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Nematoad Newz Cover Page

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Table of Contents

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Organism of the Year 2013: the Nematode!

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Solano Canyon Community Garden

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The Tree Made of Dirt, Hanna’s Song Soundtrack

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Poetry Fresh from the Garden: “Barbaric Yawp!”

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Poetry Fresh from the Garden: “Barbaric Yawp!”

CONTINUED

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Poetry Fresh from the Garden: “One Wild and

Precious Life”

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Poetry Fresh from the Garden: “One Wild and

Precious Life” CONTINUED

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Victory Garden Propaganda Poster

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A Day in Descanso Gardens

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A Day in Descanso Gardens: CONTINUED

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A Day in Descanso Gardens: CONTINUED

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A Day in Descanso Gardens: CONTINUED

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Letters from the Editors

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Letters from the Editors: CONTINUED

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Letters from the Editors: CONTINUED

IN THIS ISSUE:

Nematoad Newz!

ORGANISM OF THE YEAR:

THE NEMATODE!

Nematoad Newz!

Nematoad Newz is proud to present the “Organism of the Year”: the Nematode! Nematodes may be classified as “free-living”: factors to the decomposition of organic mat-ter, “predaceous”: harmful to plants, animals, and humans, or “parasitic”: and beneficial to the soil. Beneficial nematodes are known for attacking unwanted insect pests by steriliza-tion, debilitation, or elimination by death. Biologicals, or medicinal repellants made from living organisms, can take many days or even weeks to kill unwanted insects in one area. Nematodes can penetrate insects within 1-2 days; they work with their bacteria. They are also soil, plant and animal/human safe. Nematodes have been awarded “Organism of the Year” for the past four years straight. Nematodes are simple roundworms lacking color and appendages, or additional parts. They are long and narrow and (according to the Greeks) resemble a tiny thread – nema = thread. They can be between 0.4 to 1.5 mm in length and can be seen with a hand lens or microscope. Over 28,000 nematode species have been recorded, however there is an estimate of around 1 million. Over 16,000 are said to be extremely beneficial to the soil.

Though nematodes are hard at work, they also rely on the insects to help them re-produce. First, the nematodes track the insect or the “host” and enter inside a natural body opening (such as the mouth, spiracles, or anus). Once inside, the nematodes begin to infect the host by releasing bacteria (such as Xenorhabdus or Photohabdus), which soon and quickly multiplies. The nematodes eat upon the bacteria and the sterilizing insect and begin to mature into adults. Once fully matured, the “Steinernematids” nematodes be-come either males or females (“Steinernematids” and “Heterorhabditids” are nematode classifications). The “Heterorhabditids”, however, become hermaphrodites/both male and female. In few generations, there are some that develop either male or female. After the “Life Cycle” is complete days later, both the juveniles exit, intrigued for new hosts.

Nematodes are adaptable to any ecosystem including soil, desert, polar regions, tropics, and even salt and fresh water. They can also withstand any elevation low or high.

Although nematodes are extremely beneficial and can help get rid of unwanted in-sects, they can also provide much damage to crops and leave farmers very unhappy. The “predaceous” nematodes are known to damage the roots of crops, costing U.S. farmers an estimated total of over $8 billion a year.

Nematodes are available for sale online or at your local hardware store such as Home Depot or OSH. Help protect your garden from pestering bugs with the little magic of nematodes!

There are more than 90 community gardens across Los Angeles County. Many were

unoccupied, vacant lots that were all waiting to be restored back to beauty. Communities from all

over have come together to build natural and organic gardens, but also to build friendship and bonds

with one another. The benefits to a community garden are organic fruits and vegetables that are not

imported from 1,500 miles away, and no high prices from grocery stores!

One community garden that Nematode News found very intriguing was the Solano Canyon

Community Garden, located in Downtown Los Angeles. Downtown LA is very urban, with many

people vacant in the tall skyscrapers and buildings. A community garden seemed to be just what

the Downtown LA community needed!

The Solano Canyon Community Garden used to be the former site of Solano Avenue

Elementary School. The school was torn down in 1935, after the building of the Pasadena 110

Freeway. The lost was empty for about 63 years, until the community residents established the

Solano Canyon Community Garden in 1998. The 110 freeway runs along side and under the

garden; part of the garden is located the tunnel of the northbound lane of the freeway (going east

towards Pasadena).

