Are You The Next Top Master Chef?

This week involved characteristics of competition, teamwork, and sustainability. Once garden bed groups linked up with another bed to create their team, the race for top master chef was on. The overarching goal of this activity was to create a meal including a common crop in our farm, kale. As teams brainstormed and debated the dish they believed would win top chef, many topics had to be kept in mind. These included appearance, taste, timeliness, had to be vegetarian, ability to keep your work space clean, and of course the special ingredient of kale. On block day teams met at the farm to retrieve any needed crops from the garden. After collecting several ingredients teams then weighed in the amount of crop harvested. Taking ourselves and items back into the classroom the race was on to see which team could please Mr. Stewart's tastebuds the most. Provided with stoves, silverware, pots and pans, and a few basic cooking ingredients such as olive oil, teams began preparing for what they hoped would turn out to be delicious meals. With about 50 minutes, each team washed their crops (and hands!) to start their chef making process. Many struggled at the beginning with dividing up jobs and some even experienced rivalry between teams as everyone wanted to be the top master chef. While recording crops and items used, each team developed their own creative dish involving kale from our farm, making this activity more sustainable than you could imagine. As time headed towards the end of class everyone placed their left over crops in the compost bowl and sat at the edge of their seats to see if their dish earned first place. After being tested by our judge, every student got a taste of the other groups creations. Once the activity was over everyone had a sense of accomplishment no matter what place you received because each and every person became a little closer with their fellow classmates while also helping our planet be more sustainable.  - Makaela

Compost

This past week in the farm we focused on our management jobs and finishing transplanting starters or planting seeds.  For the compost management job, the assigned students were tasked with adding and organizing the pile. The bottom layer is comprised of sticks to promote aeration, followed by layers of brown and green plant matter, and compost.  The compost is sprinkled on top of the pile as an "inoculant" because compost contains lots of bacteria that aids in the decomposition of the plant matter. Contrary to popular belief, turning compost can be less effective than just leaving the pile be.  Heat is key in decomposition, and it gets hot in the middle of the pile. Turning the pile can allow the heat to escape. We did not turn the pile, but we did add material like eaten apples and peaches. Also, we kept the pile's matter neat and evenly distributed so that the maximum amount of decomposition occurs.  Lastly, we filled over 2 buckets with the compost the farm produced and added it to the farm's big pile.

-Alex Peters

Sheet Mulching

This week, after having planted most, if not all, of our seeds in our beds, we began taking care of other jobs around the farm. In addition to our management jobs, where we work on composting, watering, farm infrastructure maintenance, and managing companions, we also began taking care of smaller jobs that were equally as important, such as "sheet mulching." Sheet mulching is laying down long pieces of cardboard in areas of the farm and covering them in a layer of wood chips, and this serves several effective purposes on our farm. It smothers weeds by preventing them from growing upwards or reaching sunlight, making it easier to get rid of them later, or allowing us to leave them alone entirely. It also helps create more obvious pathways so no one walks in the beds. We mainly used sheet mulch on the pathways, but it can also be used in the actual beds themselves to trap moisture in the soil in order to save water. This is especially helpful as it allows us to be more efficient in our irrigation systems. The cardboard is stiff at first, but as it starts to get wet and softens up, it blends into the farm and is hardly noticeable. The process only takes a couple of minutes, and is very easy, considering the several helpful effects it has on the farm.

- Chloe Holder

Other sources used:
https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fmodernfarmer.com%2f2016%2f05%2fsheet-mulching%2f&c=E,1,aSb7jQqpEZ7zZ2_H6tqefz7hmX_dTDVb0vNuSOIL3SAYhN9894yJCwurQzGfHeB04FCuWduxvu7tsH5_FY4JgXGFXao3YXTTM1FhwuW_P_EMhg,,&typo=1
https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.marinwater.org%2f158%2fSheet-Mulching-Guide&c=E,1,lSoUzOsxO1W0z_G56UVQD43FYFvQP7aCSipJRPg3xlBrPBjUehoOaetkl8OIwijSyAG-4YKYs6vQxBSu8jl6dwxIN79tuDFSYmYecT3f984,&typo=1

