Plant Choice

If I were to pick a specific plant to grow in our School Community Garden, it would have to be strawberries. It is best grown from already growing plants, that way the strawberries can be grown more quickly. Starting a strawberry plant from the seeds, will supposedly bear fruit the second spring since it started growing. The strawberry plants should be able to grow throughout the year but will produce fruit in late spring. According to my Be Wise Ranch, local organic farm, and another source it seems the June Bearing Strawberries would be best to grow. I also found that strawberries should be planted where they can get six or more hours of direct sunlight per day, basically the more sun the better. Make sure to have soil that retains moisture but not too much and is not too dry, otherwise the strawberries will not be successful since they do not tolerate droughts or standing in water. Optimal pH level for planting the strawberries is 5.3 to 6.5 pH. Rid the site of weeds, grubs and soil-born diseases. Make sure that no plants or trees compete with the strawberries needed “food supplies and water”. Strawberries should not be planted near tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes which often carry disease that they are susceptible too.

Interesting facts about strawberries are:
-Eight strawberries have 20% of the folic acid you need everyday.
-The average straeberry has 200 seeds.
-Ancient Romans believed that strawberries alleviated many symptoms like melancholy, fevers and many other diseases.


Direct Sources:
http://www.bewiseranch.com/harvestschedule.htm
http://www.gardenguides.com/547-strawberries-fragaria-x-ananassa-information.html
http://www.pickyourown.org/strawberryfacts.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2242620_start-strawberry-container-garden.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4851759_grow-strawberries-seed.html
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1570_2468_2471-38102--,00.html

Annotated Bibliography

1) "Water | EPA History | US EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .

Notes: “Everything that man himself injects into the biosphere- chemical, biological or physical- can ultimately find its way into the earth’s water,” stated by Charles C. Johnson. I found this statement profoundly true, all the more reason to take care of things and not pollute or destroy to much of anything on this earth. Take care of it or soon there won’t be anything left, like shown in many movies like “Soyolent Green” and “Mad Max: The Road Warrior” (or one of the Mad Max movies…). Another statement I found very accurate was, “…limits to natural purification—that our nation’s waters cannot indefinitely absorb an endless avalanche of waste.” Very true, if we do not stop this not only is the environment and other wildlife going to suffer, but eventually humans will suffer too. Other than this information, this article was not to informative about water trends.



2) "Health Effects of Drinking Water Contamination." Water Filters, Water Purifiers and Water Softeners. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .

Notes: “About 14.1 million Americans routinely consume drinking water containing pesticides, including weed killers, atarzine, alachlor, and simazine…” This fact is very disturbing, but this is just the icing on the problem after reading the rest of the article. Sort of paraphrased the following: Water is the foundation of all life, therefore we must take all threats to drinkable water seriously. There were many studies performed that water quality had a correlation to many health problems throughout the nation. “The chemicals used in pipes, and joints, may contaminate drinking water after it has been treated.” This is indeed something to worry about, yet another thing that can be very problematic if there are no tests or studies. “The contamination of water is directly related to the degree of contamination of our environment.” Interesting fact that may be useful for putting things into perspective of how little fresh water we need and how much the human population will theoretically consume… “Under conditions of average… the human body… must replace about 2.3 liters of water each day.” Then the last thing that was kind of disturbing was that, “…at least 2,110 contaminants have been identified in the nation’s drinking water supplies… contaminants not regulated may be present in drinking water.” Actually after reading that again it is very disturbing! What other contaminants could there be that are dangerous to our health and environment?



3) "ARS : National Programs." ARS : Home. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .

Notes: According to this article, U.S. citizens, organizations and the government are taking measures to protect the environment and the public health. The USDA National Program addresses three components: agricultural watershed management, irrigation and problem areas, and water quality protection and management. In the U.S. there are twelve benchmark watersheds, therefore we should be taking good care of them as well as all of the other water sources in the U.S. Overall, I didn’t find that much relevant information for the project, but there was plenty of details about this specific research project report for the government program.



