Lindsey's Garden is the best
Intern Profile
Two of my personal goals for working at the Dallas Youth Garden this summer are:
I want to learn about gardening and help the community.
Two things I hope to learn for working at the Dallas Youth Garden are:
1. Build relationships with other interns.
2. Get more involved in the community,.
I think my biggest challenge will be:
Well I sunburn really easily.
My favorite vegetable is:
Corn and Green beans
My least favorite garden task is: Weeding
My most favorite garden task is: Harvesting
I think a leader is: A leader is someone who can just be another team member and still take charge when needed.
My worst leadership skill or trait is: Not taking charge and tending to lay low.
My best leadership skill or trait is: Being able to work well on a team.
Garden Plan:
My favorite plant to plant was: Tomatoes
My lease favorite plan to plant was: Onions
I think my plan worked because:
Garden Log:
June 16: Started in the garden as an alternate to replace Kalob.
June 21: Mainly just watered and weeded, not the most exciting thing but I'm glad it's done.
June 25: I felt pretty good about what I got done today. Finished off mulching and went back and fixed places that were missed. I also got some more weeding and watering done.
June 28: I Harvested for the first time since I've been at the garden. It was only a single head of broccoli, but hey I guess you have to start somewhere. I also did more weeding, big surprise I know.
June 30: Funny story, I was looking at my dill and the mulch around it seemed really tall. I moved some of the straw back and realized weeds were growing underneath the draw because it didn't get papered right there. So I fixed that and did all the other fun stuff too.
July 2: Trying to do the last of my weeding before I leave on a mission trip.
July 5: I stopped by really quick to water my garden then left for the airport.
July 6-18: I was on my Mission trip in the Philippines and it was amazing. Shout out to Dyllan for watering my garden while I was gone, and a big thank you to everyone who helped out in it while I was gone.
July 19: I'm back and everything is huge! Including the weeds. Just kidding, my garden was in good hands and there wasn't that many. I had a lot more to harvest than what I'm used to.
July 21: I just got my watering done and did some weeding, huge surprise.
July 23: For the first hour everyone worked in their gardens and in the second hour we got 2 minions done. Getting ready for the open house.
July 26: The open house was today and everything went well, there was lots of good food too. I think we harvested 300 pounds collectively, but how could I think about that with cupcakes around.
July 28: Deans gone today so we all just decided not to show up. (It was actually really hot today and had we done that all our plats would be dead.)
July 30: I actually got a ton of weeding done today, big thanks to Nan for helping me with the weeding.
August 2: Watered and had a huge harvest today.
August 4: Watered, harvested and talked about county fair.
August 6: More watering, more harvesting and talking more about fair.
August 9: We spent most of our time picking for the fair and filling out forms today. With the weather we made sure to water lots.
August 11: We did all the super exciting gardening stuff then talked about what were doing Friday at the fair.
August 13: More thrilling gardening, and then we talked about how we did at county fair. 4 of my exhibits made it to state and I got some sort of ribbon on all my entries.
August 16: Watered, harvested, did a little weeding then talked about state fair.
August 18: I harvested tomatoes for the first time from my garden today! I guess I harvested other things too, but come on, Tomatoes!
August 20: We picked vegetables for state today, and also watered...
August 23: I had a huge harvest today and gave someone a tour of the garden.
August 25: Just more watering and harvesting today.
August 27: We all did quite a bit today, one of the things we had to do was move the tarps and wood off of the fence line to prepare for drain tile.
September 3: Jyst watered and weeded today, and getting ready for school... Yaaay
Leadership Projects:
Problem: Because of plumiting bee population, we need to improve pollination in our garden.
Solution: Build a "Bee House".
Species Attracted: Solitary bees, refered to as Mason Bees, that tend to be better pollinators than your average Honey Bee. Their population is limited mainly due to the lack of nesting holes for them.
Bee house plan: Drill holes on an untreated piece of wood that are between 1/4 and 3/8 inch wide. Drill between 3 3/4 and 4 inches deep, spacing them at least 1/4 inch apart.
Instalation: About 2 meters off the ground facing south.
Communication: Talk to the other interns about my plan.
Leadership:Vision, Planning, and Effective communication.
Problem: Our community hasn't heard about Dallas Youth Garden.
Solution: Go to summerfest and let members of the community know who we are!
Leadership: Planning and Effective communication.
Problem: The phrase "sustainable gardening" can be over used and leaves us wondering what it really means to have a sustainable garden.
Solution: Research sustainable gardening methods.
My ''Findings": In order to have a sustainable garden you need to always be thinking about the future of your garden. Putting pesticides with harsh chemicals in your garden can contaminate the water. Instead we should use all natural pesticides or even utilize beneficial insects to help fight off other pests. Starting a compost is an easy way to improve the quality of your soil. Growing native plats, or plants you know thrive in your climate are always the best choice and will help decrease waste. When you have a good crop of something, saving the seeds could be well worth it. If the plant grew well this season, using its seed for starts next season will likely insure a good crop that year too. Taking measures, like mulching and direct watering, to help conserve water will not only save you money; but also helps conserve our sources of potable water. Sustainable Gardening is just about working towards a better garden and conserving non-renewable resources.
Leadership Traits: Vision and Effective Communication.
Some pictures of my Garden: