MikroBIOMIK Soil Retreat

HUMUS Sapiens: What's the dirt - on me?
On 20.-22.07.2018 there will be research for everyone at Projekt Draussen, the creative workshop, learning and working place in the middle of the forest south of Munich. Let's discover what's going on in the ground under our feet. Let's explore the secret ingredients that make plants happy. Together we make a contribution to open research and a sustainable future!

Would you like to get your hands dirty, learn more about soil ecology, discuss at the campfire in the evening? Please write to humussapiens@mikrobiomik.org on which days you would like to be there (with or without accommodation), and whether you already have a topic / project idea in mind or would like to give a workshop.

What
Soil is life and we believe that diversity is the key to creativity and innovation. HUMUS Sapiens is an open source research project and an intitiative to create an international network with soil enthusiasts and biohackers. In this soil-retreat we gather people from around the world and different backgrounds to share their knowledge and diy-methods to create workshops and concepts around the topic of soil.

Scientists, artists, pedagogues, ecologists and farmers work together to develope new strategies and tools for the study of soil and farming technics and to share their results on a open plattform for further research.

The Global Hackteria Network, Gasthaus: Fermentation and Bacteria and the mikroBIOMIK Society gather their resources to rethink the way we deal with our mother earth.

When
The retreat will take place from Friday noon, 20th July until Sunday 22th July evening.

Where - Hosting & Accommodation
The Projekt Draussen, also known as `Klause zum Schindergraben` is in the middle of the woods close to the Isar. In the upper floor under the roof is a cozy space where up to 20 people can be hosted in individual beds. From there you have access to a small terrace to enjoy a calm moment. There are more two smaller rooms with loft beds which have access to the balcony directed to the south from where you can see the little river and catch sun all day long. Feel free to bring your sleeping bag, bedsheets can be also available. You can also bring your tent and mount it in any place of the territory.

How to get there
Projekt Draussen is located about 30 km in the South of Munich in the woods and close to the Isar.

Schindergraben 1, 82544 Egling



By bicycle The bicycle tour along the Isar takes about 1-2 hours. There are the following possibilities:
 * You start with your mountain bike on the Isar, for example in Munich at the Wittelsbacherbrücke, and orient yourself on the bike tour "Munich - Kloster Schäftlarn".


 * Or you climb on your racing bike in Munich, choose an Isar site and orient yourself on one of these routes.

By public transport and walking

With the S-Bahn S7 direction Wolfratshausen you arrive from the Munich Marienplatz either in 33 minutes to Hohenschäftlarn or in 36 minutes to Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn.

From the S-Bahn station Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn, you can prepare for an Isar walk: route

If you need a Shuttle please send us an email! (humussapiens@mikrobiomik.org)

From Airport

Closest airports are "Franz-Josef Strauss" Munich (MUC) and the "Allgaeu Airport" Memmingen (FMM).

By car

From Munich it takes about 30-40 min to reach Projekt Draussen by car following A95 or B11.

Retreat Schedule


preliminary program

Friday (from noon)


 * Arrive, meet and tune
 * 13-14 h herbal stroll "Plants and herbs" through the woods guided by Irmi Baumann
 * In the early evening: introductory round, formulation of wishes, expectations and offers
 * Content structuring in the sense of an "unconference", planning of fixed sessions and workshops
 * Depending on the weather: Campfire and/or cozy sitting together + possibly first project work

Saturday


 * Excursion in forest and field (collecting samples at different locations)
 * General analysis of soil composition (physical, chemical)
 * Microscopy (with the support of the Microbiological Association Munich)
 * Remote workshop "GoFerment" to Maya Minder and Marc Dusseiller in Indonesia (15 h (UTC/GMT+2h))
 * composting (based on prepared compost & theory)
 * Further workshops (partly organized by the participants)
 * Free work and exchange on the respective areas of interest
 * Jam Session with Brãthew Van Schalkwyk and Ofentse Moshwetsi. Bring your Instrument!