4) "Water Science: Water quality." USGS Georgia Water Science Center. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .

Notes: Defined water quality as, “…describe the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for a particular purpose.” After reading the following, “… vulnerability of surface water and ground water to degradation depends on a combination of natural… and human activities…” I realized that it takes a balance of things to make sure water is clean and that actions must be taken for bad conditions to be improved. There are a few types of pollutant types and how they enter the water some of which are the following: point source, air, and eroded soil and sediment. At first I was shocked to read this I hadn’t thought that pollutants traveling in the air would actually affect the water, but after considering it… it would be true and is a sad fact because as industrialization increases so does the pollutants getting pumped into the atmosphere. I also hadn’t really considered the fact that erosion and sediment can bring the pollutants straight into the water, which can have devastating affects on many things. Different types of pollutants are: microorganisms, bacteria, chemicals, sewage spills, pesticides and runoff. Water quality has become an important issue as the Nation’s population increases tremendously. Many of the points and facts brought up were very useful in this source.

Water Senior Project Proposal

The general theme is, “What the world will be like in 100 years?” Though at this point, I am thinking about focusing on what the world’s water will be like. I came across the following quote stated by Charles C. Johnson, “Everything that man himself injects into the biosphere- chemical, biological or physical- can ultimately find its way into the earth’s water.” I feel that I could possibly base a lot of the research that is needed as well as outline what one could expect from this project about water in the future. So I feel that I will focus on the conditions of the water quality in 100 years as well as different factors along with that. Different conditions that would most likely affect the water which I should probably look more in depth are: human growth population, waste rates and trends as well as water quality trends of the present. Through my project on water, I will want to portray how serious water quality is and how it is important to take care of it, but as a final note, I hope to find a way/ or plan of how to give hope to everyone about how to solve the issues.

My preliminary research has shown how the chemicals that humans are putting into the water is very bad, which cause many severe health issues (e.g. cancer). “About 14.1 million Americans routinely consume drinking water containing pesticides, including weed killers, atarzine, alachlor, and simazine…”2 Water has also been shown to become contaminated after being treated, just by being transported to homes through pipes and joints (may or may not be contaminated, but there is a chance). Many studies have been performed that show water quality has a direct correlation with human health. I also found how much water a human uses and needs to replace on average, which is approximately 2.3 liters each day. Another fact, “…at least 2,110 contaminants have been identified in the nation’s drinking water supplies… contaminants not regulated may be present in drinking water.” My research also found that vulnerability of surface water and ground water depends on natural factors as well as human activities. There are a few types of pollutant types and how they enter the water some of which are the following: point source, air, and eroded soil and sediment. Different types of pollutants are: microorganisms, bacteria, chemicals, sewage spills, pesticides and runoff. Water quality has become an important issue as the Nation’s population increases tremendously. 4 Overall, I found information that will help show how water is important to keep clean, though I feel I need more information about water quality trends over the years and more about waste rates.

Overall my thoughts on this research is that I am either saddened or disturbed. Sad because earth is slowly getting destroyed and that we are hurting ourselves. Disturbed by of all the different types of “identified” chemicals in water that we could be drinking. It makes me wonder how many more are not identified or controlled, in other words, what other contaminants could there be that are dangerous to our health and environment? I realized that it takes a balance of things to make sure water is clean and that actions must be taken for bad conditions to be improved. I also hadn’t realized that there is more than one way of contaminating the water by air, point source and erosion and sediment. The more I think about it the bigger and bigger the issue seems to become. Now I need to decide on where to focus my research I think.