How to Take Care of Seedlings

When plants go from an environment that has controlled temperature, light, and heat to being planted in a bed outside it can be very hard for them. There are two very important things to know: when to move the plant and how to take care of it once it's moved. A good general rule is when the seedling has 3-4 real leaves it's big enough to move. Because the plant will need more energy to survive outside then it did when it was inside and it needs the energy and nutrients stored in the leaves to help it survive. The first month can be very crucial for the seedlings and it's very important that the new plants are watered every day. When the sprouts are growing they use and lot of energy and they need more nutrients. The water is also used for the process of photosynthesis, which is how the plant gets its nutrients needed to grow. It's also very important not to over water the plants because that can lead to rotting. In the picture you can see the plant in the middle is healthy but the plant on the right was overwatered and as a result died and the one on the left was underwatered and it died as well. Its important to not drown the plant in water but not let it dry out. 

The use of Fertilizer

This past weeks in sustainable agriculture we got our beds ready for planting. The first step in was to double dig, which aerates the soil and helps grow better crops. The process of double digging was very easy we removed a section of dirt of the end of the bed and moved it to the other end. We then aerate the space where we took out the dirt using a spading fork which created  more air pockets which allowed the water to be absorbed by the soil and the roots can now grow easier. After this was done we used fertilizer to make sure the soil is fertility and can grow nutritious crops and more healthier crops, the fertilizer also contains plant nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium.

-Camilo

Time to Mulch!

As we start the week of with some mulching, it's important to understand this concept: the reason of mulching and why it's important for our small trees in our growing garden. Some background information on mulch: Mulch is basically compost mixed in with bark and/or wood. Mulching is used to improve a trees health. It is a layer spread around our trees at a certain diameter in order to help stop weeds from growing. In a way, mulch is a protector for the soil. Mulch is needed in order to prevent any root competition, it holds moisture in and prevents soil compaction as well. As it breaks down, the nutrients from the mulch transfers to the soil and adds nutrients which is a big help to the trees. It is very important not to let the mulch come in contact with the trunk or else it will kill the tree instead of allowing it to grow. When the mulch touches the trunk, the roots growing upwards will cause stem girdling roots and eventually kill the tree, which is something we don't want for our tree! You should never let a layer become deeper than 3, or even worse, 4 inches inches. Spread the mulch wide enough to cover the root system and remember to mulch on newly planted trees. We started to sheep mulch near our beds, but take a turn in mulching a tree sometime! The trees will thank you for giving them a boost of life!

Geraldin Hernandez

One Bed Crop Plan and Calculations

As we get closer and closer to finishing our preparation for our one bed projects, one of our final prep jobs is to decide what crops we want to grow over the course of the fall season. This week students were given the opportunity to choose any five crops they wanted to grow this fall season. Choices ranged from a head of lettuce, to bunches of bell beans. With these choices, came requirements and expectations. On top of choosing what crops we wanted to grow this season, we were also asked to complete a empty table full of listed calculations and data values. The data table included things from the total square feet you needed from your bed to actually grow the crops, to how many pounds of the crops your expected to grow during the season. Although the calculations took a bit to complete and fully understand, the actual numbers we get from these calculations are important because they help guide us what we're going to grow this season as well as what we need to do in order to meet these data expectations. These calculations aren't only just used exclusively for the fall season, they're also used for all the other seasons we grow in class, including both winter and spring. We not only use these numbers to help gauge how much were going to grow of each crop, but are also used to check back upon the end of each season in order to see whether or not our designated group for the one bed project actually met the required amount of pounds of both calorie and compost, calorie being 30 lbs and compost being 18-20 lbs. Without these calculations, we wouldn't be able to determine whether or not our group actually would meet the given requirements of the actual one bed project as well as how much of each crop we needed to grow in order to meet those given requirements.   

