Greenhouse Week 2 (Sept. 10-14)
2nd hour (Susannah Bennett)
Although I didn’t actually spend much time in the greenhouse itself, I actually had a lot of fun doing little tasks for it from inside the school. We were assigned temporary roles this week, and my role was to water the flats of seeds and plants, both upstairs and downstairs. It seemed a bit time-consuming; however, as the week progressed, I became more efficient at it, and the task became more therapeutical than difficult.
The few times I did work in the greenhouse this week were to add sawdust to the soil to make the soil more “spongey” and more able to absorb the water. I did plant a few more flats of seeds during the week, and the most exciting thing we planted was kohlrabi, which is similar to a radish, along with other things. This week, the seeds that were planted last week grew exponentially, especially the snap peas and radishes (pictures below), and it was so exciting to look at how much or little they had grown each day.
Last week, there was also talk about applying more water conservation techniques to the greenhouse, and that is something I’m really excited to start working on!
5th hour (Kara Bolger, Maria Finelli, and Maddy Williams)
This week we made more progress towards getting the greenhouse ready for planting. We watered the soil to add moisture and make sure it is suitable for growing. As we added water, some of the boxes were leaking, so we had to change the soil composition to allow for more absorption. We dug small trenches in the soil and filled them with sawdust in hopes that it would soak up some of the water. We also spent time on the exterior of the greenhouse. We swept the walkway and planted a variety of flowers along the path.
The 5th hour team also worked on the composting project this week. We collected scraps from the lunchroom and added them to the compost bins. Later in the week, we moved the compost from Bins 3 and 4 into Bin 2 to mix everything up and aid the decomposition process. Overall, it was a productive and fun week, and we are looking forward to planting soon!
With love and sunshine,
Maddy, Maria, and Kara
6th hour (Olivia Bunnell)
The first half of this week, Mr. Scholten and I worked together in an attempt to eliminate a flooding issue. The water was going right through the soil and out into the isles, causing huge puddles everywhere. To fix this, we dug furrows on either side of the boxes and filled them with sawdust so it could act like a sponge, and we hoped that it would resolve the issue. So far it has solved the flooding issue for the most part, aside from a few wet spots. Overall, I’d say it worked out pretty well.
Along with that, I began planting peas in the beds. Since they are so large, they can’t be grown in the flats, unlike our other vegetables (lettuce, kale, carrots, etc.). After they sprout and begin to grow, they will grow up the wooden teepees that last year’s greenhouse girls made. It’ll be so much fun watching them grow!
