Service Learning Reflection 2

So, for the past few weeks I have been spending a fair amount of time working at the SOL garden. I helped in building a soil sifter and building raised beds. Both tasks were pretty straight forward, the hardest part was probably getting the measurements right. Both projects consisted of drilling four planks together to create a rectangular-like shape, however, we added a galvanized mesh screen to the soil sifter in order to pull apart the chunks of soil as well as get rid of any rocks.

Although learning carpentry work was very rewarding, what I'm most proud of is the bench I got to paint with Anneisia for the SOL garden. It became a personal project for us that only Anneisia and I were allowed to touch. At the bottom we painted it green for the grass, and at the top we made the sky, and a rainbow in between. The rainbow wasn't meant to represent gay pride, but everyone has misconstrued it that way, so I've just been rolling with it.

Another really cool thing I got to do at the SOL garden was learn how to make a seed mixture, and plant it into one of the beds. I've never planted anything like this before, so this experience was pretty exciting for me. Working with the community has really taught me a lot about team effort and how to get along with others. I also never learned how much I love gardening and eating fresh vegetables until I went through these experiences. I tend to get bored really easily, so thankfully there's always something to be doing at the SOL garden. In fact, Miles, the guy who runs the garden, talked to me about planting mushrooms here soon, so I'll be anxiously looking forward to that.