Mid-June through July, I researched and worked on my 20 Time (20%) Project. Initially, I had two ideas that were technology-based. But after realizing there should be an element of fun, and getting feedback from my professor, I chose a topic which was not about technology. My selected topic was: Rejuvenating a family garden, using recycled water.
Although my house came with a garden, it was in poor shape when I started this project. I call myself an aspiring gardener. I love to work in the front yard, use the electric hedge clippers, and pull weeds and stuff like that. But, I have not maintained a vegetable garden in quite some time. The more that I dug into gardening the more decisions I had to make: container garden or traditional, worm compost or regular compost, quick and expensive or do-it-yourself, and on and on. Finally, I had to do what was best for my situation. In addition to the project itself, I used technology tools to do research. Besides Google, social media like Twitter and Google Plus + helped me to connect with experienced gardeners. I used Diigo, for the first time, to keep and organize my online research. I highly recommend it for students and life-long learners. When I wanted to share what I learned I put it on Facebook, Weebly, and YouTube. Actually, getting comments from others helped guide my learning process. Finally, I played with Windows Movie Maker to show my other pictures. I even added a song to the movie. Final Conclusions: I have a tremendous respect for gardeners. It takes time and patience to successfully grow plants. This project was more time and labor intensive than I anticipated. I was glad to do something I had been neglecting and glad to be able to involve my children. The children and I had fun making YouTube videos and learning about worms together. We are looking forward to eating vegetables from our garden soon.
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Week 1: Research graywater. Although it took me away from my original idea of water conservation, it was not advisable to use gray water with edible plants. Instead, we used it on our front lawn and other plants. Saved, clean sink water is ok to water the garden.
Week 2: Shopping and research. After I made some decisions about what direction to go, I bought some supplies I needed – gloves, hand tools, potting soil, plant food, seeds, plants, etc. Week 3: Two trips to City Farmers Nursery in City Heights. The first trip, I accidently deleted my pictures, so I went a second time with my children. The staff was very friendly. They helped me decide to do worm composting, so I ordered the worms from Amazon. Week 4: All about worm composting. The Red Wriggler Worms arrived. My kids and I saw a YouTube video of two younger kids making a worm composter with their mom. We made a worm bed, got the supplies together and made/posted six of our own YouTube videos. (Davis Family Worm Composting) Week 5: Slide show of garden pictures. It shows a “before” and “after” picture. I’m proud of my progress. But, I know that this is just the beginning. * I’m experimenting with my bell peppers. One is in a pot and one is in the ground. I want to see which one grows better. Title: Rejuvenating a family garden, using recycled water. 1. What exactly is gray water? Actually, it's greywater or graywater. Graywater is water that has soap or detergent in it. 2. How can I collect gray water and use it in my garden? There are various methods. We scooped it out with a watering pail. But decided against using it on our vegetables. Instead, we used it on the front lawn. 3. Will I compost for this project? Yes, we did worm composting. 4. How labor intensive is composting? Not too bad. We needed two plastic containers, a drill, and paper products. See YouTube videos on Week 4. 5. Do I need special soil? No. 6. Will I need to fertilize? No, I will use worm tea (the liquid concentrate produced from the worm compost) for natural fertilizer. 7. Do I need to buy worms? Yes. 8. What will the cost be for supplies and equipment? Overall, I spent about $100. But, it could've easily been $500. 9. Do I need to buy or build containers? I bought one container. 10. What resources will I use - twitter, websites, books, people? Yes, all of the these resources. 11. Is there a possibility of failure? Yes, you can kill a garden without proper care. Please watch the short (under 5 min) video with some highlights of my 20 Time Project. My 20 Time project of rejuvenating my garden is coming to a close, and I would call this a success. But gardening requires maintenance. This is an ongoing project, which is really just beginning. Below is a slide show showing the garden's progress. I was glad to involve my kids. We learned a lot. Jana( [email protected] )
8/4/2015 15:13:00 Sheila what a wonderful project. Your own veggies and herbs sounds divine. I loved watching you incorporate your family in your 20 Time project. I think it allows us the viewer to really connect with your blog posts because we see you as a wife and mother also. Sheila( [email protected] ) 8/7/2015 22:55:56 Jana, it was a great project to involve my kids in. The younger kids got into the worms, planting, and digging. The older kids helped with filming, taking pictures, lifting and carrying. This is definitely not a 5 week project that just ends. Gardening is continual and, like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in. Thanks for your comments. DELETE
What I learned : If you do things yourself, it saves a lot of money. If you use containers around the house, it saves a lot of money.
