Locally Delicious School Garden
Sprouting Education
Abstract
Sprouting Education is awesome!
Background
Locally Delicious is made up of a strong group of ladies who are determined to beat corporate food marketing. They have written and published a nation wide book called Locally Delicious which by first impression resembles a traditional home-cook recipe book, but truly hidden inside is a fight against corporate mass food production. The book includes recipes and tips for cooking meals from local and organic produce. These women fight for the nation to eat more healthy and locally. Continuing their battle against corporate, Locally Delicious is extending their empire to kids across the nation to a healthier diet with their next book entitled Lunchbox Envy. In Humboldt State University, the Environmental Engineering Design class were assigned to collaborate with Locally Delicious and design projects for kids which can be shown through Lunchbox Envy. Sprouting Education has designed a School Garden project for grades K-5 which will teach kids the benefits of growing and eating their own food.
Project Statement
Build/ Design a Garden for a School
Project Criteria
Final Project Design
Explanation of the garden system
Costs
The costs involved in creating the Sprouting Education Garden come in two forms: hours of labor and materials costs.
Design Hours
The chart to the right shows the breakdown of design hours that went into constructing the Sprouting Education School Garden. A majority of the hours were spent constructing the system.
Building and Materials Costs
Below are the costs of materials to construct the garden
Criteria | Description | Weight |
---|---|---|
Learning Potential | The ability to convey educational concepts from the garden to students | 10 |
Participant Safety | Students will be protected from any hazardous structure from the garden | 10 |
Reproducibility | The design of the garden is easily reproduced and transferable by others | 9 |
Child Appeal | The aesthetics attract students to the garden | 8 |
Cost | Reasonable price for overall material and labor | 8 |
Sufficient Produce | The potential to produce enough produce for students to find the garden rewarding | 7 |
Easy Maintenance | Simplicity to maintain the garden during the summer and school year | 6 |
Plant Safetey | Plants will be protected from any harm or destruction | 2 |
Expandability | The design of the garden is accessible for any additional expansion | 1 |
Item | Amount | Cost | Our Cost | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sand Paper - Grade 80 | 2 | $1.19 | $1.19 | $2.57 |
Wooden Pallet | 8 | $19.95 | $0 | $0 |
Corrugated Fiberglass Sheeting | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Greenhouse Plastic Sheeting | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Nails | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
1/4" x 10' PVC Pipe | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Soil | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Plants | unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Total | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown | $unknown |
Expected Maintenance Costs
The system was designed to require as little maintenance as possible, although normal garden maintenance will need to be upheld to guarantee the success of the garden.
Task | Time (min/year) |
---|---|
Water Garden | ?? |
Weeding Garden | ?? |
pH and Nutrient Top-Off | ?? |
Soil Tilling | ?? |
Others... | ?? |
Total Time | A Long Time... |
Testing Results
blah-blah-blah
Building and Implementation Instructions
Materials For A 4'x12' Pallet Garden Box with Green House top
- 8 wood pallets that can be sawed down the middle, parallel to the support beams (see picture)These can be found laying around the back of any large warehouse or store. Pallets outside are usually just waiting to be thrown away, but ask permission to take them first. Also, try to find pallet that are in decent shape, no missing planks or excessive water damage. If you can find pallets that look similar, your garden bed will be prettier, but it isn't essential to the structure.
- 32 2'6" long 1/4" thick sections of rebar
- A total length of 32"of corrugated fiberglass roofing, in sections about 2" tall. You might get lucky and find this stuff laying in a friend's backyard, but if not, it is relatively inexpensive to purchase at a hardware store.
- 6 pieces of 12'long 1/4" PVC pipe
- 32 pipe clamps for 1/4" pipe
- 1 gallon Non-toxic outdoor weather resistant paint
- 64 1/2" screws that fit your pipe clamps
- 144 sq. ft of plastic sheeting
- 96 sq feet of soil
Building A 4'x12' Pallet Garden Box with Green House Top
- Cut pallets in half
- Measure pallets lengthwise, parallel to the planks to find the midpoint of the pallet. Then use the midpoint to draw a line down the center of the pallet that runs perpendicular to the planks. This will be your cutting line. Create this line on both sides of all the pallets.
- use a large skill saw to cut all the pallets in half along the lines you had created. Then, sand the pallets to get rid of any major splinters. Hammer flat any nails sticking out of the pallets or remove them completely so that the pallets do not pose any dangers to children.
- Paint Pallets
- If your pallets are wet, let them dry in a sheltered area before proceeding to this step. Using a non-toxic weather resistant paint, paint all surfaces of the pallets and allow to dry.
Topic 3
blah-blah-blah
Discussion
Concerns, maintenance, teaching lessons, etc.
Topic 1
Blah Blah Blah