- Matthew Pollock

*below is a picture of a student working on the one bed calculations for plant bed A1 for the fall planting season

Dibble Boards

This week we focused on placing our seedlings from the flats, into our beds. This is a process called transplanting. A few weeks ago we planted seeds into the flats that turned into the seedings we used for transplanting. The plants were brought out to the farm, from the classroom, a day before planting to let them acclimate to their new environment. We carefully took trowels and loosened the soil around the seedlings to be able to remove the plants. Without touching the roots, the seedlings were placed in clear plastic bins for easy transportation to the beds. The How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons informed us how far apart the plants needed to be for ideal growth; the information starts on page 134. An example of a plant that most groups planted is Bell Beans. Bell Beans need eight inches in between one another. A dibble board (pictured below) or spacing bar was used to get the correct distance. A dibble board is a piece of wood with small wooden pegs poking out creating the correct spacing and distance. A spacing bar has various lengths depending on how far away the plants are supposed to be placed. The plants also need to be in offset rows, in a triangular pattern. After transplanting we watered, making sure the water got a least one inch below the surface. Lastly, for a successful growth, we need to continue to water our beds every day for the next two weeks. 

- Hannah

   

 

What does 60/30/10 mean?

When growing in a sustainable farm, using the method of 60/30/10 can be quite useful when deciding what to plant and when. The How to Grow More Vegetables book states that, "A 60/30/10 ratio for a year of crops has been shown to produce sustainable food and soil fertility." What do these ratios stand for? The 60 represents Carbon and Calorie crops, chosen for maximum carbon and significant calories. The 30 stands for Calorie and Specific Root Crops, chosen for maximum calories. Lastly, the 10 represents vegetation crops for vitamins and minerals. The target amount per person is 13,200 calories per 60 square feet, the amount of space we have in one bed on the farm. This translates to about 30 lbs of food harvested in one bed in a year.  In addition, the goal for compost, which is air-dry biomass, is about 18 lbs per bed. These numbers have been proven to assist with higher yields in less space, what sustainable farming is all about.

Why do we use it?

We use this method because it is a sustainable way to produce crops that we can eat, are good for the soil, as well as generating material for compost. The 60/30/10 ratio does leave room for choice, especially if there is one certain crop, like tomatoes for example, I want to include in my bed. While I know that tomatoes are heavy feeders, I can still incorporate nutrients elsewhere in my bed. Having sufficient calorie crops are especially important when planting in a sustainable farm, in order to produce enough food to eat for a whole year. Composting is also essential and having enough compost, including acquiring compost from plants that have already been harvested, is key to having healthy soil especially between growing seasons.

Why is it sustainable?

This ratio of 60/30/10 was taken from the book we refer to often in class, How to Grow More Vegetables. This book talks about methods for growing sustainably. In general, their Grow Biointensive plan uses 99% less energy than commercial agriculture while using a fraction of the resources. 60/30/10 is a major part of that sustainability because it can produce carbon and calorie crops, crops for vitamins and minerals, while still generating enough compost to keep the soil healthy and fertilized. For this reason, the 60/30/10 ratio is very sustainable and helps reinforce farming habits that are good for you and the soil.

When do we use this method in class?

I am in charge of the A12 bed on the farm, along with 3 other students. We used this method when deciding what to plant in our bed, as many other groups in class did as well. It was especially helpful to refer to when our bed wasn't balanced, with too many heavy feeders and not enough crops that generate compost. The 60/30/10 ratio helped our group determine what could and couldn't be planted while still keeping in mind our original plan of what we wanted to be harvesting when the end of the growing season came. —Noe C

Planting Overview

This week we learned about planting seeds and transplanting. One of the main focuses of Biointensive gardening is how you plant. In John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables, it describes the prefered method for planting on a Grow Biointensive farm, which is the intensive planting method. The intensive planting method focuses on planting as many plants as possible in a single bed. In class, we used spacing sticks to measure the right space between each hole before planting the seeds in the hole. The key to intensive planting is to stagger your holes so that you maximize space. Depending on how wide your bed is you may be able to make 3-4 holes across the width of your bed. The next row you stagger so that the holes become arranged in a octagon pattern.

Another tool that will help you to plant your plants with proper spacing is a spacing board. A spacing board has pegs that are all an equal distance from each other. To use the spacing board you put the peg side down into the soil and push down on the top in order to create a bunch of holes in your soil all at once, rather than doing it individually with a spacing stick.

