Stop-Motion

Gardenia is a type of a flower and there are about 250 species in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania. Several other species occur on Hawaii, where gardenias are known as naʻu or nānū. These strong sweet plants usually grow in warm humid tropical areas. It needs high humidity to blossom. It flourishes in acidic soils during the day. If they grow indoors, they usually grow no larger than 18 inches in height and width. Outdoors can grow to the height of 6 feet. Ironically, if the water hits the flowers they can turn brown. In Japan and China, Gardenia jasminoides is called Kuchinashi (Japanese) and Zhi zi (Chinese 梔子); the bloom is used as a yellow dye, which is used for their clothes and food (including the Korean mung bean jelly, hwangpomuk). In France, Gardenia is the traditional flower, which men wear as boutonnières. It is also used for perfume.

Recycling and Reusing products-Artist Statement

I chose the topic about recycling, reusing reusable products and making something new. I have a passion for this topic because I would like to make our community aware of why we should recycle and reuse recyclable products. My film is focused on showing people what they can do to make a difference in their community. I most amazed by that out of 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill. (Container Recycling Institute).

This shows that the need for recycling is being ignored by a large portion of our population. We all need to focus on reusable and recyclable products if we are to maintain our earth and our natural resources. If we don’t we will end up buried in our own trash.

Based on my research, most of the facts are undeniable. If all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year! (Environmental Protection Agency) Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours. (Environmental Protection Agency) Electricity production is the leading cause of industrial air pollution in the United States, and is responsible for 40 percent of the nation's carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007) Americans go through 25 billion plastic bottles every year. Recycling 1 ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. (Earth 911)

Annotated Citations

The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.

The United States is the world’s leading consumer of bottled water, with Americans drinking 26 billion liters in 2004, or approximately one 8-ounce glass per person every day. Mexico has the second highest consumption, at 18 billion liters. China and Brazil follow, at close to 12 billion liters each. Ranking fifth and sixth in consumption are Italy and Germany, using just over 10 billion liters of bottled water each.

To produce plastic water bottles, it takes the amount of fossil fuels to produce energy for the making of plastic water bottles and to create plastic is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is derived from oil. Producing water bottles meet the Americans’ demand that requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year.* Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.

Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill.
-- Container Recycling Institute

If we can recycle more, it can save enough energy to light a light bulb to run for almost four hours or run your television for three hours. Making new products takes more resources, and energy than to recycle our products that we already have. 20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce one single can using virgin materials. Throwing a single aluminum can into the garbage can waste as much energy as pouring out half of that can’s volume of gasoline.

The owner of Cagoule Fleece Company has agreed to showcase his company one of his products is called BottleFleece™, and it is made from 85% post-consumer recycled fibers obtained from plastic soda bottles and postindustrial waste.
"Our Material ". Cagoule Fleece . 2009 NOV. 09 .

Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 408 billion gallons per day (one thousand million gallons per day, abbreviated Bgal/d) were withdrawn for all uses during 2000.

We all can reuse our water or cut down our water shortages to conserve our drinking water.
Solutions:
-Use our shower water for plants
-Dish water for plants

Once bought, an estimated 21% of annual clothing purchases stay in the home, increasing the stocks of clothing and other textiles held by consumers, according to Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste, a September 2006 report by consultant Oakdene Hollins. The report calls this stockpiling an increase in the "national wardrobe," which is considered to represent a potentially large quantity of latent waste that will eventually enter the solid waste stream. According to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, Americans throw away more than 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person per year, and clothing and other textiles represent about 4% of the municipal solid waste. But this figure is rapidly growing.

There are three solutions to recycle clothes: it can be resold by the primary consumer to other consumers at a lower price or exported to other countries, or it can be chemically or mechanically recycled into raw material for the manufacture of other apparel and non-apparel products.

Sources:
Emily and Janet, Arnold and Larsen. "BOTTLED WATER: Pouring Resources Down the Drain". Earth Policy Insitutute . 2009 NOV. 09 .