Sunday


 * Free work and further workshops
 * Documentation of the projects
 * Summary

Exkursionen



 * Kräuterwanderung (Irmi)
 * Mikrooekosysteme (Robert)
 * Totholz & Leuchtpilze (Julian)
 * Schlamm (Lucy & Josi)

Matschbatterie (aka microbial fuel cell) (Lucy, Patrick)


1 // Bottle: no label Anode: Metall-Topfreiniger Cathode: Metallschwamm Plant: Giersch Voltage: 0.75V

2 // Bottle: no label Anode: Metall-Topfreiniger Cathode: Metallschwamm Plant: Baum Voltage:

3 // Bottle: coke bottle Anode: Metallschwamm & wire donut Cathode: Metallschwamm Plant: moss Voltage:

4 // Bottle: adelholzener Anode: Carbonized pencils, charcoal, wire Cathode: Metallschwamm Plant: Giersch Voltage:

Mikroskopie


Introduction to microscopy
 * how to work with a microscope
 * test sample 1: casting the underside of a leaf with transparent nail polish
 * test sample 2: inner structure of leafs (whats the name of the little coils??)

Preparing soil samples


 * moisturizing soil in a petri dish for microbe extraction
 * how to prepare slides (with and without cover slip)

Analyzing soil samples


 * with the Binocular (small insects, springtails, mites,…)
 * with the Microscope

4-10x		objective – nematodes, amoeba (rarely active), large ciliates, tardigrades, … 40x		objective – ciliates, flaggelates, rotifers, fungi, algae 60x		objective - small protozoa and bacteria

40x phase contrast 	   - nice to see bacteria: spirillae, coccus, lactobacilli (?), …

challenges
 * most of the soil samples that were brought by the participants were very dry (little rain in the past days and weeks)
 * with little experience it was difficult to find interesting microbes in these samples

what worked good

compost microscopy
 * hundreds of small insects in a square centimeter (binocular)
 * very high abundance and diversity of microbes (especially nematodes, ciliates and bacteria)

mud sample (from the matschbatterie)


 * nematodes, fungi, (koneiden), spores, shelled amoeba,…

ideas


 * enrichment techniques (maybe in a test tube – to let the microbes swim into the liquid layer)
 * more time for soil moisturization and analysis (several days)

Regenerative Landwirtschaft und Biooekonomie (Hellmut)


POSTER: File:Koerber Poster1 A0.pdf File:Koerber Poster2 A0.pdf

Mobstocking, Humusaufbau und Effektive Mikroorganismen (Hellmut, Paul, Florian, Julian)


Mob Stocking – technisch versus biologisch

Technisch: Zwischenfrucht mit Maschine unter aufsprühen von Mikroorgnismen zur Steuerung des Bodenlebens (siehe Poster Foto Wenz 2014). Nach einigen Jahren soll der Boden so stabil mit Mikroorganismen versorgt sein, dass eine Zugabe von Mikroorganismen sich reduziert oder ganz erübrigt. Die Einsaat erfolgt mit üblichen Maschinen. Florian brachte ein, dass biologisches Mob Stocking /Weidmanagement nach Voisin/Savory) vorzuziehen ist. Dazu gab es zwei Einwände. Die Viehhaltung ist aufwändig, die Tiere müssen laufend betreut werden, die Tiere müssen laufend umgesetzt werden, z.B. der Elektrozaun muss häufig umgebaut werden. Die Einsaat müsste nach dem biologischen Mob Stocking über Direkteinsaat erfolgen (Der Boden wird mit einem „Pizzarollmesser“ geschnitten, in die Furche wird passgenau die Satt gelegt) In den USA gibt es einen Service, dass man eine Herde für das Abweide per Internet bestellen kann. „Rent-a-Mob“). Da fällt dann u.U. ein Viehtransport an. Als offene Frage blieb, welche Methode nachhaltiger ist. Bau-Unterhalt und Betrieb der Maschinen oder Tierpflege mit dem Output Fleisch, Direktsaat und Tiertransport.

