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.

Easter Sunday

The daffodils are blooming at the loop to welcome spring.

Our Oak Tree is Getting Bigger

Planting the Oak Trees

On the Novemeber 9th Volunteer Planting weekend, many of the kids asked "where is the tree?" since they had learned that trees help fight Global Warming. As a result, on February 20, 2008, our Coast Live Oaks arrived and we planted one 15 gallon tree and one supercell tree in the loop to study how they will respond.