Initial Write Up

As I began my research on plants I wanted to plant spinach, unfortunately it only does well in cold weather. So I narrowed my choices to Watermelon, Sweet Corn, and Rosa Californica. My goals for Watermelons and Sweet corn might be a big ambiguous therefore I chose the Rosa Californica.

Like most girls and women, I am a fan of Roses. I never gave it any thought that roses grown in san diego aren't in there natural state. The Rosa Californica is interesting because it is one of the only 2 roses native to California. Along with being very pretty and pink, these flowers provide great hips for tea. Tea isn't the only thing you can consume from this plant, you can eat a fruit that grows from it, I am un-aware of the name but it is edible. This flower likes moisture, but like a lot of native San Diego plants it can adapt to a drought easily. This plant protects itself with its thick prickly thorns, which people can use outside of there houses to keep stray dogs and cats out of there yards.

The cool thing about this wild rose is "...(it) will grow in a wide range of soil types and will do quite well in heavy soils that are hard on some other native plants." Therefore all though The soil at our garden isnt the "best" soil, it is still suitable for the roses.

This flower is also a great provider for the Garden as a whole. It provides a home for the pollinators in the garden community as birds make there nest in them which i believe could be a symbiotic relationship. The bird lives there as the plant protects it with the thorns and the birds spread the pollen , and butterflies spread the pollen.

You dont have to worry about catching any nasty infections or rash's from this flower it is virtually disease free and pest . Another cute fact is they bloom in the summer. I can just imagine the summer sky reflecting from these beautiful flowers full of life.

Of all the interesting facts I found about this particular flower, this quote struck me the most, "Rosa californica thrives on neglect. Do not fertilize this rose. My experience has been that it blooms as the soil is drying out. Blooming/fruiting under stress is not uncommon for many plants. Try withholding the irrigation." I read a lot of reviews about people complaining how there roses never bloom, and I am really worried about planting them for that reason. But that quote makes sense to me because the rosa californica is a WILD rose, which in my eyes means that's like trying to take care of a wild tiger, it just does better on its own. This seems like a very easy plant to take care of and a refreshing way of looking at things with nature.

1."Master fertilizing; plants will flourish | The San Diego Union-Tribune." SignOnSanDiego.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010.

2.

"Rosa californica California wild rose." Plant California native plants in your Garden! Visit our native plant nursery for friendly landscaping help for butterfly and bird alike. . N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .
3.

"Tree of Life Nursery California Native Plants - California Wild Rose - Rosa Californica." Tree of Life Nursery California Native Plants - Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

annoted food bibliography

Ashley Matthews

P. ½

Jan 22 2010

BELLUCK, PAM. "American Obesity Rates Have Hit Plateau, C.D.C. Data Suggest - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/14obese.html?scp=1&sq=food%20issue&st=cse>.

"Health > Image > ." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/14/health/14obese-graphic.html>.

In this article it focused on the obesity issue. I thought the facts from the obesity data would back up my information about how available healthy food is for minorities. In the article it states that African American Adults have the highest obesity rates, and Hispanic women and children are basically just as high. Isn’t this ironic how the Hispanic and African American Children are the ones living in the ghettos of America not able to get healthy food for cheap even though sometimes there the ones planting and harvesting them.

They also bring up the topic of changing laws to promote healthy living, they want “penalties and incentives to promote healthier foods and exercise.” Which I think would work out great. I think that is valid because I am not overweight, so why should I exercise and eat healthy if I’m not fat yet? I need an incentive to help the environment which could be beneficial for the economy who knows the outcome.

MARTIN, ANDREW. "News Analysis - Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/worldbusiness/15food.html?_r=1>.

In the article above they are talking about the dilemma with poor countries being against bio-fuels because it would raise the price of food. Although switching to bio-fuels may cost more, it could create more jobs for people around the world. And even if we weren’t to switch to biofuels, if everybody had a hybrid or electric car, it could help the environment. The thing about poor countries is they are distributing whatever they can grow, to other countries for money. I believe the world can feed the hungry and resolve the environment crisis all at once. If each country simply provided for itself the food sources would be plentiful. Some countries are located in horrible conditions for growing plants, but there are always other resources within a living space for food. Humans have been able to adapt for millions of years. Everybody would be ok.

West, Larry. "Eat Local - How Does Eating Locally Grown Food Help the Environment?." Environmental Issues - News and Information about the Environment. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/locally_grown.htm>.

"Social Marketing Institute - Success Stories - Florida "truth" Campaign." social marketing institute: advancing the science and practice of social marketing. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.social-marketing.org/success/cs-floridatruth.html>.

The thing I enjoy the most about this article was all of the pro’s of going to local places for food. These can help with my information on incentives. The article mentions how it can help the economy, prevent global warming, and it tastes better. But I want there to be commercials like the cigarettes and the Truth Commercials. If the truth campaign was effective I wonder how effective one for eating habits can be and what dramatic changes this can have on America.

Discussion

In the discussion on Friday I was most interested in the junk food discussion. I really think any food can be junk food, so when people were saying we should ban junk food, that may wipe out everything. If you eat ice burg lettuce everyday with nothing else, that can actually harm your body because it has no nutritional value, so creating a diet system for America would be complex and difficult. It is very complicated trying to eat healthy because it is so unaffordable, nobody could think of a way to make it more affordable and this is why I want to learn more about it. I believe eventually we will get to the point where it can be affordable and i want to be apart of the generation that makes it happen.

Family Farmers

I have family that lives in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma that I know are into farming. My uncle Tommy grows all sorts of things in his huge yard. He also has fish in this river behind his house. He grows greens, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, all kinds of veggies. My family in Oklahoma used to raise animals and grow crops as well. My dad told me once my great grandmothers goat kicked her, so they ate it for dinner! My grandfather in oklahoma owned a raccoon. How much more farmy can you get? Oh yeah and of course i have hidden family history I might never get to the bottom of like which family members picked cotton and stuff, and my other grandmother that was Osage native american, im sure she had a lot of farming in her day.

What have I always wondered about?

The one thing I have always wondered about in the world of science was how chickens reproduce. How do the men fertilize the eggs? I just don't get how a chicken lays eggs and they need to be fertilized but there in a shell?

Another thing I am curious about is a bird. I forgot the name of it, but there is a species of bird at seaworld, and one is red while the other is white. But you could never tell them apart genetically. They are the exact same. I just don't see how this is possible. Not one genetic difference and they look completely different. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!