The garden is home to many vegetables and beds of flowers to emphasize the mosaic-

covered walls. The garden is five acres in size; two thirds of the garden is home to an orchard and

planting beds on the hill for the community to partake in. The remaining one third has common

areas such as benches and thirty individual garden plots. The Solano Community Garden is located

at: 545 Solano Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

-Alexandra

Go Exp lor ing : So lano Canyon

Community Garden !

Nematoad Newz!

For my individual article I chose to make a work of art inspired by the soil unit, and I immediately

thought to myself, ‘now how to make a beautiful work of art inspired by dirt. And even though we had

learned an incredible amount facts about the earthy brown stuff, I couldn’t think of any good ideas. Then it

occurred to me that I could make the art out of actual dirt, I decided to make a tree on a hill and I went out

receive supplies. I used an old wo0den Christmas sign for the base and collected different shades of dirt for

the picture, though I couldn’t find sand or a light colored dirt for the sky as I had hoped, the picture actually

turned out pretty great despite me having to paint the sky. The thing I am most proud of about my work of

art is that almost all of it will eventually biodegrade (save the hot glue) and that way it will return to the

earth, like we eventually all will.

Nematoad Newz!

For interest in Hanna’s custom song track about soil, please visit our website:

http://www.nematoadnewz.com/

The Tree of Dirt by Alia

The flowers I see compare to violence, dragging

and twisting itself to the beat. The grass churns with

the sixth sense of sound, making the chord, 1, 3, 5 of

life. The bugs join in and chirp their melodies

compacted and stressed with the power to make me

sway along with the melancholy trees, which provide

the bass line. Their consistent thumps and bumps. And

just like that, I am pulled into this dance of life.

The soil beneath my tough, calloused feet gives

them the youth that they always longed for. My feet

start to move. Not listening to my brain, which is

saying No! You can’t dance!, my feet turn and twist me

‘round like the thrashing flowers, my hands sway as if

they are the melancholy trees, and my hips travel along

the lines on 1, 3, 5. Every other note. The chord.

And as I dance to the beat of life, I add my own

instrument to this song. My voice.

I sing the flowers’ pain as their backs ache from

thrashing and twisting, I sing the grass’s pain as their

lovers are trampled my feet of genocide, I sing the

crickets way of seeing me. I sing the tree’s joys of the

children climbing its body of wood. I sing out all of my

pains and worries, and then I retreat to the ground,

resting my head on the soil that let me see. The soil

that let me see the music in life.

-Hanna

Poet r y Fre sh f rom the Garden :

“Barbar i c Yawp !”

I meandered

through mist

looking for the

stream.

It bubbled alongside forests

and poured its depth to the

mother.

Shadows were with me; the

mother had resurrected in green.

It is a life-giving stream.

I stroke a tree of concrete bark.

The ruling oak tree of the

heavens is reflected beneath the

solid ground; I stand over it.

The sun is shining through,

penetrating the infamous mist,

I am on solid ground.

What will become of my

existence?

Will I be a reflection?

My awarded present, wrapped

in a silver bow, has been

opened; we must give

ourselves.

And you will do so.

-Alexandra

Nematoad Newz!

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follow. Thank you!

I stare in wonder at the Nature around me and

Wonder how you the timeless invisible listener

Views this small moment in time.

You are infinite and have seen all

Nothing is new to you I shout at the forest.

Around me lay the remains of various forest creatures

Slowly joining with their brethren in the earth.

I reminisce how I have spent the few years of my life

How many days had I spent like this?

How many days have I sat idle, knowing perfectly well that,

My body will eventually become

The sustenance of some farmer’s tomatoes.

The worms tunnel through the dirt around me

Churning the remains of my forgotten ancestors.

How can we just sit here,

Wasting our lives away until joining

our forgotten families in the earth,

fungi and bacteria dissolving our

all too mortal faces into dirt and dust.

We have such short lives,

So little time before we too are used as fertilizer.

We must live our lives to the fullest,

And who knows maybe in the future,

I’ll grow a poppy!

-Alia

Poet r y Fre sh f rom the Garden :

“Barbar i c Yawp !” CONTINUED

Nematoad Newz!

