Abby Y, Gaby, Ibby

An Insider’s Look: Soil!

Unique feature: letters from the editors

Poems, Essays, Letters, and more!

Organism of the Year: Mycorrhizae

Not All Fungus Is Harmful : A Look Into The Symbiotic Relationship Between Plants and Root Fungi

By Abby, Gaby, and Ibby Soil is a necessary part of life on this planet. Thousands of decomposing organisms live in the soil, and they turn dead materials into nutrients. These microorganisms make life possible. The soil is their home, and without it both we and the microorganisms and decomposers wouldn’t be able to survive.

Recently though, soil has started to disappear because of man-made chemicals and because the water and wind have caused soil erosion. Where would we be without soil? The organisms that help plants to grow live in the soil, and the plants that the organisms help to grow are necessary for our nutrition, growth, and survival. The life we have with soil now is one we take for granted. The meals that we eat wouldn’t have been possible without the growth and development of a plant.

One particularly amazing organism that lives in the soil is called Mycorrhizae, or root fungus. Mycorrhizae have a special relationship with plants that helps the plant obtain more water and protects the plant against harmful pathogens. The hyphae* of the fungus makes it easier for the plant’s roots to stretch out and take in more nutrients from the soil. In return, the Mycorrhizae receive energy from the plant. This is called a symbiotic relationship.

A symbiotic relationship happens when two organisms of a different species depend on each other for survival. Both organisms benefit from each other, and they play crucial roles in each other’s lives.

You might be wondering, as you very well should, how root fungus benefits you. Although not many people realize this, but Mycorrhizae do a lot for your plants. If, for example, you want to grow a garden, it can take months for all the plants to sprout. Mycorrhizal plants usually grow much faster than non-mycorrhizal plants, because of better phosphorus nutrition. As we all know, California is currently in a bad, ongoing drought. Mycorrhizal plants have been proven to be more drought-tolerant, which is important for the environment. They are also much more resistant to root diseases than most plants. Many people think all fungi are bad, but Mycorrhizae can actually benefit your plants and trees.

Mycorrhizae may seem insignificant, but root fungi play a crucial role as decomposers in many different environments. Without root fungus, plants would have a much harder time finding water and nutrients. Root fungi make it possible for a plant to grow quicker and better without using too much of its energy.

While all Mycorrhizae are heterotrophs and have hyphae, there are two different kinds of root fungi; Vesicular-arbuscular Mycorrhizae and Ectomycorrhizae. Vesicular-arbuscular Mycorrhizae, or VAM, is the most widespread fungi. They live inside the cells of the plant’s root. They spread lots of hyphae, but they are slow to disperse. There are only a few different species of VAM. They live in most grass, shrubs, and in some trees. Ectomycorrhizae, ecto meaning outside, grow around and between the cells of the root. They live in Riparian areas*, open woodlands, and shrub oak communities. They disperse quickly and far, and there are many species.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “ The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself”. If we destroy roots, we destroy trees. If we destroy trees, we destroy the air. If we destroy the air, we have destroyed ourselves. Mycorrhizae help the soil and plants survive. Nothing can live without soil, and it is an integral part of our everyday lives. Taking all of this into consideration, the editors of this magazine have named Mycorrhizae the organism of the year.

*Riparian areas - Situated near or on the banks of a river *Hyphae - A branching thread-like filament in multicellular fungi

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Gone Gaby The clouds are illuminated with light, yet there is no sun.

I now see a person sitting with a warmed up bun.

I wonder where she has to go.

Above me there is an olive tree White, brown, and green.

A palm tree in the distance Which is as far as I can see.

Birds tweeting, cars screeching, and people winding down.

I can smell wet soil, rosemary and the olive tree.

The flower is softer than fresh fallen snow.

I wonder where the birds have to go.

And the leaf is like leather Rough yet smooth.

A bird just flew above; it seems to have let go of his feather I wonder where he has to go.

Now she is gone!

One Wild and Precious Life Â

Us Gaby If healthy soil is full of death, it is also full of life.

Don't we live just to die, Every one of us?

The soil is the greatest connecter of lives.

It is the healer and restorer of health and age.

Soil is us….people.

The soil and seeds loose in your area determine what crop will grow.

Always the soil must come first.

Our most important job is to feed and sustain soil life, To thrive.

Barbaric Yawp

Food Deserts

Ibby

During a part of our Soil Unit, we focused on food deserts. A food desert is when a group of people, usually living in low-income communities, do not have easy access to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food. People that live in food deserts often rely upon easy and affordable food, like fast food restaurants and convenience stores, because of limited access to fresh produce. Because these places usually don’t sell healthy foods, the people living in food deserts often don’t have a choice they can make between healthy and unhealthy foods. This can put the communities living in food deserts at a big disadvantage.

