Final Projects Begin.

This month included the first work day that the class was able to work on their final projects. These final projects range from a wide variety of projects and internships. We will work on the farm every Wednesday for 7 weeks to complete the final projects. Look for more updates on the blog for others final projects in the weeks to come.
Miles

Aphids: A Powerful Pest

A cabbage plant invested with white aphids

Over the past few months on the Redwood Farm, the main obstacle to achieving a sustainable food system has been pests. The pest causing the most problems has been the aphid, that ranges in size between 1-10 mm, that has proven to be among the most destructive of pests in temperate regions. Here on the farm, it is our goal to create a 100% organic and sustainable food system and that being said that prevents us from using synthetic pesticides. However it is not only because we want to be organic that we do not use pesticides, pesticides have been proven to have a minimal effect on pests and in addition often leads to a loss of soil fertility and soil structure in the future. After our trip to IVC(Indian Valley Campus College) Organic Farm and Garden we noticed they did not have a problem with aphids. After discussing with our guide the IVC Farm uses high pressure hoses to pray the aphids off. Not only is this an effect method that we have started to use at our farm but also it uses water(which plants need anyway) which is a much more efficient pesticide than inorganic synthetic pesticides.  

Harvesting for Market Day

On the last Friday of each month, the students from the Sustainable Agriculture class spends the whole class period at the Redwood Farm. Our task, on March 27, was to take all of the crops that were ready to be harvested to sell for the Market Day. Since we have now entered the Spring season, many of the crops have begun to bloom and grow. Each harvest is measured on a special scale where the weight can be measured. The amount of pounds are then recorded on the Harvest Data sheet. All the students were occupied and busy collecting kale, strawberries, onions and much much more!

A few students collected flowers and made flower bouquets which were absolutely beautiful. Onions were collected and filled up two buckets. Kale and chard were harvested and put into bundles.

Starter plants were grown and seeds were collected to be sold for the market. After three months of limited growth at the farm, the month of March surprised us all and hopefully we will receive a lot more crops to harvest over the next months.

Compared to our Winter harvest, many pounds were collected and sold. This month was a success and we made over $150 for the Market Day. 

-Amada Acuache