Monday December 7^th, 2015

Weekend Greenhouse Duty Blog

Emily W. and James D.

December 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th

Friday December 4^th

Sales and Pleasant Visits

                Our Friday morning began as a meeting with Jeff Rowley where we were shown the details of the opening procedure. As part of this opening ritual we walked the crop, inspecting each plant in the greenhouse for consistent watering, and removing or setting aside any plant that needs special attention. Another part of walking the crop is to consolidate the poinsettia crop to look full and more appealing to potential customers.

                                             Friday seemed to have a focus on sales, we had many customers walk in and a large order pick-up we needed to prepare for in the afternoon. All of our customers were excited to see the selection and quality of our crop, being able to support the horticulture program was a definite bonus for many visitors.

Emily and I were lucky enough to see a couple familiar faces, the always cheerful and upbeat Mr. Duesbury came to support the program and purchase one of our poinsettias. Perhaps better known as Mr. D. he teaches the first year small engine maintenance and repair class with professionalism and positivity. Despite a spectrum of ability levels in the group, Mr. D. makes the class accessible to everyone while still making it challenging for more experienced students. Second, the dean of the faculty of arts, media, and design, Dr. Helen Pearce stopped in to pick up a poinsettia of her own. Dr. Pearce has had a particular impact on my group in the horticulture program. In first year, she was kind enough to volunteer her own house to be used by our class in our landscape design course. Finally, a former student of the Horticulture program stopped by with a beautiful box of chocolates to share. She has been working in the field for a number of years, and talked for a few minutes with Jeff, Lucas, Emily and I before going on her way.

It wasn’t all treats and pleasant chats for us however, there was still a lot of work to be done between customers. Since the poinsettia crop has finished colouring up, they no longer require a full blackout period. We were tasked with taking down the remaining blackout curtains. Before we could do anything though, we had to retrieve the ladder from a storage room on the opposite side of campus, after circle checking the RTV we retrieved the trailer and grabbed an extending ladder. Delicately, as not to bump the glass or any overhead implements in the greenhouse, we put the ladder in place and carefully took down the curtains.

In addition to a number of small tasks in between jobs and customers, Friday ended up being very productive!

Saturday December 5^th

Getting in the festive spirit

We began Saturday again by walking the crop where we determined that the Poinsettia crop was due for a watering. It is very important to let poinsettias dry out almost completely before watering because poinsettias are particularly vulnerable to root rot, brought on or made worse by wet soil. Once watering was completed, Emily began organizing hanging baskets and sorting them based on watering needs. At this point I continued sorting pots and removing damaged labels in the garage area.

               

One major duty for Saturday was to prepare for a workshop this coming Wednesday. At this workshop visitors will use a poinsettia transplanted into a larger pot, then decorate the space around the plant with greenery and evergreen cones. Emily and I were responsible for gathering a significant amount of greenery from around campus and painting a few pine and spruce cones.

            

We were also asked to paint wisteria pods but we made an interesting observation while trying. After painting the first pod and beginning work on the second a loud bang resounded across the parking lot. Emily accused me of throwing something; I denied it just before another loud crack was heard. This time we both saw that the wisteria pod she had been painting exploded! We discovered that it takes very little to make a wisteria pod to burst, and that the paint must have been enough to trigger this.

 
          

Sunday December 6^th

Cleaning!

Sunday, we began again by walking the crop and noting temperatures and humidity in the greenhouse. Our biggest job for Sunday was to make sure the greenhouse was as clean as we could possibly make it, so once we finished our opening ritual, we began planning where, what and how we were going to clean. However, before we could begin, we decided to finish up the few odd jobs we had left.  In preparation for the Wednesday workshop we put together a pair of examples using different materials and techniques to hopefully inspire patrons in their own creations.

                

              

The rest of the day was occupied with doing the best job of cleaning possible and eventually taking the compost out. Unfortunately we did not have any customers Sunday, but this allowed us to get quite a lot of work done!

