Grand Opening: April 22, Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration

After ten weeks of research, constructing, and planting, this is the final sensory garden (left). We were not able to construct the second (desert variety) garden before Earth Day, but the EEC plans to do that later on. The grand opening was so much fun, and the community loved it. A lot of people came by to take pictures ask about the future of the overall demonstration garden.



The mayor of Chandler, Jay Tibshraeny, came by for the ribbon cutting at 9:30 along with council members Sam Huang and René Lopez. My friends Jessica and Pauline also came out to support me, and we had a lot of fun enjoying all the Earth Day activities. We even pulled some money together and donated to the Weeders Garden Club's pollinator garden that will hopefully be built by next year at Tumbleweed Park.



Jessica and Pauline were especially excited to meet Sam Huang. Jessica was proud that she voted for him last year, and Pauline let him know that her mom voted for him as well.

Planting

On Wednesday, April 19th, Ariane and Dexter painted the planter and filled it with dirt so that I could come in on Thursday and do the planting. When I walked in the next morning, Ariane had only purchased a handful of plants, and so I went to Lowe's to buy more. I ended up buying them with my own money (rather than using the money from our budget) and spent $120 in total. Luckily, Max came out to help me move all the transplants and so we finished in just a couple of hours.

Succulent Propagation Progress

Because I love succulents so much, I decided to conduct two separate propagations: one at home and one at the EEC. The cuttings at home are thriving much better and there are about seven budding and rooting, but only one at the EEC. Initially, I started two just because I wanted more succulents, but I'm glad now because it taught me a lot about successful propagation. At home, I placed a handful of cuttings across a paper plate lined with soil and left it by a window. At the EEC, they stayed on a cart inside a classroom. Not only did more grow at home, but they also grew faster. I see progress every morning. At the EEC I've only seen one start to bud in the last week, and this is probably because they were kept too far from light for so long. But that's okay, because I'm just going to donate my buds to the EEC anyways. 

Garden Updates #10

On Thursday, April 13th I finished mortaring the cinder blocks together, and Dexter started filling some of the holes with cement for extra support. I also started mortaring the caps on, but we didn't have enough cement to fill in all the blocks we wanted to, so I have to wait for more to come in before I can put caps on all the way around.

Garden Updates #9

This morning, I arrived at the EEC at 8 AM to start work on the garden with Ariane and Dexter. We mortared the first layer and started on the second. The foundation should be done by the end of the week, so then next week I will be able to fill it with soil and put in the transplants. We are cutting it close, but if we also start leveling the land for the second garden, I think I could finish laying the cinder blocks for it to be mortared next week. Earth day is less than two weeks away, and I'm not sure if it'll be done, but hopefully it will.

Distillation Progress

On Friday, April 7th, I went to school and starting my distillation. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well, and a some of the biomass ended up in my product. Usually essential oil steam distillations are set up as such:
In its simplest form, boiling water is placed underneath the biomass so that the steam will travel upwards, cook the plant matter, and carry the essential oils with it as it passes through. The water and biomass are held in two bulbous pieces of glassware that only allow a small stream of steam to pass through. Once through the biomass, the steam travels through glass tubing upwards, and then is directed back down through a condenser, that re-liquifies the steam and oil. This product then collects in a flask for later separation. The reason for directing the steam upwards and then downwards through a condenser is so that the hydrosol (water, essential oil, and various volatiles) stays pure, since it is separated from cooked plant matter. As the distillation progresses, the boiling water often turns a dark brown color because of the plant matter that is falling back down as it cooks and is too heavy to continue to the collection flask with the steam.

My distillation set up looked like this:
Because the biomass and the condenser were so closely connected, and the condenser pointed at a downward slope directly from the biomass, some of the cooked biomass leaked into my product. I prevented the boiling water underneath from turning brown because I packed glass wool in between to give the biomass a place to sit. I thought about placing wool between the biomass and condenser, but I was concerned that it would catch a lot of the oil. The distillation itself already produces such a small yield that I didn't want to risk minimizing it further. I'll have to re-distill my product, but I am also looking to build a better initial set-up.