How I learned: through websites and YouTube. What I decided/answered questions: I'm in love Amazon Prime. My order of 200 Red Wiggler worms came in 2 days. We will use "worm tea" (that's the waste and water that drips into the larger container) to fertilize. We used storage containers rather than buying worm trays, which were priced between $100 - $250. Next steps: Take care of the worms: keep them moist, feed them, and keep them out of the hot sun. Reference Grow, L. (2012, April 20). Our First Worm Bin Great Project with Kids. Retrieved July 20, 2015. Andrea Jacobs 7/22/2015 08:13:24 I love the video documentation! Now I know how to set up a compost/worm habitat! And I love that your kids showed how to do it. Your son is really good at explaining already, future teacher?? Haha. Hope the worms make your yard beautiful! Sheila 8/7/2015 22:49:02 Andrea, my son, Zahi, is definitely a performer. I think he'd make an awesome teacher or actor or preacher or politician. The worm tea (yes, that sounds gross) is supposed to do wonders for the plants. Worm tea is made from the water that we pour through the compost. I'm glad I won't have to buy fertilizer and looking forward to great results. Thanks for your comments. Kelly 7/25/2015 09:04:23 Whoa there were a lot of worms in that package! Gotta love amazon! I too love how your family is helping out with this. Your son did an excellent job. I thought it was funny during the second video clip that he was filling the dirt in and said, "this could take a while.." What are your next steps with the box? Sheila 8/7/2015 22:52:19 Kelly, I do love Amazon. Amazon Prime was one of the best accidental purchases I made. The worm compost box stays in the back yard. We feed and water the worms regularly. The top lid has holes in it so the worms can breathe and keeps other critters out. Thanks for your comments.
Andrea Jacobs
7/22/2015 08:08:33 I"m glad all the grey water went to good use! Using worms is a good idea too. Do you have a picture of your yard as a before picture? My cousin did a compost a while ago, but didn't do it correctly, did you already know how to set it up or did you look that up? Keep up the good work! Sheila L. Davis 7/24/2015 01:46:24 I found out about worm composting and just about everything gardening related doing my research. Our house came equipped with a big plastic, non-moving composted, but one of my kids stood on the lid to talk over the fence and broke the top off. What exactly did your friend do? I'll try to post a before/after on Week 5. Thanks for your comments. Kelly 7/25/2015 08:58:22 I have always wanted to compost! Before we lived where we currently are residing we lived behind an older couple in a cute little granny flat. They were composting so we added to their box. It was disgusting! Lifting the lid to throw in the food meant all the flies were flying out at the same time. I just told myself its good for the environment. Also, who knew there could be so options! Looks like you are doing a good job of thinking about what would work for you and your yard though! Sheila 8/7/2015 19:05:37 Kelly, that's great that you contributed to the worm compost. Very neighborly, I think that having a lid that fits securely would eliminate the flies. The DIY route is less expensive and more fun. Thanks for your comments. Reference Slade, N. (2012, April 12). City Farmers Nursery Going Green. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
What I learned : There are so many options when it comes to gardening: type of gloves, organic or not, regular or worm composting, etc. etc. How I learned: through websites, blogs, YouTube, library books, and asking people who garden - like a teacher in the workroom that I just met. What I decided/answered questions: Do I need special soil? (No.) What's the cost of supplies and equipment? (So far, about $30.) New questions: Use pots or plant in the ground? If pots, where will I get them from and how much more money will that cost? Next steps: Go on a field trip. Resources Squire, D. (2009). The compost specialist: The essential guide to creating and using garden compost, and using potting and seed composts. London: New Holland. Smith, E. (2011). The vegetable gardener's container bible. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub. Ebeling, E. (2003). Basic composting: All the skills and tools you need to get started. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. Comments:
Candace Warden( [email protected] ) 7/6/2015 14:49:27 Looks like you are getting some good tools and resources to help you along the way. I can't wait to see your progress and hear what you found works the best. Sheila L. Davis( [email protected] ) 7/24/2015 01:38:48 Thanks for your encouragement. Andrea Jacobs( [email protected] ) 7/22/2015 08:06:08 What are you going to do with the fertilizer and tools, are you going to redesign your garden and use the water to keep it hydrated? Looks cool! Sheila L. Davis( [email protected] ) 7/24/2015 01:40:14 I'm gonna use those tools. But, I'm still figuring things out. I don't know about "redesigning the garden". I want to keep things simple. We have started saving water that we'd normally throw away. I've always saved "mystery" bottled water for water plants. We had a party recently and I was left with about 7 half-empty water bottles. So, we used that to water the existing garden plants.
