My learning objective for this quarter was to gain more hands on and theoretical botany experience with the flowers I working with and harvesting at Jello Mold Farm. To complete these objectives, I planned on observing and interacting with various plants grown as well as do more in-depth research from various botany textbooks. Each week I planned on synthesizing these experiences into a paper posted within my ePortfolio.
I feel as though I definitely met my learning objective. Things pretty much went according to plan; I stayed up to date on all of my weekly posts, focusing on Hellebores, Iceland Poppy, Pacific Rhododendron, Tulips, Lilac, Peonies, Flowering Dogwood, Clematis, Baptisia, and Sweet Peas. For the Rhododendron and Tulip weeks, I actually was able to go and experience first-hand these plants at Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens and Nursery and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival respectively. I also was able to talk with Doug Hock of Thistlehook Farm (Olympia, WA) about dogwood as well as Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers (Stanwood, WA) about sweet peas to get a broader sense of how these farmers cultivate these specific crops and compare/contrast their methods to Diane’s of Jello Mold (Mount Vernon). Virtually every single crop profile that I showcased, I gained hands-on experience either through working at Jello Mold or through these “field trips” I went on/conversations I had.
I really liked the focus of botany, especially on the hellebore, peony, and dogwood posts. I think these were where I learned the most and came away with applicable knowledge on how to better understand how these plants grow. The only thing I wish I could’ve done differently was focus a little more time on the last three posts (clematis, baptisia, sweet pea). The grow season got immensely busy and I just ran out of time to be able to get those posts up to par with the others I did at the beginning of the season.