Artwork by Hanna with keyboard symbols

A gust of wind rattles the tree above me

Sending numerous leaves spiraling and

pinwheeling

To the leaf-speckled earthy ground below.

Far in the distance a mountain rises from the

earth

Strain to touch the untouchable heavens.

The air is crisp and clean

Complemented by the smell of fresh flowers.

Around me echo the faraway,

excited calls of some invisible bird

The smell of a leaf that has descended into

my lap

Reminds me of a grassy meadow of the past.

I dig my fingers through the gritty earth

Feeling the dirt get stuck in my fingernails.

A cloud of dust wraps around me

The indeterminable scent invading my

nostrils.

Above me floats a lazy monarch

Indifferent to how the world is changing.

On my right stand tall telephone poles

The only indicator that I am not

In the famed Garden of Eden.

My hand reaches out,

Massaging the waxy surface of the green

flora

Whose vibrant flowers can sum up the entire

garden.

I abandon my wooden throne

And realize that for the first time

All is silent.

A burst of laughter breaks the precious

silence

And brings me back from my Garden of

Eden

Well,

The end is always a new beginning.

-Alia

Poet r y Fre sh f rom the Garden :

“One Wi ld and Prec ious L i fe”

Nematoad Newz!

Above me, a butterfly with wings of

triumphant blackened orange glides

through a lonely blue sky.

Beyond blossoming green youngsters

are moving vehicles, locked outside the

garden’s grand shut door.

Hidden bumblebees hum their way

through a labyrinth of flowers covered

in sun’s shadows.

I am comforted over warm soil, allotted

with my pink and yellow flowering

friends; my thighs pressed against it

fringe over the stimulating prickliness

of uneven rocks.

Cool wind strains between aromatic

blossoms; I am blanketed with remnants

of fruit, soil, and jasmine.

My face spreads like wildfire; the neigh-

boring pink and yellow blossoms

bounce to the occasion as the wind and I

vie softly for their attention.

I have the key to blossom.

-Alexandra

Artwork by Hanna with keyboard symbols

Above me I hear the rumbling of my confinement.

All I see is white.

The white surrounds my confinement and it almost feels as if I am touching the sky.

Almost.

I hear my persistent monster of a sibling rambling about a dumb sword. Over and over again. It’s like

the creature will never stop.

Chitchat that is barely audible surrounds and kidnaps my ears.

“Water?” “Here is…” “Excuse me” and other disturbances mutilate my peace, tearing it apart bit by

bit.

The intoxicating smell of life wafts through and my brain is reacting like a dog taking bath. Get out!

My brain is not stopping, making me feel nauseous.

But I’m strapped in, listing to Frank Sinatra and stuck for long hours.

The feeling of this pencil reminds of the tree it used to be. How many others came from the life form

that used to live happily, giving shade and fruit. Although the stick is small, it carries the capacity to paint

pictures with words.

To my right, I see the intolerable squid watching his flashing picture’s. At least not singing anymore.

Too soon.

This is not your typical garden.

It’s not even a garden at all…

The specs on a man’s head show him the world. His own garden. If I looked though his specs, I would

see his garden.

I only like my garden.

I slouch over and feel the light interfere with my face. This garden does not please me. This

confinement, this garden, is all fraud. So I close my eyes and wait . I wait for my garden, my peace, my

sanctuary. My garden.

My home.

-Hanna

Poet r y Fre sh f rom the Garden : “One

Wi ld and Prec ious L i fe”

Nematoad Newz!

Nematoad Newz!

During the Soil Unit, we created our

Victory Garden

Propaganda Poster. Our motto,

“Grow your children a healthy future.”

recalls the upside to community gar-

dening in urban areas. Victory gardens

saved many from the infamous Great

Depression. We should all pick up our

hoes and “Do the hoe-down!”

A Day in Descanso Gardens :

Nematoad Newz!

“Flowers made the experience, not the trip.” - Hanna

Nematoad Newz included some gorgeous pictures from the beautiful Descanso Gardens in La Cana-

da. Hanna, the master photographer, took these beautiful photos. Many of the flowers in these

photos seem to tower above you!

A Day in Descanso Gardens :

CONTINUED:

Nematoad Newz!

A Day in Descanso Gardens :

CONTINUED

Nematoad Newz!

