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It was now several days into the new school year and Ishane was finally settling in to her new routine. Check and make sure everything was set up for the next class, wait for the students, give everyone five minutes after class technically started to settle down and allow the stragglers who accidentally went to the wrong greenhouse to show up. Ish had yet to go out of her way to get the class started with the NEWT classes. Though that was probably because everyone theoretically wanted to be  here.

Idly Ishane rolled up the sleeves of her shirt while she waited. The greenhouse was getting quite steamy, warmed by both the fall sunshine and the large fireplace that was going to keep certain parts of the student's projects from dying before they even started. When everyone had settled down Ishane clapped her hands signal that class had officially stated. "Today we're going to be starting our first big project of the year which will be maintaining an aquaponics setup. For this project everyone has been divided up into the groups you see up on the board." She thumbed behind her at the large freestanding chalkboard at the front of the class. "You'll be in these groups for at least the next couple of months and barring rare exceptions these groups are nonnegotiable. You guys are almost adults and I expect you to act like ones regarding any current or potential disagreements y'all might have," Ishane drawled.

"Each group gets their own station and the entire group will be responsible for maintaining it as a whole." Ishane and walked over to stand next to group three's station, placing her hand on the metal frame and pointing to each type of pot in turn. "The two big blue pots are for your fish, the pinkish pot is the filter pot which has already been planted with watercress to help out. And eight growing pots that have been already filled with a clay bead growing medium." She placed her hand into one of the pots and pulled out a handful of the small beads and showed it to the class.

"The water flows throughout the system using the rubber tubes starting from the fish pots, then through the filter pot to get rid of any fish waste, next through the growing pots and finally back into the fish pots. The tubing has been enchanted to push the water through the system. If you need to stop it for any particular reason use the spell Sisterium Aquam on whichever tube you want to stop the flow at. To restart the flow simply cast Aqua Fluensium on the same tube." Ish lectured as she demonstrated the spells on group three's station.

"What you chose to plant is up to you, though obviously you're  limited to what's avalable. I've got a large selection of fruits, vegetables and flowers in the front for your choosing." Ishane gestured to several shelving units at the front of the classroom. Each of which were filled with trays of seedlings, all of which were neatly labeled. "So everyone should be able to find something that they want. All the seedlings are bare root though, so you'll want to be gentle when you plant them in the growing pots or else you'll kill them."

"Also up front here," Ishane lightly tapped one of several colorful pails on the front table, "is where you'll get your fish. You'll be raising tilapia, which are found natively in tropical waters so you'll need to keep the water about 24 degrees Centigrade, or 75 degrees Fahrenheit for you Yanks. Their food will also be provided to you."

"Besides temperature, each group will be required to keep daily track of the nitrate and acidic level of the water, the state of your plants, average length of the fish and any problems you run across. The work table for your station should have a log book to keep these records in along with your fish food, measuring instruments, potions for testing and adjusting the water and gardening tools."

"If you forget anything, everything is written on the chalkboard and you can find it in more detail in the front of your log books. So if any of you have any questions feel free to ask. If not then what are you waiting for?" She shooed in the direction of the stations, "Get to it."

Plants that the students can choose from:
Leaf Veggies - Lettuce, Spinach, Bok Choi, Arugula, Chard, Cabbage
Vine growing Vegetables - Cucumber, Beans, Peas, Various kinds of Squash
Stalk Vegetables - Celery, Kohlrabi
Root Vegetables - Carrots, Beets, Onions, Turnips, Parsnips, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes
Bush growing Vegetables- Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bell Peppers, Chilies, Tomatoes,
Flowers and Ornamentals- Roses, Marigold, Petunias, Lobelia, Succulents, Zinnias, Dwarf Sunflowers, Lavender
Fruits - Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Watermelons and other Melons,
Herbs - Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Thyme, Mint, Chives, Garlic, Lemongrass, Comfrey, Yarrow, Sage

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OOC: If anyone wants to join the class and isn't currently assigned to a group please PM me first so I can update things accordingly.

For everyone that's currently part of the class, this group project will be going on for at least the in game months of September and October so if your group would like to start your own thread, please feel free to do so. Ishane is also available if you need her.

Finally, if anyone has any questions please feel free to send me a PM.

