Campus Wildlife...

This year seems to be a very big year for wildlife on campus. I assume a lot of the development that is happening around us at a ever increasing pace is pushing a lot of native wildlife on campus. So far this year we have seen coyotes, deer, turkey, multiple hawks and birds, including the return of my friends some bobwhite quail, turtles, skunks, and multiple small mammals, reptiles, insects, and more!

Some ducklings saved by groundskeeper Jay Jackson.

We often get calls about injured animals, animals that have fallen into the lake spillway, and animals that are in need of help. This year has been a very busy year, we have had to save ducklings, turtles, birds, and more. Sometimes it is unfortunate but there is little we can do. We use a general rule, if the injury is caused by humans, such as hit by a car or trapped in fishing line, we intervene. If it is natural causes, like a broken wing or deformity, we unfortunately have to let nature be natural. This is a struggle for us when even we ourselves are a little anthropomorphic about the situation, but it is a reality we are forced to accept.

Common Snapping Turtle not enjoying its ride in a gator...

Recently we had a call that there was an Alligator Snapping turtle in the roadway. Immediately I was a little suspicious. Keep in mind herpetology was my dream as a young boy, and I am very used to the mis-identification of wildlife that occurs, especially in reptiles and amphibians. When we arrived on site it was very clear it was just a common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina serpentina.

Groundskeeper Jay Jackson releasing the turtle to its new home, the beautiful wetlands adjacent to campus...

Common Snapping turtles are very similar to Alligator Snapping turtles  The live in the same conditions, and live very similar lives, and have many like characteristics. One being their young. The hatch-lings of both species are so similar even a trained eye will have a hard time distinguishing the two.

Common and Alligator Snapping side by Side courtesy www.chelydra.org

Alligator Snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) sadly, are now protected in Missouri. Invasive species, over hunting,  and habitat loss are an unfortunate reality for such a beautiful species.

The weather is beautiful these days, so I hope you all get a chance to get outside and enjoy it with us. See you outside!

"Live as if you are going to die tomorrow..."

"Learn as if you are going to live forever!" - Mahatma Ghandi

One of the hidden aspects of grounds keeping for a educational facility is our ability to touch the lives of students in a very indirect way. Giving the students a safe and serene campus is one way that is very obvious. Yet I have recently been thinking how much we have been doing, and how can we do more?

Admin to Tech Amphitheater...

We currently work with the Biology department to get students involved in outdoor activities and awareness of natural resources on campus. We have a student garden, and work with clubs, such as the Green Club, to  help assist removing invasive species in our natural field. We work with the Art Department to assist us with the painting of our flower pots and the design of our butterfly garden.

Administration Dogwoods...

And possibly the most important thing we can offer a smile, a helping hand with books or directions to a building. Students are stressed, in a new place or approaching final exams, working hard and diligently to make themselves better.

When my grandmother taught me to grow things, I didn't realize the profound effect it would have on me until now. Teaching me to garden, to be patient, to work hard and see mistakes not as failures, but opportunities to learn from, to grow, to be better, she literally saved my life. When I see students hitting the books, working so hard to make it to this point reminds me of her, and reminds me of how amazing this place really is.

LRC...

So free high fives to all the students, faculty, and staff as finals will surely have everyone a little stressed! See you outside!

The Corner That Spring Is Just Around...

April and May for anyone in the Green Industry has a few monikers I can not repeat here in this blog post. April is the month of growing, prepping, removing, adding, and more growing! In this industry plants, trees, and the weather does not wait for us... It is go time!

This particular Spring has been a little late to start, and thus we here at the grounds department have decided its time to make it official. Our flowers have been delivered, and we begin the huge endeavor of flower bed installation. Months of planning and prepping the flower beds come into action in the next few weeks!

Daunting Sea of Green at the Grounds Department...

Keep an eye out for many new installations, and also many new native perennials popping up! I hope everyone gets out on campus to just enjoy the spring air, the beautiful colors and the atmosphere of beautiful cycle we get to experience. See you outside!

Tree Campus USA, again!

The SCC Tree Advisory Committee's hard work has paid off again. The National Arbor Day Foundation has named SCC a Tree Campus USA again for the third year in a row.