It has been a delight taking care of the greenhouse, and look forward to future opportunities!

Greenhouse weekend blog - Raeshawn and Josh

November 27-29, 2015

On the morn of Friday, November 27, 2015, inside a building engineered to encompass a suitable, adapting environment for optimum plant growth, Jeff anticipated the arrival of the next pair of students to work it. Raeshawn and Eros (Josh) turned up promptly at eight a.m. and received guidelines and instructions. The longtime friends and symbiotic partners commenced with regular procedures including checking humidity, temperatures and walking about the poinsettia crop to check for abnormalities.

The two of them set aside different large orders of poinsettias. The grasses were wetted. They made certain that each poinsettia had a drip line, this lead to the conclusion that they needed to be watered and long enough so that water would moisten the whole root ball. Meanwhile and after sufficient watering, poinsettias were moved from the back to front to make the stock look more full and lively, and moved to new tables to have better organization and to clear a table entirely. Half way through the day the pair of them headed to a Royal Botanical Gardens presentation for over an hour of learning possibilities for their future. Throughout the day, a handful of customers happily came to buy our poinsettias as well as deliveries that took Rae and Eros to unknown parts of the college. As a result of these sales more poinsettias needed to be moved forward.

Before the end of the day the duo brought down the curtains, folding and putting them away. In reverse of the morning, they went through the checklist assuring everything was in order. The cash register was added up and profits were set aside. With the greenhouse locked, they both went home together keeping the main keys.

On the morrow, Raeshawn and Eros in unison entered the House of Green to learn that they were to relinquish the keys with every evening to security. They went to deal with their folly and set things right. Right after they watered the ficuses and poinsettias in front of the bookstore. Their shift started with displaying the plant sale signs, preparing the cash register and completing the checklist.

The quirky twosome worked more separately on this day. Eros began attaching hanger hooks to baskets whilst Rae checked and condensed poinsettias. Part way through the baskets Eros discovered an ivy with an astounishing and revolting amount of aphids coating its stems. Soon a few more plants with varying severities of infestations had been found. It was decided between them that mending this was a priority and so Eros mixed a spray of nine parts water and one part Safer’s Insecticidal Soap. Eros came down upon all the aphids, scale insects and mealybugs like Death itself, vanquishing them (with some remorse). As he did Rae grew the collection of infected plants before him. She also established fly traps and moved purchasable cacti and succulents closer to the entrance to be more easily noticed. Approximately half the baskets needed to be treated thoroughly as well as the canna lilies beneath the benches; this kept Eros busy for the rest of the day. Rae spot watered still thirsty poinsettias, checking the root balls and monitoring for more pests. The pair was lucky enough to have one happy customer that day of Saturn.

They did their closing checklist, brought in the signs, put away the cash register and profit and dropped off the chaves with security after locking up.

The next day, the day of Sun, Rae and Eros ventured to get the keys to unlock and unleash their last day of weaving their essences into the flora of Fanshawe. Once in, they put their keen and penetrating minds to the tasks at hand. Partners mirrored partners with opening duties.

Eros gladly got caught in the orbit of the remaining infected plants, freeing them so that they may thrive, whilst Rae watered canna lilies and succulents, removing fallen or dead parts all the while. Later, Rae monitored for pests and then proceeded to analyze her fly traps for different insects (beneficial and detrimental) with the microscope and did research. That afternoon, she moved on to making new labels for pots to better organize them and Eros wrought mugo pine seeds into moist seed mix, cautious to give them enough space. Once done he placed them into the fridge so that they can stratify for two to four weeks. They came together at the end of the day to clean and clean the whole area for that is a top necessity in this kind of work.

Their weekend wrapped up nicely. They went through the closing checklist, put away the cash register, brought in the signs and double-checked that everything was good. Doors sealed, the two good everlasting friends strolled over to security to leave behind the keys of the House of Green!

The End... Perhaps