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Weekly LOGWeek Week Two Two DATE: 01 October 06 DATE: 04 October 06 DATE: 05 October 06 total: 5 Weeeeeeek Threeeeeeee DATE: 10 October 06 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 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 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 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 DATE: 25 OCT 06 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 total: 19 WEEK SIX DATE: 31 oct. 06 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 WE FINISHED OUR PROJECT. Enough said.
Meghan McNealy
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