Another great market day!

Last Friday, October 23rd, we had our third market day of the school year. Just in time for Halloween! We sold lots of produce grown on our farm. 

During class time on Friday we spent time prepping for the market by harvesting and sorting food made on the farm as well as making signs and organizing everything as needed. During seventh period and after school we began selling our fresh and organic produce. 

We sold decorative Indian corn for the upcoming holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving) as well of tons of other goodies. We had an excellent selection of squash harvested from the farm as well as fresh basil, cilantro, and catnip many students spent class time harvesting just hours before. 

We set up a table displaying our organic selection as well as signs with names and prices of the crops. We set out a sign near the entrance of the school to advertise the market we had going on. Some students went around into the classrooms of available teachers offering the delicious and freshly picked foods we had for sale. Parents picking up students and students themselves even stopped by to get in on the action. 

In total we raised about $170! Good job to everyone who helped make it successful.

-Erica Pohl, 5th period

Why SustAg?

 

Why do high school students pick Sustainable Agriculture to take for their science course?  

Students sit in a class for 6 hours a day and often lose focus and get overwhelmed.  Sustainable Agriculture is a great way to breath fresh air while enjoying the outdoors working with nature.  Sustainability is a huge part in world today and this class keeps the world more sustainable everyday.  The class focuses on working with your classmates as a team. Most of the time the class is out on the farm working on their management job or their one bed project.  Students are paired up with a group at the beginning the school year. There are four different jobs. The four jobs are Compost, Watering, Maintenance and Companions. Everyone has one job for four weeks before rotating to the next job.  You and your group participate in these jobs to help keep the farm in shape. Along the way you start learning more and more about the different tasks needed to make the project a success. The more information you know about your job the better you can do.  Sustainable Agriculture is all about teamwork. Everyone plays an important role to ensure the farm runs is productive and run smoothly. I believe this is what makes the class interesting and special.

I asked students from my class why they picked pick Sustainable Agriculture. JD told me that he wanted to learn the principles of Sustainability.  Chad was interested in the environmental field. He thought it would be cool to take a class that was outdoors and different. These students knew it would be special class.  

The class is something most of us look forward to every day.  It is one of the most enjoyable parts of the school day. I suggest you take Sustainable Agriculture to learn about environmental issues, teamwork and how to make our world more sustainable and productive.

--Zach 

Composting for the first time

I just recently finished my composting job with my group. I had never composted in my life and I had a great experience learning how to build a strong compost pile. I learned about the different layers of the pile you need. First, you need to start with "browns" which are basically weeds or dried up crops that won't be used for selling or eating. We built a structure with some old corn stalks to start the shape of our pile, then, after you add the browns, you place a layer of greens on top and spread them around. We would have to take the green can to the CEA each day to receive the greens which are just after lunch food scraps. After we spread the greens out on the pile while maintaining the square shape of the pile, we sprinkle about two handfuls of inoculants on top of the pile to give the pile nutrients to create strong compost. Lastly, you water it. I enjoyed the composting job because we are using recyclable material to recycle it again all within the garden. I look forward to learning about new management jobs, and creating a compost pile of my own.

—Jenna E

Farm Maintenance

This week on our farm, our maintenance group started a new project with the one beds. Towards the back of the farm, unfortunately, there were a few beds that weren't doing as well. So we went over and we picked all the little plants in the beds, aerated the soil, and planted some new bell beans. We made 4-5 inch spacing and planted the beans, after they had been soaked in water for a little bit. Then we watered the soil, and we are in high hopes that these beans will grow well this time!

As for all the other one beds, the whole class has been doing fairly well! When I walk into the farm, the beds are covered with green everywhere. Some of the common plants I see are potatoes, fava beans, brussel sprouts, basil, and beets. I'm really impressed that we are able to grow all these crops during this season! We also switched maintenance jobs at the beginning of this week, so everyone is in charge of something new. My group has passed down our water duty to someone else, and we are now doing maintenance, which consists of improving the farm, maintaining the farm, and also making sure that all the tools get put back in the shed at the end of the day.

This Friday was also a market day. We spent most of the day harvesting food from our beds and in the hoophouse. We were able to harvest lemon verbena, basil, cilantro, squash, tomatoes, bell bean leaves, kale, and catnip. We spent time making them look neat and presentable, and separating them into bunches next to the signs that indicated their price. The cart and the stand looked very nice, and I heard that the market did well this week! It's so great that we're able to sell these delicious, "organic" crops that we grew ourselves to parents and families. It's the perfect way to be sustainable!

-Yewon Ahn

Our beautiful one beds! 

Getting our new maintenance job assignments! 

Grey Water!

Today in Sustainable Agriculture, we had an Issue with our water system which cut off water supply to our drip irrigation system and many of the hoses around the farm. As a current member of the watering group, my work on the farm today consisted mostly of addressing the situation by finding ways to get water to where it was needed. While I diverted water with hoses and used the sink to fill watering cans, I noticed how much dripping water we were able to catch and save simply by strategically placing buckets.

Once collected, this water is called 'grey water' and is defined as "gently used water that may contain traces of dirt and/or other materials." While this grey water would not be safe for people to drink, it can be used in many places around the farm. While California still in the midst of a major drought, as Sustainable Agriculturalists we have a duty to conserve water however we can. Increasing our grey water use would be an excellent way to do so.

Many plant families including small trees and shrubs are especially tolerant of grey water, so perhaps we could have a bed that thrives entirely on recycled water. Additionally, similarly to how we collect compost from the CEA, grey water could be collected from other parts of the school which would further reduce our farm's water needs. When it comes to Sustainability, every action counts and increasing our grey water use could be one more step to increasing our overall sustainability.

-Lucas 

Captions:

Dripping water being collected

Alex watering dwarf apple tree with recycled grey water

Compost

This week on the farm, and in the classroom, we learned quite a bit about composting and soil. During class on Monday and Tuesday, we watched a video called The Symphony of soil, which detailed different soil and land types across the world, as well as an intricate explanation of how the soil quality effects the life that inhabits it. A lot of farmers and producers all noted the use of compost in their farms, which went together with the notes we had taken in class the prior week. The video emphasized the importance of composting because of how it improves soil structure, absorbency, and, of course, returns key nutrients to the soil. It acts as a natural fertilizer.

In the most recent cycle of management jobs, my group has been in charge of the compost pile. In the beginning, we began to build a pile using a lot of dried shrubs and sunflower husks as our "browns". According to our notes and the video, it should account for about 45% of the piles volume. Our "greens" that we used came mostly from the CEA's bin of excess food. Like the browns, the greens should account for approximately 45% of the volume. The remaining 10% should come from an inoculant. We used older compost, but found that we needed to add more as we built the pile because we exhibited a lower temperature than what is desired for a compost pile. The internal temperature rose about seven or eight degrees Fahrenheit within a week of adding more inoculant.

Because we did not have class on Wednesday this week, we will be returning to the farm and working on our pile on Friday.

Monica K

Fotos y Infomacion en Español

Casa verde
Es in Lugar en la granja que esta diseñada para plantar mas con menos recursos como por ejemplo en los speeding tray puedes plantar muchas plantar al mismo tiempo y ahorrar mucha Agua.

"Speedling Trays and Flats"

El Gallinero

El gallinero aun no tiene habitantes pero es algo que me llama la atencion parque se generara abono para las plantas y para hacer el suelo mejor.

—Ricardo