Update: Apologies but I realized that I didn't put in the pot dimensions for you in the starting post. Here they are below:

depth of pot x diameter of pot
Fish Pots  - 1.2m x 1m (3.3ft x 3.9ft)
Plant Pots  - 0.4m x 0.6m (1.3ft x 2ft)

length of pot x width of pot x depth of pot
Filter Pot  - 2.8m x 0.4m x 0.3m (9.2ft x 1.3ft x 1ft)

Days such as today, Ligeia keep to whiter, pastel clothing to avoid overheat. This meant that any and all stains from work would show but Ligeia was rarely perturbed by such stains, especially as she perfected her bleaching potion. Upon reaching the group two station,  Ligeia poked her parasol into the overgrowth along the ceiling where it stuck, giving her a small shady area by one end of the workstation.

"Pity this is a closed system," she said, peering into the pots. "I know an excellent fertilizer but I don't think the fish would appreciate it."

She consulted the list of produce and flora. "We have eight pots to fill. My votes are down for any of the bitter salad greens, onions, chilies, garlic, and ornamentals like roses, succulents, or lavender. But what are all of your wants?"

Ligeia did like roses, although if the blossoms got too distracting she would cut them off to keep the thorns. She had always favored prickly, acrid and bitter in her agriculture.

Sam had reeeeally lucked out.

No, not really. At all. But sarcasm wasn't really his strong suit.

He had landed in the foreignest, most complicated-sounding bunch of people he had ever laid eyes on. Still, everyone was at least still putting on their friendly, diplomatic airs and he was grateful for that.

Anyway, if there was one thing Sam really knew how to do, it was grow things. He had grown up running his butt ragged over Bird-in-Hand planting, replanting, tilling, seeding, harvesting, hauling, and cultivating. And, except for the harvesting of their biggest crops and tilling their biggest fields, they had done it all without the use of fancy-pants machinery. It was a rather intimate feeling, raising a plant, and Sam always felt a little flicker of love for the tiny life he'd fostered.

In fact, he'd already successfully grown a good deal of the plants Professor Blair had listed about a thousand times each, and was fairly decent at knowing their temperaments. Emboldened by this knowledge, he felt a little better about being the first in his group to speak up. "Hi," he offered with a genuine, friendly smile. He was sure to make eye contact with everybody in his group at least once as he spoke. There was a tiny bit of apprehension in the back of his head, mostly about the way his voice drawled and he said his o's and s's funny. How his short a's always had two syllables to them. "I'm Sam. Uh, I think we should at least do cabbage, can't go wrong with cabbage. An' I know carrots seem super easy but they'll turn on ya when ya least expect it. And, uh... oh! Peas are good. Ain't nobody ever had peas turn on 'em." He paused briefly, suddenly intensely aware that he'd been rambling. "But, I mean... anything'll be fine, I'm sure. What do you'uns think?"

After checking his group assignment on the board, Sasha weaved his way through the tables to where Group  Four's pots were set up.  He took a seat and quickly jotted down the assignment and notes from the board before turning towards his fellow group members. 

"Allo." Sasha returned the American's greeting, extending a hand across the table.  "Sasha," he offered in return.  He, of course, knew the other two Hogwarts students so he extended his hand to the third young woman before getting settled. 

Sasha was looking forward to this project.  Unlike the rest of his classes, there was a certain serenity to herbology.  Especially when the plants in question were generally edible versions of non-carnivorous plants like watermelons and mint.  Unlike Sam, Sasha hadn't had a lot of experience gardening at home.  Both of the family's houses had extensive, ornate gardens but they had hired staff to tend and work them.  The family just enjoyed them.  But, he'd always done well in herbology; it was kind of fun getting in there and getting your hands dirty and do something that didn't always entail scribbling notes. 

"Cabbage sounds good.  Peas, too.  Mint, I know, tends to like to lay siege to the whole pot so unless we put it with something hearty, it'd probably need its own pot.  A pot of mixed herbs could be good, though.  What about beets and parsnips?" 

Sasha glanced at the others in their group for their suggestions before turning back to Sam. "So, where are you, you know, from?  What part of America?"  The other young man certainly had an accent though, to him, Sasha probably had a peculiar one, too, with his peculiar mix of Bavarian and London accents.  Do they actually tip cows?"  He'd be sure to pass on the answer to Abby; she'd be proud he asked.

Lambright... Bainsadottir... Savitskya....Schalgenweit... Strelnikov....

