Welcome back to my blog. This is the second Action Project of the Spring Term at GCE Lab School so far but the first in my Food class for the STEAM course. Like the AP before this for the Food For Thought class, this was all done at home due to the global pandemic. This first unit was very interesting. Not only was it a new experience by not working in the classroom but we were learning from a new perspective. In this unit we talked a lot about agriculture and natural farming. We read a lot of One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. We talked about companion planting and what plants work well together and their symbiosis. We also learned how to test soil using a soil solution and macronutrient test kits. This AP was about making our own container garden. We had to create a design of a garden that we would use if we had more space and resources also utilizing what we learned about companion plants. With my small garden space I planted a handful of the seeds that were mailed to us as part of our GCE Lab Kits. My design and information with it are below.
During our class we watched a Ted Talk about Ron Finley who started a volunteer gardening campaign in Los Angeles. One quote Finely said stood out to me and it was, “To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil.”
An ongoing assignment in our class was to read chapters from One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer that did not use the modern form of farming. He planted and harvested how the crops would be living in the wild and not domesticated. Fukuoka practiced his 4 Principles of Natural Farming which are no cultivation, no chemical fertilizer or prepared compost, no weeding by tillage or herbicides, and no dependence on chemicals. My garden does comply with Fukuoka’s 4 principles because I did not weed my plant box or till the soil. Since it is only a small garden and I don’t have any, I did not use chemicals in my planting. I did not have any prepared compost with me and only used the soil that I had in the box before.
Thank you for reading and looking at my pictures and drawings, I hope you found inspiration to start gardening or to continue gardening because it is a wonderful experience. I found this first unit really fun and I enjoyed working with my classmates and having a good time together while working. It was still slightly difficult to be working from home but it is slowly becoming part of our routine for school.
As I do not have a backyard, my family uses planter boxes on our deck and roof to have a small garden and flowers. To plant the seeds given to us I used a rectangular planter box on my deck. The dimensions of this planter are 28.5 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 10 inches long. From these measurements that means the area of the surface of my box is 370.5 square inches. I found this by multiplying the length and width of the box. The volume of my box would be 3,705 cubic inches which I got by multiplying all of the dimensions together. This is what the planter looks like.
 |
| GHS, 2020 |
 |
| GHS, 2020 |
Since we were working at home, we were sent a GCE Lab Kit that included seeds, soil, and soil tests. Using the tests I discovered the soil I was using to plant the seeds given was pretty healthy soil. The soil test indicated that my soil had a high level of potassium and a good level of nitrogen. From these tests I concluded that my soil was in good shape to plant my seeds. Decent amounts of potassium and nitrogen in the soil are necessary for plant growth and health.
With more space and higher amounts of sunlight, my larger container garden would consist of beans, broccoli, cabbage, corn, and rosemary. The design of the plot could be similar to the one that I have drawn here. All of these plants can go together because they are all companion plants. Broccoli, cabbage, and corn need the extra nitrogen from the beans and the beans are given shelter by the corn. The rosemary can help the broccoli and cabbage from insects. The rosemary does not need the extra nitrogen which is why it is on the edge of the plot. This is an example of symbiosis. All of these plants need a good amount of sunlight which is why they are grouped together. These plots would be placed in a large area that gets a lot of sun. (roof, yard, etc.) Here is the sketch of my larger garden.
 |
| GHS |
During our class we watched a Ted Talk about Ron Finley who started a volunteer gardening campaign in Los Angeles. One quote Finely said stood out to me and it was, “To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil.”
An ongoing assignment in our class was to read chapters from One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer that did not use the modern form of farming. He planted and harvested how the crops would be living in the wild and not domesticated. Fukuoka practiced his 4 Principles of Natural Farming which are no cultivation, no chemical fertilizer or prepared compost, no weeding by tillage or herbicides, and no dependence on chemicals. My garden does comply with Fukuoka’s 4 principles because I did not weed my plant box or till the soil. Since it is only a small garden and I don’t have any, I did not use chemicals in my planting. I did not have any prepared compost with me and only used the soil that I had in the box before.
Thank you for reading and looking at my pictures and drawings, I hope you found inspiration to start gardening or to continue gardening because it is a wonderful experience. I found this first unit really fun and I enjoyed working with my classmates and having a good time together while working. It was still slightly difficult to be working from home but it is slowly becoming part of our routine for school.
Comments
Post a Comment