Distilling Essential Oils

Essential oils are aromatic, hydrophobic liquids produced in all plants. When extracted, they can be used in all kinds of industry. They are also used in aromatherapy to relax patients. As a part of the 'scent' and 'health benefits' portions of my research, I am distilling my own essential oil from a spearmint plant. Luckily, I took organic chemistry earlier this year as an elective and have experience in distillation, so I talked to my chemistry teacher, Dr. Pete, and he is letting me use the lab. However, I've done some research into distilling essential oils, and it requires much larger glassware than we have in the lab, since the yield of oil per gram of biomass is so low. But I'm still going to try my best to distill the oil using our micro scale glassware.

Garden Updates #8

Yesterday I finished the first layer for the foundation of one of the gardens. It's approximately 10' x 5', and so will the second garden. My advisors and I decided to build two gardens so that we can separate plants based on sunlight needs. This garden receives a lot of shade from the tree, so it will be mainly for garden-variety plants. I built this almost entirely by myself. Dexter and Ariane worked on it for an hour or so on the first day of building, and set it up for me, and then I finished it. Next we need to mortar the cinder blocks together, but neither Ariane nor I know how to, so we are waiting for Dexter to start. The garden will be two cinder blocks high when finished, and once the foundation is built, purchasing and transplanting the plants should be a quick task.

Desert Botanical Garden

I just got back from picking up donations at the Desert Botanical Garden. They actually donated a lot more than I expected from their email. I thought there was only going to be one of each, but I received five Asclepias angustifolia (Arizona milkweeds), two Hosmarinus ingrami (Ingram rosemary), two Saliva scabra (costal blue sage), one Opuntia (spineless prickly pear), and one Lophocereus schottii var. monstrousus (totem pole cactus - and this one is probably more than four feet tall). I can't wait to find a place for these in the garden!

Garden Updates #7

I have been going to the garden most days and doing some construction. The EEC gave me a key to the shed out back so that I could get shovels, etc. to work on it. The foundation for the garden will be made up of cinder blocks. There will also be small pockets sticking out of the walls for additional, smaller plants (succulents, herbs, etc.) to make them more accessible to visitors. I have been working on the construction by myself for the last few days, and I should have the layout done by the end of the week.

Tomorrow I will be heading out to the Desert Botanical Garden to pick up some plants. The staff were so kind and offered to donate five plants: a totem pole cactus, spineless prickly pear (several pads), rosemary, salvia, and milkweeds.

Garden Updates #6

Last Friday (March 24th) some of my advisors started digging up dirt, so that they could start building the garden. Unfortunately, they ran into the roots of the mesquite tree and had to stop construction. Today, they brought in an expert arborist to assess the issue and let us know if it was okay to continue. My advisors were worried about the possibility of accidentally killing the tree, but Claud, the arborist, let us know that it was okay to proceed. In the far future, we might run into problems with the tree's roots breaking the foundation of our raised garden (since we were going to build the garden with cinder blocks), but we could just trim the roots if needed. It's definitely a good thing that the tree won't actually be an issue, so we can continue with the garden plans as is and not have to redesign.

Succulents

Today Ariane went to Home Depot to buy supplies for the garden. While she was there, she also purchased some succulents. I'm hoping to have the garden done before Earth Day, because the EEC hosts a big event that day, so we got the succulents now to start propagating. Hopefully we'll have a lot of them for the garden eventually, but I don't think we will be able to get grown succulents by Earth Day. This will still be a fun experiment! I can't wait to see them start growing.

The Budget

Before I started my internship, the EEC applied for a federal grant to fund the garden. Last week, we found out that we actually did not get the grant, so now our budget is down to $500. To make up for the lost budget, one of my advisors, Daniella, sent me a list of email addresses to ask around for plant donations. After emailing everyone, I got a few responses. Cathy Rymer, the water conservation coordinator for the city of Chandler responded first and offered a Superstition Mallow, which is now sitting in the EEC's office. And U of A's community garden program coordinator, Marina Acosta, told me she will not be able to donate transplants, but she offered to donate seeds. I have yet to pick them up, though.

Today I had a meeting with my advisors, Daniella and Ariane. We discussed garden plans and budgeting. We figured out a design for the garden, which has changed since the last post I made about the garden. It will no longer be in the corner, as I described. Instead it will be along the west fence so that some of the plants can get more shade and others can get more sun. Also, the space between the tree and the fence isn't that wide, so we would have had to sacrifice either garden space or walking space. Right now I'm drawing up a rough draft of how the garden will be organized. I will post the final plan later on.

