The vegetables are doing really well right now! The green cabbage has a lot of leaves and they are growing bigger and bigger. There are about two red cabbages that are growing a lot, but many of them are still growing slowly. I don't know if they're not getting enough sunlight or what. They should be getting plenty of water, as it has been raining at least once a week for the past several weeks. So apparently the spinach seeds were washed away when it rained really hard last month (March), because now there isn't anything growing where I sowed the seeds. :( But the kale is also doing just fine. There are a lot more leaves and it has gotten taller, too. The cabbages definitely won't be ready to harvest in time for this project, but I could harvest some kale leaves. This has overall been a nice experience for me.

It's raining again today! I haven't had to water the plants since I planted them because it's been raining at least once a week for the past several weeks. The plants are doing really well right now. They are growing many leaves, and it doesn't seem like there are any bugs eating them. The weeds haven't been growing much either. I'm concerned that the cabbages won't be ready to harvest in time. They still haven't started to develop the "head" that we harvest and eat, but I'm pretty sure the kale will be ready to harvest, though. It has a lot of leaves and many new ones are growing.

I think the green cabbage has grown a lot this past week! It has many new leaves growing and the plant has gotten a lot bigger. The red cabbages aren't as big as the green cabbage, but they are also growing. The kale has grown many leaves,too. Its leaves look wrinkled/shriveled on the sides, but I think it's really unique because I haven't seen any other plant that has leaves like that. It rained really hard last week and some of the spinach seedlings got washed away, but there are still many seedlings growing. I think the weather has been unusual here compared to other years. The low has been in the 40s or the 50s, and the high has been around the 60s or 70s. I think this may be confusing the plants, since it should be warmer in the spring. Maybe that's why they aren't growing very quickly.

The plants have still been growing slowly, but I can tell they have grown from when I first planted them. It's been raining yesterday and today so I don't have to water them again. The spinach seeds have sprouted and they are growing tiny leaves right now. The seed packet said that the seeds would germinate in about a week, but it's been way longer than that. I'm not sure how much longer it will take for the spinach to mature. The kale I planted has grown a lot. It has a lot more leaves than it had last week, so that's good. I pulled out many weeds a few days ago, so I hope they don't grow back too quickly!

So the vegetable garden is going pretty well. I'm glad that it's been raining at least once a week, so I don't have to water the garden! And, rainwater doesn't have chemicals in it, unlike tap water. The cabbages are slowly growing, and there are still no signs of bugs! I think the spinach seeds are sprouting, but I'm not sure if it's just weeds... Oh well, I'll just let them grow for another week or two. I haven't noticed many weeds growing in the garden, and I hope it stays that way.

This may be random, but I started a compost bin toward the end of last year, and there are now pumpkin seeds sprouting and growing in the bin. So here's how that happened: I wanted to make compost, so I put vegetable scraps and egg shells into a plastic bin, along with leaves that had fallen on the ground. It would eventually break down into compost, which is basically soil that has a lot of nutrients in it. So after Halloween, we had two pumpkins and I decided to put them into the compost bin. I broke them up with a shovel so it could turn into compost faster. I guess the seeds had just been in the bin, and for some reason, they had decided to sprout now. Pretty random, but it pertains to vegetables (well fruits, to be exact).

Update

So, I guess it's about time to post an update. I decided to plant a vegetable garden for 20% time. Here is what I planted: nine red cabbages, one regular cabbage, and one kale. I also scattered some spinach seeds and a few cayenne pepper seeds in the empty spaces. Right now, it doesn't seem like the cabbages are growing much. It might be because of the drastic weather changes we've been experiencing, but the plants don't have any signs of bugs eating them, so that's good. The seeds haven't sprouted yet, maybe the rain washed them away, but I'll wait another week and see if they sprout.

Project Proposal

2/19/16

Eric Wang

Proposal: Growing a Vegetable Garden

Growing your own source of food

Needs and Opportunities

Explain the problem you have noticed that needs to be solved with a project like yours. This is also your hook, so make sure you grab our attention.

Shipping food across the country is expensive. People shouldn’t waste money on this, since you can grow your own! Also, food bought from the grocery store can have pesticides that are bad for the environment and bad for you.

Audience / Clients / Users

Explain who will benefit from your project. How will you be able to access them for an empathy interview?

My family and I will benefit from my project. We can have the freshest food, and we will know that the vegetables don’t have pesticides on them, since I will be growing them. I can also help the environment, since driving to the grocery store burns fossil fuels, and shipping food to grocery stores also burns fossil fuels. I could also save money for the grocery stores, since they have to buy their produce from across the country. I can ask them at home, during my spare time.

Mentors

Who can help you with this project? Who will you need to contact and what will you ask them to commit to in helping you?

My parents can help me with planning where to grow the plants. I don’t think I will need to contact anyone for this project, I think I am capable of growing plants on my own.

Timeline

What is your monthly timeline for this project? I want to see a list of deliverables with deadlines. You may find that the timeline needs adjustment during the course of the year, which may be fine. Check in with me if that’s the case.

February 26	Know what I am going to plant and have the seeds or seedlings ready to plant.
March 4	Have the plants planted, take a picture of them
March 11	Weed the plants, give it fertilizer, and water it. Photograph growth.
March 18	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph growth. Do research on a plant/ find miscellaneous information
March 25	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph growth Do research on another plant and find other information.
April 1	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph progress.
April 8	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph progress.
April 15	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph progress.
April 22	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph progress.
April 29	Weed the plants and water it. Photograph progress.
May 7 (Final 20% Friday)	Harvest! (hopefully)

Product

What is the actual product you will show this spring? This project may be made of atoms or bits, but you must have something to show. I’m not interested seeing a bunch of great ideas at the end of the year. I want to see things.

I want to have an actual harvest of vegetables. I also want to have information about the different plants, and health benefits, etc.

Reality Check

I am looking for moonshots here, but even moonshots need budgets. What equipment are you going to need? What other capital expenditures do you anticipate, and how will you meet them?

I don’t think my project will cost that much money. I should be affordable. I just need to buy the seeds/seedling and/or fertilizer. I will need a shovel and other gardening supplies like, like gloves, but I already have them at my house.

Conclusion

Wrap it up. Why are you fired up about this project? Inspire us to support you, and give us a great reason to approve your project.

I am fired up about this project because I can have healthy food grown right at my house. I can have organic food that is free from pesticides. I can also help the environment by saving the need to ship food across the nation.