1) My essential question is, “what is the best way to grow a
healthy, organic flower garden?” My best answer to my eq is maintaining and
knowing your soil condition to preserve a healthy garden. Through out my senior
project I have read multiple articles by horticulture college professors, an
example being James Bauder the professor of university of Minnesota. All of these
articles explained in great detail that in order to have a successful garden,
of any sort, you must start with the soil. Each flower has different needs,
such as a child, and you as a gardener must protein to each need. Certain
plants, like catus for example, need soil with great drainage, which is why
they prosper in sand. But, most flower, like sunflowers or roses, prosper in
soil full of nutrients. If you do not know how to maintain healthy soil or do
not know what soil you are working with, you could cause avoidable problems.
Gardeners that do not know what soil they are working with, will most likely
plant flowers in the wrong soil causing the plant not to grow at all or be
unhealthy.
2) When it came to arriving to this answer I was kind of
lucky. I did not have any answers at the time of doing my science experiment
but while researching my science component, I stumbled upon my answer. My
science experiment was centered around an issue that horticulturists and
farmers have to deal with, this is salinated soil. Salinated soil, according to
the author of organic gardening Pauline Pears, is a condition where soil
contains too much salt thus absorbing all the nutrients and water from the soil
making it unusable. While researching salinated soil, I quickly discovered how
important soil is to gardening, but is the thing often overlooked. According to
the creator of the green bent movement, a non profit organization, dirt is our
most precious mineral because with out it we would have nothing. Although it seemed
obvious before that soil is needed I didn’t have an appreciation for it until
researching and seeing the effects of my experiment.
3) During 1st semester I had mentorship at the
Arcadia Arboretum but I did not work with plants at all because I did not have
their trust yet. But, luckily for me, they finally let me work with plants
after helping out at the membership office after a couple months of working there,
which was around December.
4) My two important sources are, The Encyclopedia of Organic
Gardening by Pauline Pears and my 3rd interview with Frank McDonald.
The book (organic), was a book I checked out of the library at Cal Poly and
really helped me a lot. It gave me most the knowledge about my first answer and
even gave me the idea of my second answer, planning a garden. The 3rd
interview gave me reassurance about my 2nd answer because I was not
sure if it was valid enough.
5) My product for my senior topic is definitely appreciation
for nature in a way I haven’t before. As a child I never liked nature and
viewed it as dirty and gross. But, doing
my independent components made me appreciate it much more as well as my
mentorship. I had the chance to work with plants that were not native to the United
States and grew them however I wanted at mentorship. I saw them as controlled
and now beautiful. Then growing my own plants at home for my IC on my own was
also a great experience. Taking the time out of my day was never tedious to
grow my own plants, but rather a way to relax and have some time of my own.
Another product I have would be that the superintend of the arboretum said
since I have been volunteering since June I can most likely get a job their
more than anyone else that applies.
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