Category Archives: 2018 Sp Green Power

Nick:

Going to the greenhouse taught me how to properly plant and take care of plants. George taught me useful tips about adding nutrients into soil, so the plants can grow up healthy. The greenhouse inspired me to to create my own garden over the summer. I also plan on making a compost pile and adding the decomposed compost in my garden either this year or next year. I will use the knowledge that I gained at the greenhouse when carrying out these two projects.

Jake:

By working with the greenhouse i have gained a plethora of knowledge about gardening. Brian and George made going to the greenhouse fun and exciting. They gave us different tasks to complete each time so the work did not become tedious. I now know more about gardening techniques such as aquaponics and hydroponics. Aside from the gardening, Brian and George’s outlook on life is something that inspires me. I also made great friends as the project went along.

Brandon:

The greenhouse was a great experience overall because we learned things that we didn’t have the answer for and once we were done with the community service we left with our questions answered. Knowing what I know now, I’m planning to imply it in others people’s life. My mother has a garden in our backyard in the Dominican Republic. However, I feel that I can contribute on helping her now whenever she’s planting a new plant so she doesn’t have to do it all by herself.

Matt:

Doing community service at the Greenhouse was a positive experience for me.  Working with a variety of different plants and soils like we did helped me learn a lot about how to take care of a garden.  Brian and George made us feel welcome each time we visited, and would always talk to us and give us more knowledge while we worked which made my experience there that much more rewarding.  I also was able to gain more exposure working in teams which will help me with other experiences in the future.

For our final trip, we re-potted fruit trees. Brian and George had us mix dirt and place it in buckets. These buckets would be the soil used for the fruit trees. The trees consisted of a Peach tree and Gallia tree. It was fun to finally be able to do something we had talked about all semester. The weather had delayed us til April. Brian and George said it needed to be above freezing for an extended period of time before we planted them. – Jake Hamill

On our third trip to the greenhouse, we mixed dirt that would be put in containers and used for planting. We also tasted pieces of sugar cane, which is something we have never tried before. It had a sweet flavor, but a stringy texture that was difficult to swallow. At the end of the day, we watered all of the plants on the right side of the greenhouse.

Matt mixing dirt

After meeting with Brian on January 31, we visited the greenhouse again on February 9th. We helped Brian and George pick coffee beans off of the trees that they have in the greenhouse. You can see the coffee beans in the photo on the right. You can tell when they are ready to be picked by there color. You want them to be as red a possible.

Later, we help plant some Bok Choy in his Aquaponics system. You can see part of the system in the picture on the left. It was very difficult to plant them in the water. You had to make sure the root was supported by these circular clay pellets.

Overall, we all enjoyed this trip to the greenhouse and felt like we learned a lot about the care you need to make things grow.

On January 31, we met Brian for the first time and he gave us a tour of the greenhouse. As he showed us around the greenhouse, he gave us a brief description of the plants. Afterwards, we sat down with Brian in the office area and discussed our goals for this project. For example, we would like to have the greenhouse ready in time for the open house. We then worked out a schedule to meet up that works for everyone.