Plant Science - Hakan's Website

Below are the requirements I completed for the Plant Science Badge
Note: Click any image on this page to enlarge it in a new tab


“Design and plant a garden or landscape that is at least 10 by 10 feet. Plant 10 or more different types of plants in your garden. Tell why you selected particular varieties of vegetables and flowers. Take care of the plants in your garden for one season.”
	Here is us creating an “Instant Garden” using compost with worms from our worm bin, covering it in cardboard, and topping it with mulch. The watering at the end is a process that helps it decompose. We repeat this every time we water the plants. 1/17/2020
	Here I am creating the “Instant Garden” around the side and back of our house. 1/24/2020
	Our plants are beans, 3 types of tomatoes, 3 types of cucumbers, basil, zucchini, 2 types of peppers, rhubarb, a blueberry bush, raspberry vines, grape vines, a fig tree, a cherry tree, and an apricot tree. 2/19/2020
	Here is everything we planted after 6 months! We chose these plants because they are all things we like to eat. We chose these trees because they were well-suited for their climates. By the fence and shaded south wall, we planted things that require less sunlight. This included an apricot tree, a cherry tree, a blueberry bush, and rhubarb. By our house wall, we planted things that require full sun and the microclimate created by the west-facing wall. This included figs, raspberries, and grapes. 7/4/2020
	Make a drawing and identify five or more parts of a flowering plant. Tell what each part does. Roots: The roots of a plant gather water and nutrients from the ground to help keep the plant alive. Leaves: Leaves gather sunlight for the plant, which is important to photosynthesis, the process that plants take to create energy for themselves. Petals: Petals help the flower by attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies. Stamen: The stamen produces pollen for the flower to reproduce. The pistil produces ovules, the other part of a plant’s reproduction.
	List by common name at least 10 native plants and 10 cultivated plants that grow near your home. List five invasive nonnative plants in your area and tell how they may be harmful.
	Find out what hardiness zone you live in and list 10 landscape plants you like that are suitable for your climate, giving the common name and scientific name for each.
	List the common and scientific names of 10 kinds of native plants that are beneficial to birds and wildlife in your area.

EXTRA CREDIT

We have continued to expand our garden, this year building a hügelkultur bed, a raised planter, and planting various other plants and trees. These included 3 banana trees, 2 raspberry bushes, and a variety of garden fruits and vegetables. Seeds that we have been planting throughout the last 2 years have now grown into 2 loquat trees, 5 sapote trees, and a persimmon tree.

I also completed a one-year Permaculture Certification Course, which included over 50 hours of videos and 40 hours of design. This resulted in a set of graphics detailing the One Community permaculture plan and got me Permaculture Certified. Below are the most important graphics in my design, and the written portion can be found here. Certificate coming soon.

This work can be found in its formatted and finalized form on this page: http://www.onecommunityglobal.org/open-source-diy-permaculture-design/

	This is the Contour Map, which shows the topography of the site. This is important as a guide to help place other features, such as swales and structures.
	This is the Sector Map, which shows the main positive sectors, most importantly, the Sun and Wind Sectors. This is used to determine things such as spacing between buildings to avoid shade, placement of structures to maximize solar gain to benefit from wind patterns, etc.
	This is the WAS Map. WAS stands for Water data, Access data, and Structure data. This is a basic guide that shows the positions and size of all of our main structures, access, and water features.
	This is the Zone Map, which differentiates Zones 0-5. Each Zone represents a different level of activity. Zone 0 is always in use. Zone 1 is visited 1 or more times every day. Zone 2 is visited every couple of days. Zone 3 is visited around once every 7-30 days. Zone 4 is visited a few times each year. Zone 5 is rarely visited, and not currently being modified.
	All of the above maps culminated in this Final Design Map, which shows a zoomed-in view of the first area One Community will be developing. This map includes extra details such as our planting plan and placements of individual trees.
	This is the certificate I got from completing Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Design Course, which included the above designs.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS COMPLETED

In addition to the above, I also researched all the following areas and then completed a verbal presentation/interview to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding for each of them:

Explain photosynthesis and tell why this process is important. Tell at least five ways that humans depend on plants
Explain how honeybees and other pollinating insects are important to plant life
Explain how water, light, air, temperature, and pests affect plants. Describe the nature and function of soil and explain its importance. Tell about the texture, structure, and composition of fertile soil. Tell how soil may be improved.
Tell how to propagate plants by seeds, roots, cuttings, tubers, and grafting. Grow a plant by ONE of these methods.
Tell how the spread of invasive plants may be avoided or controlled in ways that are not damaging to humans, wildlife, and the environment.
Name and tell about careers in agronomy, horticulture, and botany. Write a paragraph about a career in one of these fields that interests you.
- Horticulture is a very broad profession. A horticulturalist’s main job is to grow many types of plants. These vary from fruits, ornamentals, vegetables, and nuts. Horticulturalists can also work with landscape design, building areas that plants can grow better in. Horticulture also has other branches such as conservation and soil management. Horticulture does not normally include large scale farming. Horticulturalists also breed and test plants and plant cultivars. Having spoken to a horticulturalist on the One Community team, horticulture is also the closest profession to permaculture. I have enrolled in and completed a 1 year permaculture certification.
Explain the following terms: hardiness zone, shade tolerance, pH, moisture requirement, native habitat, texture, cultivar, ultimate size, disease resistance, habit, evergreen, deciduous, annual, perennial.
Explain the difference between vegetative and sexual propagation methods, and tell some horticultural advantages of each.
Demonstrate good pruning techniques and tell why pruning is important.
Explain the importance of good landscape design and selection of plants that are suitable for particular sites and conditions.
Tell why it is important to know how big a plant will grow.
Tell why slower-growing landscape plants are sometimes a better choice than faster-growing varieties.
Demonstrate soil preparation, staking, watering, weeding, mulching, composting, fertilizing, pest management, and pruning. Tell why each technique is used.