Feed the Elderly with Organic Gardening:
September 23, 2008
Mr. Phil McCrory spoke to 7th graders about the use of human hair in solving oil spill crisis and how hair breaks down to produce healthier, brighter, taller, more economically efficient plants. Human hair breaks down very slowly in fertilized soil and provides 15% nitrogen which aids many ways in plant growth. Mr. McCrory’s inspirational story can be found on page 575 in the 7th Grade Life Science book.
On Friday, September 20, 2008, my Honor’s Science classes measured the land for the gardens, constructed the small, but delightful greenhouse, and filled pots to grow herbs, vegetables, and flowers. After school, a group of wonderful young men met with Mr. Alan, Chelsea (our student observer from UAH), and myself to till the land and dump freshly composted dirt ( thanks to Magerite from Reflectives) into the nice red ground clay on the grounds of Hampton Cove Middle.
On Sunday the garden was designed and constructed by my husband, thanks to Mr. Roger West, Hampton coves security guard, for a wonderful design plan for the research gardens. Honors students will design an experiment to test how hair affects plant growth. Half of each garden will be planted with hair and the other half will serve as a control comparison group where no hair pads will be used. Vegetables from the garden will be donated to Meals on Wheels.
Phil McCrory spoke with 7th graders about using hair to clean up oil spills and grow plants faster, healthier and bigger. 7th graders constructed a greenhouse and filled pots to grow plants. This year, students will do an experiment to see if hair really affects the growth rate of a plant. They will plant hair plants on one side of the garden and non-hair plants on the other. If the hair plants grow faster then the hypothesis is correct. I will be really excited to learn about this experiment.