Fall is here!

Edwin Way Teale said: "For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."

On Monday, September 22, was the first day of Fall and the Dixie loop is starting to produce seeds. These seeds are a great source of food for small animals, like birds and rodents, to prepare for the winter. Soon the rains will start, so pay attention to the loop filling up with water.

National Park(ing) Day

PARK(ing) Day was Friday, September 19, 2008!
PARK(ing) Day is a one-day, global event, centered in San Francisco where artists, activists, and citizens team up to temporarily transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks and paved parking spaces into temporary green gardens. National Park(ing) Day is an opportunity to celebrate parks in cities and promote the need for more parks for pedestrians and more habitats for other creatures.
The event was started in 2005 by ReBar, an art collective based in San Francisco, and is meant to challenge urbanites to think about what our public spaces would be like if they were designed for the pedestrian, rather than the car.
Afterwards, donate the green materials used to create your temporary park.
For more information check out the website at http://www.parkingday.org/
April Philips Design Works also created a quick park in one of their parking lots. By creativly placing pavers, furniture and plants, the lot was transformed and the office members enjoyed it's one day presence.

WELCOME BACK!

We welcome back all the students, teachers, parents and staff to Dixie Elementary School. The summer was a great success for the Dixie Loop. Despite the dry summer, the loop only needed to be watered twice - the plants are blooming and growing. A few weeds snuck their feet into our beautiful, rich soil, but we are removing them.

Spaghetti in the soil?

Throughout the summer, the team has been observing the Loop with it's plants, soil, and other visiting creatures. One very interesting thing that has occured has been found around the grasses' roots and the surrounding soil. They are thin, long threads or strands like spaghetti, which push their way between soil particles, roots, and rocks. These strands are called hyphae and are microscopic cells of Fungi.
Fungi perform important services related to water dynamics, nutrient cycling, and disease suppression. Along with bacteria, fungi are important as decomposers in the soil food web. They convert hard-to-digest organic material into forms that other organisms can use.Fungal hyphae physically bind soil particles together, creating stable aggregates that help increase water infiltration and soil water holding capacity. The type found on the Dixie Loop's plants are mycorrhizal fungi, which colonize plant roots. In exchange for carbon from the plant, mycorrhizal fungi help solubolize phosphorus and bring soil nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, micronutrients, and perhaps water) to the plant.
So! The spaghetti looking web in the soil helps our plants and shows a healthy, living soil.

Mycorrhizal Fungal Hyphae on the roots of a young pine tree, which grew in a container.

Education and Application of the Compost Tea

Jake from Cagwin and Dorward introduced the idea of compost and the application of compost tea to the 3rd grade students. Afterwards, they jointly applied a serving of compost tea to the Dixie Loop. Thanks to the students, teachers and Jake.

The Loop before the Compost Tea application

The plants are blooming and providing habitat to wildlife such as bees, humming birds and other beneficial animals including those in the soil.

The Dixie Loop is growing happily

The plants at the Dixie Elementary School Loop are growing without any additional watering. By planting mostly California native plants, the need for a lot of additional care is eliminated.