Best Practices

The Garden Layout group has definitely seen a fluctuation in importance. Originally, we were merely assigned to figure which plants worked best together, and come up with a drawing illustrating a suggested order. However, we have now adopted a substantially larger commitment. It looks like our group is now responsible for figuring out when the ideal planting times would be, so that we would have the best harvest for exhibition night. We definitely are going to need to collaborate with some of the other teams, because there are some resources (such as a list of growing times and specifications) that I know other students have created. One thing that our team needs to be diligent about is making sure that we know what the class is doing so that we don't do any unnecessary work.

Today, we secured the white board to the side of the shed and began designing how the information will be displayed on it. We figure that half of it should be set aside for a scale drawing of the garden's layout, while the other half should display vital information (harvest dates, bed contents, etc). It will definitely be important for us to clearly label which beds are occupied and how far into their growing process they are, to assure that no accidents occur.

I hope this wasn't too vague. If there are any questions, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer everything.

Senior Project Plan

As it stands, I've got two pretty solid options for my senior project. On one hand, I would really like to work by myself on this assignment because it is not something that I get to do very often, and on large scale exploits I tend to enjoy some isolation. However, this might not be feasible due to Margaret's modest collection of computers, and I might have to team up with Wyatt Watt. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, it would just yield a substantially different product.

If I was flying solo, I think that I would create a hybrid ambient music video/documentary. Many ambient or electronic songs sample dialogue, and I figure that I can craft a natural sounding track that works seamlessly with recorded interviews that focus on a currently undetermined environmental topic. If I were to record conversations with people of varying environmental evolvement and play that audio alongside a beat and harmony of my very own, I think that the end result could be very nice. A stylized video component would also drive the point home. Realistically, I like this idea, but I think that it is trying so hard to satisfy both classes that falls short in both.

The group project on the other hand, is more focused on urban input. Wyatt had the idea of compiling gritty interviews with downtowns finest hoodlums and homeless, to see if we could answer a reoccurring question this year: "Is environmentalism a luxury".