A Day in Descanso Gardens :

CONTINUED

Nematoad Newz!

Before this outstanding and hands-on Soil Unit experience, I had not known how soil was a

necessity for all living things. Without soil, we humans would starve to death and/or suffocate to

death. The plants could not grow without the support from the soil. Soil also stores lots of useful

water, “groundwater”. It is also a popular ecosystem and is home to billions of species, many

microscopic. Soil is also a foundation and a reason for the architecture of our major urban areas. I

also learned how clay, silt, and sand are all different types of soils. We as a grade discussed the

reasoning, importance, and heart of Victory Gardens, the infamous “Dust Bowl”, fertilizer, and

composting/the decomposition of organic matter.

The Soil Unit consisted of a lot of interactive lessons, lectures, group work, and fieldtrips.

The first day, we learned about Victory Gardens and their helpful impaction during the grueling days

of the Great Depression and World Wars I and II. We also focused on the benefits of composting and

the different stages of the decomposition of soil. Soil starts off as organic matter, but gradually over

time after heavy rainfall and precipitation, it (organic matter) breaks down into soil. In “Math”, we

read a story based upon the Fibonacci sequence. We also learned about the Fibonacci sequence with

his classic “bunny” problem. I had no idea that there is an actual reasoning connected to nature such

as trees and math!

We went on many off-campus field trips to assist and go with our Soil Unit experience. For

our first off-campus field trip, we walked over to Arlington Gardens, a drought resistant

Mediterranean garden in Pasadena. There we took and explored soil samples, practiced yoga, read

soil related poetry, strolled around, and channeled our negative and pestering weakness(es) inside

ourselves. After learning about Victory Gardens, we were able to experience the beginning of one in

our own Pasadena community! We visited and became “assistant gardeners and weeders” in the new

constructing of the Pasadena Community Garden. The garden was an empty, vacant lot when it was

recently declared a future community garden by the city of Pasadena. During our P.E./Soil Unit

“Adventure”, we hiked and later explored Descanso Gardens and the nature there in La Cañada. Later

that day after the “Adventure”, staff and gardening experts from the Arboretum in Arcadia placed us

in five rotational groups. We explored the trees on campus, started our own compost bin for the

school, established a new herb garden for the Commons to use, built and improved the rain gardens by

Mudd, and made our own seed balls and planted our own poppy and strawberry plants.

For our main project, we combined all of our soil knowledge and experiences into one soil

magazine created from Microsoft Publisher. We were assigned groups of 3-4 people and an organism

that is beneficial to the soil. That organism would be featured as the main story article: “Organism of

the Year!” Beside for me, there was Alia and Hanna in my Soil Magazine group; we were assigned to

the “nematode”. Beside for our main story magazine, the three of us would include an article of our

choice, our two poems: Barbaric Yawp! and One Wild and Precious Life, as well as other

components.

I am very thankful for this exclusive soil experience. I have learned so much about our Earth

and how it works, biology (in general), and my “inner-gardener” self! It was also great to explore my

community even more and get outside into nature. I will never forget this thrilling, hands-on, yet

education experience! - Alexandra

Let te r s f rom the Ed i tor s :

Nematoad Newz!

The soil unit so far has been really fun. I missed the first week of it though, because I was in London visiting my dad. Missing a week of a big project is hard, but my group mates were very nice about it. Alex Patzakis sent me an email about everything that I missed, which I greatly appreciated. But the thing that I did see-were totally worth it. When I came back from my trip, everyone rushed to greet me and say hi. After that was done, we split off into two groups. I went with the group that read the story about Fibonacci’s life. When we were given the problem to figure out, it was if the skies cleared up and all was blue in the air. I knew exactly what to do. No confusion or anything. And so did Emma Schou. As we worked together, we both realized that we finally found something we were good at in Math. So when we finished, everyone else was still working on the problem. I felt a sensation that I hadn’t felt in a long time in Math. Pride. After we had lunch, we met up in our mini groups to work on the magazine. Alex and Alia, let me say, had gotten a ton of work done considering that they only had two people. So I did as much as I could. I gave

