Adventures in gardening: planted, watered and sunbathed

Phase one: Complete

The raised bed before planting.

     Phase one, as I’m calling it, was getting the raised bed, the dirt, the plants and the planting process. I’ve spent the last few days looking into tips and tricks along with looking at what type of herbs and vegetables grow best in raised beds. The following is a step-by-step process of beginning with choosing the bed and ending with the plants soaking up Miracle Grow and the sun.

Step 1: The raised bed.

     My dad is very passionate about the backyard. I knew going into this that I couldn’t get a box garden that I would need to tear up part of the yard for, even if it were in the corner where he rarely goes, and the best option was a raised bed that could sit on our deck. We found one on Amazon.com and it arrived a few days later. Assembly wasn’t difficult though my dad, being the thinker he is, reinforced the boards that hold up the bottom of the bed. The bed also came with a plastic liner, which I’m sure will make cleanup in the fall so much easier, and I slit holes in the bottom to allow drainage in order to avoid root rot.

Two types of tomatoes, two types of basil, sage, garlic,
bunching onions and chives.

Step 2: What plants to invest in.

     I knew I wanted a tomato plant, preferably a roma or cherry, and I wanted basil. We already have both in my mother’s garden but as stated before sometimes you get a bad plant and things just fail no matter how much TLC you give it. I did my research and knew carrots would be stunted, cabbage gets too big, cucumbers expand and would have hang off the sides and green beans grow too tall. I made a list of the types of tomato plants I was after, stashed basil in my mind and decided I wanted green onions because I cook with them often.

Step 3: Tips.

While still in the containers, I began with
plotting out where to put each plant.

     I had heard of people using eggshells in their garden and wanted to know if it was worth it and what the possible benefits were. As it turns out, I’ll be saving eggshells to help with calcium and possibly as a slug deterrent. Also, I found out it would be best for larger plants to be planted on the north side of the bed so that they don’t over-shadow the smaller plants.

Step 4: Buy the plants.

Plants in the soil and labeled.

     I went to a local nursery with only three solid plants in mind and the rest I would wing. I grabbed a celebrity tomato plant, then some cinnamon basil and went on a search for roma tomatoes and green onions. I found the onions though they were labeled as bunching onions, found roma tomatoes and then I found what would take up the rest of the space. I grabbed garlic, sage, blue basil and chives. We cook with all of them frequently except the sage and that’s there for me to burn later (yeah, I’m one of those people).

Step 5: Planting.

     Gross will be the first word I would use to describe the planting process and it’s not because of the dirt. I hate the sun with a fiery burning passion. Where I set up my raised bed I was directly in the late morning sun. The upside was I chose to do this before we reached peak sun or else I would have some cherry-red tint to my Irish pale skin.

     The planting itself went well. I set the plants still in their little containers on the top of the soil before planting just so I would have a rough idea of how everything was going to fit. Once I had finished plotting everything out I started at the north end with the tomatoes and worked my way south. I kept a spare bag of soil next to me so I could add more as needed.

Step 6: Watering.

     A few days ago I bought a small container of liquid Miracle Grow. We’ve used it in the past mostly because a family friend who works in a greenhouse asked us if we fed and watered our plants. We had asked what the difference was and she advised we buy some Miracle Grow and mix it with water once a week to feed the plants. That year our plants thrived like never before. I poured the instructed amount into a watering can and filled it with water then poured it all over my new garden.

Step 7: Run out of the sun while the plants bath in it.

     As stated before I hate the sun and as soon as the plants were in the soil and watered I all but ran into the safety of my house and let the little guys in the garden bask in the warmth of the summer sun.

     There we have it. Phase one is done and we shall see what is to come with this garden. I’ll be watering and watching it and waiting for those pesky beetles and weeds to try and defeat me.

     Foreshadowing: They won’t win.

Coming soon: college student versus gardening

     One of the fun things about being on summer vacation is not having to rush to and from school. With all that free time, what should I do?

Spearmint in the herb garden.

     Start a garden!
     I've noticed an increasing interest in home gardening and people seem to get a real kick out of growing there own herbs and vegetables instead of making the trip to a grocery store. For the passed few years, my mother has kept an herb garden on our deck and I've learned some things about gardening.

Lavender in the herb garden.

