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Introduction

Building a garden at Sunny Brae Middle School is one step towards creating an experiential learning facility designed to educate middle school kids about where their food comes from. Having an on site garden where kids can gain direct contact with the processes involved in growing food on a small garden scale is appropriate for many reasons which include:

  • Nutrition Education
  • Learning the basics of small scale food production
  • Teaching life sciences through direct engagement with growing vegetables
  • Extracurricular school activity


Sustainability Criteria Fullfilled

  • Educational value-Another criteria our garden design satisfies is serving as a educational facility for students at Sunny Brae Middle School. A science teacher at Sunny Brae Middle School has agreed to lead a gardening cirriculum with students.
  • Durability-The garden at Sunny Brae Middle School can be justified as an appropriate technology because the structure's materials are designed to last. Durability is a high criteria because we want the garden site to last as long as possible as a sound structure. Materials such as weed cloth, galvanized steel, redwood and Trex lumber are durable and will insure the continued existence of the garden plot.
  • Aesthetics-This site is also aesthetically pleasing, with an aim of attracting students to the premise.
  • "Simple design"-This site requires no special skills or tools, it is practical and to the point. This criteria is important because of the age range and interest level of the students.


Greenhouse

With a greenhouse on site at SBMS, this garden plot will be able to provide an educational experience all year long for the students of SBMS. In a coastal climate, one benefit of a greenhouse is season extension. Greenhouse’s “can transform your gardening activities, extend the season and increasing the range of crops you can grow. The enclosed environment means you can give the plants exactly the conditions they need to grow fast and well,” <ref>Mikolajski, Andrew & Edwards, Jonathan. “An Encyclopedia of Garden Plants & Techniques.” (Annes Publishing Limited, London) 2005.<ref> By providing a secure micro-climate, vegetable starts can get an early start as well as provide vegetables longer in the season. Greenhouses also provide an environment that can expand the varieties of vegetables which can be grown in our climate. Hot weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers, melons and eggplant can be grown on the coast with a well designed greenhouse. The greenhouse is 10'x16', and it takes up approximately one quarter of the entire garden plot.


Design

Our design plot consists of two areas: A greenhouse and an outdoor garden area, the plot measures 40'x32'.

Materials

Greenhouse Design

The greenhouse is a manufactured kit that requires assembling. The kit assembled is a Country Barn, manufactured by the company Hoop House. http://www.hoophouse.com Our design slightly differs from instructions provided in that we have framed the ends with 2x4s instead of plywood which then allowed us to change the end door way design. We also added an extra 1"x4" side brace for exta structural support (see picture). The parts this greenhouse was made with included in the kit are as follows:

  • Anchor posts
  • Batten tape
  • Carriage bolts and nuts
  • Eyebolots with nuts
  • Hoop tops and bottoms
  • Hoop conectors
  • Hoop clamps
  • Poly film cover
  • Stabilzing wire
  • Screws
  • Tek Screws
  • Turnbuckles

The kit doesn't include the following, which was locally purchased:

  • 2"x4" treated lumber (90')
  • 1"x4" lumber (144')
  • Paint (1 gal)

Inside the greenhouse we built two 3'x6' tables for vegetable propogation, seedlings, transplants and so forth. Also, two 2'x5' raised beds can be found within the greenhouse. All the raised beds in the entire garden plot are sealed with pure linseed oil for increased protection to weathering and decay. The materials required for the construction of the tables and two raised beds are as follows:

  • 2"x12" Redwood (28')
  • 2"x4" lumber (60')
  • 4"x4" lumber (24')
  • 1"x4" lumber (30')
  • Mesh wire (3'x12')
  • Rebar #3 (20')
  • U brackets (12)
  • Pure linseed oil

Outdoor Garden Plot Materials

To complete this part of the garden, additional supplies were needed. The garden plot size including the greenhouse is 40'x32' and will be boardered with Trex lumber for containment. To prevent weeds, weed fabric is laid underneath the entire plot. There are seven raised beds of varing sizes in the outdoor plot (see pictures). We laid woodchips everywhere except in the raised beds for mulch, erosion prevention and to provide a suitable ground cover for heavy traffic. The following materials have been purchased locally for the outdoor garden plot:

  • 2"x12" Redwood (128')
  • 1.25"x5.5" Trex (144')
  • Weed fabric (1280 sq.ft.)
  • Redwood wood chips (14 yards)
  • Rebar #3 (80')
  • U brackets (40)
  • Pure linseed oil

Tools Required

For this project a basic knowledge of construction techiques are helpful. Listed below are necessary tools to complete this job.

  • Measuring tape
  • 5/16" socket wrench
  • Power drill & bits
  • Hammer and sledge hammer
  • Circular saw
  • Level
  • Knife
  • Staple gun

Cost Analysis

In the garden plot all the supplies were provided by Sunny Brae Middle School. Upon recieving the greenhouse from Sunny Brae Middle School, more supplies were necesssary for completion. These costs are shown in the cost analysis. Included in the cost analysis are the costs of the supplies to complete the raised beds, wood chips, weed fabric, Trex boarder, mesh screen, etc. See the table below.

Time

The collective time applied to this project's constuction was 100 man hours. Also time associated with meeting school representives took another 3 hours total on a few occasions.

Maintenance

Based upon the way the greenhouse was designed the first projected maintenance issue will be the replacement of the poly film cover. The plastic is issued to last 6-8 years. However, "custom sized, 6-mil film, with a 4 year guarantee is included in your greenhouse kit." <ref> Hoop House. (2004). Mashpee, MA.<ref> Another issue will be the degredation of the treated wood which can occur between a 12-15 year period, again dependent upon the weather conditions. Same with the redwood but it lasts 3-5 and highly variable with direct contact with the ground.The garden beds will need to be maintained dependent upon the season. Planting crops, harvesting, rotating crop placement, and pruning are just some of the tasks associated with bed maintenance.

Construction

The initial construction began shortly after the sight analysis was complete. The site analysis was completed when we began laying down and staking the weed fabric down to cover it with a thin layer of wood chips. We then began building the greenhouse offsite begining with the ends. We framed in the ends of the steel tubing with 2"x4" lumber for reinforcement and structural support.

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