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The Mining of Akadama and Kanuma
By Fred Meyer
This month’s article is showing some photos
we have of just how our Japanese soils are harvested.
We thought these images would help you understand a
little more about these great potting medias for your
Bonsai.
If you think of Japan as being nothing other than
a volcanic island and view these soils as the flows
of lava at different times you can appreciate Mother
Natures’s help in finding us just the “right” soil
for your Bonsai.
Looking at the first picture you are
able to see how these flows show up as Kanuma at the
bottom, then there are ash flows and then Akadama,
another ash flow, more Akadama and then the Black Loam
which you and I understand as the soil that supports
life.
The next picture shows just how much of this stuff
is mined to keep our Bonsais happy. There is a human
figure on the right side to give perspective.
The next
picture shows the drying area which is like an open greenhouse,
but has two sides open for ventilating out the moisture
from either the Akadama or Kanuma.
The next two images
show the mechanization process of sorting out the sizes
of the material and the final picture shows the bagging
process.
Next month’s article will continue with this discussion
along with even more basic ideas that you and I often
gloss over, but are extremely important to understand
because it helps us to help our Bonsai live and flourish
in its own little world. To be continued with the detailing
of the different types of Akadama, which then we will
open up to a discussion of soil – this ubiquitous
stuff that covers our earth.
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