Tracey Powers, SCC Tree Advisory Committee Founding Member, planting trees alongside SCC students and staff.

The committee has been growing over the last few years, and the projects also continue to increase. Be on the look out the week of Earth day and Arbor day, which just so happen to fall the same week as Spring Fling, as there will be some activities for tree lovers!

The SCC Tree Advisory Committee is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of trees in a urban environment, and also incorporating these issues into the curriculum and understanding campus wide. The committee is made up of Arborist from SCC staff, Urban Foresters from the Missouri Department of Conservation, Students, and Faculty.

More like thousands of trees!

Just this past weekend members from the SCC Tree Advisory Committee assisted the Missouri Forest ReLeaf, a program that provides free and/or discounted trees to areas in need, with planting just shy of 3,000 trees! Mike Walsh was our fearless leader for the day, and is a great advocate for urban trees.

A lot of exciting green things happening around SCC, and with spring finally here, a lot more exciting things are bound to leaf out! See you outside!

First Day of Spring?

"I had found the corner that Spring was around!" - Frog (Arnold Lobel.) Today is the first day of Spring! It is currently twenty eight degrees, with a wind chill of seventeen while I type this blog entry. Winter is surely going out like a lion!

One of the first flowers emerging on campus... Narcissus Sp.

I have been reflecting on some big projects we are working on this year, and some challenges we are facing. We of course will be maintaining the grounds, striving for excellence as we do every year. Although, we face a few challenges; financial concerns, as well as a reduction in human resources. A challenege many are facing world wide. A slight change in vision will make the transition tough, but we here have weathered many storms, and there is no reason to believe we can't weather these challenges as well.

We also have some projects in the near future that are challenging, but also exciting! One being the possible introduction of a small community style garden, where SCC Departments and Students can adopt a small plot to grow vegetables and herbs. We are currently looking for ways to fund this project, but hope to get started this year. The SCC Green Team has been assisting in the endeavor of finding funding resources, and I am hopeful we will have this project ready to debut next year.

Solar Halo phenomenon. Photo taken from campus 3/15.

Another project is the student led vegetable garden. This is a test garden to see what kind of involvement we can expect from students. Currently the area is prepped and has fifty ever-bearing This will allow us to gauge how large, or how small, the community garden plots and project shall be. The Biology department and the SCC Green club have also been working hard to make this project come to fruition!

We also have plans to install some much needed trees, but I am a bit biased when it comes to planting trees. The SCC Tree Advisory Committee is also growing, and will be making more of a presence this year as it goes into its third year of SCC being a Certified Tree Campus USA through the Arbor Day Foundation.

So as we can see, a lot to discuss in the coming months of Spring. See you outside!

"Mistakes are the Portals of Discovery..."

I just thought a nice quote from James Joyce would be fitting. Winter is grasping us in the early days of March, so I have had little time to write. I originally had written a rather lengthy piece on the shamrock and its history, but then I couldn't get one of my favorite songs out of my head, and figured it was time to write about another of my favorite plants; Barley!

Clancy Brothers, a favorite of mine.

Barley, according to Faostat, is one of the top five most produced grains globally. It is also one of the oldest domesticated crops, as there are signs of barley cultivation over 5,000 years ago. Heck, even Roman Gladiators ate barley believing it gave them unmatched strength, a fact anyone who has enjoyed the juice of the barley can attest! This grain is a staple in diets around the world, for people and animals, as it is also used as a main ingredient for livestock feed. I personally have never grown barley, but have known some people to grow it as an ornamental and as a source for home brewing right here is Missouri!

Some barley, blowing in the wind...

If you get a chance with St. Patrick's Day just around the bend, please enjoy yourself some barley bread or a barley beverage. Until then, I'll see you outside. Sláinte!

Garden Project Update...

We have had an overwhelming response from faculty, staff and students about the upcoming vegetable garden  So much so we have already begun proposals to expand the project.

Drawings, sketches, and plans oh my! Vegetable garden planning in full swing...

