Public Recognition
By: Dana Schultheis

Right after we wrote to Atlanticare explaining why Oakcrest deserved their new school garden award and recieved the grant, we were required to attend an Atlanticare seminar on gardening. Actually, our teacher, Mr. David Jungblut, was invited but we pleaded to tag along. 

I could not attend but all four of my other classmates did, in addition to one Oakcrest culinary student and a representative from Oakcrest's "Teen Center" (run through Atlanticare). We were all unaware that the seminar was actually a teacher's convention but we ended up in The Press of Atlantic City and the Hamilton Current for our unexpected appearance there. 

From Left to Right: Amanda Allman, Ms. Jasmine, Mr. Jungblut, Keanu Samaroo, Samantha Rocap, Kayla Taylor, LAura Englemmen, and Tyler Clybourn. Not present: Dana Schultheis

At the seminar, presenters shared unique gardening ideas, including aquaponics gardening,or gardening with minerals 

and water and fish waste as opposed to soil. This served as inspiration to Tyler. Once we returned back to school the

 next day, Tyler suggested we begin a aquaponics garden. Our fish tanks in our greenhouse, pictured in the previous post, will be used for the aquaponics garden. As previously

 mentioned, we recently added natural pond water and stones 

to the tanks, which we aerate each day in order to keep the water clean and desirable. Here's a diagram of the science behind aquaponics:

Another gardening system we learned more about at the 

seminar was keyhole gardening. Keyhole gardening includes 

a round gardening bed with a compost pile placed in the

center, or as close to the center as possible. The soil

used consists of manure, ashes and other amendments below 

which lays a layer of straw serving as a drainage layer. The compost consists of kitchen and garden waste and sits atop a layer of mounded drainage rocks. You can add a roof to the compost section in order to assure regulated moisture and protection from rain. Here's another diagram: