to Moorland. Assuming that is where all of their horses were.

They formed up into two long lines and trotted away from the circus, back onto Nilmer’s proper before swinging onto the road to Silverglade.

Loretta didn’t say anything until they’d passed the turn off through the Silver Wood. She cleared her throat. “Thank you. May we never speak of this again?”

Lily raised a brow at her.

Loretta at least had the grace to flush.

“We make no promises we aren’t sure we can’t keep,” Kate told her in a dry tone.

They stabled their horses in Steve’s Paddock and rejoined the rest of their clubs at the Council House.

“All right, now that we’re all here,” Kate said. “Let’s begin. Captain Lily, the floor is yours.”

“In old business, I believe we have managed to set up the Farmer’s Market to our satisfaction and things are progressing quickly at Silverglade Manor. Soon, the restaurant, garden trails, and ice cream bar will be open for business. Luciana, how goes the racing event for the Dew Family.”

Luciana stood. “We’ve managed to gather several corporate and private sponsors around South New Jorvik County and in Jorvik City to match the donations of those who are getting individual sponsors. We’re going to start putting out flyers at different stables soon.”

“Amelia, Ginny, any news on the G.E.D. front?”

Ginny and Amelie looked at each other. “I’m not sure where to begin, oui,” Amelia said.

“Because there’s a lot,” Ginny rubbed her forehead. “And we’ve lost track of Mr. Kemball.”

“We know where he is,” Ingrid said with a huge sigh.

“Well, did anyone local know that the previous mayor of Jarlaheim, Mayor Eileen is missing?” Amelia asked.

The local girls looked at each other, eyes wide.

“No. Not at all,” Pauline murmured. “She was well liked too.”

“Swell mayor,” Tyra agreed with a nod.

“Well, she’s missing and Herman, the man who runs Jorvik Stables thinks that G.E.D. is to blame. We’ve got ourselves an in with Ms. Drake, the woman in charge of G.E.D. around the Jarlaheim area.”

“Oh, we’ve run into her over in Dundull. She was the one behind trying to sell our spring water,” Rania pounded the table with her fist.

“Her brother is in charge over in Epona. He’s got Junior Buttergood of the Buttergood family on his side.” Ginny grimaced.

Amelie held up her hand. “We’ve been working on the behest of Herman to find out what G.E.D. is doing around Jarlaheim. From what we’ve been able to gather, they’re looking for places to drill. Not for oil like they were doing here in Silverglade under Mr. Kemball, but for a type of crystal that they believe has more energy and power than oil.”

“In fact, we think they’ve already started drilling in Hillcrest.” Ginny added.

“Wait, aren’t you based in Hillcrest?” Lily asked.

Ginny shook her head. “That’s New Hillcrest. Hillcrest is situated on top of one of the Greydew Mountains. Right now, right outside of where the town should be is a G.E.D. housing construction area and we think a wall. We haven’t been able to get close enough to find out.”

“Herman wants us to take one of the old paths up there to find out and we’ve told him absolutely not,” Amelia said firmly. “That is a sure way to get someone caught, especially when he insists on going with us. It’d no doubt be him. Working our way into Ms. Drake’s trust is slower, but surer and safer.”

“There is an organization in Epona who seems to be trying to stand against G.E.D.” Ginny said slowly.

“Do you trust them?” Lily asked.

“When the leader is named Mrs. X?” Ginny widened her eyes. “Absolutely not. The people that we’ve met that claim to be part of this organization aren’t, well, they’re like Jamie Olivetree. They’re nice people, good intentions.”

Violet spoke up. “But seem to have some shady morals.”

Ginny nodded.

“Personal experience?” Lily asked.

“We’ll let them finish,” Ingrid said.

“Herman claims to have a friend testing the samples for him. But we haven’t heard anything back yet despite the bucket load we’ve given them.” Amelia made a face. “I’m worried that he’ll try to do something without us as we try to head off this feud between the Sunfields and the Goldspurs.

“The Goldspurs stole the Sunfield chickens, the kids are dating, Freya is mean to the cat so it runs off,” Josefina rolled her eyes. “At least the Jarlssons aren’t part of it.”

“There’s a nice young woman putting in a theatre in Jarleheim. I don’t know who is going to attend since the city seems mostly empty. There are a lot of empty shops. We’ve helped one young man put in a clothing shop but I’m not sure it’s the right area for it.” Amelie shrugged. “Mostly, there is very little word on what happened to Eileen. And we aren’t sure the G.E.D. is set up legally where they are either.”