We had seven students and volunteers show up last week to help remove some material to prepare the area for planting this spring, and also discussed another area for some garden plots that would be available for organizations on campus to utilize. We have already had inquiries from the Biology Department, Student Development, and Food Services about possibly taking on one of the plots.

We are currently working on some grants to hopefully help us fund and move this project forward. We are looking to start with five 8 foot by 4 foot plots. These would be available to any organization on campus on a first come fist served basis for the first season, and there will be specific guidelines the adopter(s) must adhere to.

The project is moving full steam ahead, and thought why not drop in here and tell all my fellow green people about the progress thus far! Thanks for Reading and I will see you outside.

Calling All Green Students...

Unfortunately for us, Spring starts now. Planning and preparing campus for the growing season starts in January! We have a lot of creative projects in the coming months, and one of those projects is a pilot vegetable garden.

This garden is going to be a team effort with the Grounds department and with some assistance from the SCC Green Club. We will need lots of help, so any students out there or any you may know that would like to get involved with a project like this please let me know. No experience is necessary as this is a learning process for everyone involved, and should be a great learning experience for any student. Although the project itself will be rewarding, I promise a reward to each student that participates! Look for more posts about this project in the future! Contact me: dporter@stchas.edu.

Until then, see you outside!

Going Green for SCC...

The semester has begun, the students have returned and are a welcome asset. There is nothing more inspiring than the passion of college students making there way through campus, warming our hearts in the coldest of winter days.

The students have returned, now it is time to fill the wall...

The S.C.C. Green Club is also back, and already in discussion of many challenges and projects in the coming year. The club has teamed up with the grounds department to take part in many green initiatives. One being battery recycling! Just today over one hundred pounds of batteries were recycled that were collected around campus. The club is also involved with helping us grow experimental edible garden this coming spring, more on that later!

Batteries on their way to be recycled...

The grounds department also took part in STLGreen's holiday light recycling program. It is a great program and the proceeds go to help feed the hungry. We filled one of their boxes estimated at 600+ pounds of lights to be recycled! We are working on being a public satellite location next year to collect even more!

Holiday Light Recycling...

There is a lot of exciting news and projects, as always, on the way. Stay rooted and I will see you outside!

The Science of Snow and Ice Removal...

Winter is finally showing its face, and the grounds department was here bright and early on January 1st treating ice and a few snow patches prior to opening day. I noticed lots of what we call "Black Ice." A spot on the concrete that looked a little darker if you looked close, but if you step on it you quickly realize it is ice. This is the most dangerous of ice formations as you are unprepared for it.

Some winter frost @ Student Center

Ice and snow removal and prevention techniques have come a long way in the last ten years. Undoubtedly due to the increasing liability of ice and snow related injuries and accidents. There are multiple chemical selections, and multiple techniques for different circumstances.

The first thing to remember is to constantly observe the weather prior to an event. Are air temperatures warm prior to the event helping warm the ground? Will the sky be clear and assist in solar radiation? Will the air be dry or moist assisting chemical reaction? These are important in knowing how to treat the event.

A Ice Mound from years past... Due to leaving the fountain on through the winter.

Other things that are important is the substrate that is to be treated. Is it a dark asphalt that will warm under solar radiation, assisting in the melting? Is the substrate a dark concrete such as dense aggregate that will hold warm temperatures longer than others? Or a light grey concrete that hold heat for a shorter amount of time? Will these melting snows on asphalt cool it quickly to the point of refreezing? All of these are serious variables that must be considered.

Chemicals are vast. Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium, beet juice, sand, and many more. Some of these chemicals, such as sodium and beet juice work best when wet and in warmer temperatures, down to 30 degrees or so. Others such as Magnesium and Calcium also benefit from wetting, but will work down to much lower temperatures, even pushing the zero degree mark. The benefit of calcium is it is so absorbent it will actually attract moisture from the air to help activate the reaction. Sand is the most environmental friendly of slip prevention in my opinion, but unfortunately comes with the higher risk and liability. I personally use nothing at home due to my dog Maddie, and prefer the "Walk like a penguin" technique. Sodium chloride is by far the worst environmental friendly snow and ice melter, and has even proven to contain heavy metals.

The reason for my penguin dance in the driveway on icy days...

