Greenhouse Club Planning 11/9/06

As a simple solution for communicating and sharing pictures, I’ve started a blog for the greenhouse classroom at: http://greenhouseclassroom.blogspot.com/

Everybody can post responses to the blog, but I will set up folks to create new postings if you simply email me at mhuben@world.std.com.

I’d really like somebody to “own” the blog and change its style and template to something beautiful.

We should all check the blog at least once a week.

We can now set up a schedule of volunteers for watering, cleaning, and other regular needs. My idea is one volunteer per day during a volunteer’s study. I can write a pass allowing you to leave your study to work in the greenhouse.

Today we’re going to get some seeds planted, and once again we’ll use plastic bags to ensure that moisture stays high. Because of the cool conditions in the greenhouse, seed germination will be fairly slow: we may want to take some planted seed home with us or find a warmer windowsill in the school.

I still want people to bring in cuttings and find seed to grow. For example, a trip to the Arboretum could result in lots of tree seed. One of the more interesting seed you can gather on city streets is black locust tree seed: you’ll spot foot-long, twisty black pods hanging from the trees. The seedlings are beautiful and ferny, but the seed needs a special trick to germinate.

And finally, we need to start sharing our interests in plants with each other. I’m thinking that we could each give a little 5 minute talk on some aspect of plants that intrigues us, that we’ve done a little research on. Present a book or article you’ve recently read.