ILC

Student or Group Info

Name: Ashley Lewis
Term: Spring 2021
Credits: 8
Title of ILC or Group Project: Collaborative Garden Stewardship

Field Supervisor

Field supervisor: Sarah Williams

Subcontractor

Name: Steve Scheuerell

Program of Project Description

Narrative: For this ILC, I would like to experience and document the process of planning and growing food with intention in a team setting. I would also like to improve the productivity and successes in my own gardens by setting personal goals such as, utilizing seeds that I’ve saved and preparing to save more, improving seed germination and seedling success, and learning more food preservation. I will also be growing sunflowers from the Seedlinked Seed Collection Experience and attempt to grow sunflowers that can be roasted and tasted in the fall, save seed, and report my experiences back to Seedlinked. Finally, I will be collaborating with classmate Sarah Dyer to research, prep, and grow and Three (Four? Five?) Sisters Garden where we will grow Hooker’s Sweet Blue Corn and the SeedLinked sunflowers, along with beans and squash.

Learning objective	Activity	Deliverable
Participating in tending to a collaborative community garden plot.	Bed preparation, amending,  seeding, transplanting, weeding, trellising, harvesting, and all-around plant care. Also related readings and research, such as Building Soils for Better Crops by Fred Magdoff and Harold van Es.	Documentation of observations and progress will be posted to an ePortfolio with weekly blog posts.
Tending to existing community gardens with the intention to improve yields and soil health, compared to last year.	Similar activities as previously listed. Research new varieties. Use saved seed and prepare to save more seed. Improve seedling and plant growing success. Also related readings and research, such as the Tilth Alliance’s Maritime Northwest Garden Guide.	Documentation of observations and progress will be posted to an ePortfolio with weekly blog posts.
Seedlinked Sunflower Seed Collection Experience: I will be growing sunflowers from Seedlinked with the intention to taste them in the fall, save seeds if possible, and report my experience back to Seedlinked.	Similar gardening activities as other objectives. Find a growing space safe for seed saving. Engage with Seedlinked as needed.	Documentation of observations and progress will be posted to an ePortfolio with weekly blog posts.
Collaboration with Sarah Dyer: Growing the Four Sisters. Featuring Hooker’s Sweet Corn. Together, we will prepare and tend to mounds of three and four sisters, to learn more about indigenous agricultural practices.	Similar gardening activities as other objectives. Preparing mounds for planting in May, while learning about indigenous agricultural practices and the relationships between crops. Featuring the text by Gilbert Wilson, Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians.	Documentation of observations and progress will be posted to an ePortfolio with weekly blog posts.

Evaluation of Work

• WordPress ePortfolio
• Final week ten presentation
• Narrative evaluations from field supervisor and/or subcontractor
• Narrative mid-quarter and final self-evaluations
• Weekly check ins, twice-weekly in field meetings, email, Wednesday morning research workshop.