The hens were then provided with purified mica (containing potassium and silicon), which they eagerly scratched and bathed in. The next day eggs with normal shells were laid. In merely 20 hours, the hens had transformed potassium into calcium.
Biological processes have a certain degree of magic. In farming and gardening, there is a rich history of what you might call "folk alchemy". From medieval herbalogy to Rudolf Steiner's biodynamics to modern magnetic devices, I as a gardener have a hard time sorting out the magic from the snake oil. But the magic is definitely there. Most of it gets lost with "scientific" farming, which is actually very unscientific. Mycellium can turn rotted manure into perfect food, but it doesn't know what to do with anhydrous ammonia. When we turn farms into factories, we try to outdo nature's alchemy with high school chemistry. We have paid for this with soils, food and people depleted of their natural mineral and biological content.
A healthy, biologically active soil is teeming with fungi, bacteria and other microbes, worms and small arthropods, plant matter and minerals in different states of decay. It's an engine of life and death, with roots and microbia competing and cooperating to turn air, dead stuff, rock and water into living plants. Try as I might, I don't get it. One day, my soil will look like dead grey dust, and the next like moist chocolate cake. The soil works its magic in due time, and it's the gardener's job to pay attention and guide the process.