Emily and Janet , Arnold and Larsen. " Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain ". Earth Policy Insitute . 2009 NOV. 09 .

Hutson, Barber, Kenny, Linsey, Lumia and Maupin , Susan S. , Nancy L. , Joan F. , Kristin S. , Deborah S. , and Molly A. . "Estimated use of water in the United States in 2000". U.S. Geological. 2009 NOV. 09 .

Luz , Claudio. "Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry". Environmental Health Perspectives. 2009 NOV. 09 .

Collin , Dunn. "Does Recycling Really Make a Difference?". Planet Green. 2009 NOV. 09 .

Plant Propagation "Revised"

Propagation is the beginning of plant life and is a way of using natural or artificial methods, which is using genetic seeds and using different types of chemicals for the use of gardening such as planting seeds, transplanting, watering, weeding and planting in season.

There are two different fields of farming, there are large farming corporations that uses genetic altered seeds and pesticides for their fruits and vegetables and small farmers who are much more likely to use organic methods and heirloom seeds. For centuries, farmers have used selective breeding to improve seed production. Recent advances in science and technology now allow genetic engineers to easily and precisely move genes to improve plants and seeds. Agricultural biotechnology has enormous economic and humanitarian potential: “the great hope for genetically engineered crops is that they will feed the world.” There are vast benefits: more productive harvests, improved food quality (such as vitamin-enriched products), and decreased dependence on environmentally dangerous chemicals and pesticides. Some small farmers are focused on supplying to direct to market such as farmer’s markets, restaurants and smaller organic grocers. The ability of humans to genetically manipulate seeds through science has altered the agricultural landscape for both large farming corporations and small family farms. While genetic modification provides many advantages for small farmers, particularly in developing countries, there are likewise many drawbacks. Agribusiness domination of the global seed market and aggressive campaigns to promote broad patenting rights for biotech seeds and plants challenge traditional farming practices such as seed saving and seed sharing. Up to this point, the United States' has been the most vocal advocate of bolstering these IP rights on the international front. The global seed market and the media is involved into the advertisements to promote their products for the use of farming.

The differences between heirloom seeds and genetic engineered seeds are natural or artificial seeds. Heirloom seeds are seeds from open-pollinate cultivars, which is pollinated without human intervention, as by the wind or insects that are genetic in origin of earlier origins before the 1950’s when genetic engineering became popular often these fruits and vegetables are of a very high quality, easy to grow and cultivate. Many of these seeds were reproduced from the World War II era when so-called victory gardens were very popular. Some of the varieties are even 100 to 150 years old. When you modify seeds, you create Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). A GMO is an organism that is produced by in genetic engineering. Genetic scientists make a form of DNA that is combined into one molecule creating it into a new set of genes for animals, plants or bacteria organisms. The combining of genes from different organisms is called recombinant DNA technology, which creates genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered and are used in medicines, food, feed, fibers, etc.

There are beneficial insects and natural compounds that do not affect humans and animals and then there are also chemical products that are made out of different combinations of chemicals to kill certain plants and insects. Big farmers usually use pesticides and many of the pesticides are made by Monsanto who makes Roundup, which is the most popular pesticide used in the U.S. It is scientifically known as glyphosate, which has been proven to cause weeds to become immune to the pesticides from overuse and create super weeds, which are very chemical resistant. This product was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry and it was named after his wife’s maiden name. It also can affect our wheat crop and make it inedible.
Many small farmers use beneficial insects as their pest control and it uses insect predators to go after its prey. For example, parasitic wasps are used in agricultural pest control because they go after certain caterpillars, beetles and other types of insects. This is the nature of life and it is harmless to people, plants and animals. There are also soaps and oils that are naturally occurring that can be used against many different insects that are applied topically and are harmless.

