I'm an undergrad product design student researching for a project on gardening and/or overwintering and I need your help! I'm looking for feedback from people who garden or have in the past (even if it was just one indoor plant!). In the end, I'm hoping to be able to tackle one or some of the most common problems we experience when gardening. If you could take some time to fill out my quick survey I would appreciate it so much! And/or pass my survey along to friends or family that may have any relevant experiences they'd like to share! If you have any questions or would like to talk to me more about this my email is shepher4@illinois.edu Thanks again I really appreciate your help and look forward to hearing about your experiences! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RBQQZY8

Chisue- I have seen that with obesity research (not so much the skinny side though). It is hard for parents to understand that yes, their child is overweight or obese and so is 60% of the child's class. Parents see their child as normal but normal can still be unhealthy. My "thing" with physical activity is that the benefits BEYOND weight control are what needs to be addressed- even if someone never loses weight, they can still improve their cardiovascular health, mental health, and bone health from physical activity. I don't want my nieces growing up to hate physical activity as much as I always have. I think I would have enjoyed PE class (which is actually very difference than actual physical activity) had I not had to dress out- getting dressed and undressed in front of a room full of people was horrid and really killed any enjoyment I ever got from being active.

1. The first time I realized that a banana peel wasn't 'garbage' to be buried in a landfill. 2. House. Small town. Small yard. Doesn't fit into such terms as 'sub'urban. Since it's far superior in terms of environmental efficacy, and allowing life to be lived as part of the natural world, I think I'll refer to it as protourban. 3. Compost is outdoors. 4. Food waste (scraps from processing the food, as food rarely gets 'wasted') gets tossed onto the veggie garden. Right there on top. No pile, just tossed on top. I carry the tray of scraps out, and toss it on top. There are piles outside which begin as piles of wood chips and leaves. They are brought over by the tree trimmers. They compost on their own. When they are close to a year old or so, they are sifted to extract the different materials. The finished 'compost' is put where it is needed. Larger chips are used as garden paths. Smaller chips, and unneeded larger chips are mixed with grass clippings, and with green leaves stripped from trees, and made into a new pile that will re-compost. I don't even turn them until I sift them. Oh, and Autumn leaves are gathered, and they too are tossed on top - of the garden, not the piles of wood chips. 5. Vermi-composting -tried it when I was younger and bought into the hype that worms in a bucket were 'better' than worms in the ground. It was too much hassle compared to just tossing scraps on top. Bokashi - Same hassle. As I said... Protourban = tossing scraps on top is being part of the ecosystem. Trees do it, shrubs do it, even little bitty weeds do it. 6. Ah... jumped the gun I did. No turning piles. Chips hold air better then classic compost piles. I do turn the scraps that were tossed on top under when I prepare the garden beds. But, that may end eventually as the clay gets sufficiently amended to allow no-till. By then, I'll probably be decrepit and need no-till. 7. Every once in a while, the aluminum pie pans that are used to hold, and carry the scraps and coffee grounds out to the garden wear out and leak. That's a hassle, and they need to be replaced. Some people don't like the looks of piles of wood chips, nor scraps on top... too bad. I don't like the look of concrete jungles, coal power plants, factories billowing waste, low atmosphere ozone, smog, noise pollution, plastic, people drinking water from disposable bottles... we'll call it even. No, no we won't call it even. They think a pile of decomposing organic matter is unsightly? Lol...someone wake me up from this nightmare. 8. I'm poor, and don't yet have the materials to build a more efficient sifting mechanism.

Did anyone do this? I got numerous pages into it, but am afraid to finish it. My husband thinks it's phishing... I got suspicious when it started asking about technology and cars...