Excavating the Clay Seam

I emerged from the hollow under the terracotta pot and tapped my boots against the morning flagstone. The cold surface held solid. Right at the rim's base, a small mound of packed potting soil spilled outward across a stone groove. I angled my blade downward into the dark grit, applying steady forward thrust. The blade carved a neat, straight furrow through the damp earth, dislodging two dried white perlite grains and a brittle root fragment. I tested one perlite bead between my fingers; it was ultralight and intact. I lined them up as perimeter beacons along the stone trench.