Building our window farm

Building Our Window Farm

Our window farm was first built right at the beginning of the project. We had a very good idea and design. Unfortunately and mysteriously it went missing while at school. The worst part was loosing the pump which was bought new and cost a lot of money.

We hoped it would turn up, but it never did and so on the very last day we had to start again. In a way this was good, because we had already done it once so we could improve the design in certain aspects. Still, I would rather have gone surfing, as Sunday is the only day I can do this.

What we used:

• We used 3 x 2 litre bottles. My father bought three soda water bottles, which we decanted into smaller bottles so we didnt waste the contents. First, we had to wash all the soda stream bottles and caps.
• Some string to connect the various pots.
• Cable ties - both small and medium sized.
• A submersible water pump.
• A 3 metre length of 8mm pipe.
• Recycled Coir, which is used in hanging baskets.
• Some fine plastic mesh as a second filter system.
• Brain power to think it all up. 

How we built it:

• We drew a line on the bottles to help with cutting so we cut straight.
• Once we had cut all three bottles, we punched holes in them with a normal punch. We attached small, thin cable ties to these holes. These became the hooks that we attached the strings too. The strings attached the bottles, so the water drains from the top bottle into the bottom one.
• We made sure that it was all level, by adjusting the strings and having 4 points to attach the string on each bottle.
• We cut round bits of Coir, cut three slits in them and inserted these into the bottom of the bottles so they would act like filters.
• We also added a second filtration using fine mesh to the bottoms of each bottle.
• After we had constructed the window farm, we checked that it would drain and filter and all lined up. Then we filled it with soil.
• Then we added plants.
• First we added watercress to the middle bottle.
• Then we added mint bottom bottle.
• Then we added spinach to the top bottle.

1.drawing the cutting line

2.cutting the bottle

3. cutting another bottle

4. all three bottles cut

5. all the equipment on the worktable

6. this is the soil  with added water

7. these are some plants 

8. this testing if the water will pass through the filter.

9. this is cutting more filters

10. this is a bottle with a filter and some mesh 

11. view of the bottle from the bottom with filter and mesh

12. mixing the soil in the bag

13. testing the finished window farm

14.the finished window farm

15. testing the widow farm  with a pump.

16. adding soil to the window farm

17. adding more soil to the window farm

18. adding soil to the widowfarm

19. finished soil in bottle 

20. adding  watercress seeds to the window farm

21. planting mint in the window farm

22. planting spinach in the window farm

Practical 3:Water Retention Capacity of soil

Practical 3: Water Retention Capacity of Soil

Picture 1. The crucibles before the first heating. (Loamy soil on the L.H. side and Clay soil on the R.H. side) Taken by Thomas Mudge on the 13/02/2014

Picture 2. The crucibles after the heating (Loamy soil L.H and Clay soil R.H). Picture taken by Thomas Mudge on the 16/02/2014

The results





Soil 1 is the Loamy soil. Soil 2 is the Clay soil

Conclusion

What can you conclude about the water retention capacity of your two soil samples?

The  Clay soil has better water retention capacity, because the first reading of the mass showed how much heavier the damp clay soil was than the damp loamy soil. The difference in the mass of the crucible was 0.7g. Taking this difference into account, there was still a difference of 3.7g, which we concluded was due to the extra water retained.

If you take the mass of the crucible out of the equation, the damp clay soil (no.2) weighed 10.2 grams and the same volume of damp loamy soil (no.1) weighed 6.5 grams.

It took longer for the clay soil to dry out.

After evaporation the loamy soil weighed 4.7 grams and the clay soil weighed 9 grams.

That means the loamy soil lost 1.8 grams of water and the clay soil lost 1.2 grams of water. Our results however were confusing, because if all the water was evaporated and that is what we were measuring, it appears from our results as though less water was retained in the clay soil, but we think this is because all the water didn't evaporate.

Questions:

 1. Which soil sample retained more water?

The Clay soil should have retained more water.

2. Which soil sample retained less water?

The Loamy soil should have retained less water.

3. Can you account/explain why there may be differences in water content between the two samples?

We think the clay soil would retain more water as this is the nature of clay soil. We believe not all the water evaporated. also there may have been less water added to the damp clay soil in the first place

4. Do you agree that the difference in mass between the two samples is the mass of water in the soil sample? Could it be anything else?

We believe the most likely explanation in the difference of mass is the water or moisture, because of the fact that we evaporated the moisture from the soil. However, at this temperature other changes could have taken place such as chemical changes.

