Garden Cleanup March 2017: Nate Wright

For my March 2017 Ecology Service Learning Project, I helped out with the Garden Cleanup. My group worked on adding fresh mulch to the garden. First, we went over to the mulch pile just outside the garden, on the edge of the parking lot, and shoveled mulch into wheelbarrows, which we transported over to the garden near the shed, where we emptied the mulch into the chickens' section of the garden. We repeated this process over the next two hours, wheeling the wheelbarrow to the mulch pile, shoveling mulch, wheeling the mulch back to the garden, and emptying the wheelbarrow and distributing the mulch around the chicken pen.

The mulch is comprised of mainly wood chips, as well as containing bits of other dead plants, soil, and composted material. It provides quite a few benefits for the garden. First of all, it makes the garden look better overall as opposed to the brown dirt underneath. Secondly, the mulch dispels the stench of chicken manure and makes the garden smell nicer. It also prevents erosion, as it stops the ground from growing muddy when it rains and there is something that you can walk on when the ground is wet. Finally the mulch also contains parts of dead plants and acts as compost when the plants decompose, and it provides food for the bugs and insects living in the soil, which the chickens can eat, so the mulch also acts as an indirect food source for the chickens.

Blog Post 8

1.  When I measured the Brassica plant, the anatomy from the other group's plants in was way off comparison.  The biggest difference between the plants were the leafs and the form/shape of them.  Some of the leafs had some kind of coating on them to repel water.  Some of the leafs have little spikes on the rim and some have round like edges.

2. I feel that there is so much variability in the domestic forms of Brassica oleracea for several reasons.  First of all, plants produce specific traits such as the color of their leaves.  These traits are a result of selective breeding.  This is where the offspring of the plant's phenotypes are selected.  This process is known as artificial selection.  It is considered artificial as the process isn't being being done naturally by the plant.  The plant over time will go through mutations which is a sign of change and growth.  Genes and traits are passed down from the parent plant to the offspring because of decent with modification.  Plants adapt to their surroundings and produce different characteristics naturally in nature because of natural variation.

3.  In general, the sizes of the plants seem very consistent.  I think that the plants have the same anatomy structure because they all come down from one ancestor plant that started it all.  Even though the traits changed, there are still some specific genes that were brought down to the present plants today.  I measured the stems of the plants and they were all about the same length, although
 they were off by a couple of centimeters. 

4.  Using selective breeding, they would have to cross the Brassica plant with a taller plant to show mutation and evolution like a sunflower plant.  Having a taller plant would allow the plants' traits to change. 

Garden Cleanup

For my first second semester ESLP project, I chose to do 2 hours of garden cleanup to help contribute to the school. During this time I worked to help carry and spread mulch over different areas that needed it most- near the chickens and on Varsity Lane. Over time, this mulch will help by preventing weeds and other unwanted plant growth, sustaining surface moisture, and creating more fertile soil.

This experience taught me a lot. Though I already did it once last semester, I feel that I accomplished even more this time. I was able to cover more areas than I did previously, and I realized how important garden upkeep really is. It is quite difficult work, and I have a lot of respect for gardeners and people who regularly tend to plants. But though it may be hard, the reward of a healthy garden makes it worth it.

Mulch spread in area by the chickens.

Mulch spread on Varsity Lane. Two layers of different types of mulch to benefit the plants.

Garden Clean-Up

For my 2nd semester service project, my friends and I worked in the garden.  My job with another friend was to get rid of grass and weeds.  My two other friends worked in the compost then helped us to cut the grass.  Since no one had cut the grass in a while, it was as tall as the Brassica Oleracea plants.  There were many insects like aphids and ladybugs.  The ladybugs were most likely eating the aphids.  Cutting the grass and weeds benefits the garden because the weeds and grass take the water and sunlight the plants need to grow.  With the cut grass and weeds we put some on top of the soil we cut it from to prevent more from growing.  Or we would put it in the compost pile.  There were others helping with mulch and other kids helping with the chickens.

Mario diaz garden clean up

 

  So for my service project i choosed garden clean for two reasons. First i love the garden from the chickens to fresh breeze and most of all eating my lunch with my friends on the benches. Second knowing that i'm help keeping the environment and doing t with my friend esteban which you’ll see in the pictures.

  For our first our we pulled weeds and picked up garbage esteban and i and other friends pulled weeds until you couldn't see any. The steps were easy pull on unnecessary weeds around the tree and put in the bucket and when the bucket was full we would take turns to dump

It in the compost.

Second hour esteban and i just help spread mulch in front  of the chicken coupe. Now for getting and spreading out the mulch you'll need one to get gloves and a shovel and a barrel.

Me and esteban helped random people there by spreading it out. The best part of doing the mulch i believe is seeing the big difference after spreading out.

Esteban showing the garbage he picked up

 

The buckets that we used to put the weeds that we pulled out

A picture of esteban posing before we spread the mulch

Overall garden clean was well worth doing for simple reasons like making our school garden look pretty and especially spending quality time with my friends.  So us putting mulch helps

Not only helps chickens walk or peck it it keeps moisture in the soil.