The downfall to these "better" treatment chemicals is short term cost  Sodium is by far , by weight, the cheapest, drastically cheaper. Yet with a product that does not work as well as a more expensive product it will require more, thus the savings is really slim. Also Sodium and some others will quickly cause irreversible corrosion damage to equipment, cars, concrete, not to mention trees, turf, and nearby shrubs.

As always, we are looking forward to the days of spring, in the meantime thanks for reading, and if I don't see you here, I will see you outside!

Hybrid Moments...

I know, it has been a couple of weeks since my last Blog post, and I am now back at it. I have been spreading myself a little thin lately, but as you know, that is just my style.

I also usually try to utilize this space for educational posts, either to educate the reader, the student, or myself, which the latter is most often the case, as this life is a constant learning experience, lucky for me I work in an academic community and have so many resources to sustain my addiction to learning and experimenting. This time, this blog post is going to get a little personal...

Badge of Honor...

I have just purchased my first hybrid! It is a 2012 Kia Optima that runs off both fuel and battery power, and generates its battery power from the engine and braking, so no need to plug it in. I have only had it for about twelve hours at this point and venture, but I will be more than happy to give you my first impressions...

Note Economy Gauge on left, hopefully a new trend for future vehicles...

So far, I am a little overstimulated. This is my first luxury, well luxury to-me car, so all the voice commands, back up cameras, tinting mirrors, and so-on are a little overwhelming. Also when the car transfers to battery mode, it goes quiet, eerily quiet, and I must admit my heart sinks a little each time and this will take some getting used to.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, but thought a SCC parking lot photo was warranted.

My argument against hybrids has always been they are under powered  Well when I first hit the gas pedal I realized I was very mistaken. This car has more get-up-and-go than any car I have owned to date. Oh, and the bonus feature? The economy gauge is a tree branch that grows leaves the more economical I drive, isn't that fitting?

I promise to pick up my bi-weekly posting next week, until then, see you outside!

Driving us gnats...

We are still more than a month before winter officially begins, and we are experiencing our normal Missouri See-Saw temperatures. On a particular cold day, I decided to write a post about indoor plants, and have some more you will be seeing in the future. We are currently putting up our holiday light display around campus, and although we have made some creative changes to our light display, that doesn't make a very interesting blog post!

One of the most frequent calls I receive about indoor plants is Fungus Gnats. For an insect that completes their adult life cycle in seven to ten days, it is surprising that they cause such a ruckus! After some research I found that the females can lay around 200 eggs in that time period. Well that explains everything!

Fungus Gnat. Photo Open Source.

So if you have an indoor plant, I bet you have experienced these little Fungus Gnats at one time or another. These gnats, in their early stages of life, feed on, well, fungus! They spend the first few weeks of their life cycle in the soil. They love moist soil, so for those of us that over water our plants are a fungus gnats best friend, for a  few weeks or so at least.

So the best way to control these insects are to let the soil dry out between watering and ensure our pots have good drainage. I have heard some people having good luck with sprinkling tobacco on the surface of the soil, as nicotine is a great insecticide. So if you know someone who smokes cigarettes  this may be a great fix. Another trick I witnessed from my mother-in-law is to place a small container of soapy water under the plant. For some reason the bugs have a strong desire to get clean, but can't swim! Another tick I have heard is to take some yellow post-it notes and just cut off the sticky portion. Placing the sticky side up in or under your plant will attract the fungus gnats and they get stuck on the sticky surface.

Flowering Angel Wing Begonia (Hybrid) @ Administration Building Atrium Photo ©Dan Porter

Well I hope you are warm and cozy reading this post, and I hope you get a chance to walk around campus later this month to enjoy the holiday light display and the changing of the seasons! The display officially is turned on the last Friday of November each year. See you outside!

SCC Green Club Update...

This semester is flying fast! The SCC Green Club has been doing a lot of interesting things, and have quite a few things on the agenda.

The SCC Green club is a student organization passionately dedicated to sustainability and continuing to support green practices with the student body here at SCC, and also taking an active role with SCC staff and faculty as well. Students can join the club to be a little greener, or add this to their resume for rapidly growing career field in sustainability, whether it be Engineering, Biology, Architecture, Business, or many others! This is an amazing opportunity for students to get involved and make a difference in the community, for the environment, and SCC!