In my own family history, my great Aunt Eva was an organic farmer; she started her farm in the 1920’s or in the 1930’s, before World War II in Norrocco, Indiana and her farmlands were approximately two hundred acres. She had two girls: Dorothy and Betty, they both became farmers. Betty and her husband were pig farmers and Dorothy stayed on the farm and helped her mother, Eva. When Dorothy was married to Al, both of them grew three different types of corn on Eva’s farm. They both worked full-time growing corn and they mostly grew seed (sweet) corn to feed to the cows. They would rent lands to make their farm bigger. Some of the farms were miles apart from each other so; they kept buying different farmlands to grow more corn and did more than sixty-five years of farming.

Dorothy’s farm is now around 3,000 acres and made up of several smaller farms, many of these farms have a house, a barn and a tractor. From the year of 2005, each acre was twenty-five thousand dollars each; now in the year of 2009 is probably the double of the price. Dorothy is still living today working in Indiana along with her children and her grandchildren helping her growing corn. She now sells her corn to a Manufacturer that uses corn and makes it into ethanol, which is fuel. My great aunt’s farm is uncommon nowadays because of large corporations are buying most of the small farms. Her children and her grandchildren will probably continue to farm and continue to grow corn and other vegetables for their family and small distributors.

Propagation is to show a way of how to plant your plants, transplant, water and maintain your crops. We all should support our small farmers to keep our old methods of farming our fruits and vegetables. Going to farmer’s markets and small grocers to buy organic food, which is healthy for our bodies to have. If we all can support small businesses that supply us with good food it can create a positive impact.

Bibliographies:
"Agriculture Biotechnology FAQ's". United States Department of Agriculture. 31 OCTOBER 2009 .
Ewens, Lara E. . Seed Wars: Biotechnology, Intellectual Property, and the Quest for High Yield Seeds. 2000.
de Oliviera Souza, Henrique Freire . Genetically Modified Plants: A Need for International Regulation. 2000.
"Seed Progation ". 2009 October 17: 39-52.

Stein, Haley . "Intellectual Property and Genetically Modified Seeds: The United States, Trade, and the Developing World". Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. 31 OCTOBER 2009 .

"Green Gardening Glossary Print". 31 OCTOBER 2009 .

WEAVER, WILLIAM WOYS . "HEIRLOOM SEEDS AND PLANTS". MOTHER EARTH NEWS . 31 OCTOBER 2009 .

Mendelson, Kathy . "What is an heirloom vegetable?". The Heirloom Vegetable Gardener's Assistant . 2009 October 17 .

"What are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? ". Human Genome Project. 2009 October 17 .

Caulcutt, Clea . "‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands ". France 24. 31 OCTOBER 2009 .

"Monsanto". Wikipedia. 31 OCTOBER 2009 .

"It's a BUG EAT BUG world out there. ". The Beneficial Insect Co. . 2009 October 17 .

Ideas about the Master Media Project

The perspective of an environment lifestyle will be showing a way of how to reuse recyclable products and make them into different creative products such as using polar fleece that is made out of recycled plastic water bottles and make it into a blanket. Candy wrapper, magazine pages, scrapbooking paper and other types of paper can be used to make purses. This film will be able to teach you how to reuse and make something new. I will have different angles and shots of different locations and it will have a clean-cut voice over and will have a mellow beat playing in the background of the film.

What will your environmental science research entail?
· Who: Sara will be playing a role, explaining step-by-step of how to reuse recyclable materials and make something new.
· What: These are the materials that I will be using for this project: a canon camcorder, a tri-pod, recyclable products such as candy wrappers, plastic bottles, and other products that can be reused and made it into a product (bags, jewelry, etc.) I will also be using these programs: final cut pro, live type, protocol, etc. to edit, add special effects and add sound effects.
· When: Will research this week on how to reuse products and make them into unique products. I will also like to get a head start this weekend, making products.
· Where: It will be filmed at my house; it will have different angles to make this film professional, educational and interesting.
· How: To be organize, creative and be prepare to explain how to reuse recyclable products.
· If there are any ideas that you can come up with about reusing products and making them into different products. That will be helpful.
· I will continue to research, contact my Aunt about reusing and making products, continue to contact the owner of the Cagoule Fleece company to ask more questions about the reuse of products and the making of fleece blankets.
· Will take different shots at different locations: my house, maybe some footage of me walking into the store buying products,
· My Aunt lives nearby and can help me with some ideas of reusing and making creative products.

