Week Week Two Two
DATE: 01 October 06
TIME: 8:30pm-10pm (1.5hrs)
LEARNING: Preliminary delve into researching compost. I looked up books in the Evergreen Library to see what was available. Working on getting the book "Compost This Book!" from Summit. The bulk of this time was spent checking out compost websites. THE BEST COMPOST WEBSITE that I found was acutally the New York City Compost Project (http://www.nycompost.org [1]) which had a really accessible section on the science of decomposition. Another interesting site was http://www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/compost/chapter3.html [2].
The NY site was so inspiring- if people in the greatest concentration of urban jungle can compost, ANYONE can! This info on this site also got me interested in worm composting.
DATE: 04 October 06
TIME: 7-9pm (2hrs)
LEARNING: I spent some time in the library checking out books on composting and compost engineering. Rodale's Book seems to be the definitive source. Took some AWESOME notes. I have lots of thoughts about structures for the compost site as well as methods, like WORMS, for example. This is going to be fun. Cat and I will be meeting tomorrow.
DATE: 05 October 06
TIME: 9:15-10:45 (1.5hrs)
LEARNING: Cat and I met at the compost site and spent a lot of time assessing the details of the habitat around the existing structure. We worked on filling out the site description, and will be spending some time identifying the plants. We talked a lot about our interests in supporting education about compost and involving the Longhouse (people who may be using the space for pot-lucks, dinners, etc) in the compost cycle. Thanks to Marja for getting the Foundation Grant application out there; we are hoping to get some money to build a solid, permanent compost structure that is very accessible and also demonstrated the stages of the decomposition process.
total: 5
Weeeeeeek Threeeeeeee
DATE: 10 October 06
TIME: 7-9pm (2hrs)
LEARNING: Continued reading Rodale's Book of Composting- I have a lot of ideas for a structure at the site. There are instructions for a three bin composter that are very easy to follow. It would be fun to get a work team for that; a three bin composter would be perfect for an educational site (and would look HOT). Talked to Cat, she identified all of the plants in our area! I'm very excited to learn from her.
total: 7
WEEK FOUR!!
DATE: 16 October 06
TIME: 12pm-2pm (2hrs)
LEARNING: Cat introduced me to all of the plants: bald hip rose, nettle, salal, comfrey (to name a few, see image gallery for full list..). I am drawn to the nettle, I think, because it is young and sort of out in the open, away from the more populated forest understory area. I photgraphed an individual of each of the different plants represented in our site and then uploaded them onto the site.
DATE: 19 October 06
TIME: 7-9mp (2hrs)
LEARNING: I have been really interested in vericomposting since reading the section in Rodale's. (I also found another Rodale book from the 70's that introduced Indore method). I talked to my friend Hannah who is a farmer in the Skokomish river basin about worms, and she told me that it was possible to cultivate worms in a compost pile just by taking a shovelful or so of worm-filled compost material (from a neighbor, or another farm or garden) and adding it to a non-worm-filled pile. The worms will reproduce so quickly and abundantly in the rich pile. This is how she started her worm pile.
total: 11
(weak) five
DATE: 23 October 06
TIME: 2pm-5pm (3hrs)
LEARNING: well., since having oral surgery on friday i have had a lot of time to read. ...I've almost finished the Rodale Book. I am really interested in the University of California method because of how quickly one can produce a working compost pile with frequent turning. The INdore method is also interesting and I think both could be appropriate for the Longhouse site.
DATE: 24 oct 06
TIME : 7-9pm
Read the Rodale Composting Manual, which is older than the Handbook. It is mroe scientifically oriented and focuses a lot on the chemistry. It is interesting, but not necessary for our project. We want the site to be educational and accessible to everyone.
DATE: 25 OCT 06
TIME: 30mins
Today I had a long conversation first with Michael Dempster about Lincoln school and then with Susie, who is the main parent volunteer there. Michael and I talked mostly about the importance of the garden in the kids' education, and then Susie sort gave mer a run down of whats going on at the garden. Steve is the guy who runs the compost there.
DATE: 26 OCT 06
TIME: 9am-11:30am (2.5)
My first day at Lincoln school. I sat in on Michael's class for a while as he discussed friction while sitting on a hover craft... then we talked a bit about the garden. Turns out the day I can come in is not the day he goes to the garden, which is a bummer, but still okay. Then Susie ahowed me around the garden. First the greenhouse then all the different beds, the compost, chickens, and the fruit trees. It was wonderful and we did some weeding in a few of the beds, and also planned out a transplant of garlic.
total: 19
WEEK SIX
DATE: 31 oct. 06
TIME: 9am-11:30am (2.5)
At Lincoln by myself today. I continnued Natalie's work weeding the bed for the garlic transplant. There is a Kale plant there currently. I raked the grape leaves from under the vine and checked out the compost pile for a whiwel. It appears to be an Indore method by the straw at the base, and I think there are layers of food, plant material, and moisty rich earth in layers, but it was hard to tell for sure.
DATE: 2 nov 06
TIME: 7pm-9pm (2)
I found some other sites that explains compositing to children. These are good for basic information. The links are in the compost site presentation. I read through these sites for a while and finished the Rodale book. Overall, it was a great text, very straightforward and complete.
total: 23.5
WEEK SEVEN
DATE: 7 nov 06
TIME: 9am-10:30am
I didn't stay at Lincoln very long today because of the rain, but it is so warm in the greenhouse!! I weeded for a little while, but was cut short and so I went inside and read some of the info logs and journals in the greenhouse about the site. It was very interesting and so neat to see the student's drawings about their intereactions with tyher garden.
DATE: 12 Nov 06
TIME: 8-10pm
Tonight I spoke with my friend JP who has done extensive work at the compost site on the Organic Farm. he is also a farmer in the Skokomish river basin. He explained to me in his terms, the science of compost, the breakdown of nitrogen and carbon and the energy created from this... He also suggested checking out the farm's site. He showed me his operation at the Skoke and told me about how he works it, turning twice a month, and with worms. This doesnt really fit the description of any methods I have read about thus far, but that is really cool. It works for him.
total: 27
WEEK EIGHT:
DATE: 13 Nov 06
TIME: 12-2 (2)
Cat and I met downtown to share our notes and knowledge about composting. We talkied about our hopes for the site and got a great outline made for our project.
DATE: 14 Nov 06
TIME: 9am-11am (2)
Today I walked around the area behind the garden and gathered some salal. While I was out there, I picked up some litter. Then I almost finished weeding the garlic bed (GAH!!) There is only one section left. I also carried over some of the geraniums that will be planted inside, that someone had begun to put in little pots.
DATE: 16 Nov 06
TIME: 3:30-4:30pm (1)
I went to the organic farm, but no one was there to talk to me about the compost. I took pictures of the site, though they are a little dark. Not only is the compost at the farm super funcitonal, it also serves the whole campus and surrounding community.
DATE: 17 Nov 06
TIME: 2:30-3:30 (1)
Ashley and I went to Marja's house this afternoon to check out her compost site. It is a lovely three bin structure, though there wasn't too much material in it at all. We took some pictures and I told Ashley about what Cat and I have been doing with compost project, if she wants to take over next quarter.
DATE: 19 Nov 06
TIME: 7-9pm (2)
Cat and I started to layout ourproject on the computer. We scanned pics and typed up our different sections. It was a lot of work.
total: 35
DATE: 20 Nov 06
TIME: 12-1
WE FINISHED OUR PROJECT. Enough said.