Living in a food desert means you live one mile or further away from a grocery store or a supermarket. If, for example, you don’t own a car, you won’t be able to access these places. You will have no other choice but to eat at restaurants that lack nutritious options. This is where the personal decision comes into play. In this situation, you have two options. You either eat dinner at McDonalds for the fifth day this week, or you simply don’t eat dinner. Neither is a good option, but lots of people don’t have any other choices; being healthy isn’t something they necessarily have control over.

Studies show that low income zip codes have 30% more convenience stores than middle income zip codes.

Similarly, low-income census tracts have half the number of supermarkets as wealthier tracts (The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters). If you are living in a poorer neighborhood, you will most likely be exposed to a lot more convenience stores than supermarkets, immediately decreasing your access to healthy foods.

So, the real question regarding food deserts is, what can we do about it? 2.3 million US households live a mile or more from a supermarket, without access to a vehicle. Lots of them are, and have been for their entire life, eating only at Carl's Jr. and Jack in the Box. Luckily, there are things we can do to give these communities better and easier access to fresh produce.

By starting to get rid of food deserts, we are helping to overcome other problems too, such as obesity.

Michelle Obama is an advocate to reduce childhood obesity, and says, “In so many neighborhoods, if people want to buy a head of lettuce or salad or some fruit for their kid’s lunch, they have to take two or three buses, maybe pay for a taxicab, in order to do it.” The further away from a supermarket you live, the less likely you are to provide these healthier options for yourself and your family.

Tomorrow Ibby i love this world with the bluebird perched on the telephone wire, the wind tangling my hair, the flowers are almost in full bloom, and reality is so far away but it scares me how quickly it can change, one day the bluebird will stop singing and the wind won’t blow and we know it might not be in a forever, but it might be tomorrow it scares me, but it also takes me to the ocean in the middle of a storm and it wakes me up early on sunday mornings to pick dandelions

Photo Credit: Gaby

One Wild and Precious Life

the green grass sea Ibby i don’t imagine you as a city boy claustrophobic in your apartment and breathing in uncertainty, your lungs filled with smoke you are wild and free, but flowers can still grow after a rain you are the soil & the green grass sea i know that each blade of you is a story i’ll never be able to read being okay that you and i are not the same still, i take comfort in knowing that we are united and bound by the soil underneath our feet in between cracks in the pavement where cigarette butts litter the ground an orange poppy grows against all odds and we define it we are the orange poppy sprouting from soil nobody knew was even there

Barbaric Yawp

Arlington Gardens: First Field Trip of the Soil Unit Gaby Arlington Gardens is located in Pasadena California. It is Pasadena’s only public garden and is a three acre lot that changes with the seasons. There are 400 different species of plants and has stood there for 40 years. In 2003, the City and Caltrans began to talk about the use of this three acre site. A councilman names Steve Madison asked the community what, if anything, that they would want to build on this lot. They were not going to build a playing field, parking lots, or restrooms. Betty McKenney suggested that they build a water wise Mediterranean climate garden. The council considered this idea, but like many other ideas, people were waiting for someone else to start the project. Betty and Charles “Kicker” took their idea and went with it. Ever since, the McKenney’s have planted about 400 trees and a huge variety of plants that can live in cool, wet winters; temperate springs and falls, and hot, dry summers. Later on they put in benches, tables, chairs, umbrellas, pots, paths, and a labyrinth so that one person can learn about water wise gardens, gardening, and so people can find peace of mind and serenity.

The garden is inspired by Jan Smithen's book Sun Drenched Gardens: The Mediterranean Style, and is designed

by Mayita Dinos. It has been developed by a nonprofit corporation, the City of Pasadena, through its Public Works Department, and the Pasadena Water and Power Department. They also got help from the Mediterranean Garden Society and Pasadena Beautiful Foundation. Their goal is to develop a water-wise garden that goes with the garden’s Mediterranean climate. The garden's colors attract butterflies and birds to this big lot and show the community how beautiful, practical, water-wise and satisfying a well planned and maintained climate-appropriate garden can be.

“Succulents in a Drought” Abby

Exploration Abby Overhead the trees create a silhouette, Rising like a green angel, As if reaching.

Green has swallowed me, Only stretching as far as I can see.

Mint, flowers, It all rises to meet my nose, A mix of familiarity, To create something new.

The music comes to my ears, The source unseen, And the sound explores all of my senses.

The succulent is our dream, The stored water, The thriving and persistent growth, The thick petals.

The cards stand out in a tree, They move to a rhythm, Like an orchestra, Some with the melody and some with the harmony, But together.

