Water Conservation!

 This week we are coming to the end of our first management jobs of the semester. I was in the water crew and was in charge of watering the plants, checking irrigation, and managing the reuse of water. Through this job, I learned in-depth techniques on the proper amount of water for plants of different maturities, and the little things that can be done around the farm (or a home garden!) to save water. Primarily, I had no idea that mature plants could survive on the little amount of water that drip irrigation provides. However, I learned that the drops throughout the day are more than enough to sustain a mature plant. In addition, there are many techniques to watering that save time and money. For instance, an English-style watering can is optimal for watering young plants because of the way that the water comes out, similar to rain. It has a larger watering area, so more plants are watered at a time, with less water used! One of my favorite water conservation methods we use on the farm is the water-catching bucket under the sink that can reuse the grey water for watering the large perennial plants or trees and vines in the orchard. It's my favorite method because of how simple and easy it is, but with such a big effect!

Maddie Loebbaka

Scavenger Hunt on the Farm!

For the last couple of weeks, students in groups of three created presentations about one specific plant family. The included families were: solanacea, chenopodium, apiaceae, cucurbitaceae, allium, legumes, asteraceae, brassica, liliacea and gramineae. The presentations included background information, pictures, planting instructions, recipes, and more. The class then held a gallery walk and students were able to take notes on each one. So, with the students new knowledge on the plant families (and some help from their notes), they completed their first scavenger hunt. The task at hand was to gather leaves from 10 of the 12 plant families that they had studied and learned about over the past couple of weeks, show them to Mr. Stewart, and without using their notes, list off the names of each family that they had gathered leaves for. It presented no challenge for many of the groups as the presentations had been in debt and provided sufficient knowledge to complete the scavenger hunt. Many students were nervous at first but it turned out to be a fun time in the end.

By: Sander Leszczynski

Calm Cooking

Welcome to the Sustainable Agriculture Page! Sustainable Agriculture also called "SustAg" by us talented individuals is all about using the minimum to create steady and sustainable grow for a long period of time. One great example of that if last week with our Iron Chef contest. Students separated into  four groups of eight. Those groups later came up with Ideas on how to incorporate crops into dishes that could be sustainably made with local resources. Groups were allowed to bring items from their house and supermarket but were encouraged to use the least amount from there and most from the garden. Day Two came around and the cooking commenced! Everyone was running around and screaming to one another like they were going to die the next day. While Mr.Stewart was getting into students' faces and calling their dishes garbage. WAIIIT, WAIT WAIT, That was just a scene from the normal Iron Chef my bad. Sustainable Iron Chef was calm and peaceful, students were laughing around and having a good time while cooking their food. While Mr. Stewart sat diligently waiting for the gourmet food that was about to enter his body. Each group finished a bit earlier than the other, but every team finished in the 45minute limit. My group made Bruschetta made from tomatoes grown in our personal gardens, herbs in our farm, Bread from a local bakery, Olive oil/Salt which was used by all groups, and strawberries which were picked fresh from our farm as well. Our team ended up falling just a bit short for first place, but it was definitely the most liked dish from our peers as we ended up having nothing left on the plate besides our sauce. All in all Iron chef was an amazing time, and it's definitely different from any other class because it's a breath of fresh air.

    Before Mr.Stew ate our dish            Mr.Stew crying over how great it is!

Hopefully you consider to do some sustainable acts yourself or even join SustAg in the future!

-Joshua Santos

Crop Families

This week in Sustag we have been working a lot on our crop family presentations, and we are learning more about the different families of crops and how to identify them. Through our presentations, we are teaching each other about the different families of plants and their characteristics, when to plant them, care and common pests of the different plants in each family. My group is the Apiaceae family and includes common plants like carrots, celery, and dill. We have gone through all of the old data from the SustAg farm, and we have actually planted and harvested a lot of these crops. We have harvested 15.96 pounds of CAL crops of celery this semester, and 18.12 pounds of COMP crops of celery, as well as 8.35 pounds CAL crop of carrots this semester, and 0.28 pounds COMP crop of carrots. I have included a picture of kale in my bed, which is in the Cruciferae family of plants and strawberries in my bed, which are in the Rosaceae family. We have been out on the farm watering a lot and taking care of our seedlings and they are starting to come up! 

-Sarah Young

Chickens

The SUSTAG Garden has recently introduced 3 new chickens to the farm! Recently named by the students, they go by Chicky Minaj, Lil Peep, and Young sLayer (or other?). Although they are a big responsibility for the students and teachers of the garden, they do provide many beneficial uses. They enjoy eating weeds and pests around the garden and introduce another way to keep the garden clean and regulated in an efficient way that doesn't require much micromanagement. The output is another added bonus, as their waste becomes fertilizer and supports plant life in their coop and for the rest of the garden. Students have also enjoyed the company of the chickens and are weaning them into life with humans as close companions. Regular holding and human interaction will get them used to humans and keep stress and frustration levels down when humans have to interact with them. Although not much time has passed, students are becoming closer and are learning and understanding more about chicken's characteristics and instincts. They will continue being a resource learning tool throughout the rest of the year. 

-Tyler Woods

Senior

Let The Iron Chef Begin

This week in SustAg marked a very important day. It was our very first IRON CHEF!!! The theme for the first iron chef was Herbs. The rules were simple, we had to make a dish that included herbs from around our farm. Our choices of herbs were mint, chocolate mint, rosemary, basil, oregano, chives and lemon verbena. These were the only herbs available for us that were on the farm. Aside from that we could bring anything else from our  own gardens or from the stores. My group agreed to make a brusketa made out of sourdough bread, monsterella cheese, tomatoes and basil. Only the Basil and tomatoes were from the farm. We put olive oil on the pan and put the bread on top of it and let it cook till it was nice and crispy and then added the cheese and to top it off we mixed tomatoes and basil together and put it on top of the cheese. At the end of the Iron Chef we did not win but another lucky group did…. So Congrats to Jordan's group. 

By Eduardo Diaz 

Planting!

These past two weeks, SustAg has begun planting their fall crops! Everyone on the Farm has been working really hard to plant the most sustainable bed. Each group is making sure their crops are planted as closely as possible so our crop output is greater. Some popular plants being planted are potatoes, beans, onions (lots of onions), kale, and garlic. Everyone is really excited to see their plants start growing. We all took pictures of our beds to see the difference in how they look later. Planting was a lot of fun, but the most exciting part of this week was our Iron Chef competition. 4 groups competed head to head to win the best meal deemed by Mr. Stewart. Each group made delicious and visually appealing meals with eggs being the favorite dish to cook in 5th period. In the end, only one group came on top and were crowned victors. It was a lot of fun learning how to cook more sustainably! -Sophia