THE END

Our presentation went very well. We did a great job even though we did not win. We are very satisfied with our work and all the knowledge we gained all along this project. The following video is about our experiences through the project and the actual presentation (scroll all the way down). Here are also some pictures we took during the exposition.

FINAL VIDEO

SHOW TIME!

Today is the day of the presentation. We are working on some final details to make it perfect. We did a big display with general information and pictures of the whole process. The garden is ready to be presented with lables and the hydroponic bottles all set.

LAST DETAILS

During this last weeks before the presentation of our project, we have finished to transplant all our plants and make sure everything is in place, but we encountered a problem when we realized that the lower compartment didn´t get enough sunlight for the plants to grow properly, so we are considering to buy shadow flowers to decorarate it so it won´t stay empty.

PRESENTATION IS NEAR

Next Friday we will be presenting our mobile gardens. Our plants are looking good. The lettuces that are in the pots will be transplanted for the presentation. For now we will leave them in those pots to ensure their proper growth. As you may already have noticed, not all of our plants survived. Fortunately we have enough to fulfill the contest requirements. We are making a big effort to keep our plants as healthy and beautiful as possible. Keep checking out the blog for more updates and contest pictures!

Delicious recipe

A simple, fast and delicious recipe that requires lots of fresh basil is basil pesto, here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

recipe from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/

Conventional farming vs. organic farming

Here are some key differences between conventional farming and organic farming:

Conventional	Organic
Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth.	Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray synthetic insecticides to reduce pests and disease.	Spray pesticides from natural sources; use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use synthetic herbicides to manage weeds.	Use environmentally-generated plant-killing compounds; rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth.	Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease. Information from: Rochester Minnesota not-for-profit Mayo Clinic. Andrea,

plants in our life...

it is great that almost all of our plants survived, but we have learned that taking care of plants requires more responsability and time that what we had expected, but in the end it is worth the effort in order to get healthy organic vegetables and herbs.

NEW MATERIAL

We bought some new things to continue and improve our mobile garden. The lettuces are ready to be transplanted to our hydroponic system. We bought more pots for some of the plants, more soil, jalapeño seeds and the material for the hydroponic system. We will be posting about this new process that we are about to start as soon as we do so. We are so exited to show you. Meanwhile, take a look at these pictures.

GARDEN CARE

Today we planted some of the lettuces and the chives into the new pots. We will experiment with one of the lettuces in the hydroponic system to see if it works. If it works out, we will grow the rest with this method. We also did some garden cleanup and checked that the rest of the plants were growing well enough. Unfortunately the dill died a few days ago. We will do some research on it to see what went wrong. We will also be planting the jalapeño seeds into the nursery system. Here are the latest pictures of the garden. Enjoy.

Update

Plants are growing steadily but some of them need to be transplanted to bigger pots. The basil is the plant that has grown the most. Check them out!