Alex my poems, photo shopped out Nematoad Newz! (Yes, we spelled it like that on purpose) a while. Before I knew it, class was over. The next day, I came in as a hiker with my tennis shoes, my water bottle, my camera, and myself. Ready

to go on a hike, we made the torturous walk-to the bus. Just kidding, the walk to the bus wasn’t that bad. I rolled(Huffed and puffed) my window down, but my glasses on, stuck my head out, and closed my eyes. When we got the trail, they told us to stay with the pack, but most of us heard nothing. Sort of Charlie

Brown style. Wahhh Wahhh Wahh, says the adult. Yes mister, says Charlie. Anyways, Matilde and I raced up the hill to see who would reach the top. Singing random songs about a diamond sword, a kid whose house is on fire, and a song that would be dramatic(if you couldn’t understand it.) we raced up the steep trek. We then reached a truck telling us to turn around because there was poison ivy and rattlesnakes up ahead. We traced our steps back and found the rest of the group huddled in a tight

circle. We had gone past the meeting point! Well, some of the teachers were really upset about that one. Then, we walked back down the huge mountain, not to mention falling more than I have fingers and toes. Times two. We were ahead of the group again, so we hung out in a tree. As I drank from my water bottle, I heard a weird noise. It almost sounded as if it was a dolphin, but that would make no sense…. So, I put my water away and tried to look for it. Nada. So I drank some more water. There it was again! I started to get suspicious. That was before I realized the noise was coming from my water bottle!! So we(Matilde and I, in case you forgot) spent the rest of the time annoying people with that. Let me just say that Descanso Gardens was a lot prettier than I thought it would be. All of these flowers and trees… I couldn’t just pick one color to capture. In the end, we chose purple. Although, if you look through

my pictures, you will see a lot more than just purple things. I took picture of so many other things. Like the weeping willow I’ve always dreamed of for my backyard (If I had a backyard) or the river flowing between the rocks. There were so many other things

to capture than just one color! When we got back from the trip, we went to our B block classes. Then, after lunch, we returned to Mudd, hungry for more. We were sent off to different stations to view and to drink a little more knowledge. I learned that a worm is both a male and a female. And that learning about trees isn’t as boring as I thought it would be. And that my favorite tree is called the Camphor. I didn’t even know the name of my favorite tree! I planted strawberries for me to consume later (if my brother doesn’t get to them first.) and made seed bombs to throw at the ground as if to yell Grow!!! Grow now!!! I planted succulents at the Upper School science building. But the one I am most proud of is when we built the mini garden near the commons. I was just so into it. I kept planting the herbs, putting down the gravel(carrying the gravel in

the BIG bags)on the soil around the stepping stones, and water the plants. I think the word I am looking for is important. I felt

important. Not important… Important, like I was actually doing something to help the world, instead of destroy it.

L e t t e r s f ro m t he E d i to r s : C ONT I N UE D :

Nematoad Newz!

Throughout the Soil Unit I have learned many things that I know will stick with me

throughout my entire life. I have come to think of soil as much more than ‘dirt’. I would have never

guessed that soil was so complex, and that I would actually have fun learning about it. For instance, I

never knew that clay, silt, and sand were the three main types of soil and that there are so many

microorganisms in the world around us. I learned all about organic matter and how it is made up of

all decomposed living material, and about how serious our soil erosion is. I had so much fun making

this soil magazine and planting and helping build the numerous gardens we got to visit. I personally

love gardening and getting dirty for a great cause, so I especially enjoyed getting to spend time with

my friends in the dirt. And while I found some of the activities somewhat repellant (the mold

studying and reading Saint Phocas as Fertilizer), I found that after all was said and done, I felt happy

and proud of my (mostly) calm attitude and in the process discovered something new about myself,

that I would actually like to have a green burial. I’d say that thing part of the soil unit that I loved

the most would be when we left campus and went to the gardens, my favorite of which was the

Pasadena community garden because I love that it is still being built and that we got to help with

turning into a wonderful park for others to enjoy. All of the wonderful experiences and knowledge

that I have acquired through the soil unit will be passed on through me to my friends and family and

hopefully they will spread the knowlage so that people are aware of how important soil really is and

how we are ruining our almost irreplaceable supply, because soil truly is much more than ‘dirt’.

-Alia

L e t t e r s f ro m t he E d i to r s : C ONT I N UE D

Nematoad Newz!

Artwork by Hanna

with keyboard

symbols