Was bringt die EM – Blattspritzung Bei Versuchen wurde festgestellt das eine EM Spritzung zu messbaren Verbesserungen an Pflanzen führt. Verglichen mit einem unbehandelten Feldstreifen. Julian Chollet berichtete von einem Versuch bei dem EM`s gespitzt wurden und auf dem Vergleichsstreifen abgekochte EM`s. Bei diesem Vergleich wurden keine messbaren Unterschiede zwischen den Feldstreifen festgestellt. Frage: Ist die EM Spritzung eine Düngung? Hellmut von Koerber sagte, dass bei Blattspritzungen minimale Mengen von Nährstoffen/Mikroben eine anregende Wirkung auf die Entwicklung der Pflanze haben. Seine Aussage ist, dass Pflanzen mit Mikroben so in Verbindung stehen, dass diese zur richtigen Zeit den passenden Nährstoff liefern. Dieses Zusammenspiel kann durch die Spritzung angeregt werden. Fabian äußerte die Vermutung das vielleicht die verteilten DNA (auch aus dem abgekochten EM`s ausreichen, um den Informationsfluss zu optimieren.

Grazing Management Frage: Gibt es ein dokumentiertes deutsches Beispiel für Grazing ;Management? Es gibt eine Urstudie dazu von dem Franzosen André Voisin aus den 30er Jahren, 1962 in Deutsch veröffentlicht. Alan Savory (der aktuelle ;Mob Stocking Papst) hat die Studie schon gekannt, als er Nashörner und Elefanten zum „Schutz“ des Graslands töten ließ.

Quellen

André Voisin, Grass Productivity, ISBN-13: 978-0933280649

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effektive_Mikroorganismen#cite_note-Mayer_et_al.-17

J. Mayer, S. Scheid, F. Widmer, A. Fließbach, H.-R. Oberholzer: Wirkungen von ‚Effektiven Mikroorganismen EM’ auf p flanzliche und bodenmikrobiologische Parameter im Feldversuch, Zürich, Schweiz. In: orgprints.org. http://orgprints.org/9691/,+ 2003-2006. Abgerufen am 21. August 2016.

Cóndor Golec, Aníbal F., P. González Pérez, C. Lokare: Effective Microorganisms: Myth or reality? Rev. peru. biol., 14(2), 315–319 (2007) (PDF-Datei, 308 kb)

Schenck zu Schweinsberg-Mickan, M. & Müller, T.: Impact of effective microorganisms and other biofertilizers on soil microbial characteristics, organic-matter decomposition, and plant growth. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 172, 704–712 (2009) doi:10.1002/jpln.200800021

Microplastic and Superabsorber (Maria)


Idee: Durch polymeren superabsorber den Boden verbessern

Frage: Langzeit-Wasserspeicher-Granulat wird in Boden eingearbeitet; Was ist der Einfluss dieses Absorbers auf die Mikroorganismen

Methode: Eine Bodenprobe geteilt und eine Haelfte mit Absorber angereichert und unter dem Mikroskop beobachtet.

Analyse: trockene Kokoserde wird angesetzt; mit dem superabsorber ist die probe nach vier wochen immernoch feucht;

Annahme: dadurch dass die Probe solange feucht ist, muessten viele Organismen zu sehen sein

Beobachtung: sehr wenige Mikroben zu finden. Wie sieht es auf der Kontrollplatte aus?

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superabsorbent_polymer

Wie super ist der Superabsorber? : Ein innovatives Nachweisverfahren zum Abbau von Bodenhilfsstoffen http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2011/7999/pdf/Sdf_2010_SdrH_76_81.pdf

Citizen Sensor (Robert Meisenecker)


"Wirklich aussagekräftige Messergebnisse für den Düngebedarf im heimischen Garten bekommt man bislang nur im Labor – gerade für Hobbygärtner oder semi-professionelle Landwirtinnen ist das zu aufwändig und teuer. Zusammen mit Bürgerwissenschaftlern des FabLab München e.V. arbeitet die Fraunhofer EMFT an einer Alternative: Einem einfachen Messverfahren für Nitrat und Phosphat für den Hausgebrauch."

Im Kurzvortrag zum CitizenSensor Projekt ging es um die Vermittlung der Inhalte des Projektes. Das Projekt ist durch das BMFT (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) gefördert und verfolgt zwei Ziele: 1. Verfügbar machen von elektrochemischen Sensoren für Bürgerwissenschaftler 2. Erprobung der Zusammenarbeit von Forschungseinrichtungen mit Hobby-Makern

Konkret wird im CitizenSensor Projekt aktuell an der Elektronik und Software eines elektrochemischen Nitrat-Sensors gearbeitet. Da die Bestimmung des Nitratwertes für die Beurteilung des Bodenzustands interessant ist, ergibt sich hierdurch eine interessante Überschneidungen zwischen dem CitizenSensor Projekt und anderen Projekten zum Thema Bodenqualität.

