Summer Break and still learning

Ah, summer break! No worksheets, no sight words, no lesson plans. Just relaxing, having fun and....learning? Wait, what? Yes, that's right, just because school is out, doesn't mean learning can't still happen. On our trip to Disney last week we went to The Land in EPCOT and road the boat ride through the garden where they grow most of the food they serve in the 2 restaurants they have (in the Land-there are obviously way more restaurants in EPCOT). At the end of the ride, tey tell you that if you'd like a guided walking tour of the gardens to check at the desk. Well, that just sounded interesting, so we decided to do it. I am so glad we did! It was really cool. They do all sorts of experimental growth, hydroponics, aeroponics (which I didn't even know existed), grafting, and other things I can barely remember. They're also working with NASA for experimental plants to be grown in space. It was all very Star Trek. :)

This is Harry, our very cool guide. I told him to smile for my blog and he was happy enough to do it. He's just graduated with a masters in botany and works primarily in the grafting garden (IIRC).


This is an herb garden. Very vertical. Great for small spaces. Also, there's no dirt in the containers. Just sand and nutrients.

Pepper "trees"


These pumpkins are grown from a single vine (looks like a tree). While they are young, they put these plastic cases over them, so they grow in the shape of Mickey! They also do this for the cucumbers so when they are sliced, you have perfect little mouse ears in your salad. Man, they think of everything!
This brussel sprout plant has never been in dirt. It gets rotated through this trough like thing (you can see the conveyer the background) that sprays water and nutrients on the roots as it passes through. Neat.
Indy got to feed the fish. I didn't tell him we would be eating the fish later. Yikes.

This is a tomato "tree" which was amazing. The tomatoes off of it were delicious too.



We had fun and learned so much! What a great summer learning experience. Indy didn't even know he was learning. Awesome.