The Rain-Catch Repair Lot

Field Notes from Spoke & Soil Cooperative

1Spoke & Soil Cooperative is a community bike shop beside a sloping lot. The lot has a gravel path, a packed-soil strip, and a shallow ditch along its lower edge. A row of native grasses grows beside the ditch. The shop team watched the lot during three spring rainstorms.

2Rain landed on the roof and gravel path. Some water soaked into the packed soil. Some water flowed downhill toward the ditch. After the strongest storm, the ditch held cloudy water with bits of loose soil. The team saw less loose soil near the grasses than on a bare part of the slope.

3The grasses had many thin roots in the top layer of soil. When the team gently lifted a small clump, soil stayed tangled among the roots. Fallen leaves made a thin cover on the ground. The covered soil stayed damp longer than a nearby uncovered patch after the rain stopped.

4On a breezy afternoon, puddles became smaller and wet leaves dried. The moving air carried water vapor away from the lot. Small beetles and earthworms were found under the leaves, where the ground was cooler and damp. The team made a system model with arrows to show how these parts could affect one another.