Blog 3 (week 1)

  We spent the first five days working at Gateway 105 Greenhouse in Glenville. It is on the corner of Superior and East 105th street. This is an area that can lack fresh produce and green space, so Mike and Veronica Walton thought it was a perfect place to start a farmer’s market/greenhouse to grow fresh plants and then transform into a space that other plant vendors could come and sell their produce. It is not an easy task to sustain a garden, let alone an entire greenhouse, so Matthew and I spent much of our time helping with whatever task they needed us to. We transplanted hundreds of seedlings (which they call plugs because they are in trays with around 60 to 80 tiny plants that you can plug into soil). We safely removed the plugs from their trays and then, transplanted them into larger trays filled with a soil mixture that helps them grow into larger plants which can be sold or planted at one of their gardens. The plant species we worked with were Dusty Millers, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Better Boy Tomatoes, Broccoli, Torenias, Lobelia, basil, cilantro, and a few others. We also had to water each plant in the greenhouse twice a day which was no easy feat. There are a few hundred plants, and it would take Matthew and I around 30 minutes to water all of the plants. On Friday, Gateway 105 hosted a plant sale where vendors could come and sell their plants, so we spent Thursday and Friday prepping for the sale. Matthew and I moved all of the plants around putting the nicer looking plants in the front to optimize sales. We moved all of the ugly plants and plugs to the back because people were not going to buy them. We also went through and removed all of the dead plants because obviously those would not be popular with the customers. Then, we cleared off four of the tables which were full of plants which was kind of fun. It was like piecing together a puzzle because we had to find spots for plants and throw out other ones and combine some. Overall, it was pretty challenging and slightly stressful because of the amount of work and how much time we had to do it. I now have a greater appreciation for what it takes to run a greenhouse, and the amount of time and labor a healthy garden requires.