The main purpose for using the intensive planting method is to use your bed's space as efficiently as possible. Also, using this method will allow the plant's leaves to touch once they grow, which creates an important mini-climate under the plant's leaves. This touching of the plants retains moisture in the soil, which is important to help aid in the growing of plants. Using these techniques will help to plant more plants in your bed than planting in rows.

Maggie Robison

Keep Invasive Species Out!

As we wrapped up our double digging this week and finished preparing our beds for planting, one of our duties was to get rid of any invasive species growing near our space. One of the plants we kept an eye out for was Spotted Cat's Ear. Although Spotted Cat's Ear (pictured below) looks like a harmless yellow flower, it is in fact an invasive weed that should be removed completely and properly. Invasive plants use up resources and space that would've otherwise been used to nourish native plants, or in our case, veggies and flowers. They are known to grow quickly and aggressively by either spreading their roots or dispersing their seeds. This kills off other plants and creates a monoculture in the surrounding environment that exhausts the soil, making it hard for anything other than that invasive plant to grow. Furthermore, invasive plants mature quickly which in turn produces more seeds and roots and causes the plants to multiply. 

So how do we keep invasive species out? It's important to be vigilant and remove these weeds and their roots when they are small, before they can mature and spread. Additionally, you can plant native or noninvasive plants if there is bare soil around, as weeds thrive in bare and undisturbed areas. Lastly, be conscious of the amount of fertilizer you use and where you put it. Fertilizers can be an advantage for invasive plants because they provide lots of nutrients which allows them to grow even more rapidly. It is imperative to control invasive populations to maintain the health of native species as well as allow other plants to have access to needed resources. 

Kotone Berreman

More on... Double Digging on the Farm

In our first two weeks of Sustainable Agriculture, we learned about the various tools we will use, the rules of the farm, and how to prepare the soil for planting. After choosing our garden groups and garden beds, we started deep soil prep, which we learned is the first part of the bio-intensive "three-legged stool". Double digging is a good method for deep soil prep because the soil will hold more water through aeration, it enhances nutrient availability, and facilitates root penetration while minimizing erosion. To double dig, each garden bed needed shovels, buckets of compost, a spading fork, and a pick. With the spade and flat shovels, we dug a trench the width of the shovel and about one foot deep, transferring that soil to the end of the bed to be added to the last trench. Then, we started to fill the trench with soil from where the next trench would be, as well as aerating with the spading fork and adding in compost halfway. This pattern was repeated for the whole length of the garden bed, in which we occasionally removed invasive weeds and plastic. The last step was evenly raking the soil, distributing some organic fertilizer, and thoroughly watering the garden bed. Next week, we will choose types of plants we want to grow for the semester. 

- Sarah Dougherty

Farm Irrigation

Fun facts about drip irrigation is that it takes water straight to the crop providing necessary crop needs for the crop to bloom. Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient ways to provide crops need and supply unlimited amounts of nutrients and vital needs for the crop. Drip irrigation system saves time and money. Sprinkler systems are less efficient than a drip system because sprinkler systems tend to fail to provide water at giving times. Drip system is a type of watering system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of the plants. We as a class use drip irrigation systems because of the facts listed above.     

An irrigation system is process in which water can be supplied through pipes, ditches, and sprinklers. Main objective of an irrigation system is to help agriculture crops grow. The main importance of a irrigation system is to keep crops moisturized necessary for the germination of seeds. Plants can absorb nutrients and minerals from the irrigated soil. Because of an irrigation system its possible to supply the amount of hydrogen and oxygen necessary.

Possible set up: First step is to connect a water supply with 3/4 inch PVC pipe. Install a shut off valve in the PVC pipe so water supply could can be turned off. Second step is to install a T-fitting every 6 inches in the PVC pipe that will be used. 3rd step is attaching a 24-volt sprinkler wire to the solenoid on each valve. 4th use a 1/4inch spaghetti tubing to deliver water to the plants. 5th Manually open the valves one by one to flush water through the tubing to remove any dirt inside the tubes. Last step is to close off the end of each line by placing a end cap of the end of each tubing.