5. What value is there in knowing the water content of your soil in your window farm?

It is important for a farmer to know how much moisture is in the soil, especially in a hot, dry area like the Western Cape is in summer. If a grower knows that the soil still has moisture he doesn't have to wet the soil, because the plant will be getting enough moisture already. This allows him to save money, water and energy costs. It is exactly the same with our window farm.

Discussion:

This practical was very interesting. It tested our lab skills and we learned a lot from that. What it was trying to demonstrate was that clay soil retains more moisture. However, our results were somewhat confusing. This gave us a concern and so instead of looking for a mixture of sol types for our window farm, we investigated alternatives. 

We spoke to a guy at the nursery and told him we want a potting soil that was rich in nutrients (like loamy soil), but had good drainage like sandy soil (as we plan to grow herbs) and also good water or moisture retention properties (like clay soils have).

He recommended a potting soil mixture that uses broken up cocconut husk which retains moisture, while still allowing drainage. This is mixed with a compost that is full of nutrients. This is what we used.

Reflection

Reflections on building a window farm by Robert Jack

This project has been fun, but hard as I (R Jack) misplaced a few things along the way. I lost my window farm when it was nearly finished. This caused a huge setback. I managed to build a new one on the last day before it was due. This caused my partner and me lots of stress.

The window farm was therefore my best part of the project and also my worst, because of the stress. Right at the last minute, once I had almost put the second window farm together, I discovered that the new pump I bought was not strong enough to pump the required height. It felt like I had stumbled at the last hurdle and let my partner down. Luckily, my mother remembered that there was an old submersible water pump in a water feature in the garden, but it hadn't been used for years. It was already dark outside. We had to remove all the stones and completely dismantle this old water feature. Then I had to clean the pump and the electrical cable. Finally we plugged it in and amazingly enough, it still worked. That was a huge relief, because there was not enough time to purchase a new pump before we had to hand in the window farm. 

I liked building it, because it was a creative process, and it let me do something that was good for the environment and for the earth.

In fact I would go so far as to say that building the window farm has been my favourite project I have undertaken since I have been at Bishops.

I liked cutting the 2 litre bottles and then putting them together. Building a window farm is like a giant puzzle, but you have to build it in your head first.

Other reflections

I felt very guilty when I lost the first window farm I had built. I felt responsible that we might fail as a result, but I corrected the situation by working through the whole of Sunday.

Things I enjoyed most:

• working as a group.
• having a good time.
• sharing all of this stuff.

Things that I am grateful for:

• having a very patient partner.
• not getting criticized for every mistake.
• finding an old water pump in a disused water feature at the last minute and also that it worked

Thomas Mudge's reflection

I (Thomas Mudge) have had much fun making this blog. It has taken a lot of time and energy to come up with this but it was very worthwhile.

I was grateful for Robert doing the window farm this weekend. I know he struggled but he pulled it together and has produced a masterpiece. I am so proud of him.

Things we need to improve on:

• Communication ( getting one anothers cellphone numbers )

Pictures of our window farm in the Biology lab

Robert Jack with our window farm

Thomas Mudge with our window farm

Practical on Light and temperature (Globilab labdisc gensci hardware)

 Practical on Light and temperature
Today we got our Labdisc. A Labdisc is a mini computer.

This unit of hardware is to help us find the optimum condition for growing food.
We are using this Labdisc to measure heat and light of the lab, and pH of soil.

With our Labdisc we recorded some interesting data

a line graph showing the brightness of the sunny side of the lab

a line graph showing the temperature of the sunny side of the lab 

a line graph showing the brightness of the shady side of the lab

a line graph showing the temperature of the shady side of the lab

Practical 1 : Soil Composition

Soil composition practical on the 14/02

1. Filling the measuring cylinder with loamy soil

2.the measuring cylinder before adding water

3.putting plastic wrapping around the top of the measuring cylinder
to prevent contents from exiting. 

4. Shaking the measuring cylinder vigourously

water after shaking

The results:

•        Floating dead organic matter: 0.4 cm  
•      Stones and grit: 1.8 cm     
•      Sand layer thickness:  1.2 cm
•      Clay layer thickness :  0.2  cm 
•      Silt layer thickness:   0.5 cm

CONCLUSION:

What does the practical tell you about the composition of your soil sample in terms of soil composition and particle size?

The silt layer particles are the least dense and thus result in them floating to the top. There is very little clay in the soil. This will allow plants to grow well in it. There is a lot of sand and stones which help the roots to receive air.












Reflection: 
This project was really interesting because I learned what the soil was composed of.