Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Elections!



So this month has been very busy for me. Those that know me know that I ran for ENV Senator for ASI. That means that I'll be the Senator for the College of Environmental Design to the rest of the University with Associate Students Incorporated. I ran unopposed, That is typical for the ENV Senator. My friend who is the current Senator Ran unopposed and also endorsed me. Because our College is somewhat tightly knit and most people know each other through probably 3 degrees of separation rather than the typical 6 it was easy to find out if I'd be unopposed or not. This made campaigning fairly easy.

On top of that. I am also the President of Two campus clubs. The Student Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects and Emerging Green Builders Club. I've admittedly let EGBC slightly fall through the cracks because of the rest of my duties, but i hope to next year put some more energy into them.

Since it is the end of the school year I've got to hold elections for all these clubs for next year. It was tough to get people to Sign up ASLA let alone EGBC. I really had to recruit a lot of people and a lot of hopefuls ended up not following through and becoming an officer. What DID make my job easier was that all positions were unopposed. again. most people know eachother so that makes things a bit easier in terms of elections. EGBC will have trouble developing officers though. We'll have to see what happens.

So as you can see, I've been extremely busy with the school year coming to an end. I've got a lot of wrapping up to do and some starting up of my new position on campus. I've not put as much energy into this blog as I'd like partly because I have a weekly journal for my Design course and a weekly blog for my Regenerative Studies course which will remain anonymous.

But i have things to share about my trip to Duroville, Driving a tractor, and some more farming i've been doing. I've got some projects i've set for myself over the summer so we'll see how those go.

I'm glad to see the Goddess's Blog stay strong. She's a great voice for the Pomona community. when i feel down and out about Pomona I just take a trip to her site.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Farming is tough


Today i learned how to use one of these. it's GENIUS I've never used one but it's so simple. Apparently it's a common agricultural tool. A little bit about how it works.
With freshly tilled loose soil, the front wheel helps separate the soil. The metal piece on the bottom in the middle has adjustable lengths to create a hole for the seeds. A gear on the inside of the red bucket intermittently allows seeds to drop through the metal piece in the middle. A chain follows that piece which pulls dirt over the seeds and following that is a flat wheel in back to help compact the soil. One just needs to be aware of jams in the gear. This is my first time using this and I am now fascinated with agricultural tools.
I've also got a new found appreciation of farm workers, after four hours of weeding my back begins to hurt immensely, it is NOT easy work.

I also learned how to braid garlic at the Center. It's very similar to french braiding, I guess it is french braiding just done upside down. I braided a set of 15 heads for my girlfriend and when I brought it home just she asked if we had a vampire problem. So for kicks I placed the braid on the door. The smell is much stronger but also sweeter than store bought garlic. Organic, locally grown and freshly picked is always the best.
So for all you garlic fans, come by the center QUICK and pick up your braids of garlic for free, they'll run out fast, i guarantee it, They were just picked today (technically yesterday, Saturday) and you just might get one braided by either myself, or the Goddess of Garey Ave.