GROW! - Macon Roots

I attended the showing of the documentary film GROW!, which is about young sustainable farmers in Georgia. This event was put on my Mark Vanderhoek, on behalf of Macon Roots. The mission of Macon Roots is to promote a just, sustainable, and diverse food system for Middle Georgia.

About the Documentary
12 farms in Georgia were filmed for this informative and educational documentary. It brought up many good points. Organic sustainable farming is nothing new. It has been around for decades but people began to drift away from that type of natural agriculture. Modern day agriculture uses chemicals that are supposed to be "safe." How can you pump chemicals into the water going to plants and expect them not to be poisoned?

Anyone can be a sustainable farmer. One guy interviewed received a degree in History and from there wanted to proceed to Law school. Before he did, however, he wanted to walk the Appalachian Trail...and he did. He went from Maine all the way to Georgia. Every time he stopped along the way, he almost always stayed on a farm. This is what sparked his interest in farming. Needless to say, he never made it to Law school.

There is a farm called Oakleaf Mennoite Farm in Atlanta, GA. It started as a half acre plot of land in the middle of the city. This goes to show that one can farm almost anywhere.

One of the challenges of sustainable farming is that there is no clear path to making a living. One must take it step by step, day by day. Common sense and personal motivation are said to be two of the main tools needed to be successful. The film showed how one guy's farm flooded, which proved to be tough to handle, both emotionally and financially. However, he did not quit and was able to get back on the right foot, though the farm was not where it used to be. He simply described it as "a cake that is just not as sweet."

Frustrations such as these help one to expand his own patience. All of the farmers in the documentary shared the same mindset that the challenges are what make farming worthwhile. "If you are doing what you love it doesn't seem like work."

Sustainable farming centers around 3 things: People, Community, and Quality Food. In order for this lifestyle to grow, the public must be educated on its importance. Agriculture matters to EVERYONE, regardless of if you see it that way or not. It does not exist for the individual, but for the community!

My Sunflower - Day 46

I moved the flowers to a new, bigger pot because they needed more support than was available from the plastic cup. I'm not sure if I caused some detriment when I moved them to the new container but for about at week they were very limp and I was fearful they were going to die. However, I have seen a vast improvement and they are back standing now without any additional support.

Lake Sinclair

This image was taken on October 6, 2010. View is 16327 ft in altitude.

Lake Sinclair is a man-made lake located in central Georgia near Milledgeville and is operated by Georgia Power. It was created in 1953 and is located on the Oconee river and spans through 3 counties (Putnam, Baldwin, Hancock). Lake Sinclair has approximately 415 miles of scenic shoreline, offering lots to do recreationally.
The lake was created when the waters of the Oconee River were dammed to create a 45,000 kilowatt hydroelectric generating station.
Lake Sinclair is fed by several creeks and rivers.
It's maximum depth reaches 90ft.
Lake Sinclair is host to many fishing tournaments, both local and national.

Lab 5: Ocmulgee Indian Mounds

For this lab, the class took a trip to the Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, GA. For the first half of the lab, we went on a nature hike to view and discuss a creek bank. Along the way, we found a baby turtle. (I heard group two saw a snake! Yikes!) For the second part of this lab, we viewed the Indian Mounds.

What is Leaf Litter?
Leaf litter is dead plant material, including leaves, plant needles, twigs, and bark, that have fallen down to the ground from trees and plants. This forms an extra layer of earth on top of the pre-existing layers of soil, providing a habitat for many small animals, fungi, bacteria, and plants. As this litter decomposes, nutrients are released into the ecosystem. The portion of litter that is not readily decomposable is known as humus.

Decomposition of Leaf Litter
The decomposition of leaf litter is a major source of nutrients for terrestrial ecosystems. Insects and microbial decomposers break down the leaves, releasing organic nutrients into the soil for the plants to use. This occurs because bacteria are able to convert the dead, organic matter into simpler compounds usable for and by the soil. The rate of decomposition is affected by two primary factors: temperature and soil moisture. In general, the higher the temperature, the faster decomposition rate. That is, for every 10 degrees of temperature of temperature increase, the rate increases by a factor of 2. Soil moisture is not as concrete. Very dry soils inhibit decomposition because they cause the bacteria and other microbial decomposers to dry out. Moreover, very moist soils engender anaerobic conditions, which are less efficient at decomposing materials compared to aerobic conditions. Soils of intermediate moisture are best, hence the ambiguity.

Why Leaf Litter is Important
- Home to many species
- The food chain starts with small soil and leaf litter organisms
- Help decompose organic matter
- Protects the underlying soil from erosion
- Aids in moisture retention

Blood Sugar Negative Feedback Loop

What is the body's response to the intake of sugar?

In class, Dr. Rood wanted to show the class how the body responds to a sudden increase in sugar intake. He took his blood sugar at the beginning of class, ate a snicker bar and drank a canned sprite, and then took blood sugar readings periodically for the duration of class. Above is a graphical representation of what occurred. The blue line represents his fluctuation in blood sugar and the red line represents homeostasis, or steady state. As you can see, before his sugar intake, he was in homeostasis. Though the blood sugar readings changed during class, they eventually came back to the baseline.

The Why and How. 

When the brain registers excess glucose (sugar), the bio-medical mechanisms respond as if glucose is the end product of the digestion of carbs and fats. Therefore, the hypothalamus in the brain prepares for an increase of glucose. However, whatever glucose that was going to arrive as already been digested. Nevertheless, the pancreas secretes insulin to metabolize the glucose it is "expecting".

Lab 4: Community Gardens and Soil Analysis

On this lab day, we walked over to the community gardens from school to learn about soil types and take a look at the plants in the garden. The location was on the property of Centenary United Methodist Church.

There are 12 Orders of Soil Taxonomy: (1) Gelisols; (2) Histosols; (3) Spodosols; (4) Andisols; (5) Oxisols; (6) Verticols; (7) Aridisols; (8) Ultisols; (9) Mollisols; (10) Alfisols; (11) Inceptisols; (12) Entisols; Click here to learn more!

Ultisols
I choose to elaborate on this soil taxonomy because it is the predominant soil type in the state of Georgia. Ultisols are reddish, clay-rich, acidic soils. They are found in humid temperate or tropical regions. Ultisols are a great support for mixed forest vegetation. They are naturally expedient for forestry and stable materials for construction projects. They occupy just over 8% of the non polar continental land area on Earth.

Above is a map of the distribution of the Ultisols Soil Taxonomy

There are 5 suborders of Ultisols: Aquults, Humults, Udults, Ustults, and Xerults. Below is a map of the distribution of the suborder types.

To learn more about Ultisols, click here!

While out at Community Gardens we met Mark Vanderhoek, who is the Director of Media Relations at Mercer University and Founder of Macon Roots. (To learn more about Macon Roots and its impact on the Macon community, click here!)

What we did:
-Did a soil probe with a split spoon corer
-Used a sieve to perform a size fractionation of the soil
-Used a dichotomous key to identify soil types
          - using this we found that we had soil type Loam.
          - we conducted a feel test of the soil by attempting to make a ribbon with the soil but were unsuccessful.