-Yahya

Growing Soil

As farm work begins for the school year. Many students have finished double digging their beds to make sure that they are properly aerated to sustain crops and are now focusing on what they will plant to make their OneBed project unique to their group. Among a wide variety of options are: broccoli, beans, kale, lettuce, radishes, and sunflowers. But almost equally important to the care of the seeds and growth of the crops is the soil. In Sustainable Agriculture we're not just growing plants but also soil. A good thing to remember when trying to grow your own plants is that the soil is the key to the harvest. Without fertile soil the plants will not get the proper nutrients that they need to prosper.  Soil provides the support for plants and most of the nutrients. As the soil components break down, elements are released and become available to plants as nutrients. Because the farm is on filled in marshland, we are constantly battling with poor soil. To make up for the soil quality we must add fertilizer and compost to replenish the nutrients and insure for great crop yields. As we continue throughout the year we will constantly monitor the soil to make sure everything is correct and our crops are getting the proper nutrients that they need. 

-Mats

Double Digging Starts the Year off Right on the Sustainable Agriculture Farm

Over the summer, our farm expanded up onto the hill to give students easy access to our orchard and vineyard. These trees and vines will hopefully allow for a new type of crop for sale at farm days.

We now have 3 classes of Sustainable Agriculture, allowing for more beds to be closely monitored by students on the farm. Instead of only the A beds being used for students' one bed assignments, we have also moved to using the B beds, which have been tarped the entire summer to reduce weeds, although it has also dried out the beds leaving a lot of room for compost and soil improvement.

This week, students were assigned beds on the farm and given the task of double digging, which removes weeds, aerates the soil, and adds back nutrients and raises the beds to prepare for another year of growing crops. They also added compost and phyta-grow, an organic fertilizer, to help replenish the soil's nutrients.

As a second year student and Lab Tech, I have been working on preparing a D bed for heavy yields for our market days, as well as helping students in class with any questions about the farm. We have also added tarps to some C beds so they will be ready to plant in for our winter season and cleaned out the seedlings in the hoop house so we can bring in new seedlings for planting next week or the week after.

Micaela Wilcox

This Week

This past week in sustainable agriculture we have been getting our beds ready for planting.  The first step in this process is double digging, which aerates the soil and helps us grow our crops.  To begin the process of double digging we remove a section of the dirt on the end of the bed and move it to the other end.  We then aerate the space where we took the dirt out using either a spading fork or a u-bar. This creates more air pockets which allows more water to be absorbed by the soil and the roots can grow easier through the soil.  We then take the dirt that is next to the trench we dug out and turn it over into the trench adding compost and fertilizer as we go. This creates a new trench where we then repeat the process of aerating the soil, adding compost and fertilizer, and then moving onto the next section of our beds.  Once this process is done for the entire bed. We will be able to grow crops with the best chances of growing successfully and yielding the most amount of food. The image below is of the process of double digging.

Double Digging

The past week or so, in Redwood High Schools Sustainable Agriculture class, has been all about preparing our planting beds for this year. So far, the main part of this process has been double digging the soil in the beds. Double digging is a gardening technique that's purpose is to boost aeration in the planting soil. By increasing aeration, you are allowing water to drain better and roots to penetrate easier through the soil, allowing the plants to grow with ease.

Double digging starts of by weeding a small section of the bed. It's especially important to try and get rid of all the invasive plants, such as bermuda grass. Once the area is free of weeds, it's time to start digging. Using a spade shovel, dig up the topsoil(about 8-10 inches) to create a trench about as wide as the head of the shovel. Set aside the soil from the first dig at the other end of the planting bed. Then add a good amount of compost or fertilizer to the trench and use a spading fork to aerate the subsoil and compost. Then repeat this process again in the soil next to the first trench, but instead of putting the topsoil at the other end of the bed, move it onto the previous trench. By putting on the new soil and by adding a good amount of fertilizer, the first section that was double dug should now be raised about six inches above the ground level.

This process continues until you reach the last trench at the end of the bed. Once you reach the end, and the subsoil has been fertilized and aerated, add the soil from the first trench that was set aside. The double digging is complete! Now all that's left is to sprinkle soil amendment over the bed and water it in. Soil amendments are materials that can be added to soil to enhance it's physical or chemical properties.

Though it can be a laborious process, double digging will deliver long term benefits to your garden.