Questions: Can consumers reuse recyclable products and create it into something new without the process of manufacturing?
How much recyclable products are being wasted?
Does recycling our products and reusing them make a difference?

The feedback from my classmates were very helpful and gave me some good ideas for my project.

Master Media Project

The perspective of an environment lifestyle will be showing a way of how to reuse recyclable products and make them into different creative products. This film will be able to teach you how to reuse and make something of it. The creative multimedia perspective will be shots of different locations: my house, shots of me walking to different places such as parks, stores, etc. to show the way of life of using products and to show our audience of how to reuse products and make them into something else. There will be special effects involve in this film such as the speed of the film, graphics designs and other special effects. It will have a clean-cut voice over and instrumental music playing in the background.

Questions:
Can anybody reuse the products and make it into something without the use of manufacturing?
There are different products that you can reuse and remake it into different products such as taking candy wrappers and making it into purses(coin purses & handbags) belts, magazine pages, scrapbook paper, etc. You can also use scratch Cds/DVDs and transform it into the making of jewelry such as earrings, necklaces, charms, beads for bracelets, etc. Broken jewelry pieces can be used for mosaic projects. There are many different creative ways to reuse the products and make it into something else.

How much waste is being wasted by each person?
"40% of the food we produce gets thrown out." " « Sausage Making: A Good Justice Michael Pollan on Tom Vilsack Appointment to Head Agriculture Department » Waste: Why Is So Much Food Wasted?". Cooking Up a Story. 2009 OCTOBER 12 .
In our world, we have so much food from industrial factories that can feed each person. Our problem is that the food is not being imported to third-world countries. All of us have the ability to use technology and now we all should cut down our food shortages and start eating healthy food because it is healthy for our bodies. Each person has their own opinions and we cannot force anybody to eat anything, but we can let them be aware for whoever wants to change. It can create an impact on our community for those of us who wants to create a change.

How much does a person need to save their waste to make it into something else?
It can save more space in our landfills and products will be cut down less. 44 million newspapers are being wasted every day in the United States that like leading up to 500,000 trees into a landfill each week. "It takes about 95% less energy to make aluminum from recycled aluminum than to make it from raw materials." "Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power your television for three hours or to run a 100-watt light bulb for almost four hours." Imagine how much energy you can save. "Plastic bags made from recycled polythene rather than virgin materials save two thirds of the energy required for production and reduce the water used by almost 90%." "Recycling one ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil and one sixth of a ton of carbon dioxide!" Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, nickel, lead and cadmium, which can leak into our soil and it contaminates our living things in our environment. If you can recycle your products and can reuse them can make a difference on our community.
"Does Recycling Really Make a Difference?". Stubbs Island Whale Watching. .
Anchorage Recycling Center. 2005. Aluminum Recycling. http://www.anchoragerecycling.com/alumfact.htm.
University of Colorado at boulder. 2005. Recycling Facts.
http://recycling.colorado.edu/recycling_facts/

Propagation:Annotated Biographies

Propagation is a process of using natural or artificial methods such as planting seeds, transplanting, watering, weeding and planting in season. There are two different fields of farming, there are large farming corporations that uses genetic altered seeds and pesticides for their fruits and vegetables and small farmers who are much more likely to use organic methods and heirloom seeds. Small farmers are focused on supplying to direct to market such as farmer’s markets, restaurants and smaller organic grocers.