“Farmer in Chief” Reading Discussion

After reading “Farmer in Cheif” by Michael Pollan, I began to see a new perspective of the food industry as well as possible solutions to make it better, as outlined in the article. There were many interesting, startling and thought provoking facts throughout the article. Throughout the article, I found many startling facts. The first being that it, “…Currently takes 10 calories of fossil fuel to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food…” This was very shocking for me; I had never really even considered the fact that fossil fuels are used in growing the food used to make most of the things that we find in the store. Another shocking fact that I found in the article was that, “…Ammonium nitrate being used as the main ingredient of both bombs and chemical fertilizer…” This fact is very scary, just knowing that foods are grown in such chemicals is repulsive and I am glad that I am making better food choices. The third fact that is shocking to me is that the, “…U.S.D.A. estimates that Americans throw out 14% of the food they buy, and more is wasted by retailers, wholesalers, and institutions.” It is scary knowing that a lot of food is wasted all of the time; it makes me want to be more conscious of how much food I am wasting. The last startling is that, “…For nations to lose the ability to substantially feed themselves will find themselves compromised in international dealing as nations that depend on foreign resources.” The author goes on to say that there is no alternative to food. This is probably the scariest thought, I have to agree with it though and it makes me want to do something to solve the problem of food in our country.

On a happier note, it is said in the article that, “…Markets for alternative kinds of food-organic, local, pasture-based, humane- are thriving as never before…” This means that more people in America are realizing that it is good to eat healthy and organic foods. I personally feel that this type of farming is the way to go since before technology sun light worked pretty well. The author of this article brings up a good point when he talks about balancing the farms with plants and animals. I really think that is they way to go with farming. I found it interesting that the organic way of farming would create many new green jobs for people around America. I most definitely think that it is a good idea, though I can also see how that would be difficult to convert all of the huge farms to organic. Overall, these were the more startling, interesting and thought provoking ideas and facts that I found in the article.

During the class discussion of the article, I felt that it was good overall since we discussed main topics that came up in the text. I felt that together our class had similar comprehensions of the text and agreed on many of the ideas brought up throughout our discussion. Some of the points that were brought up through this talk are the following: the health of America, national security related to food, as well as food justice. For America’s health, we discussed how eating all of the unhealthy foods produced through the use of fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers, as well as how this food is putting many citizens at risk for many health problems that could be avoided by eating healthy. We also discussed the possibilities of converting the farms of America into ones that could sustain the entire population. The last main topic was food justice and should food be defined with a specific definition. There was a debate for the whether or not a definition should be created, one person mentioned how there would always be a new bad food if we keep defining what real food is. I felt that discussing these topics with the class was very enlightening and helped open my eyes to the many obstacles and opinions that people could have to the plans outlined in the article. Overall, I felt this was an amazing learning opportunity in which I got to comprehend the complexities of solving a national issue, which will eventually become a global problem.

Pollan, Michael. "Farmer in Chief." Letter to Mr. President-Elect. 9 Oct. 2008. New York Times. 9 Oct. 2008. Web. 11 Jan. 2010. .

Relations to Agriculture

After discussing this topic with my parents, I learned that I have strong ties to ranchers on both sides of my family. My family had farms where they took care of cattle, which is part of agriculture. This fact I hadn’t really considered before. I find it really interesting that I came from a background of mostly cattle ranchers, personally I had originally thought that there were more farmers. I also learned that my Grandpa’s mother grew up on a farm. I feel that I learned a lot of new family history from my discussion. I also knew before this discussion, that my family participates in supporting the growth of organic foods by buying it biweekly from local farmers. I feel that learning my ties to agriculture is very helpful, especially for me since it is so diverse. I felt that I understand that there are many aspects of agriculture that I hadn’t expect before.

What is One Thing that I am Curious About?

One thing that I am curious about in Environmental Science is the aspect of organic farming. How can the United States society become more organic food friendly? How can we promote a more healthy food diet in the schools? Is there a way to grow organic foods in your own home? There are many aspects of growing organic foods. It was brought to my attention in John’s class this morning that bugs can be used to combat food pests. So I am curious of all the types of crop protection, as well as the growing process and what it would take to get enough organic food to feed a family? Through this semester, I hope to learn more about organic foods.