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.