The differences between heirloom seeds and genetic engineered seeds are natural or artificial seeds. Heirloom seeds are seeds from open-pollinate cultivars that are genetic in origin of earlier origins before the 1950’s when genetic engineering became popular often these fruits and vegetables are of a very high quality, easy to grow and cultivate. Many of these seeds were reproduced from the World War II era when so-called victory gardens were very popular. Some of the varieties are even 100 to 150 years old. When you use genetically modified seeds you produce genetically Modified Organism (GMO). A GMO is an organism that is involved in genetic engineering. Genetic scientists make a form of DNA that is combined into one molecule creating it into a new set of genes for animals, plants or bacteria organisms. The combining of genes from different organisms is called recombinant DNA technology, which creates genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered and are used in medicines, food, feed, fibers, etc.

There are beneficial insects and natural compounds that do not affect humans and animals and the chemical products are made out of different combinations of chemicals to kill certain plants and insects. Big farmers usually use the maker of Roundup, which is the most popular pesticide used in the U.S and it is scientifically known as glyphosate, which has been proven to cause weeds to become immune to the pesticides and create super weeds, which are very chemical resistant. This product was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry and it was named after his wife’s maiden name. It also can affect our wheat crop and make it inedible.

Many small farmers use beneficial insects as their pest control and it uses insect predators to go after its prey. For example, parasitic wasps are used in agricultural pest control because they go after certain caterpillars, beetles and other types of insects. This is the nature of life and it is harmless to people, plants and animals. There are also soaps and oils that are naturally occurring that can be used against many different insects that are applied topically and are harmless.
In my own family history, my great Aunt Eva was an organic farmer; she started her farm in the 1920’s or in the 1930’s, before World War II in Norrocco, Indiana and her farmlands were approximately two hundred acres. She had two girls: Dorothy and Betty, they both became farmers. Betty and her husband were pig farmers and Dorothy stayed on the farm and helped her mother, Eva. When Dorothy was married to Al, both of them grew three different types of corn on Eva’s farm. They both worked full-time growing corn and they mostly grew seed (sweet) corn to feed to the cows. They would rent lands to make their farm bigger. Some of the farms were miles apart from each other so; they kept buying different farmlands to grow more corn and did more than sixty-five years of farming.

Dorothy’s farm is now around 3,000 acres and most of her farmlands have a house, a barn and a tractor. From the year of 2005, each acre was twenty-five thousand dollars each; now in the year of 2009 is probably the double of the price. Dorothy is still living today working in Indiana along with her children and her grandchildren helping her growing corn. She now sells her corn to the Manufacture that uses corn and makes it into ethanol, which is fuel. My great aunt’s farm is uncommon nowadays because of large corporations are buying most of the small farms. Her children and her grandchildren will probably continue to farm and continue to grow corn and other vegetables.

Propagation is using natural or artificial methods in our farming. We all should support our small farmers to keep our old methods of farming our fruits and vegetables. Going to farmer’s markets and small grocers to buy organic food, which is healthy for our bodies to have. If we all can support small businesses that supplies us with good food it can create a positive impact.

Plant Propagation "Annotated Bibliographies": Rough Draft

Modified (GM) Foods?
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is an organism that is involved in genetic engineering. Genetic scientists make a form of DNA that is combined into one molecule creating it into a new set of genes for animals, plants or bacteria organisms. The combining of genes from different organisms is called recombinant DNA technology, which creates genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered and are used in medicines, food, feed, fibers, etc. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml

Monsanto's Roundup Pesticide Killing Wheat
Monsanto is the maker of Roundup, the most popular pesticide used in the U.S. It is known scientifically as glyphosate, which has been proven to cause weeds to become immune to the pesticides and it creates super weeds. It also can affect the wheat crop and make it inedible.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Monsanto's agricultural productivity products are designed to make it more efficient for us to use for our gardens. The purpose of these non-seed-based products is to improve the control of invasive weeds. There are chemicals that are being used to make this product to kill certain insects.
http://www.monsanto.com/products/ag_productivity.asp

"Roundup Ready" crops have been genetically engineered to control the killings of weeds and certain insects. The crop is seeded directly into uncultivated soil with no farming. http://www.mindfully.org/GE/RRS-Yield-Drag.htm