Garden Updates #5

A few weeks ago, I said that the sensory garden was going to be along one side of the fence surrounding the demonstration garden, but there's been a change of plans. Instead, we are going to put the garden in the northwest corner (as shown in the picture on the right). Putting the sensory garden in this corner will allow the garden to be more encompassing and also be better for the plants, since they will have some shade to protect them from the afternoon sun, especially in the upcoming summer. Also, since we have the tree to utilize, I was thinking about hanging wind chimes or bird feeders. The tree will also make the garden more enjoyable because visitors won't have to be under the direct light of the sun.

Research: Initial Thoughts and Re-evaluations

Although I am already in week six of my overall project, I am still refining my scope and figuring out what exactly I'm going to present. Initially, since the internship provided such a great opportunity with building a sensory garden, I was going to do my research on the garden itself: how to pick the plants, how to take care of them, etc. It was more of a "come along with me and let's build a garden" type project, and I was going to focus on botany. But now that I've been doing so much reading into the processes behind sensory gardens and the application/usage of the gardens, I want to refocus my project towards analyzing how a sensory garden works (the chemical and biological processes), who it can benefit (its affects on people with various sensory integration disorders), and why it works (the greater relationship between people and nature). The re-evaluation of my project made me realize that there are much larger implications and opportunities for learning from the creation and usage of sensory gardens.

I am splitting my research into three categories with two subcategories each:

1. The scientific basis behind sensory gardens: chemical and biological processes involved in the interactions between people and plants

2. The application and usage of sensory gardens: physiological and psychological benefits of sensory gardens for all people (with an emphasis on sensory integration and modulation disorders)

3. The broader relations between humans and nature: philosophical and evolutionary theories connecting the changes in our relationship with nature to changes in culture

Research: The Biophilia Hypothesis

Earlier this week I started looking into "biophilia," the love of life (nature). There's a great book I found for my research called The Biophilia Hypothesis (1995), which is a collection of essays attempting to prove the "biophilia hypothesis," a theory developed by Edward O. Wilson claiming that humans have an innate love of nature or attraction to nature that may be a result of our biology. The Biophilia Hypothesis was actually a response to Wilson's Biophilia (1986), a memoir exploring humanity's connection with nature and conservation ethics. Although both books focus mostly on animals, I thought it would be a good source, because it connects the focus of my research project with the bigger picture of peoples interactions with the greater natural world.

Sensory gardens, and the effects of these gardens on our well-being are, in a way, more concentrated microcosms reflecting the same kind of relationship between humans and nature as described in Biophilia and The Biophilia Hypothesis. And although these are just theories, they provide a good jumping-off point for further research into how nature affects people.

Camp and Garden Updates (#4)

This week and the next are camp week. Since it's spring break, there's a bunch of little kids running around the EEC. It's not a bother, since I mostly close myself off in a classroom to do my work and research, but I just thought I'd mention camp. I'm especially excited though, because there is going to be a pancake breakfast next Thursday.

Later today, I'm going to set a meeting with my on-site advisors (one of them doesn't come in until 10:30) for later on this week (hopefully) to discuss which plants we are going to buy. Looking over my list again, I'm not really happy with the selections. I think they could be better and more interesting, but it's difficult with the limited stock available in Arizona. I'm also having trouble staggering the bloom times, since the nurseries right now are mostly just carrying plants that bloom in spring. I need to find more winter and fall-blooming plants.

Purchasing Plants

This week I sent my on-site advisors a list of plants I want to get for the garden. It's got about forty or  so plants, but it's still unfinished because I want to find more unique, exotic ones. Most of the list is comprised of plants from Lowe's (because Lowe's seems to be the best deal so far), but since these plants can be purchased at any Lowe's in the valley, I still want to find some unusual, more interesting plants. When I went to Lowe's to look at their inventory, I was actually really surprised. They had some plants I didn't think would grow well in Arizona. Also, their plants are all flourishing beautifully. But since it is just another chain store, their stock isn't as varied as the local nurseries. The budget for the garden still hasn't been set yet, but once it is, hopefully we can start deciding which ones we are actually going to purchase and how many.