Some most recent events was a clothing drive for victims of the Colorado Wild Fires. The club was able to ship more than six boxes of items! The club has also collected over 50 pounds of batteries campus wide for recycling.

All charged up about battery recycling!

This past Friday the club worked up a sweat  on campus, in the natural field near the Social Science Building, removing invasive species that have popped up over the last few seasons such as Honey Suckle and Callery Pear.

Kristen, SCC Green Club member, cutting down Callery Pear

Near the Visual Arts Building.

The club unfortunately operates solely by volunteers, and needs to raise money to hold events and partake in educational opportunities. Currently the club still have seedling trees for sale, and this is the perfect time to plant! There are currently Red Oaks, Witch Hazel, and Dogwoods available for only $6 each! These are beautiful native trees that are in need of a good home. And the more you buy, the more you save, 3 Trees are only $15!

SCC Green Club Tree Seedlings looking for a home!

E-mail me today and buy some trees or make a donation, and we will plant a tree here at SCC! Thanks in advance for supporting such a great student organization, and I'll see you outside!

Stop! Don't Rake...

I love the smell of burning leaves. When I was young I lived in a small town and burning things was sort of normal practice. Whenever I smell burning wood or leaves those memories come back to me.

I was driving down my street the other day and saw numerous people raking their leaves. I sometimes wonder why anyone would go through such trouble. Keep in mind, I am very lazy and like to do things the easy way.

Pear leaves on the turf, natures fertilizer!

Mowing the lawn is not one of my favorite things to do. That is hard to admit, I love being outside, but I can't help but look at my mower with disdain. One thing that has become currently fashionable for lawn mowers is a mulching style mower as opposed to the bagging mowers. This is great, mulching grass clippings back into the yard is very green, as those clippings break down and become natural fertilizer!

So why not do the same with our leaves? Heck, you can cut your lawn and make those pesky leaves disappear at the same time, while feeding your yard those leaf bits. It is mother natures fertilizer, and we get to spend more time sitting on the porch, and less time running a leaf blower!

So stop raking and enjoy a nice relaxing hour outside! Lots of exciting things coming up in the near future, stay rooted and I will see you outside.

Jumping Into Leaf Piles...

Hey there Brothers and Sisters! Fall is here, and cold temperatures are on the way. I was greeted this past weekend to the smell of burning leaves, one of the greatest smells in the world. This is one of my favorite times of year, but also a some what hectic time as well. Yet, I thought I would take a moment to make a little confession here...

Growing up I always leaned heavy in the direction of the Natural Sciences. Lucky for me I have a job where I get to experience science everyday. I have recently taken to Instagram, which you can find my page here, where I will attempt to add a photo daily of the fun and interesting things I witness on a daily basis. This is not a college endorsed project, so please do not blame them for pictures of yucky bugs and other interesting specimens I may post.

Red Oak (Quercus rubra) fall leaves.

I often have people stop me and ask for advice, such as "What is wrong with my tree?" or "My plant is doing this, what's wrong?" Often, these people are surprised I don't have an answer right there on the spot. I believe this is because many of my blog posts are very authoritative and factual, but what no one sees is the "behind the scenes process" of my blog posts.

Usually my blog posts are something that I find interesting,  which usually means I find many resources on the subject and research and learn all I can about the issue/specimen at hand. So the blog post you read here is usually just as much a learning process for me as it is for the you. That's right, we are learning these things together! I also feel that even in my experience and knowledge, a significant amount of research should be done to ensure all the things I post are as factual as possible, and meet current scientific findings. (Yes, even in the green industry, many things change, and in science things change at such a fast pace, it is nearly impossible to keep up.)

Some heavy mileage books on my shelf...

One of my favorite things about my working environment is that I am surrounded by students, faculty, and amazing staff that are very philomathic (Yep, just learned that word researching some plant species names that have recently reclassified...) So its nice to have so many resources and interesting people around to support each other, and know nothing we do here is "cheapened."

So until next posting, thanks for reading and I'll see you outside!