“Right, I think pictures are in order and maybe finding out who is in charge of that part of the County like the Baroness is in charge of Silverglade.”

“Oui, and where is the Count and Countess in all of this,” Amelia scowled.

“Golden Hills,” Riley said. “I think. Or they’re supposed to be. There’s a castle up in the mountains above Cape West.”

“We need proof that they are parked where they are illegally and have something to do with the missing Mayor,” Lily said. “Without proof, then they aren’t going anywhere.”

“You’re really knowledgeable about this,” Kate observed.

“I like true crime shows,” Lily wrinkled her nose.

Kate narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure that entirely explains it.”

“Anything else on G.E.D. in Epona, Ginny?”

“They want to buy out the stable, though I’m not sure why. It does sit on a spur between South Hoof and Sunset Islands. The entire south west area of Epona is notorious for shipwrecks. That’s why people avoid it and go to Cape West instead.” Ginny shrugged. “Or up to Cape Point.”

Lily Bones leaned forward from her spot at one of the big tables. “Having Junior Buttergood in their pocket gives them the entire area of Old Ridgecaster to do whatever they want to do. Scott is trying to fix a bridge over the Old Thunder at the moment. Robert is working with the secret organization. He tried to hire us to sabotage the G.E.D. equipment. They’ve also are drilling on one of the nearby islands. They’ve got up a gate and a guard on it.”

“You can get in if you’re careful by jumping onto the island from down below,” Ginny said. “But, you have to be careful.”

Lily Bones continued. “We refused to help Robert. It wasn’t him that would get caught and hurt.”

Lily nodded. “Understandable.”

“We’ve spent more time helping Terrance Rockwell stop being a berserk infected monster, than we’ve been able to do anything productive. He claims he fell into the Cauldron where Witch Pi lives in the Golden Hills and got poisoned by the marsh water. But he won’t tell us what he was doing there in the first place.”

“Pi?” Riley groaned. “Oh, we’ve had to deal with Pi. She’s working with Dark Core. We’re trying to get her back to normal. The Cape West Mayor is her husband.”

Lily turned her attention to Melissa. “What is happening in Valedale then?”

“Dark Core has set up a mining site above the lake and it’s turning the water green. You can see it barely from the village itself. Both waterfalls are being contaminated. Valedale doesn’t have a mayor. It has Elisabeth Sunbeam of the druids. She doesn’t seem to want much to do with us since we don’t have any druidic powers.”

Lily blinked. “Ohkay.”

“But, we brought this issue to her attention and she sent us to speak with another druid in town named Avalon. Well, he started mixing up a drug to make the Dark Core guards more susceptible to suggestion so they’d leave.”

“A drug?” Kate gaped.

“Is this normal here?” Lily asked looking at Emma, Pauline, and any other local girl that she could catch their eyes.

“We said that we weren’t drugging anyone!” Violet said. “And that made Avalon broody and now he won’t speak to us to come up with an alternative form of actions.”

“People respect the druids,” Sonja said. “But we don’t know much about them and what they can do. That’s why we speak softly around them.”

“Sabotage. Drugging people. Breaking and entering?” Lily gestured with her hands. “When we took on G.E.D. in Moorland and here, we did it by the books! We followed the law and got the proper authorities involved. We might not be able to do anything about the G.E.D. on the Buttergood lands because Junior wants them there. But come on, they can’t just park in the mountains and drill without proper permits and permissions. Same for Jarlehiem or Moorland Beach.”

“Maybe we can do something about the Buttergoods, but that means involving Walter Winterwell and making him care about the state of his land.” Ginny said with a shrug. “But if he refuses to open Fort Maria again, I don’t know if he’ll care about drilling on the Buttergoods no matter if it’s going to contaminate the entire area. They don’t have any discretion with their dump sites.”

“Probably illegal,” Lily Bones said.

“Why is Fort Maria closed?” Lily asked.

“Haunted,” Ginny said. “Or so goes the rumor.”

“Is everything in this area haunted? Nilmer’s Highland, the Arena in Jorvik Stables, now Fort Maria.” Lily waved her hands. “Aren’t the druids supposed to be doing something about that?”

Amelia spoke up. “I say the adults around here are crazy and not to be trusted.”