Heirloom Seeds
Heirloom seeds are seeds from open-pollinate cultivars that are genetic in origin and are earlier origins before the 1950’s when genetic engineering became popular often these fruits and vegetables are of a very high quality, easy to grow and cultivate.
Many of these seeds were reproduced from the World War II era when so-called victory gardens were very popular. Some of the varieties are even 100 to 150 years old.
http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/define.htm

Introduction to Organic Food Gardening - City Farmer's 2009 Classes in March
Propagation City Lessons at City Farmers
This site is to help you to teach you to know how to grow your own vegetables in an urban environment. Their organic food gardening course includes: site selection/design/soil preparation seed sourcing and starting; planting/harvesting/composting; organic gardening techniques/natural pest control; container gardening; waterwise gardening, etc.
http://www.cityfarmer.org/newpages.html

Ordering or Buying from Seeds
Seeds are available for many sources and some can kept be in packaging for years. There are many different varieties available through stores or online stores including some very different fruits and vegetables.
http://www.homedepotgardenclub.com/Dimensions/Article.aspx?contentid=2613
Spring Season plants
Here is a list of vegetables that can be planted in early spring:
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Celery
• Chinese Cabbage
• Collards
• Lettuce
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Spinach
• Onions
• Peas
• Radishes
• Mustard
Warm-Season Vegetables
Warm-season vegetables can be planted throughout the summer and fall seasons:
• Pumpkins
• Peanuts
• Summer squash
• Winter squash
• Snap beans
• Eggplant
• Sweet corn
• Okra
• Bell peppers
• Chile peppers
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Lima Beans
http://desertgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/planting_a_desert_vegetable_garden#ixzz0RFEbwcOg

Farmer in Chief Reflection

From the Socratic seminar, our class and I discussed about the issue, Food Crisis. There are different perspectives from this issue, our food products are produced by fossil-fuel factories along with the use of chemicals that are being used into the making of our food. Buying cheap food products is not nutritionally healthy for us to eat, but it is cheaper than our organic food because of the use of technology that is convenient for our lives.

We all should importantly focus on our processed food because we are running out of fossil-fuels and we all should let everybody be aware and for those of us who wants to take action to create a change on our community. We should start using more alternative clean energy for the energy's needs to produce food. We also should start buying more organic food than man-made food products to decrease the making of food products and the cost of our natural products.

Some questions that still has not been answered: If we produce whole healthy foods would the energy demands be less? How can we produce more food using less energy and creating less waste?

Best Practices

For the Propagation group, Nicole, Roberto, Daniel and I will continue to organize our seasonal seeds. We are planting lettuce, cauliflower, pumpkins, cabbage, etc., we plant the seeds at the depth of an inch to an inch and one half in order to have enough soil to cover the seeds. The seeds will be placed into small trays to protect the baby plants from bugs and birds, to allow them time to grow healthy and strong and allowing more control over the soil conditions such as sufficient moisture. Seeds usually start to germinate from one week to two weeks, the beginning of the plant pushes through the soil and towards the sun to get sun's energy. We need to water the plants daily and we will experiment with spaces of planting seeds and need to make a compost to enrich our soil in order to have healthy plants.

After an inch or two inches of growth, we will transplant it into the ground, which is by taking the plants out of pots and spread the roots out before we transplant them into our class garden bed. The root plants such as carrots, beans, radishes, etc. can be planted directly into the ground to let the roots sprout out in the soil.

For our presentation, we will teach the class about the propagation procedure of how to plant seeds, water properly,transplant, etc.

Lack of Clean Water

“Everyday, thousands of people die from lack of clean water.”

This fact struck me about our lack of clean water. I just can’t believe that thousands of people died because of the amount of chemicals that are being used into the making of products. Our products and other chemicals are being dumped into our rivers and lakes that are polluting our environment and killing living things.

