In collaboration with the service group Eco-Schools who aims to make OSC more sustainable, Housing & Habitat was given the opportunity to help build garden beds. The purpose of these garden beds is to promote ecological sustainability around our school canteen by helping grow certain ingredients for them. For this service activity, we were instructed and taught by the school architects and builders how to create garden beds. As a service group, we were asked to help build the garden beds near the labs and the other next to the primary playground. Unfortunately, I was not part of the building process of the garden beds near the labs which took 2 days due to being sick.  However, I was lucky enough to help build the second garden bed for the two-day building process. For the first building day, we went down to the area as an entire service group. Before starting, the architect team had already dug a rectangular hole and filled it with a plastic sheet held in place with a steel rod frame to help support the building of the base. We then created concrete by mixing sand, cement powder, rocks, and water. With the concrete, we filled the frame placed in the ground in order to create the base of the garden bed. 

Dugged-out Rectangular Hole

Making Concrete

The base of the Garden Bed

On the second day, a group of around 8 people spent another two hours bringing the garden bed to near completion.  The next step was to place the bricks on the base and to continue stacking them up to construct the borders of the bed. To do this, we made mortar by mixing sand, cement powder, and water to keep the bricks in place. While some of us we making the mortar, others would collect it and spread it across the cement base to then lay the bricks. Using a wooden rod, we had to make that there was a gap between each brick to then fill the gap with mortar. We then made to nicely align the bricks using a long metal rod. The same steps were then repeated for the next layer of bricks. After working hard for 2 hours, we were able to lay 3 layers of bricks.

Laying the Bricks

End Product

Learning outcomes:

L02: When making the first batch of mortar, it took us a lot of time and effort. However, we then learned when making the second batch that two people stand on opposite sides while one uses the shovel to pull the mixture of mortar towards them. Once having pulled all of it close to them, the other person would use the shovel and pull it back to them. By doing this, the sand, cement powder, and water were all mixing well to create the mortar while we were not wasting too much energy and force.

L04: As a service group, we were very committed to the building of these garden beds as we spend around two hours on Saturdays outside of school hours to build. As well as that, we spent multiple service sessions building the garden beds.