First Blog Post

My intent is to use this blog to help keep everyone who is interested in my projects up to date. These project include:
1. Resource Conservation- by educating people through the various classes (drought tolerant gardening & landscape design) & workshops that I have created. Many of of these have been facilitated through my current employer Flowerdale Nursery My experience doing these classes has roused interest in perusing teaching credentials for teaching adults. I thank Cal Poly Pomona for a wonderful Horticulture & Soil Science education that has paid of.
2. Revegetation of Drastically Disturbed Sites-much of my experience in plants stems from my work on ecological restoration projects. These projects are were large areas of the Mojave Desert are being revegetated through mitigation efforts by the RIO TINTO (US BORAX) mine in Boron, CA & MITSUBISHI CEMENT CORP. mine in Lucerne Valley, CA. My primary project was with the US Borax mine in Boron. Here I worked as lead plant propagator working on mass production & direct seeding of Larrea tridentata. I also worked with a close associate (& good freind) Stefan Szalkowski working in plant pathology & mycology. We worked on identifying the presence & documenting the effects of mycorrhizal inoculation on select native desert plants. The organization that we worked for was the MOJAVE SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT and the VICTOR VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I am planing to continue research on very similar subject matter in Graduate School at UCR in the Fall of 2010. I thank all the staff at VVC for the years of support & the opportunity provided.
3. Increased Awareness of Organic Home Food Production & Heirloom Vegetables- I have started a series of test gardens at five locations in Orange & Riverside Counties. These gardens will test organic products & provide trials for various variates of heirloom fruits & vegetables. In this project I am supported by my good friends & business associates Carla Jacobs & Georgia Vize. I believe that taking control of where our food comes from is good for health of our bodies & the planet, it also helps the preservation of our culture. I thank these two women for the use of their private property & personal gardens.
4. Miscellanious Projects of severe Nerdyness.