Garden Update #3

I went out to the garden today to see what was done over the weekend. A few of the planter beds are in. :)

Work Day

On Saturday, March 4th from 9AM to 12PM the EEC is having a work day. Unfortunately I can't make it because I have to go to work, but I am really excited to see the results. They're planning on setting up parts of the demonstration garden, and that will help my part of the project, because it'll be easier to plan for certain plants, since I will know for sure where I can plant them. Right now, the area still looks barren (it's the same as in the photos I posted a week or so ago), and so I can't wait to see it start coming together.

Nurseries

For the last week or so, I've been going around to different nurseries, assessing what's available, and comparing prices. So far I've been to Moon Valley Nursery (the Chandler location) and Desert Horizon. At both locations I've found a lot of cool plants that I wasn't initially considering, such as grape vines and foxtail ferns. They both also have quite a variety of herbs. However, I've had trouble finding sunflowers and multiple varieties of basil. Neither of the locations had any sunflowers at all, and both only had sweet basil. For herbs in general, I was thinking that it would save money to buy the cheapest herbs I can find, and then use them to propagate even more herb plants, but I'm trying to get the garden put together by early April, and it takes time for cuttings to not only sprout roots but also grow into a larger plant. So far the cheapest I've found are $2.69 per four inch plant.

Garden Update #2

In the last post I posted pictures of the garden, but I just wanted to clarify which part I will be working on. The whole fenced area will be a demonstration garden, with an outdoor classroom, planter beds for horticultural lessons, and a variety of other exhibits for learning. The sensory garden that I'm working on will be along the fence of the entrance. From the perspective of my photos, that fence is on the left. To increase space and make it more user friendly, I'm hoping to build a few vertical gardens along the fence. If I can put herbs and small flowering plants in the vertical gardens, then I can save the area on the ground along the fence for bushes and shrubs. And since there's a plain fence lining the garden, I want to decorate it with vines.

Garden Update #1

Since my project is based around building a garden, I figured I should provide pictures of its development. Right now, the garden is empty. But hopefully not for long.

Herbs

Day Five:

So far, I've made a list and done lots of research on flowers, herbs, and fruit trees. I'm really excited to be planting a small herb garden within the larger sensory garden. I think the herbs will add a lot to the "sensory" theme, especially since they can be harvested and will be the main contributors to the garden's appeal to taste. The herbs I chose are mint, rosemary, lavender, basil, thyme, chives, and oregano. I want to plant three kinds of basil: thai, sweet, and purple, so that I can have a small pot or planter bed dedicated to just basil, since they need much more water than the other herbs. I also plan to keep mint separately because they can be invasive. I thought about having multiple kids of mint, like with the basil, but if I plant varieties of mint close to one another, they can actually start to cross-breed and blend scents. Since the overall garden is relatively small, I have also been thinking about how to creatively display the herbs and also maybe some of the flowers. I want to plant the herbs in a standing or vertical garden bed so that they are more accessible and are presented better than if they were to be sitting in a planter bed on the ground.

Picking the Plants

Day One:

On February 6th, my first day at the Environmental Education Center, I focused on researching plants for the garden. I plan to include a variety of flowers, succulents, and herbs. The first plant I researched, and also the most likely to be included, are sunflowers. They are extremely well-suited for this sensory garden because not only can they survive the Arizona heat, but they also appeal to sight, sound, taste, and touch. Implementing sunflowers will be useful for attracting wildlife (birds, etc.) and providing an opportunity for the EEC to host horticultural classes. Among the existing kinds of sunflowers, I want to utilize mammoth, sunbeam, and either autumn beauty or Mexican. The mammoth sunflowers, are the largest, and probably most well known. They provide the most seeds, but are also difficult to grow because they can reach up to 12 ft. tall. Sunbeams are a beautiful, golden yellow, and they are the variety that inspired Van Gogh's series of sunflower paintings. And lastly, I want to include either the autumn beauty or Mexican sunflowers (ideally both) because they add color. Both varieties are shades of red; the autumn beauties are more burgundy, and the Mexican sunflowers are a bright red-orange. I would like to include both, but I think it would be better to only include one, and leave room for other flowers instead.