“Seconded,” Ami said.

“Thirded,” Kate added.

“Motion carried,” Lily said.

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

#star stable #star stable online #sso #jorvik reimagined #fan fic #star stable salt #completely harmless #silverglade reimagined #many nods to ruth westside

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mmwm · 7 years ago

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Here are my highly personal notes on Chapter Eleven: Soil — The Real Dirt in Peter Bane’s The Permaculture Handbook (2012). Any misrepresentations of Bane’s words or work are mine alone and completely unintentional. Notes on each chapter linked here.

This chapter is long and very detailed concerning soil science. And guess what? Today is World Soil Day! Listen to this great 1A radio program on soil health, titled “The Ground Beneath Our Feet,” that aired yesterday, especially to Oklahoma farmer Jimmy Emmons, who changed his mind and changed his entire way of farming.

“The soil is an animal which is everywhere a mouth.” — Emilia Hazelip

Soil is the most changeable of all elements in agriculture. The living organisms in the top foot of soil may equal 11 tons/acre. “Soils are created from an interaction of energy (chiefly from the climate and living organisms which transform it into action) with resistance, expressed as a function of geology — or parent rocks — and the resulting landforms that they reveal over time. The weathering of rock creates habitat for soil organisms at the same time that it grinds minerals into finer and finer particles which can be eaten by plants and microbes, and even by small soil animals.”

ground beetle in soil, my garden, April 2012

Soil is not solid. It’s filled with “the action of plant roots, fungal hyphae and burrowing animals which distribute living and dead organic matter from the surface to deeper layers, pull minerals from parent rock, and open channels for air and water to circulate. Small soil animals, searching for food, consume dead plant and animal tissue and excrete pellets, casts, frass and other manures which bind bits of inorganic material with organic waste and digestive secretions to form colloids. Earthworms are particularly effective and powerful in this way, leaving behind them not only burrows that become channels for air and water, but nearly perfect packets of plant food in the form of their castings.”

earthworm, my yard, April 2015

Layers of soil, top to bottom: The Organic Layer covers soil, breaks the fall of raindrops, and prevents erosion. It also provides food for lots of foraging animals. Just below this layer is the Accumulating Layer (“A”), “the topsoil horizon of conventional soil science,” where “organic residues of decomposition accumulate.” It has the largest percentage of carbon of any soil layer, and in temperate zones, there can be up to 20% organic matter in this layer. Below this, the Elluviation Layer, where “minerals are being leached by the percolation of water.” Tilling soil mixes the Accumulating and the Elluviation layers. Below this, the Banking Layer (“B”), sometimes called the subsoil, traps some leached minerals. Levels of organic matter are low here. Below this upper subsoil is the Chemical Layer (“C”) “of broken and weathered rock.” Next, the Durable Layer (“D”), or bedrock, which is not necessarily solid; it can be “fractured and permeable” due to chemical composition or seismic activity.

glacial erratic boulder on nearby trail, NH, April 2016

Ninety-seven percent of the bodies of animals, plants, microbes are made up of four elements: Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Nitrogen. All occur as gasses and are cycled through the atmosphere, freely available. The remaining 3% consists of Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium, and trace minerals, and these are the limiting factors in plant and animal growth and health. So the focus in soil repair is the minerals: healthy ecosystems retain them.

In temperate climates (not in tropical), “soil is built by the development of durable carbon in the form of humus, long-chain molecules created out of biomass by living organisms in the soil. … So building soil fertility in cool regions means adding organic matter to soil from the top down as mulch.”

hand-crafted compost, my garden, June 2017

Bacteria: the most common organism in soil; one teaspoon contains millions of them. Aerobic (flourish with oxygen) and Anaerobic (flourish without oxygen). Anaerobic bacteria evolved before photosynthesis and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. All the bacteria that consume dead organic matter are aerobic, but if they lack O2 for a bit, they just slow their metabolism and stop eating.

The Oxygen-Ethylene Cycle: This is a complicated little bit of agronomy and if it interests you in detail, please read the chapter or study the diagrams below.

