Sustainability for the Community

This week in class we all participated in our final projects of the year, shooting towards ways to make the community and farm more sustainable. In groups of 1-3, we have the rest of the year to create one project that promotes sustainability. Many groups chose tasks around the farm while others chose internships off campus. One group is restoring and providing chickens for the chicken coop we have on our farm. With chickens on our farm, we could use their poop as fertilizer and eggs to sell at our markets. A few groups are restoring class beds like the strawberry and flower bed by weeding, adding compost, and planting. My group will be restoring the hoop house beds and adding various peppers and pumpkins. In order to do this, we will need to completely strip and weed both beds adding compost and more soil. We have already planted started and it looks like we will be planting jalapenos, bell peppers, poblanos, habaneros, and pumpkins. We are growing these peppers and pumpkins in the hoop house because of their need for heat and a lot of sunlight. With the sun starting to really show this is the perfect time of the year for peppers to take full advantage of the sun and grow to their full potential.  —cooper 

Two weeks ago

My name is Oliver, and I am going to talk about what we did two weeks ago.

The project was about to visit a farm and ask a bunch of questions about how their farm work, and what benefits come with it. My friend and I went to J and J Ramos farm, at the local market at the town center at Corte Madera. The Farm focus on fruits, like grapes, peaches, cherries, nectarines, etc. The farm is 350 acres bigger, and they started with 20 acres. They used a lot of hand labor, and they don't use any pesticides.

There are a lot of organic and local markets that you can buy fresh fruit and veggies, and the way also everybody can contribute to the change of the world.

Weeding

This week in Sustainable Agriculture we weeded and planted new spring crops! Weeding is a very important part of farming, though it can be physically demanding it greatly improves the life of the plants.

Weeding is beneficial because it decreases the amount of plants competing for space, water, and nutrients. Weeding allows for crops to be able to absorb the most nutrients and water that they can, so they can grow efficiently. To weed efficiently  hula hoes, weeders, and pulling the weeds out manually can all be effective. Hula hoes are used to cut down weeds and cut them at the root. Using a weeder or your hands can help pull the weed out at the root decreasing the probability that the weed will grow back and steal nutrients. Weeding combined with close plant spacing is a great to ensure efficiency with crop growing. Close plant spacing is important because it maximises the use of available land and creates a microclimate which also improves plants ability to grow. Without the use of close plant spacing crops might not grow as quickly or be able to mature fully resulting in loss of crop harvest.

Since it is spring we are able to grow a variety of crops such as strawberries, onions, carrots, and radishes. This season we decided to plant mostly onions. Onions are a great source of vitamins and minerals, and mature between three and four months. In order to plant these onions we harvested the remaining bok choy and broccoli we had in our bed. We also harvested our bell beans at the top of our beds and replaced them with chard and kale. Chard and kale are also high in minerals and vitamins. We planted these crops where we previously had bell beans because bell beans are givers and return nutrients to the soil while also providing edible beans. Because of this we are able to plant our crops knowing that they will receive the most amount of nutrients they can and that they will grow sustainably without damaging the soil.

Weeding and knowing which plants to plant seasonally is a great thing to know. Knowing which plants can be planted is a great for ensuring that the crops will grow healthily. Knowing why weeding is important is also beneficial. Weeds are competition for crops and can cause them to have a harder time growing and producing fruits and vegetables. So knowing how to deal with them is important. —Niki

Farm Report - Say Hay

A few weeks ago we got assigned a farm report. The project was about visiting a farm of our choice and learning more about it. Me and my partner who I worked with spoke to a man from Say Hay Farms which is located in Yolo county. Yolo County is in Sacramento, where a lot of other farms are located. We asked him some questions about the farm, and what it is like to be a farmer. Some of the questions we asked him were about the size of his farm, what he grows, and his preferred farming methods. He explained what kinds of fruits and vegetables they grew as well as the methods that are used for farming. The farm uses organic compost and also uses cover crops. The manuare collected from their hens is used for fertilizing their crops and it also reduces their need for external outputs like organic fertilizer. This farm uses drip irregation to use less water and also uses dryland farming. Dryland farming is a method of farming in semiarid areas without the aid of irrigation, using drought-resistant crops and conserving moisture. He also told us that if you want to be a farmer you will really have to love it, there are lots of very long days. —Kate

Transplanting

TRANSPLANTING 

Here we see our sustainable agriculture students capitalizing on a sunny day and transplanting some healthy fresh starters, like lettuce, cabbage, kale, and celery. Although it may seem a tad early to be transplanting these vegetables, weather in Marin has been very bipolar, so the Sust Ag class decided to advantage of the sunny week. Transplanting is very important for any good farm. Transplanting is an economically and environmentally ideal alternative to seeding. In fact, transplanting increases the quantity and quality of yields, while at the same time keeping costs and inputs low.  —Ollie

Mr Stewart’s Mom, Farm Visits and More!

This week started off with a visit from Mr. Stewart's mom, Susy. With her guidance, each student shared a little bit about themselves and their names. She shared her knowledge about the social aspect of sustainability. We learned that in order to do quality work efficiently, it's important to feel connected to those working with you. By connecting with each other, it was easy to see that working with and knowing about our community brings purpose into the work we're doing. Later in the week, we presented about the farm visits we did a couple weeks before. We reached out to local farms to explore how people in our community are able to produce goods while being sustainable. It was cool to see the variety of farms in the bay area as well as visit the farmer's market to learn about local farms. Lastly, out on the farm we have been continuing to tend to our new seedlings and work on our management jobs. The shift from winter to spring brings rain which has been good for the new crops we planted in our beds last week. —Kotone

Community Building

This week we had a super special guest visit our classroom, Mr. Stewart's mom! The goal of her lesson plan was to build our community inside our classroom which would directly relate to how we worked together on the RHS farm! This class time helped us learn not only about our fellow classmates but about ourselves as well!

When we work together during class, we simply call our group members by their first names because that's just how we know them. However, the first activity Mrs. Stewart conducted with us allowed us to understand more about the names in which we are speaking to. Each student went around and went into depth on their first name, middle name, last name or even a nickname! Each student covered where their name came from, what ethnicities they root from, and what the name means to them. It was so interesting to hear about the unique stories that formed something so simple like a name.

The last activity that we took part in was very eye-opening! Mrs. Stewart cut out around 100 different images from magazines and spread them along the tables inside the classroom. Our goal was to pick 2 images, one of which we thought represented how we view ourselves, and one that we believed is how others viewed us. Some examples of the type of pictures we had available to us are attached below. When we shared what images we chose for the class, every single student seemed very engaged with what the other students were sharing. It was interesting to see how others interpreted themselves and how they thought others viewed them because sometimes it would be the exact opposite of what I saw!

Overall, this experience really brought our group of students together in a different way. We usually just know each other from talks on the farm, but we got to know our fellow classmates on a completely deeper level. On behalf of me and many other students, we hope Mrs. Stewart can come again! —Nina