Luke and Manuel turned the compost pile by mixing the compost piles with pitchforks. This job simply consists of using your upper body strength to really move and mix the compost around. They did this to help oxygenate, drain, and moisturize the compost pile to allow for microorganisms to sustain the compost pile. It was fun for them to use the pitchforks, a tool that they had never used before. It was also fun for them to see the little creatures like slugs, worms, and flies. It was annoying for them to place the compost lid on and off because the chain of the compost was difficult to place and remove. They picked and processed tea leaves in preparation for tea making next class. They did this by using clippers and scissors to extract the leaves and separate them from their stems. They harvested and processed the tea leaves to generate the leaves necessary for steeping for the next lesson. It was fun for them to use new gardening equipment and to work with material that they will soon enjoy. It was a challenge for them to avoid the dangerous stems of the stinging nettle plant during harvesting.
Kylie and Manuel used scissors and garden clippers to cut the lavender. They used the clippers to cut the lavender from the tree and then cut the lavender off the stem to put in the bag so that the herbs can dry. They did this so they could dry the herbs to make tea next Wednesday. They cut the lavender that was more purple because the older ones were grey and didn’t have color on them anymore. It was interesting for them to see the bees when they were cutting the lavender. It was also fun to for them zone out for a couple of minutes and simply focus on picking the best lavender flowers to cut. What was annoying about this task for them was the bees flying around, getting on their legs. The bees didn’t bother us though
Jasper and Shada planted cherry tomatoes in an empty garden plot, 3 rows of 3, and mulched them. They used bone meal, trowels, a wheelbarrow, a square shovel, and their hands. The tomato plants were getting pretty big, as they had been growing in the greenhouse in small pots, and needed to be either potted up or planted. Also, plants in the garden always benefit other organisms living there. They put bone meal in under the tomato plants when they put them in the soil, which is high in phosphorus, which helps promote root growth so the plant will settle in faster. They kept forgetting to add bone meal, so only ¾ of the plants actually got some, but other than that it wasn’t too difficult or frustrating. They cut stalks (or just leaves, depending on the plant) of different herbs around the garden, and then trimmed the good leaves off and stored them for next week. By “good leaves” they mean leaves that were generally uneaten by pests, and were nice, green, and fragrant. They cut nettles, raspberry leaves, lemon verbena, and lavender. They mainly did this because next week an herbalist is gonna visit the garden and teach us about herbs, so they trimmed and prepared them ahead of time.