In the summer of 2024, I began my own garden as a way to calm my mind and bear something tangible that I can give back to my community. I plan on donating all of the veggies grown from my garden to the local food pantry NOSH as a way to connect my passions to my community. Currently, I am growing a heirloom tomato plant which has recently started to bear some tomatoes, two red bell pepper plants, and two mint plants –– one Kentucky Colonel and one peppermint. The best part about owning my own garden is being able to nourish something and get the returns in the form of delicious vegetables.
As of now, I am implementing an automatic watering system that takes advantage of an Arduino UNO board, solenoid valves, a faucet drip system, and moisture d
etectors. Although an automatic watering system would remove some of the daily maintenance of the garden, it is a fun and unique way to implement my love of engineering into the calming nature of a garden. So far, my plants have come a long way from the beginning and I cannot wait until they produce delicious vegetables.
I have been helping at NOSH for a good portion of my life in the form of organizing new donations or delivering food to families on weekends. Most of the food donated to NOSH is cheap and easy to use food such as packaged soups and meals, but the addition of freshly grown fruits and vegetables from my garden will enhance the selection. As I continue to grow and expand my garden a wider variety of f
resh staple foods will be available for my community.
Future update from Sammy here: I harvested the tomatoes, mint, and peppers. Sadly my two dogs ate most of the tomatoes before I could harvest them, so I only ended up getting 4 tomatoes. However, they tasted amazing. The mint I harvested was used to make a mint sun tea which my family and friends enjoyed. The harvest was not enough to donate to the NOSH food pantry, but I have been helping out there in my spare time. Below is a video of me detailing what my dogs did in the moment.
Please check back on my website in the near future to see how the automatic watering system is coming along as I am currently still developing it.
Due to the end of the planting season and a focus on other projects, I have postponed the watering system and begun working on a machine learning-powered dash camera that detects distracted driving. Please check the science page for more specifics.
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