A Matter of Selection

 1)All plants have different traits like different height of the plant or shape of the leaves. The leaves were 2 inches long and the stems were 1 inch long. The leaves were thick and other plants were probably much thicker and spread out than my plant.

2)The reason my plant was grown different from others is because plants have different stages of growing when humans start breeding them. Which is also called artificial selection. Plants have different mutations, modifications, and genes.

3)The most important part was the green part of the flower that was the tallest layer. It was recorded to 2.5 inches tall.

4) An option that a breeder can do is take the pollen from two different plants and combine them to create a fertile offspring . Take gametes from plants and produce a offspring with the plants before combining.

Khiet Lee garden clean up
I was with ariel by helping cut dead branches off and pulling weeds.

Raul Cabrera garden clean up
I had to pick off dead roots but I had to leave 10 minutes early

              Ariel cortez garden clean up
                                                              Per.5
I had been working on garden clean up mostly in the chicken coop

              

                          Before.      

                                After

Garden Clean Up

For my service project I decided to do Garden Clean Up. This was my first time doing garden clean up because for my last service project I did BioSITE, but around the same time I also cleaned the garden for community service. This time I decided to clean up the garden mainly because it seemed the easiest, but I'm glad I did. I'm glad because I really enjoyed cleaning up the garden because this time I got to clean it with my friends which made it really fun.

I did my first hour with one of my friends, Emelly Aguinaga. We were assigned to shovel and sift through the compost to get the compost that was already finished. So first we had to get shovels and gloves, and we were given the bucket and sifter. We would take turns so it would be fair, and so we wouldn't get tired as fast. We would shovel some of the compost from the compost pile, and we would put it on the sifter. We would shake the sifter until we were left with unfinished compost. We would then throw the unfinished compost onto a growing pile of unfinished compost. We did this until the bucket was 3/4 filled up with finished compost. We then dumped this finished compost onto a pile of finished compost.

Me Posing

Me Having Fun

Me Shoveling Compost

What The Sifter Looked Like

Me Sifting Compost

The Bucket Of Compost

Me Dumping Compost

For my second hour I did it with a few more of my friends. This made the experience much more enjoyable than the first hour. This time Mr. Bursch assigned me and my friends weed duty. Some of us had to get scissors and cut the weeds, and others had to pull them out. I got both, but I spent most of my time just pulling out weeds. Pulling out the weeds was fun, but it could get strenuous if you were pulling a stubborn weed. Once we pulled the weed we had to shake off the dirt onto the plants. We had to do this because that way the plants didn't lose the needed soil. We then had to throw the weeds onto a big pile so they could get picked up. Me and my friends did this throughout the whole garden.

Me Looking At The Garden

Me Pulling A Weed

Me & One Of My Friends

Overall, I am really happy that I picked to clean the garden. It was a really fun experience. I got to spend two hours with some of my friends cleaning. Once I was done cleaning I actually felt good because I felt as if though I helped out the school in some way. I would gladly do this again if I had the choice because it is such an awesome experience! 

Garden cleanup

           As my service project for this semester, I decided to participate in cleaning the garden, and making the school look better.  I did this as I wanted to do something that required more physical work around the school, while being with friends at the same time.  On our first day, my group and I took shovels and wheelbarrows and used them to transport mulch from a pile in the parking lot to a patch of dirt by the S wing.  We took jobs shoveling the mulch from the pile, transporting the mulch, and spreading the mulch out onto the area where it was needed, and it took us around an hour and twenty minutes to finish.  On our second day, we did mulching again, but this time we needed to cover the area right outside the tool shed. as well as inside the chicken coop.  I started out spreading dirt around, then took the place of one of the mulch shovelers briefly, then transported the mulch for the remainder of the time.  At one point, when we were finishing up the first area we needed to mulch, I had to get the help of students who were pulling up weeds to clear an area so we could spread mulch over there, and afterwards we had to throw the mulch from the wheelbarrow over the fence into the chicken coop, due to us not being able to take the wheelbarrow in there.  After having finished this project, I'm glad I did it and would definitely do it again if I could, as it's nice to feel like I'm actually helping around the school.

(Nicholas, who I was working with took pictures, but I don't have them.  You'll be able to see our work on his post.)

Dylan Lawhead's Garden Clean Up Period 4

  Gardens do a lot for us. They give us food, pleasant scenery, an ozone layer; all the important stuff. But what do we, the average Joe, ever do for the garden? I asked myself this very same question two days ago when I realized that we had to do a service project. Purely a coincidence, I assure you. There was only one way to answer my question, to satiate my curiosity (and my grade), and it was 2:40 after school.

