Update from Hortykim

Well we are back into action this week after our Easter break. Thanks for all the positive feedback about our Blue Tick BBQ that we hosted from the Polygrow Nursery at L block before the holidays.Also thank you to the students who helped with prep-you rock! Speaking of rocks I have put together some photos of the progress made on your Japanese Style Garden at L block.  So yes that is phase one-stay tuned for phase two which will be the finishing touches!We will be putting the finishing touches on the garden over the next couple of weeks. Jamie and I have selected a cool bluey green container ,solar powered water fountain and some water plants for your water feature.
 So yes anywhooo on our first class back after the break (on April 23) we had a fantastic guest speaker named Alan Ferguson.Alan explained to the class what makes a landscaper tick. He also explained what kinda stuff  you would learn if you studied landscaping at Otago Polytechnic and what the job prospects are like.Alan also showed the class photos of projects he has done with our landscaping students over the last few years.
Kim went way back in time(well she did not really go back in time-that would be tricky) to our first session together and we had a wee review of all the things we have done together up until April 23.Of course, if you need to refresh your memory you can get details from my wiki page ! Yah I know -it is awesome!
And then we did some seed cleaning and made some delectable seed balls. Here is a series of photos with information about seed balls.
We also divided up some mondo grass for the Japanese Garden. In the afternoon we went to Aramoana beach and collected sea weed in preparation for our next class together when we will be looking at different composting systems.
Thank you to all the students for excellent attendance,asking great questions when we have guest speakers and just general awesomeness.
Over and out.

Term 2 Week 9 23-27th April

Welcome back everyone, we hope you had a great break.
It's time now to focus once again and think about what you need to do to achieve your goals this term.
Here are a couple of links to look at, courtesy of Jill:

Focused students put down their smart phones
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=focused-students-put-down-their-sma-12-04-05

7 real ways blogging can make you a better teacher and learner
http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/04/02/blogging-teacher-learner/

Week 8 Wednesday 4th April

It looks like it's all fun and games down at horticulture. Easter breakfast was laid on by Kim and Jamie, followed by a visit to the Chinese gardens:

Good job Jamie!!



Straight out of a movie set?



Looks like Nick is checking his fortune

Nice bonsai!


Followed by morning tea and Laser Strike the following day. Have a great holiday everyone :)

Week 8 - Bonsai!!

More fabulous bonsai trees were created today....

Jai must be looking online for bonsai techniques?!

Update from Hortykim

Hi Team,
I have just returned from Wal's Plant Land in Mosgiel and have purchased some more plants for our second Bonsai class on Monday! The first bonsai class on March 18th resulted in some amazing bonsai plants which I have uploaded to Flickr. The Foundation Studies in Hort students worked really hard on these plants and I was very pleased with the amount of focus and effort that was put into the day. Click on this link to see a slide show of the before and after shots!
The Bonsai plants will be displayed in our Japanese style garden which is in the process of being built at L block on the Otago Polytechnic campus.
Bye for now,
hortykim

Week 8 2-5th April

This is the last week of term. A huge amount of practical work has been completed so far, everyone should be very proud of their accomplishments. Now it's time for a few more days of hard work down at L block and in the classroom, getting work done for assessment, before a well-earned break over Easter!