Briefly, this is all about how gasses produced as anaerobic bacteria feed (ethylene and ammonium nitrogen) can cause nitrogen to dissolve and flow away, and when it does, iron (common and abundant in all soils), changes itself from ferric iron (red or rusty) to ferrous iron (black) by releasing an atom of oxygen into the now reduced atmosphere of the soil:

“This has tremendous implications for soil fertility and agriculture because it initiates the assimilating phase of soil nutrient transfer to plants. Ferrous iron reacts with a precursor found in leaf litter to convert it into ethylene gas, helping to further inactivate aerobic bacteria. Iron in its ferrous form also sheds its bonds to phosphate, sulfate and ions of trace minerals, dumping them unceremoniously into solution. And this new and rather promiscuous ferrous iron then forms bonds with particles of clay and organic matter. As it does so, ions of magnesium, calcium, potassium and ammonium which had been occupying those sites are displaced, also into solution. The highest concentration of this activity is in the rhizosphere or tiny envelope of water surrounding the root hairs of plants. Thus, as soil microsite conditions change from aerobic to anaerobic, all the plant nutrients — nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium and trace minerals, which had until then been held tightly to soil particles — enter into solution and can in that form be taken up by plant roots. This does not occur when the soil is constantly aerobic, nor does it occur when nitrate nitrogen — the form typically applied as chemical fertilizer — is present in large quantities. So industrial farming, by tilling soil and applying nitrate fertilizer, is preventing normal processes of soil nutrient assimilation by plants.

“In turn, plants feed soil organisms at their roots in order to enhance water and nutrient uptake and also to stimulate respiration by aerobic bacteria which cyclically exhaust oxygen in the rhizosphere, initiating anaerobic conditions, the production of ethylene gas and nutrient assimilation. This entire process is cyclic, a rocking back and forth at millions of microsites throughout a healthy soil between aerobic and anaerobic conditions, between digestion and assimilation. Both phases are necessary for dead matter to be consumed by microbes and resurrected by living plants. Conventional agronomy fails in every way to respect this normal and natural process.”

Taking the Measure of Soil: Soil texture: gritty, spongy, buttery, smooth, sticky. Soil series: names (e.g., Haworth, Bartholomew, Niagara) associated with soils of a distinctive texture in a given locale. (USDA) Soil structure: platey, prismatic, blocky or granular in a continuum from compaction to good tilth. Healthy soils are more granular (larger clods) Organic matter: living and dead organisms and their residues. Soil pH (percent Hydrogen): measures acidity and alkalinity in soil on scale from 1-14, where 3 is acidic like lemon juice, 7 is neutral, and anything above 9 makes plant life difficult. Good garden soil is 6-7 pH. All soils approach neutral when organic matter is added.

sticky dirt removed from a hole I dug for a shrub, June 2017

Mineral Composition and Balance: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) are the nutrients most heavily used, but calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur (S) are also important and lack of them can limit growth. Trace elements, as many as 40 of them, are also needed; these all occur in the human body and have some metabolic function: Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B), Iron (Fe), Molybednum (Mo), Cobalt (Co), Chlorine (Cl), Iodine (I), Sodium (Na), Chromium (Cr), Flourine (F), Selenium (Se), Vanadian (V), Germanium (Ge), and Silver (Ag).

Environmental Analysis: Assessing mineral balance in soil. 1. Is the soil likely to be acidic or alkaline? Depends on geology and geography. 2. Is the soil old or new? (in geologic time) 3. What is the soil’s texture? Clay (which has a huge surface area and a strong electrical charge) holds minerals more than sandy or silty soil. 4.Does pollution affect your soil’s pH? E.g., Tennessee and Ohio valleys and New England are major downwind areas for coal emissions from the Midwest (coal makes soil acidic). 5. Has the land been farmed chemically? (and thus been depleted of organic matter) 6. Is there heavy metal contamination, historically or currently? Especially in older urban areas and any place near former salvage yards, tanneries, chemical plants, gas stations, metal plating and wood treatment facilities; lead was not removed from paint and gas until 1976 and soils nearby may contain lead. Also soils near roads and highways more than 35 yrs old. Also cadmium (tire abrasion), mercury and arsenic (coal), radioactive isotopes (around the 108 commercial nuclear reactors in the U.S., with a dozen sites seriously contaminated) 7. What plants are growing in the soil? Some plants indicate what’s in the soil. Nettles like rich loamy soil, rhododendron and mountain laurel like highly leached, acidic soil. 8. How well are the plants growing? Plants with deformities, yellowing leaves, lots of pests, poor flowering and fruiting indicate mineral deficiencies. Brix reeadings (measures level of sugar in plant tissues) can indicate mineral nutrition in soil.

