Field Work and Cultural Exchange

We spent most of today doing field work for our research project. Since we had marked all our points in the GPS, we went back to them to collect more light measurements and our data on soil texture and the depth of the A horizon or organic matter layer. To collect our soil data, we dug next to our selected clusters of ginger until the top dark organic layer was exposed and transitioned into the B horizon. We measured the depth of the A horizon and used a "hand test" to classify the B horizon as either clay, soil, or sand. To distinguish which soil texture, we grabbed a hand full of soil and rolled it into a ball then try to elongate it between our hands. If the soil did not hold a shape at all then it was classified as sand, if it stays in a ball but doesn't hold together when elongated then it is silt, lastly, if the soil is completely malleable then it is clay. A very high tech classification system. Next, we did the same measurements for two controls which were long stretches where no ginger was located.
The best part of the day was after dinner when we did a cultural exchange with the Ngobe people from Panama. They shared a song and dance with us, I loved being able to learn about another indigenous culture.