Ein Aspekt des CitizenSensor Projekts ist die einfache Bedienung des Sensors. Aus diesem Grund wird auch "Marktforschung" betrieben, mit dem Ziel potentielle Benutzer des Sensors zu identifizieren und deren Anforderungen an den Sensor zu ermitteln.

An alle Interessierte, die sich selbst als potentielle Benutzer eines elektrochemischen Nitratsensors sehen: kontaktiert mich einfach per Email (robert@fablab-muenchen.de), dann stelle ich gerne den ersten Kontakt zu den Kollegen von Fraunhofer her.

LINKS:

Fraunhofer website (hier kommt das zitat her)

FabLab München website (hier kommt das bild her)

Pyrolyseofen und Terra Preta (Rolf, Andreas)


Synthetic terra preta A newly coined term is ‘synthetic terra preta’. STP is a fertilizer consisting of materials thought to replicate the original materials, including crushed clay, blood and bone meal, manure and biochar is of particulate nature and capable of moving down the soil profile and improving soil fertility and carbon in the current soil peds and aggregates over a viable time frame.

Biochar is charcoal used as a soil amendment. Biochar is a stable solid, rich in carbon, and can endure in soil for thousands of years. Like most charcoal, biochar is made from biomass via pyrolysis. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestration. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change via carbon sequestration. Independently, biochar can increase soil fertility of acidic soils (low pH soils), increase agricultural productivity, and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases.

We built a small Stove for Biochar production and then used the charcoal for building the Microbial fuel cell (aka "Matschbatterie").

Mikrobencomic (Armin)


Wie kann man mikrobiologische Organismen in Comicform darstellen?
 * Was gibt es fuer ein Thema das man sinnvoll Darstellen kann?
 * Wie stellt man es dar?

Komplexitaet der Prozesse und Organismen so hoch, dass es schwierig ist sie zu Vereinfachen. erste Idee: Bodenregenerationsprozess Problem: super vielschichtig

Reduzierungsschritt fuer eine Geschichte notwendig.

Amoeben storyboard: Wie frisst es sachen Wie pflanzt es sich fort? Wie bewegt es sich?

Julian Chollet (DE)
Julian Chollet is a (no)mad scientist, curious student and informal teacher with a background in molecular biology. He is working on the endless and underexplored biodiverity of microbes, fungi and phages - with the aim to liberate the world from microphobia through workshopology, fermentation and microscopy. His current main project focuses on creative learning environments and public participation in science with emphasis on the invisible world.

https://mikrobiomik.org/en

Josephine Blersch (DE/PT)


Josephine is scientist, teacher and actress. Her research is driven by curiosity and interdisciplinarity. Her prospective is the communication of science leading to scientific matter being accessible and understandable to public audience. She is actress and script-writer of a theatre company Marionet which translates scientific (u-)topics into theatre plays. Josephine´s ambition is the creation of a bridge between artistic expression and science.

https://mikrobiomik.org/en/ueber-uns

Rolf Mahnke (DE)
Experience Designer Concentrates on the design of digital formats and physical spaces for creative work, learning and innovation. Develops concepts for the participatory design of scientific events.

Founder of "Projekt Draussen"

Carlos de Paz (Peru/DE)
Carlos is a nomadic Architect (who has lived in Peru, France and Germany), a transdisciplinary thinker and a metaphysical artist. In keeping with St. John of the Cross’s motto  "to arrive to an unknown place, you must take an unknown path", he navigates through the blurry margins between Design, Complexity, Biology, Cognition, Physics, Teather, Biodance and Metaphysics. While living in Peru he has done various workshops, congresses, performances as well as installations: as co-founder of the “Atelier de la Carne: Metasensible Laboratory of the Body and the City”, or as co-director of the “Combi Project: Transdisciplinary Urban Reprogramming Laboratory”, he is and will continue to be a perpetual student, informal researcher, joyfull experimenter and inciter of the mindful understanding of love.

Detlef Schmitz (DE)


Werkbox3.de

ZukunftsWerkstatt

Robert Hubert & Tankred Fiedler (Mikrobiologische Vereinigung Muenchen e. V.)
Mikrobiologische Vereinigung München e. V.