From what I have learned from the past years about pollution, our water, our community and our earth is slowly dying. Throughout the globe, the third-world countries are struggling with water shortages because of their rapid economic growth of industrialization and urbanization. Poor countries have the lack of environmental protections for sewage, waste and other natural resources. They industrialized products using cheap labor and export to the United States. China is the world leader in manufacturing, but also the world's leader in pollution with very few controls of manufacturing waste. U.S. exports a large amount of E-Waste (Electronic Waste) to other Countries like China. China takes the electronic apart; they take what they can resell such as lead, brass and other precious metals and dump the rest in the rivers, lakes, oceans or whatever they dismantled them.

"China has some of the most extreme water shortages in the world. Of the 640 major cities in China, more than 300 face water shortages, with 100 facing severe scarcities."

Initial Plant Research

I would like to grow pumpkins, tomatoes and corn because this season would be great for these vegetables to grow. These plants are healthy for our bodies with the a lot of nutrients, we can sell our vegetables to the community and can make many different meals from these delicious plants. My top two plants for fall would be pumpkins and tomatoes. These two plants can be grown in the summer or fall seasons. Yes these plants should be grown from seeds.

Pumpkins are vegetables. During the seed stage you can plant four to five pumpkins seeds in a circle form and should be spaced out. It needs six hours of sunlight and should be watered gently to avoid washing away the topsoil. It should take up to 7 to 14 days for the seed to open and sprout out of the soil. Within a day or two, the leaves should start to open and continue to germinate.

Pumpkins love to grow into vigorous vines and to spread out in the garden. One strand of vine can grow up to 30 feet and vines can be trained to not wrap around any living plants or any living objects. They are mostly planted at the edges of corn and bean patches. Straight corn stalks give the beans something to climb onto and pumpkin vines are trained to slither among the corn stalks. The huge leaves of the pumpkin sprout out covering the soil that holds down weeds and keeping the soil moist. Rich soil helps the pumpkins to grow from the needs of nutrients. In order to have a rich soil can be a compost, fertilizer or fish emulsion to the area. 80 to 90% of every pumpkin is water and has a built-in water-conservation system. To keep the soil moist, the best solution would be watering it at the root of the plant or drip systems. Native Americans use to dry the strips of pumpkins and wove them into the making of mats. They also used it for eating and sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. In Ireland and Scotland, people used to make their scary looking Jack o’ lanterns out by the windows to scare the evil spirits away, from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack,"

Tomatoes are fruits and need lots of sun and the pH of the soil should be between 6.0 and 7.0. The soil needs to be well drained and to have a fertilizer or a compost to keep the soil rich. The temperature should be 55 degrees or higher. Space the plants 24 to 36 inches apart with rows at least 36 to 48 inches apart. You can start to plant tomato seeds in tray pots with an inch of topsoil and keep it to a constant temperature (seventy to eighty degrees). The hole for the seeds to grow should be an inch it has to grow tall and spread roots down into the soil. Leave it in pots in indoors for six to eight weeks. Once they sprout with two or three sets of leaves, transplant them into two or three inch-squared pots. Fertilize with a water-soluble fertilizer every 2 weeks from an amount of half strength to an increase amount of full strength for the next 6 weeks. Place a stake, tomato cage, or small trellis next to the plant. As it grows, wrap it with a soft twine to train the plant to grow along the stake. Adjust the tie during the stage of growth and take the tie off when it gets too restrictive. Keep it moist such as using drip irrigation.

The NPK ratio was established for different growing stages and the values for transported reduced-N in petiole sap increased from 18 % during the early vegetative stage to 32 % of total soluble-N during fruit ripening, and the fraction of NO_3-N dropped inversely. More than 70 % of total soluble-N in tomato plants is transported as NO_3-N.

What is one thing in the natural world that you are curious about?

I am curious about our natural resources and our earth because of the amount of chemicals that are being used to make man-made products. Different species are now becoming extinct because of chemicals and the lack of natural resources. It just hurt me to see our animals and other living things becoming extinct. Our community and I need to continue to recycle our own products and to buy natural resources instead of man-made products. There are so many natural resources that we can use as products. I would love to learn more about the making of natural resources and how I can create an impact on our community to make our community into a better place.