     First, sometimes you just get a bad plant. Usually our basil plants have thrived to the point of not knowing what to do with all the basil leaves we cut off but last year the basil plant slumped. We hadn't done anything different from previous years either and in the past we've had difficulty with one or two plants out of the bunch. Sometimes it's really isn't you, it's them.
     Second, over/under watering. Feeling the soil is key. If it's too dry then water it but if it stays damp for a few days then you shouldn't drown the poor things.
     Third, beetles. I have come to view beetles the same way an old lady views the pesky neighborhood kids who walk across her lawn; they don't belong and I'm not responsible for the way I act if I see them.
     According to the drawer of certificates and the amount of chords I'll be wearing when I graduate from college, I'm perfectly capable of keeping a garden without killing it. I know this is going to be more difficult than the small herb garden on the deck but I'm mentally prepared for this.
     I think.

Celebrate spinning records the third Saturday in April on Record Store Day

     "Music's the only thing that makes sense anymore. Play it loud enough, it keep the demons at bay." says Jojo, a character in Julie Taymor's 2007 musical Across the Universe.
     I had though vinyl was done as a sought after format other than a cool addition to your living room walls. Record Store Day, an annual celebrate of vinyl records where people flock to local music stores to buy coveted special edition new releases and used vinyl, has brought spinning vinyls back to people's living rooms. I attended Dearborn Music's Record Store Day event where people were lined the walls looking to fulfill their vinyl wish lists and receive 20 percent off their entire purchase.


You can see more photos and video about vinyl records versus digital records here.

Portraits and Scooby Doo together on a sunny Sunday afternoon

   

Sarah Rahal working on posing with her friend Scoob 

I've been pretty lucky this semester.

     Sarah Rahal, the lead photographer and multimedia editor of Wayne State University’s The South End, invited me along when she took the photos of the newspaper’s editor for the print edition. I was excited especially seeing as this would be a great way to learn how to properly take portraits and see how The South End puts together its’ print editions.

     The theme was growing up and the editors chose a childhood photo to re-create. On Sunday, Sarah along with Tim Carroll and Alex Franzen walked to the McGregor Memorial Conference Center building and set up outside in the courtyard. We had fun, took a bunch of different photos with Alex looking like a serious farmer and Tim looking like a superhero with a juice box.

     Tuesday I met with Sarah in The South End’s office to recreate her photo again because she didn’t like the outfit she wore in the first photo. Again, we had fun trying to position her and the other staff present getting their photos done. Plenty of laughs and climbing on chairs and tables to get the best photo possible.

     Number one lesson learned is it takes a lot of adjusting and a lot of patience to get the final portrait you want. I took l plenty of each of the editor and all of them have their merits but only one of each would I consider a good image that could be printed.

A behind the scenes look as Sarah, Alex and Tim work on Tim's photo.

Alex Franzen in one of the few serious shots before laughing.

Sports, scoreboards I do not understand, continuous shutters...oh my!

The Wayne State University men's baseball team takes the field for a game against Grand Valley State University.

Kyle Zimmerman prepares to hit the ball.

Bradley Baldwin touches third base before continuing to home.

     I don't do the whole sports thing.
     I was raised in a hockey house, and that was it. Sports have never held an interest for me, so trust the quote, “This assignment is going to hurt” is true when I speak them.
     Wayne State men’s baseball started on April 3 with a double-header, and the next day was the same. I planned to attend one of the days, weather depending, and had to ask a 17-year-old coworker what a double-header was.

     Yeah, I’m that bad.

     Shooting the actual game wasn’t bad, though I applaud the people who do this for a living. I had my camera set to continuous because I knew I wouldn’t get any good shots if I relied on my finger to move quickly. I walked away with 749 photos, which was, in my opinion, too many. I’m a rookie and it shows.

     Getting the right position to shoot was one of the biggest obstacles I had to tackle. I moved around and finally found a solid position to the right of home plate. The only issue was I had to hold my camera very steady because I was shooting at the fence and had to keep that little fact low key. Some of the pictures were ruined, at least to me, because I shifted. You can see the edge of the fence in the corners.

     I wouldn’t say this was a bad experience but this was definitely difficult. Finding a sports game during this time frame was the hardest part. My hometown teams were in Benton Harbor, Mich. for state finals, the Wayne State basketball teams were in Florida, so I had to wait until April for the Wayne State baseball team to come to campus. By the time I was at the game and taking the photos, I think I was so relieved to finally be taking the photos that being at a sports game that I don’t understand didn’t even bother me.

