Foundation Trades in Horticulture

=Aim=
 * Hello-Hortykim will again be assisting the Foundation Studies in Trades Program this year.Congratulations to graduates of last year's certificate and in particular Jake and Jack who have been accepted into our National Certificate in Horticulture(Level 4)studies for 2012.
 * This is an exciting opportunity for our department(Architecture,Building Engineering and Natural Resources)to contribute to the Youth Guarantee Scheme.The students enrolled in this course will be involved in projects lead by experts from Horticulture, Building and Hospitality.Each project has a planning and an implementation element – the planning being mainly classroom activities and implementation being mainly practical.The students will also have an opportunity to do career bites near the end of their certificate.


 * The course I will deliver will provide an introduction to horticulture for students who would like to get an idea of what career options are available after completing a qualification with the School of Natural Resources. National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4) programme.If the students enjoy their experience with Natural Resources/Horticulture then they may choose to study with us in 2013 or look at an apprenticeship in horticulture.The options available for full time or part time include: Landscape Construction, Landscape Design, Plant Knowledge, Plant Production and Maintenance, and Sustainable Horticulture.
 * Learning outcomes for this course: Kim add the info here.

=Course Schedule 2012=

To do

 * 1) Meet Kim at *Polygrow Nursery which is in quadrant G3 of this map.
 * 2) Hand out What Kind of Tree Are You?Students may read out what kind of tree they are if they want to.
 * 3) Last week we all got together and discussed our expectations,rights and responsibilities with a view that we would all agree on some ground rules for our seven sessions together.I would like to call this our memorandum of understanding (MOU)which is a document describing an agreement between all of us. It expresses a convergence of will between people, indicating an intended common line of action.If everyone agrees to the MOU we will all sign this before proceeding.Nic Orbell will be our go-to-guy if the MOU is not honored.
 * 4) Health and Safety is Everbody's Business
 * What are some hazards associated with our work in the nursery area?


 * Manual handling techniques for heavy items and general back care


 * Protection from the sun


 * Hazards associated with potting medias


 * Wear clothing that can get dirty and appropriate footwear to protect your feet


 * Focus on the job at hand


 * Falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalisation and one of the leading causes of injury death in New Zealand. Slips, trips and falls account for about 40% of unintentional injury hospitalisations and 20% of unintentional injury deaths


 * Stress and fatigue-if you are not feeling a hundy let us know and we can help


 * Kim will show everyone the emergency flip chart and we will see what are some of the things we would do in the unlikely case of an emergency.


 * Otago Polytechnic has a hazard register for every department and it is important for staff and students to be aware of the potential hazards associated with the teaching and learning in your area.If you identify a hazard please let a staff member know as soon as is possible.

We will need some breaks !

 * 1) Class has 15-20 minutes to have a cuppa and stretch their legs,plus one hour for lunch and another 15-20 minute break in the afternoon
 * 2) Introduce guest speaker-Blair Allan who is currently studying horticulture full time with Natural Resources.Blaire will talk about how he decided to study horticulture and how he became interested in the art of bonsai
 * 3) Part of last weeks discussions were about what project we would do together-as a group we decided we would build a Japanese style garden
 * 4) We will have a look at the site that will become our Japanese style garden.
 * 5) As a group we will discuss the logistics of how to get started on clearing the site and nursery work in preparation for our bonsai workshops.

=Homework=
 * 1) You will be having your first class with Jamie Todd on Wednesday Feb 29.Please be prepared for Jamie's class by knowing what sort of things characterize a Japanese style garden.
 * 2) Please write down at least five elements found in a Japanese style garden and have this list ready to discuss with Jamie on Wednesday.

To do

 * 1) Meet Kim at *Polygrow Nursery which is in quadrant G3 of this map.
 * 2) Welcome to session two and attendance.Brief run down on what we achieved last week.
 * 3) Last week we all got together and discussed our expectations,rights and responsibilities with a view that we would all agree on some ground rules for our seven sessions together.This the link to our memorandum of understanding (MOU)which is a document describing an agreement between all of us. How is this working for all of us?
 * 4) As part of your experience in horticulture we will have a number of guest speakers,today's guest speaker is Shaun Shale a full time student in the School of Natural Resources who also has his own business.Today Shaun is gong to talk about hydroponics.
 * 5) What type of plants would you be likely to see in a traditional Japanese garden? We will discuss some of the plants that may typically be used in a japanese garden design.We will look at a variety of plants and group them according to their form and function.For each group of plants we will learn a different propagation technique.
 * Trees.For the purpose of our first hands-on activity today we will focus on how to propagate the box hedge or Buxus semperviens Kim will demonstrate how to take cuttings of this plant and then the class will give it a shot.
 * Shrubs
 * Herbaceous plants
 * Bamboo
 * Water plants
 * Mosses

Please note that the examples given above may not be suitable for our garden/climate so Kim will choose plants that will be best suited for our garden and also give us the  opportunity to try different propagation techniques.

=Resources=

Interesting links,videos and photos related to our project-please let Kim know of interesting stuff you find that we can add to this section!

 * What is the art of Bonsai?
 * How much do Bonsai cost?
 * YouTube vid on how to make a bonsai
 * Lots of photos of bonsai plants
 * What are some of the characteristics/typical stuff you will find in a Japanese style garden?