Really? Did Professor Blair take all of the long, complicated, and foreign names and throw them together. And all of them had slight accents. Sasha with his Bavarian influences. Aurora and her Icelandic (or whatever the hell it was). Both Vladlena and herself with Russian accents. And honestly, after hearing British for years, listening to the American student's accents was confusing her. There were too many new and strange words floating around in their strange drawl. Granted they probably saw the Russian's accent as harsh. Ugh.

Luckily, plants were her niche. It was by far her favourite subject and everything that Blair had given them to work with, she knew how to say at least. So there wouldn't be a huge communication barrier. She walked over to where she saw Sasha and the American had already conglomerated. She sat down with them, a bright smile on her lips. If she was going to be working productively, it wasn't efficient to channel Kitty... No not at all.

"Demitria Strelnikov. Slytherin. No, I'm not from Durmstrang." She had had a few Beauxbaton students and most of the Americans ask when she was out of uniform. Mimi was in her silver and green uniform now, but it never hurt to spread the word.

She was in the process of trying to figure if she should give the American bises (the influence of the foreign students was making her revert to her normal greeting) or to just extend her hand. She chose the latter even though it felt extremely awkward to her.

 "What do you think we should grow? I'm more comfortabke with herbs and flowers, but if you want some vegetables, that's fine as well. Personally, I think we should stay away from fruits. Since I'm veela, any plant that I touch will grow fairly well, but unless there are about a hundred and fifty charms on it, I can attract bugs. Thought I might as well warn you to begin with."

Demitria's eyes flashed to her arms breifly. New scars crisscrossed on them and even though the dark scabs had mostly gone, it was obvious they were still sore from the way she moved them. That morning she had already had a Salem 4th year gasp as she walked by. Such a lack of decorum was appaling, but she had visually ignored it. It had hurt, though and she needed Herbology to distract her.

Herbology was one of the classes that Corey was thrilled to take and subsequently get involved with. Any class that allowed him to get his hands dirty was plenty alright with him.

Once the professor gave them all of their instructions, Corey moved to Group Two's station to greet the other students he would be working with for a while. It appeared to be an interesting bunch. Aside from himself, there were two Salem students and two Hogwarts students. "Bonjour," he greeted them quietly and with a nod to each in turn.

When the blonde (or was that technically blanc?) haired female student piped up almost immediately with her opinion on what they should plant, Corey simply nodded and agreeably said, "I have no preference as to what we should plant. But since we have eight pots and eight groups, perhaps we can choose one of each?" He shrugged and looked to the others for their imput.

Sophie couldn't help but be excited about Herbology. She liked growing things, it made her feel more capable and useful. It also didn't hurt that two of her favorite people were in the same group and from what she'd seen in classes of the last week she'd like Jean-Paul (who she would eventually just start calling JP) and Kayla well enough too. She was maybe a little sad that Lucas was off with Ollie but they'd survive. With one last (mildly forlorn) look over her shoulder in the general direction of her two best friends she bounced over to the gathering place of group five, features bright once again, "What d'you think of growing Sunflowers? Not only are they really pretty, but for the most part are fairly low maintenance - once you get past the seedling stage anyway, though they don't like to be moved much".

She looked expectantly from one group member to the other. It wasn't that she was lazy or looking for an especially easy grade, it was just the more simple every thing seemed the more likely eight people could handle the task. Stuffing her hands inside her sweater pockets she sort of bounced on the balls of her feet, "I mean obviously there are eight pots and lots of different things we can try, Garlic grows really fast and Lemongrass is nice too," this was what Sophie did when she wasn't completely, totally, finitely sure about the people she would be working with - she babbled. She literally had to bite her tongue to keep from going on. Sophie had a habit of liking to be in charge of things, but she didn't want to seem bossy; just chipper and helpful.

For the first time in a long time, Tracy—so normally upbeat and excited and hard to get down about anything—was actually a little disappointed.

And it shamed him.

Herbology. Ever since he was little, less than three feet tall and smiling a gummy, gap-toothed smile, it had always been Herbology for him, even more than cooking and Potions (which was almost as good as cooking, and had a bang to it, too); since he’d been able to sit on his da’s lap the boy would watch his father go over notes, comparing observations of one species—like the Flutterby bush—to another—the Snargaluff—listening wide-eyed as their magical properties were broken down into metaphors a toddler could understand. When he was a little older, his father, Harold, had begun allowing him to help in tiny ways, like passing over a pair of secateurs, or changing the soil, or drying samples when they needed to be dried, all of which were pretty important when another pair of hands were needed. . .

