by rhianna | Jan 28, 2021 | Garden Updates, Learn something new!
This week we cleaned up the aeroponics, cutting back and removing dead leaves and updating the nutrient levels.
We were talking and learning more about root problems. With the aeroponic technology, we are lucky to see the roots as they grow, it gives us a great opportunity to learn about how to further care for sick plants.
Root rot occurs when the roots are too saturated in water and bacteria develops in the damp area, rot spreads, slowly killing the roots that water our plants. It was too late to save our purple basil plant but with a little TLC, we are now monitoring and cleaning up the roots of other plants. Check out our lemon balm that made a come back after its roots were struggling!
In the future we need to check on the roots of our plants every so often, just to cut back some of the harmful areas to ensure plentiful growth and survival!
Basil – Death by root rot
Before and after cleaning up the root system
Root Rot Symptoms:
Dying plants, Creeping black stems, Leaf Wilt, little plant growth, pale leaves
The rotting roots look very dark, fragile and mushy. The healthy roots are white or light green and stronger
How to fix it
- Pulling out the plant
- Using your hands, pulling out or cut out the dark mushy roots.
- Optional – Soap and rinsing the roots with gentle soap water
- If in a pot, change the soil completely or improve the drainage.
by chris | Nov 23, 2020 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
Over the months of gardening I realized how important it is to have a garden because it provides healthy food in a way that is sustainable. The food is made in our school and is grown with our hands. It also makes us go out more into the sunlight and make something ourselves and it makes us get our hands dirty . Activities like this unite us as a community. – Ines
by chris | Nov 23, 2020 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
I think most people don’t understand the values of gardening. It actually makes an incredible impact on the world. First, gardening and eating fruits and vegetables is a very sustainable food source and it takes 10 times less land to make vegetables and fruits compared to eating meat. Also gardening is a really fun experience because you get to see things grow, get your hands dirty and work with people in the garden. I also have learned a lot about the different types of plants. We had a variety of experiences like cutting dill, planting kangkong and using the hydroponics system. Luis
by chris | Nov 23, 2020 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
Over the weeks of gardening and taking care of our campus garden I have realized that it’s really important to take care of our campus garden, even though you might get cuts, dirty shoes, and dirty hands. It is important to take care of our campus garden because even if it seems like it doesn’t matter because it’s only a small part of nature in the world a small thing can still make a big difference. Our planet is dying and climate change is getting worse so we all need to stay sustainable as a community and gardening is a super useful thing that is fun and it doesn’t take so much energy. -Gaia
by chris | Sep 1, 2019 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
With the beginning of the new service season just a week away, it was nice to read this article about ‘The Healing Power of gardens.
Clearly, nature calls to something very deep in us. Biophilia, the love of nature and living things, is an essential part of the human condition. Hortophilia, the desire to interact with, manage, and tend nature, is also deeply instilled in us. The role that nature plays in health and healing becomes even more critical for people working long days in windowless offices, for those living in city neighborhoods without access to green spaces, for children in city schools, or for those in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The effects of nature’s qualities on health are not only spiritual and emotional but physical and neurological. I have no doubt that they reflect deep changes in the brain’s physiology, and perhaps even its structure.
from The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes
by kawad50188 | Dec 5, 2018 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
Singapore is widely recognized as the greenest city in Asia. From an unsanitary port city in the 1860s, it had become a green and livable first world city in just a few decades. The change started in 1970 when former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew directed a tree planting campaign be organized across Singapore. He personally chaired the Garden City Action Committee which was then set up within the Ministry of National Development.
Singapore aims to cut carbon emissions intensity by 36 per cent of 2005 levels, and one way of doing so is to add more greenery to the many high-rise building we have that are the biggest consumers of energy in the city.
Adding greenery to roofs and walls can reduce the amount the heat that penetrates the building by 60-70% according to Zac Toh, the founder, and director of greening firm GWS Living Art. GWS Living Art is a company which specializes in urban green technology that adds artistic green to roofs and walls. If the temperature inside the building is lowered, the need for air-conditioning in the buildings will be reduced. For example, Changi Airport Terminal 4’s wall is 550 meter square of greenery.
Today, over 13% of Singapore’s land area is dedicated to greening the urban landscape and maintaining a healthy ecosystem. This includes parks, park connectors, green spaces and nature reserves. Previously, priority was given to man-made greening of highways, streets and residential areas and not enough effort had been used to restore and preserve the natural areas left in Singapore. But in recent years, Singapore had retained several restricted nature reserve sites such as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (131 hectares), Central Catchment (3043 hectares), Bukit Timah (163 hectares) and Labrador Nature Reserves (10 hectares). These places are where land development had been prohibited and ecosystems protected to preserve its heritage. The reserves are used for research in preserving and revitalizing biodiversity in Singapore and educating the public.
Sustainable Singapore Blueprint Video: What if?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzj7cqXkW5c
Bibliography:
https://www.eco-business.com/news/can-singapore-the-city-in-a-garden-grow-into-a-city-in-nature/
http://www.biodiversity.sg/biodiversity-information/view-slideshow/singapore-an-interesting-case-study/vision-of-a-green-city/
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/biodiversity
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/about-us/mission-and-history
