A Great Egret Spotted

Although this week was quite a short one, it was still a productive one. From hearing the presentations of year 2 students regarding companions to working on our new management jobs, we have continued to enhance our understanding of the big picture of what Sustainable Agriculture is truly about. For instance, by promoting companions on our farm we are helping to create a more balanced ecosystem and so by mimicking nature we are working towards sustainability.

One particular type of companion I have seen during our area searches and farm walks are indicator species, mainly birds. I have observed about 4-5 white birds, which might have been seagulls, lining up in a single file line around the marshes. On our most recent farm walk, a seagull briefly flew past our farm. But more fascinatingly, this Wednesday morning, one Great Egret was waiting for me as I opened the gate to our farm. It was strolling peacefully around the area near our A-beds, but more than likely doing so in search for prey. These observations have made me realize even more greatly the importance of these indicator species since they serve as evidence for the quality of our environment. Their abundant presence over these past few days indicate that our farm is clean and thriving. Because the voles have been scavenging around our crops shown by the holes in the spinach leaves, their population is being kept in check by species such as the Great Egret. On a more general level, seagulls and great egrets generally thrive in marsh habitats near our farm area and their appearance also indicates that we have been successfully mimicking nature.

- Andrea Silvera

Farm Walk

This week on the RHS Sustainable Agriculture Farm, we put in a lot of good work cleaning up our beds and also started our new management jobs. We started the week off with a farm walk. On the farm walk we observed the progress we've made from the beginning of the year and we also pointed out areas that need more work. Some areas needing extra work are the pathways. They need cardboard and wood chips to be laid down along with some light weeding. There are also some beds with plants growing onto the paths which should be trimmed back. The rest of the farm work this week was devoted to our one beds and learning our new management jobs. We have also been using this week to polish our final drafts of our companion reports. Personally, the companion report has made me more aware of beneficials and pests that are prevalent on our farm. On Friday we began a film about bees called More Than Honey. It detailed the life of honey bees and how these beneficials help plants. It also showed the different ways that bees are used by humans. Next week we look forward to hearing from our year 2 students and the lessons they have planned for us on Monday.

-Max

Aphids

This week consisted of working on the farm and composing our companion report. On Monday and Tuesday we worked on our companion report and on Wednesday we worked on our farm jobs and one bed projects.

My companion report was about Aphids. Aphids are a little green bug and a pest to the farm. They mainly attack newly germinated crops as they are easy to eat and do not have any protection methods grown in yet. Aphids reproduce extremely fast and whole farms can be destroyed if the Aphid population gets too out of hand. 

In order to combat Aphids there are many organic techniques that can be used. One of which is to use Neem oil mixed with a little bit of water and spray it on the crops. Neem oil is a common oil that a lot of other pests do not like. Another way of getting rid of them would be to grow natural pest repelling plants such as onions and garlic. Finally, introducing beneficial bugs can also get rid of Aphids. For example, introducing spiders will be good for the farm as they only eat other bugs, not plants, meaning that the Aphids will die. 

There are many other companions on the farm that other students have done their reports on. Aside from pests, beneficial companions are lady bugs, spiders, garlic/onions, and cover crops. 

-Mya

Companions

This week we had a lesson on companions in the classroom as well as spending some time out at the farm working on our management jobs, our one beds, and preparing for our market day on Friday. We also took a short field trip to the marsh near the school on order to get a closer look at the ecosystem that we are trying to mimic. We observed several indicator species such as ducks which tell us that the ecosystem is healthy because a top predator feels like it has enough food and shelter. We also observed some of the features of the surrounding area that may lead to problems on our farm such as the marshy land that leads to flooding and the brackish water that may cause salinity problems. We observed and drew an area of the marsh as well as our farm and noted the natural features that make both of them similar.

During block period everyone worked on their management jobs and were able to get a lot done. My group sheet mulched and placed wood chips down on a large section of the farm near the hoop house, preventing weeds from growing and creating a clearly marked area to walk without stepping in the beds.

Friday was market day! We had a huge harvest with lots of kale that we had planted in our beds a few months ago as well as the rest of the lettuce. We harvested a lot of basil as well as a bunch of celery and rosemary. It's amazing to see so much growth over the past few months!

-Kobe

Companions, Pests, and Market Day

This week our class learned a lot about the relationship between organisms. It was interesting to learn how some plants compliment each other while others don't. For example if you plant strawberries with beans it helps both of these two plants grow. We also realized how huge of a problem pests are. 

Throughout our time on the farm we have seen many fruits and vegetables be eaten up by our vole infestation. This has been persisting a problem throughout the semester. Part of farming is dealing with the pests eating produce. We have learned this through first hand experience since we have been out here. We have also learned in class the putting out poisons or pesticides ends up hurting more than helping. Given that our pest problem was voles we just set out traps to dispose of the problem. 

Also, during this week we went out to the Redwood marsh to learn more about what the RHS Farmland looked like before landfill was added. From our time out in the Redwood marsh we were able to learn what we needed to do to mimic nature. For example, in the Redwood marsh more grasses and smaller bushes are in the middle of the marsh where trees and taller bushes grow on the outer ring. If you look at the RHS farm you will see that we have also done the very same thing. Trees tend not to like too much water on their roots so at a higher elevation their roots aren't going to be exposed to the sitting fresh water on top of the landfill. 

We also were able to observe the importance of having tertiary consumers at the marsh. These tertiary consumers help the ecosystem by limiting the amount of primary consumers so they won't wipe out the producers. In our farm the vole is an example of how we don't have a great amount of tertiary consumers to limit the voles from eating all of our produce. The vole is also a good indicator species showing us that we might not be picking our produce soon enough. 

However, we still have been getting quite a good yield of produce to sell at our market which happened this Friday.

—Josh D.