Week 3 and 4: Uh-Oh

Well, a lot has happened to our little experiment since my last post.

Saginaw had some terrible weather last week (winds up to 40-50mph) and our dirt bag walls did a great job withstanding it, however, our plastic cover (or roof) didn't do too well.

It seems that, like we expected, the plastic sheeting pooled a lot of rainwater and the weight of the water was too much. The roof fell in along with a half-dozen dirt bags that were holding the plastic roof down. It is unclear at what time this happened, we do know it happened on the weekend after I had watered the buckets which were doing excellent at the time. The next week, a greenhouse employee informed us of the problem.

I took a look at the greenhouse expecting it to be collapsed (as the e-mail made it sound so) but was surprised at the little damage I saw especially with the high winds the area was facing. It was mostly daunting because the greenhouse was filled with water but I was impressed that our walls didn't collapse.

So, the greenhouse is still intact but the global bucket study will no longer continue. The buckets were subjected to the elements including the freezing temperatures during the time the plastic fell-in and that will have an ill-effect on the study.

However, with the enduring spirit of the Dirtbag Brigade, the roof will be replaced! We are going to build a roof using 2*4's. We will stretch the extra plastic sheeting over the wood and use scrap wood to nail the plastic in place. In case there are more attacks by mother nature we will keep the roof secure by lining dirt bags on the edges. Hopefully this new design will keep rain water from pooling as the plastic will be stretched tight.

Once the roof is built, I will re-plant some of the buckets and continue to study plant growth inside the greenhouse during cooler temperatures, mostly for kicks. However if there is a harvest, we will use the basil to make pesto sauce and sell it for an organization that I am the co-president of, Taking Education Abroad at SVSU.

I will continue to post about the new roof and the buckets throughout the semester. Stay tuned.

*Note I took the pictures after the pool of water in the greenhouse evaporated, so it looks better than it originally sounded, which is good*