mountain laurel at nearby nature preserve, Nov. 2015

Repairing and Rebuilding Soil: Add organic matter! It “increases food for soil microbes that create humus [which increases] the carbon content of soils increases their water- and mineral-holding capacities.” Add it in two ways: by growing plants, “which put their roots down into the soil layers where they introduce photosynthates or sugary and starchy root exudates to feed soil microbes, and where these roots regularly die and are sloughed off to decompose.” Also lay green and brown vegetative material (as compost or chop & drop or however) on the soil surface so fungi and soil creatures can incorporate it into the soil layers: “The soil’s mouth is at the surface, not 3, 6 or 10 inches down. Plowing to incorporate plant residues is not unlike forcing unchewed food down someone’s throat with the notion that this will help them to eat.”

Keep a mulch cover on the soil at all times to protect soil from erosion by wind and rain, to protect soil organisms from drying, to conserve soil moisture, and to feed the soil.

Bane discusses the work of P.A. Yeomans and his Keyline system, developed in the 1930s and 40s. Involves dams and furrows, and if you’re interested, read the book.

He also talks at length about swales (ditches dug on contour), water bars (berms to divert water), pits and ponds, terraces — collectively, small earth works. Again, read the book if this interests you.

Feeding Soil: Crop rotation – rotate crops that bear from different parts (root, leaf, fruit, seed). Grow cover crops (long list on pp. 209-210. (Below, buckwheat grown as cover crop in Windsor, Vermont, Oct. 2016)

cover crop of buckwheat where corn and pumpkins are grown in summer, Windsor, Vermont, Oct. 2016

close up of buckwheat flowers (cover crop, Windsor, Vermont, Oct. 2016)

Grow cold-hardy fertility crops (vetch, turnips, mustard) in winter to restore fertility. Intercrop, e.g., strips of legumes between strips of grain. Grow perennial crops in islands at end or edge of garden beds. (Below, some of the perennials I grow in and alongside my main vegetable bed, including echinacea, blueberries, elderberries, asclepias, and perovskia.)

Chop & drop mulch. Mulch with cardboard, newspapers, junk mail, wood chips, straw bales, animal manure, cocoa hulls, peanut hulls, pine straw.

leaf/soil mulch and straw mulch (from neighbours) in my bins, May 2015

Compost is not a panacea for soil repair or maintenance, but useful; make it with ratio of 20-30:1 brown or dead material to green or manure (highly nitrogen-rich material) and keep it moist. Mineral and microbial amendments, like lime (calcium carbonate), wood ash (for potassium, alkalinity, Ca, P; don’t just pile it on soil but treat it like salt and sprinkle lightly), urine, rock phosphate (promotes fruiting and flowering), seaweeds, fish emulsions, etc. Mycorrhizal fungi: Bacteria dominate alkaline soil (and produce more of it; fungi dominate acidic soil, humus-rich soil that’s not disturbed or tilled. The hyphae (feeding strands) of fungi can be very long, so fungi can mobilize nutrients over a broad area (but the hyphae are also very vulnerable to tillage and agrichemicals). Fungi also contain powerful enzymes to break down substances like chitin (cellular coating of insect bodies), animal bones and sinews, and long-chain C-based molecules like petroleum and pesticides. Most importantly, fungi “develop relationships with plant roots and appear to be critical for plant nutrition. Plants only moved out of water and onto land some 400–460 million years ago, after aquatic plants developed symbiotic relationships with fungi. As many as 95% of all plants, possibly more, have root associations with fungi, called mycorrhizae. As they break down dead tissues, fungi take minerals, including nitrogen in the ammonium form, into their bodies and hold them, swapping them in trade with plant roots for sugars, or releasing the whole lot upon death.” To help fungi, don’t till or use chemicals in the garden. We can also grow our own fungi through a process called inoculation (mycorrhizal inoculants can be purchased commercially).

fungus growing in purchased Coast of Maine organic Quoddy Blend Lobster Compost, April 2016

someone holding Stropharia rugosoannulata (wine cap stropharia) mushrooms, grown from inoculation, at Steve Whitman’s, Plymouth, NH, Sept. 2014

Featured image (top image) is an earthworm and beetle in my yard, June 2014.

Book Notes: The Permaculture Handbook :: Chapter Eleven Here are my highly personal notes on Chapter Eleven: Soil -- The Real Dirt in Peter Bane’s

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