  When I arrived on the scene, I saw a few friendly faces in a dilemma similar to mine. We chatted a bit until Mr. Bursch asked who would be tasked with what. We vied for mulching the garden. I don't mean chopping up the garden when I say that, for the record. Ever wonder who spreads all those wood chips on the ground? That would be what we did. The process goes a little something like this; there are two teams, one shovels mulch into wheelbarrows, and the other spreads the mulch on garden ground. I was in the shoveling/wheelbarrow department, and to keep a pretty boring story short, the shoveling department ended up as the only one working, then the only one outside, then the only one on campus in the span of 15 minutes.

  But let's not focus on that, let's focus on why we scoop mulch into wheelbarrows. There's a couple reasons why we throw wood chips on the ground. First and foremost is that it looks, and more importantly, smells nicer. Now I know most of you are well acquainted with the Gallus Gallus Domesticus or, the common chicken, but do you know how often they poop? I can tell you from experience, pretty often. What might be a bit more useful for the garden itself is the prevention of soil erosion. Do you know how after a rainstorm previously fine grass is absurdly muddy? That's soil erosion, and it's not that good for ranch and farm land, because it loosen the soil so much that you can't walk on it. Nobody wants eggs from a muddy chicken.

Here's a sick shot of the finished product

Garden cleanup

For my service project me and my group decided to go clean up the garden again. For the first hour i spent putting new compost inside the plants. It helps benefit the plants and the garden because now they have new soil to give the plants more nutrients.

before 

after 

for my second hour i helped cut the grass.cutting the grass and put it in a box so it can be used to make compost . it helps benefit the garden because it help let the plants grow more better.

garden clean up

my experience when i cleaned the garden with my classmates was hot but i liked spending time with people and making something look better and work in team work

Garden Clean-up Service Project

For my service project my friends and I decided to clean up the garden once again because it was really fun but hard work as well. For the first hour we decided to do a team effort to cut and take the weeds out of the garden beds in order for the plants to grow. We also made compost too.

The next week we came back and there was so many bugs especially butterflies, bees, and ladybugs! It benefited the garden as well as we did. We all made the same procedure in working together and visiting the chickens at the last 5 minutes as well.

In the end, This service project has benefited us and the garden. I believe that we made the best effort into this project int his semester since we used skills that we acquired since last time and new ones. 

Garden Clean Up : darielle barry

Hi my name is darielle barry. I am from period 4 & i did the service project with 5 other people that were my friends. I guess. For the cleanup , i had to pull weeds and clean under the trees. Followed by picking up the trash around the plants and community and garden. The plants were pretty tall felt like i was looking at a forest/jungle. The reason i wanted to do this for my service project is because helping the earth and community is a good thing. After the cleanup and the hours of doing it i felt accomplished because i knew it was the right thing to do because i was just helping with your plants and the community. I also got a few pictures down below of before and after.

  

Hi my name is Vanessa Pelayo, in period 5, and for one of my service projects I did the Garden Cleanup. When I was doing the Garden Cleanup, I did it with five other people, and they are my friends. I guess. They are Brianna, Anthony, Mario, Alexis, and Esteban.  For the cleanup I had to pull weeds and clean under the trees. Followed by picking up trash that was also in the garden.  The weeds were pretty tall and it kinda felt like I was walking in a jungle. After the cleanup I felt good and accomplished because I knew it was a right thing to do because I was just helping out with the community.

Service project Anthony Scaletta P.6

     For my community service project, I chose the garden clean up project to keep our plants and garden healthy and clean.  So what I did on this project was that I shoveled up mulch from two different piles.  One pile was a large amount of dry mulch, and the second pile of mulch was a large amount of soggy and moist mulch.  So I shoveled up mulch from both piles, and put it in a wheelbarrow.  After I got to the location that needed the mulch, I spreaded the mulch all around the area.  Then after I unloaded all the mulch, I went back to get more mulch to repeat the process.  I did all of this for two hours straight.  The reason why I think that this project will help our plants and garden out is because they have a steady strucure to grow on, we do not waist all the mulch that has been given to us, and it is healthier for the plant/crop to grow.

Garden Cleanup: Project 1; Semester 2

In the Garden Cleanup we were assigned to re-mulch the flower beds around campus. We had 2 wheelbarrows each filled with moist and dry mulch. We dumped the moist mulch and started to spread it out, we then put the top layer of mulch and did the same process. We then started picking weeds in the garden in the back. That's what we did in our Garden Cleanup.

Garden cleanup 2

For my serves project this time it was pulling out weeds in the garden

And dump/shovel soil from the chicken coop for the chickens soil and

To keep animals from the chickens eggs.Because the garden had to

Many weeds in the garden so we had to take them off and many

Animals wanted to eat the chickens or their eggs. The weeds were

Hard to take out from their roots but i had help so it wasn't that bad.

And for the chicken coop the problems was that the chickens were

In the way in the end and there was a bad smell from the coop.

But overall it wasn't so bad i had help from my friends so it

Wasn't insane to do but still i done my time and i'm sure the chickens

And the school are happy now that the weeds have been pulled out.

Also the chickens can't get hurt and their egg and they now

Have new soil so they can live in peace.

From Elisha Guzman