      For the record, I had to text my dad to ask him how to read the scoreboard. I seriously don’t see the point of keeping the hits on the board if it doesn’t count toward the score. It’s distracting for weak sport minds like myself.

Would you like to see my First Amendment pass?

Taken from archives.gov,

“Amendment I

     Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

     As a budding journalist in the spring of media transitions, it’s important to think about what rights I have. I have taken the dreaded History and Law of Journalism course at Wayne State, read and re-read the Michigan Media Law, been quizzed on and tested on current law and important trials, but that doesn’t mean it has fully sunk in.

     From a young age, you learn what your basic rights are as a United States citizen. Freedom of religion, press, speech, etc. are pounded into your head in elementary school. A seven-year-old doesn’t comprehend what those things mean; she regurgitates it in hopes she wins the prized Hersey Kiss given to the students who can recite them all. This is what it boils down to: We all are allowed the freedom to pray to whomever, ask questions to whomever, and project our opinions to whomever.

     What does this mean for me? Am I chopped liver because I want to make a career out of what everyone is allowed to do, as written in our Bill of Rights?

     I think the main difference is in our code of ethics and need for truth. Any person can ask a mayor if they are having an affair with the treasurer and will most likely be served denial, but it's a different story when a journalist asks the right people the right questions to find the right evidence before publicizing the truth. We’re not out to libel the mayor, but rather to make it known he’s having an affair with a staff member during working hours. We seek the truth rather than the juicy gossip because knowledge is power and the more we can inform the audience, the more the audience will look to us when things begin to go south.

     For me, the First Amendment has come to be more of a spiritual press pass. We all have it, we don’t carry it on a lanyard around our necks and we all know it's there. 

Frustrating feature photography is ruining my Friday

A student pass by the bulletin board without a glance.

Students design and create cell towers out of pasta and marshmallows.

Katie Ulrich, a mechanical engineer, demonstrates how to make lip balm.     

     The Danto Engineering Development Center was overcome on Saturday with young girls wanting to learn more about science and engineering. The eighth annual Girls' Engineering Exploration is the Detroit Professional Section of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 
     The event, known as GEE, had been in the works for four months, and was made possible by donations from Toyota, DTE Energy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Autoliv and General Motors.

     Ann Dancy, vice president of outreach and part of the Chrysler Institute of Engineering, says that the GEE is held at Wayne State University because the target group is young intercity girls, and  “(it) makes no sense to bus them out to Auburn Hills,” where the Chrysler Group LLC is based.

     The free event for Detroit Public Schools girls grades fourth through sixth featured activities such as a fashion show geared toward learning about proper safety gear while working in the field, making lip balm, and creating cell towers out of pasta and marshmallows.

     A hundred-and-thirty-six girls were registered for the event, but Dancy says many trickled in throughout the day. This was clear during the fashion show in the auditorium as students finished lunch while DTE Energy volunteers demonstrated proper safety attire while working in the field.

     The GEE proved to be a fun and hands-on approach to teach young girls about safety, science and engineering. All girls left with a backpack full of school supplies and different science experiment ideas.

     This assignment was fun at first, then became incredibly frustrating. I anticipated taking around 75 photos while at the GEE event but walked away with close to 200. Most of the photos were from me trying to get the lighting correct. The in vogue phrase "the struggle is real" was on repeat in my head as I struggled to find the correct setting for the different lighting situations. 

     What was even more aggravating was trying to get the unplanned feature photo. I go into chaos mode when I don't have a plan. I am limited to one day a week when I am able to wander around but with midterms and finishing projects before spring break I had a hard time finding the time to go out and get photos.
     I was walking through State Hall and saw how many people were passing by the board without even looking at it and I know if it was the same scene 15 years ago people would be stopping to check what events were happening around campus. 
     In my New Media Theory class, we've discussed the dying forms of media, and watching the old stare longing at people with the new "it" media passing them by. I purposefully was trying to make that discussion come alive when I took the picture in front of the bulletin board because I wanted you to see the light from the cell phone screen and the clear motion of someone passing by the stationary board. 
     This whole assignment made me realize taking quality feature photos is so much more difficult than I even imagined.