Weeks 6-8

Mayor's Office

On June 24, 2024, I went to the Municipal Agricultural Office, hoping to collaborate with an official from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for my project. I sent a cover letter to the Municipal Agriculturist stating my intention to meet with them because I wish to collaborate with the office if they have any projects with a similar premise to mine in the community; another intent for the meeting is the search for a content expert. They can provide input to my project, enriching what I have already developed with the office's - and the aforementioned agencies' - expertise in agriculture.

Due to time constraints, I have decided not to implement a seminar for a search for a resource speaker may be daunting, and instead focused on the production and distribution of a booklet, which is targeted on the second week of August.

CAFS/iCrops/Edible Landscaping

For two Mondays in July (July 1 and July 8, 2024), while waiting for approval from the mayor of Los Banos, I decided to communicate with UPLB's CAFS (College of Agriculture and Food Sciences) under the suggestion of my external adviser. Dr. Eureka Ocampo, dean of CAFS, then referred me to one of its departments, iCrops (Institute of Crop Sciences), who in turn referred me to the Edible Garden, overseen by Dr. Marco Espino, who would eventually become my content expert for this project. Dr. Espino was kind enough to give me a lecture on vertical gardening, hydroponics, and composting using a PowerPoint presentation that he presented at a conference the day before. He even allowed me to tour the edible garden, where a variety of plants, including food crops and medicinal plants, were planted using the aforementioned methods.

Dr. Espino's lecture informed the content of my booklet, which shall be distributed to at most 30 participants residing in Brgy Batong Malake, Los Banos, Laguna on either the first or second week of August 2024.