The second task that they were tasked with was making flower arrangements. They did this so that Mr. Berthiaume could sell these plants or they could take them home and observe them. Some of the tools that they used were trowels and pots. They planted Calendula, Swiss chard, Marigold, and many other seedlings. Something that was interesting was that they were able to put the seedlings in the same pot and they had to be careful about the spacing of the plants. Something that was challenging was choosing what to put in their arrangement because there were so many plants to choose from and making sure they’re giving each plant enough room to grow.
Sign making (Jonathan and Maya) had to paint signs. They first started by laying down a tarp on the table to catch paint that could spill. Then they got wood blocks, set them on the tarp, and painted them a bright red color. Once they finished painting the wooden blocks they needed to try and clean up the brushes of paint residue, but they had a bit of trouble cleaning up the brushes. They tried to use chemicals but it didn't work, as the paint was still stuck to the brushes. They then tried to use the hose to remove the paint by spraying the water at the bristles of the brushes, but it did not solve the problem. After a while they ended up keeping the brushes in soapy water for a long time. By making signs for the garden, it can help educate others on identifying plants and allows them to gain more knowledge on what different plants may look like. Something that they thought was fun about this task was painting the wood blocks, it allowed them to incorporate art into the garden. Something that they said was really annoying about this task was getting the paint off of the brushes with their hands as the paint was very stubborn to remove and was really sticky .
The second task was planting seedlings. They planted Calendula and bee balm plants and the tools they used were a trowel, a watering can, and bone meal. By doing this it gives the garden more color because both seedlings that were planted were flowers. Something that was fun about this task was digging holes because it was interesting to see small insects in the dirt. A challenging part was dealing with the wind and digging a hole that was deep enough for the plants.
Compost turning and chopping ( Gael ) starting a new compost pile. He first started by uncovering the compost bins to look at how the pile was doing. Then he used a fork to flip the compost pile in order to give the microorganism fresh oxygen to continue breaking down the compost. The most difficult part about flipping the compost is having to take the compost out and then throwing it back in in order to get the dry outer part towards the center to get the pile evenly broken down. The easiest part was chopping up fresh new plants with a square shovel in order to start a new compost pile.