I've had an unanswered question for many years, related to soil health, inspired by Thoreau's comment that the trees take nutrients from the soil and then return with interest when they drop their leaves. The question is this:
If the earth is a battery, storing solar energy through plants in the form of chemical bonds, is the earth charging or discharging? Do our actions, generally but specifically with regards to soil health and agriculture, affect the charge of the earth? Can we deplete the earth's chemical charge, and is that a way to describe soil health? One of the goals of composting is to fill the soil with packets of chemical potential energy in the form of nitrogen compounds.
I'm sure I'm not the first to ask the question, but I haven't seen it, yet. But, I'm quasi-illiterate, so I've likely just not read it, yet.
I love the compost. I love that the bits of the food and cardboard and (some types of) paper that I don't use will all get to know each other in the weird little pallet board walls section of our backyard. Eventually, it will all go to feed the hydrangeas that line the south part of the yard, next to the neighbor's little salad garden along the north side of their yard. I love that the compost helps reduce our waste and that I only have to put the trash can out by the curb once every 6 or 7 weeks or so. I love every week or so when we will load up the big bucket of compostables and trek out to the back to mix in the slop with the brown, and I love that the bucket o' future-compost is covered in the oddest mix of bumper stickers.
I continue to love how you use quotes from scifi as epigraphs, which is something more people should do, yet they don't, which makes me think there's a quiet pressure not to do it from the "serious" side of literature. Sounds like a rebellion is needed. And you're on the front lines here.
This is a fleeting comment because I'm on my phone and my thumbs are already cold, but - THANK YOU for the link to the Aeon "End of Night" essay. I am writing something that will touch on light pollution, and this is a perfect and beautiful fit for my research. You <--> A Treasure.
"A Soiled Life" would be a good title for your next book!
I've had an unanswered question for many years, related to soil health, inspired by Thoreau's comment that the trees take nutrients from the soil and then return with interest when they drop their leaves. The question is this:
If the earth is a battery, storing solar energy through plants in the form of chemical bonds, is the earth charging or discharging? Do our actions, generally but specifically with regards to soil health and agriculture, affect the charge of the earth? Can we deplete the earth's chemical charge, and is that a way to describe soil health? One of the goals of composting is to fill the soil with packets of chemical potential energy in the form of nitrogen compounds.
I'm sure I'm not the first to ask the question, but I haven't seen it, yet. But, I'm quasi-illiterate, so I've likely just not read it, yet.
I love the compost. I love that the bits of the food and cardboard and (some types of) paper that I don't use will all get to know each other in the weird little pallet board walls section of our backyard. Eventually, it will all go to feed the hydrangeas that line the south part of the yard, next to the neighbor's little salad garden along the north side of their yard. I love that the compost helps reduce our waste and that I only have to put the trash can out by the curb once every 6 or 7 weeks or so. I love every week or so when we will load up the big bucket of compostables and trek out to the back to mix in the slop with the brown, and I love that the bucket o' future-compost is covered in the oddest mix of bumper stickers.
I continue to love how you use quotes from scifi as epigraphs, which is something more people should do, yet they don't, which makes me think there's a quiet pressure not to do it from the "serious" side of literature. Sounds like a rebellion is needed. And you're on the front lines here.
This is a fleeting comment because I'm on my phone and my thumbs are already cold, but - THANK YOU for the link to the Aeon "End of Night" essay. I am writing something that will touch on light pollution, and this is a perfect and beautiful fit for my research. You <--> A Treasure.