Something new: we started saving sink water. So, when washing plates instead of letting water go down the drain we'd save it. We save the water from soaking pots. We are storing the sink water in a bowl near the sink, then it is transferred to a wheeled cooler. What I learned: graywater is not just water from the sink, it is water from the bathtub, and water that drains from the washing machine. It is called graywater because of the coloring. How I learned: from library books, blogs, websites. Answered questions: I learned what graywater is and we've collected it in bowls, a cooler, and a large storage container by the bathtub. New questions: can I keep hauling water out of the tub with a big 7-11 cup? This is gonna get old quick. For more info, click on link https://www.diigo.com/user/teachersheila/20Time Jana 7/6/2015 08:07:12 I love this idea. Looking forward to seeing your trial and errors and success so I can duplicate it. At present we are piping out the dishwasher and washing machine to the back area but we want to capture the water to water my big trees. Sheila L. Davis 7/24/2015 01:41:48 You're my hero. I hadn't even considered doing that. Maybe I'll save that for an August project. Greywater Defined & Greywater Tips According to greywateraction.org ... What? It is gently used water from your home. It may contain dirt, food, hair, grease, cleaning products, which makes it look grey - hence the name. Where? Water from sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines When? Anytime, but don't store it more than 24 hours. Why? It is a safe and beneficial source of irrigation water AND saves on water bill P.S. It cannot be water that has contacted feces.. in case you were wondering. So, no toilet water. Basic Greywater Guidelines Greywater is different from fresh water and requires different guidelines for it to be reused.
Resource www.greywateraction.org What I learned : What graywater really is and isn't. It's one word, spelled: graywater or greywater. It's not just water from water bottles or clean water from the sink. It stinks if it sits too long. How I learned: through websites, blogs, YouTube, and library books. What I decided/answered questions: I need to do more research and find ways to keep costs low. New questions: Am I gonna be able to keep this up? I save the water from every shower and use a big 7-11 cup to scoop it into a storage container. There are too many steps. Nona Richard ([email protected]) Grey water! I love this post because it is right inline with what my family is doing to both save water and better use water in innovative ways. My dad connected the washing machine to a big blue plastic trash can so that the grey water, that is, the water that is normally sent to a storm drain after being used to wash clothes, can now be used to water our garden areas. He has this large blue trash can tub attached to a dolly so that no matter how heavy it is, he can transport the grey water to an area of the yard for its better second life as plant nurturer. It is wonderful that you are also including your family in this project. Keep us posted! Jessica Love( [email protected] ) 7/22/2015 01:14:01 Wow this is such a fascinating topic! I love it! Did you have some prior knowledge about greywater or is all of these new? Because I certainly didn't know about these options before! What inspired your interest in this topic? The drought? I'm super interested to see how it impacts your water bill. I just came from back from vacation in Pennsylvania and I stayed with a friend who lives on this huge river and they have the opposite of our situation. They have so much water they are scared it will flood. And get this- in their little town you have a set water bill. Everyone just pays the same amount! Isn't that crazy!? If only CA could get some of their water? Andrea Jacobs( [email protected] ) 7/22/2015 07:56:59 What a great idea. I've talked to my students about water conservation in science and some of them have shared that they re-use their water to help conserve. Do you have a lot of gardening that you can use this water on? The last couple of days of rain hopefully helped with adding to your collection! Jana( [email protected] ) 7/30/2015 15:01:00 Looks like you are doing all the right research. Like how you are including the whole family. Title: Rejuvenating a family garden, using recycled water.
Subtitle: Can a garden flourish during a time of San Diego drought? Team Members: Sheila Davis and my four children: Johnny Jones (18), Lina Davis (13), Zahi Davis (11), Olivia Davis (7) Needs/Opportunities: My garden was wilting even before we were in a drought. Can it be brought back to life with water conservation techniques and proper gardening care? Audience: Directly the audience and beneficiaries (if I’m successful) will be my family who will learn alongside me about water conservation and gardening. But, my wider audience will be my blog readers, Twitter Followers, gardeners, and fellow graduate students. Timeline: This project will cover a 5 week time scope. Week 1 – Take “before” footage to compare/contrast. Research water collection ideas and find a place to store collected water. Begin watering plants on a schedule. Week 2 – Research general good gardening practices, buy any tools/materials needed. Fertilize the soil. Plant new vegetables in garden alongside the existing vegetables. Week 3 – Field trip to the Water Conservation Park at Cuyamaca College. Interview “experts”. Week 4 – Continue gardening practices. Week 5 – Document plant/soil conditions. What PRODUCT will you have to show at the end of the five weeks? I will have a visibly growing, healthy vegetable garden. Reality Check - What expenses will be involved in your project, and how will you cover them? Miracle Grow, gardening tools, perhaps worms, container(s) to hold recycled water, watering can. I will buy them with my own funds. Wrap Up: I’m excited about this project because when we first bought our house I had a vision for my little garden. But, neglect and the drought killed the garden. I have a chance to bring it back to life with a family project which will also teach my kids about water conservation, gardening, and healthy eating. |
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AuthorGraduate student, wife, mother, and aspiring gardener. Archives
August 2015
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