And so for most of his life the boy had been up to his neck in plants beastly, beautiful, trivial and magical, that ever-growing fascination nurtured by his Herbologist father—as well as encouraged by a mam and dam who had come from the swamps. Being disappointed in even one class seemed a lil’ too much like betraying it. But, with so many of his classmates enthusiastic about the project—particularly his fellow groupmates and friends who weren’t—it wasn’t hard for the senior to regain what enthusiasm he had lost. And indeed, that brief, sinking feeling of disappointment hadn’t even really shown on his face at all.

Besides, he had grown some of what were listed up there before. His Nanna had seen to that.

“I’m prone t’ onions ‘n tomatoes myself,” he answered Corey, grinning easily. “Sweet potatoes too, can’t go wrong there. But, seein’ how we haveta keep an ‘ntire system, maybe we should try keepin’ to plants tha’ need sim’lar care? Or somethin’.” He glanced among his teammates and shrugged, scratching his cheek sheepishly. “S’ been a while since I did veggie gardenin’, sorry.”

   

Odessa tried not to look bored, she really did, but that look had sort of situated itself upon her face a good many years ago and seemed reluctant to give way to anything else. She had hoped, given the things she had heard, read, and seen growing around the grounds that their first project might be a little more...toothsome, meaty, adventurous. It wasn't an invalid lesson, knowing how to care for the soil and the different nutrients each plant would need was a crucial part of cullviation... it just wasn't a particularly daring element of herbology. Still, Professor Blair seemed more than competent and had graciously (and probably unknowingly) saved the girl from another bout of social inadequacy by paring the Senior with her best friend.

It was easier to remember to be nice with Tracey was around, or he just offset her sour face with his smiling one. At least she didn't have to deal with Sam cowering in the corner out of fear. That got old and just made her more grumpy - which in turn made everyone think she was just awful for picking on the Amish kid, even though she'd never so much as really said boo to him. Twisting her hair into a loose knot she inspected the list of plants and threw a look to her fearless leader who looked less than fearless. Awesome, she was actually going to have to try and be a people person. "Trace has a point, eight different plants means eight different needs unless we run a common theme between them all. The bigger the difference in their needs the more margin for error. Tracy isn't a fan of error. Gives him hives," she gave the dark skinned boy a small nudge with her elbow and looked to the other three.

Ollie took note of those who were in her group, and that was when she realized her best friend was not in hers. A few months of not working with Sophie in Herbology, that was lame. She sighed, sort of wishing she had someone who understood the whole werewolf thing and wouldn't throw a fit if she wasn't in class. Not to say any of the other people she was grouped with would do that, she just knew Sophie would back her up. But she did have Luc so that was something. She noticed Corey was also in this class, and some how had evaded her group as well. Pity. It would have been neat to have her new friend in group with her. The only saving grace was she wasn't in a group with Sasha, now how awkward would that be.

"So group? What do we wish to plant?" Ollie sounded in a hope that she would get some sort of feed back from anyone. Herbology was not her best class but it didn't mean she didn't have a heart to give it a go. "May I make the suggestion of Bok Choi just because it is fun to say?" She smiled brightly but then looked at the list a little more seriously.

Katya peered into one of the fish pots curiously while she waited for everyone to assemble. She had never raised fish before and found the prospect interesting. If she remembered correctly fish tanks were supposed to be clear, and planted for fish comfort or something. She supposed however that the fish weren't the main part of this.

She looked up when one of her teammates spoke up offering something to plant. She was a Hogwarts student in yellow and if she remembered correctly the yellow Hogwarts student in this class was Olivia Foley. It was either that or Alexandra Carstairs. She hoped she could get along with everyone for this project; it would be stressful enough for her without infighting. And with Vladlena in the class she couldn't slip up. Vladlena didn't seem the type to gossip but she was an Obertiel, Katya couldn't drop her mask in front of a fellow Obertiel.