Irmi Baumann (DE)
NaturCoach, Resilience trainer and mountain hiking guide. Her core theme is Preventive Health Training for companies and individuals in and with nature. Wild herb workshops, guided hikes of all kinds as well as educational programs for children and adolescents complete her portfolio.

irmibaumann.de

Hellmut von Koerber
Hellmut cooperates since 40 years with pioneers in organic farming. He supports increasing agro-ecosystems with information, workshops and networking. As an information scientist he founded flexinfo.ch offering flexible information systems (e.g. for statistics of organic market, fair trade and other sustainability labels at FiBL). Aim: transparent and open ResourceBalancing for regenerative agro-ecosystems.

hellmut.koerber@flexinfo.ch

Lucy Patterson (UK/DE)
Hi! I’m a freelance science hacker and community organiser living and working in Berlin. I’m a biologist at heart and by training, fascinated by the very weird and extremely small molecular world. I work at the interface between science and society, creating projects and events that bring different communities together to engage with scientific ideas and explore the implications of contemporary research. I specialise in events that foster exchange and collaboration (hacks and hackathons, social or community events, world cafes, informal discussion events), experiences that encourage learning and discovery (workshops, hands-on activities, experiments), and immerse or entertain (immersive experiences, live performances).

lucypatterson.de

sciencehackday Berlin

Florian Detig (DE)
Compostology

Maria Degand
Based in Leipzig, Student at Bauhaus in Weimar. With the intent to become a filmmaker with a strong science fiction portfolio I realized there is more - You do not have to base anything loosely on science, you can actually connect art and science, without becoming a filmmaker. Courses in Genetics, television, radio and recently in microplastic hybrids. Now trying to become a bioArtist. More personal: Married - proud cat owner - do not ask about plants - scuba diver.

Armin (DE)
Comiczeichner der sich nicht fuer "normale" Superhelden interessiert. Sucht nach externem Input fuer sinnvolle Inhalte. Moechte gerne lernen wie die Mikroorganismenwelt funktioniert und ein Mikrobencomic zeichnen.

Brãthew Van Schalkwyk (SA)
Piano

Ofentse Moshwetsi (SA)
Saxophone

Remote and Virtual Collaborators
Marc Dusseiller aka dusjagr (CH) Marc Dusseiller aka dusjagr is a nomadic researcher and workshopologist and works in an integral way, combining science, art and education. He is part of the Center for Alternative Coconut Research and the Swiss Mechatronic Art Society (SGMK), co-founder of the global Hackteria network and co-organizer of the different editions of HackteriaLab 2010 - 2014 in Zürich, Romainmotier, Bangalore and Yogyakarta. Before travelling the world for making DIY / DIWO laboratories for creative biological experimentation with living media, Marc entered the world of DIY electronics, designing printed circuit boards for synthesizers and organizing workshops and festivals in Switzerland and Slovenia. He lives and works in Zürich, Yogyakarta and Taipei. He also loves coconuts.

http://me.dusjagr.guru

Maya Minder (CH) Maya Minder‘s (b. 1983, lives in Zürich) Gasthaus combines artistic, curatorial, and activist interests into communal culinary events at various locations. She designes dinner performances and also offers a series of workshops, including a biohacking workshop and a fermentation workshops and has teached more than hunderd of people. Fermentation repeatedly features as a central aspect of her work, not only literally but also in the metaphor of social fermentation, agitation, and incitation to resistance. Minder opposes the structures of food industry by promoting local selforganization, ecological sustainability, and community. She resuscitates traditional food productions methods with a certain relish, saving them from otherwise being forgotten and emphazises that threw fermenatation practise humans have always been biohackers. Her interests span the fields of art, politics, feminism, ethnobotanics and biohacking, and she often invites other protagonists from these and various other fields to participate in the process of communal exchange. Facilitating interdisciplinary, intercultural dialogue amongst the participants is one of the primary goals of her practice.

http://mayaminder.ch



LifePatch

Go-Ferment Project

Discourses
Hackteria HUMUS Sapiens Forum

Random Thoughts About Soil

Related Projects on this wiki
Activities in the HUMUS sapiens project which promotes open soil research started with RandeLab Soil Retreat in the beginning of May.