With how many senses will you push curiosity and adventure, With one sense, Or with all of them?

One Wild and Precious Life

The Circle Abby

The sign of new life appears, But what is the real story behind it all?

Water, Sun, carbon dioxide?

The truth lies in the soil.

The decomposers, root fungi, Its job starts with us, Which starts from the plants, Which turns us once again to the decomposers and root fungi.

My vociferation, Can be heard from the highest peaks of the world, For the story of our life, That starts and ends the tale.

So what is the story?

A cycle.

One that begins and ends nowhere, But circles around soil.

Barbaric Yawp

Dear Readers, As an editor and a participator in the Soil Unit, this experience has opened my eyes up to the problems, solutions, and upstanders that are in our world. Before this experience, I hadn’t known about many of the problems that are faced in this world due to something related to soil. Soil is the problem and soil is the solution, as Ron Finley has once said about food. Without soil, we have no decomposers to give nutrients to the plants, which gives us growth, nutrients, and survival.

This unit has helped me understand the real world problems that we face. Even something as simple as planting a tree could be bad or good depending on the kind of tree, the placement of the tree, the height of the tree, and many more variables. Through this experience, I have been able to realize how small things can affect bigger things on a bigger scale, so there are always consequences for our actions.

My favorite part of this unit was going to the gangsta gardens. Ron Finley inspired me with his project to always continue to work for what you think is right. Be an upstander, because you’ll make a difference to this world no matter how big or small the difference is. In my opinion, Ron Finley is a humongous inspiration to many people and especially to me because of how much he thought and cared about his community in a long-term plan.

Soil is essential for our survival, and within this unit I have learned about the benefits, problems, necessities, and more. Knowing all of this has opened my eyes up to the problems that we have related to soil. Without knowing these things, I would never try to help improve our world in this perspective. Knowledge can inspire you to do great things.

What this unit has taught me overall, is that standing up for something that is right, is upstanding for something you believe in. You don’t always have to make big differences because small differences can make big differences. Even though we have specifically learned about soil this unit, our interaction with so many upstanders in the natural world, has inspired me so much.

Sincerely, Abby

Dear Reader, The Soil Unit was a culmination of our core classes - Math, Science, History, and English. For the past two weeks, we focused on a variety of things regarding soil. The entire grade participated while we learned and grew together during our last weeks of school.

From mulching at Millard Canyon to learning how to compost, I had a blast. My favorite part of the entire Soil Unit was probably the on-campus rotations we went through exploring many different things. My favorite of those rotations was the Tree Walk with Leigh Adams. Approximately 12,000 trees have died in the past year. We learned about what we can do to help. Simply by being educated about specific species of trees and where they should be planted, as well as removing lawns, we can prevent some of these trees from dying.

All of us learned so much about soil in the context of every class. For example, as part of Science we compared healthy vs. unhealthy soil samples through a microscope and learned about the differences between the two. For English we read and analyzed poems about soil, and wrote our own that showed our connection to nature and the world around us.

The Soil Unit focused on a lot of things that we hadn’t been taught before, and few people actually know about. We learned about many things, such as topsoil degradation and food deserts, that are harming ourselves and our environment, but we also learned how we can help and the kind of differences we can make. The entire Soil Unit made me feel very empowered to step up and make a change that would benefit everyone. What can you do that will help the soil?

Sincerely, Ibby

Dear Reader, I am a current 7th grader at Westridge School for Girls. For the past week we have had a unit called the Soil Unit. We learn all about soil, water- wise gardens, how to garden, and a certain organism. The teachers also took us on a few field trips. First we went to Arlington Gardens which is located in Pasadena California and learned all about plants, like succulents, that don’t need as much water as regular plants. Then we visited Ron Finley’s garden. Ron Finley is an advocate and activist of healthy food for people living in food deserts. Food deserts are areas where people either can’t afford healthy food or have no access to healthy food.

Ron tries to come up with solutions on how to educate and encourage people to eat healthy and to grow their own gardens. Finley said that most people who need to grow the gardens and eat healthier are the people that don’t have the choice between fresh produce and chips. But even if the people living in food deserts had the choice, they would probably all choose chips because they can’t afford organic fruits or vegetables! Our last field trip was to Millard Canyon where we learned how to mulch. We dug from huge piles of wood chips and stuck them into buckets. We then lugged the heavy buckets to the other side of the canyon or up a hill to cover up weeds that can reproduce and kill trees and important plants. In Millard Canyon we also learned about different kinds of animals and different species of plants. Everyone had to watch out for the poison oak. All in all, there were many things that we learned about soil. It isn’t just important for animals and plants, but it is important for us. We, like all other species that exist, depend on soil to survive.

Sincerely, Gaby