"I do not have a problem with planting Bok Choi." Tapping her finger against her lip, she mused, "I personally would like to have strawberries if possible.  Lavender is always nice too, nor would I be opposed to flowers in general." She mentally collected herself and folded her hands in front of her, projecting the image of a refined young lady. "You are Miss Olivia Foley, correct? I apologize but there are so many new faces I can not be certain." She cocked her head gracefully to the side and introduced herself, "I am Yekaterina Alkaev, though you may call me Katya if it is easier." She was the only foregin female name in their group so it should be easy to guess who Katya was, but it hurt no one to be polite and officially introduce herself.

Migs found his way over to his designated group and took a spot, pulling his hair back into a quick ponytail before getting too far into the exercise.  He was the only Salem-ite in his group; judging by the names on the board, one of the students was clearly from Durmstrang.  "Hello, again."  Migs greeted Olivia, remembering her from the welcoming feast when Migs imposed himself upon the Hufflepuff table.  "Leonard Nagde," he offered brightly to Katya and the others in their group.  "But, Migs works just as well." 

"Do you think we will be eating what we grow?"  Migs peered up at the list of available plants on the board.  Tilapia were pretty tasty and would probably go well with garlic, lemongrass and broccoli.  "Perhaps this is a leading up to the end of the semester potluck."  That was probably not the end goal of this exercise but it could be fun. 

"Alright - bok choy, strawberries and lavender."  And, flowers.  They were on their way to quite a romantic date ready garden.  They just needed to add some roses and petunias to round it out.  Which ... may be rather useful.  There were now four schools worth of prospects.  It wouldn't hurt to be prepared.  "Good ideas.  Bok choy, strawberries, lavender, roses, petunias - how about melon.  Can't go wrong with melons."

Jay quickly made his way over to where Group Five's station was. His mind was racing at the prospect of the new project and very likely for reasons none of his peers were excited for. Being at a new school for an entire year that didn't offer his favourite class (magical design) Jay was left with finding new and exciting ways to feed his passion. He could have kissed Professor Blair for having given him such a wonderful opportunity. As soon as he made it to the work station Jay had his notebook out, quill furiously sketching away. First he did an accurate representation of each of the pots while marking in the exact dimension of each (all measured more or less by eye) next he added in the feeding tubes and finally he began to sketch out a few cylindrical discs. The discs would be designed to fit under each pot, each enchanted to control the temperature of the pot above, hopefully indefinitely. That way they didn't have to worry about keeping the fish tank near a source of heat to keep it at the right temperature, and they didn't have to worry about choosing different types of plants when they each had their own climate control.

"Anything you want cherie." He gave Sophie a wink. Though he was the only Beauxbatons in the group and was currently sporting his pale blue school uniform his accent still often turned heads, many students believing him to be from Salem. With his Dad being American he had developed a Yankee accent when learning English. He spun his note pad around to show it to Sophie, "If these work out like I know they will each pot, and the fish tank, will have it's own adjustable climate control, you can plant anything your pretty little heart desires." He looked up at the rest of the group, "Or anything anyone else wants for that matter, just don't put me in charge of feeding the fish. I may not remember."

Kirby Gracean made a note of whom she would be working with other the next few months in herbology. So who was in her group. Olivia Foley? No she didn't know her. Leonard Nadge she knew as migs luckily. But Lucas Norwood? She didn't know them either. None of the names looked familiar to her not that she was bothered anyway.

She made her way over to where group one where stationed noticing not all of the group had assembled yet. She noticed a blonde and brunette girl stood discussing. "Olivia and Katya?" she asked hoping that she was stood at the correct table. She was nervous enough about working with five people she had never met. "Hi Migs." she smiled at the familiar boy stood infront of her. yes she was at the correct table.

Vex merely sat back as the group discussed what plants they should plant. Honestly though, he didn't care. The Salem boy wasn't exactly taking the subject to learn how to plant things. There were no plans in his mind to establish a little garden back in Arizona. No, Vex was taking the subject because he was 'advised' by his family that it would be useful for an Auror. He supposed he saw where they came from, after all, it would probably come in handy to be able to identify dangerous plants. But actually tending and caring to the things? Snore fest.

Tracy made a fairly good point, which was to be expected. He always seemed to know what to do when it came to plants. "Sounds good to me," Vex chimed in, just so they wouldn't bother him about it later. By the sound of it doing it Tracy's way would be the easiest as well; something Vex was always in support of. Nothing wrong with a challenge, but if there was an easy and completely valid way to do something, Vex would take it. "Although if it matters, I have a personal preference to be able to eat what we grow."

May as well make the plants useful.