Final Exam

This week, we have began our preparation for the final exam in Sustag. For many of us, finals are a very stressful time and it is very hard to fit in a solid time to study for all of our exams. In Sustag, Mr. Stewart was kind enough to give us a study guide that we can use in our journals. This is great because it takes away a lot of the stress that many students suffer during this time of the year. Especially for my fellow peers who are seniors, with finals next week and college responses coming in, there is a lot going on in people's minds. I think that is universally known that Sustag is a very enjoyable class, however, it definitely offers a challenge and this final is not to be taken lightly. Even though we have many resources to use on this test, students must prepare well and take their time to really solidify on all of the rules, procedures, facts of crops and pests, etc. Finally, this final will reflect how much we learned this semester. For someone like me, I had no knowledge of 99% of the things we have learned this year, however, I feel that Mr. Stewart did a very good job at teaching us and preparing us for this test! —Evan

Mid Year One Bed Reports

This week in sustainable agriculture was focused on every week to this point combined together in the form of group one bed presentations. These presentations focused on each groups specific one bed that they have been working on this year. Each groups job was to show their fellow students their procedures in the garden, as well as the success and challenges they have had. Most groups did a great job displaying all the work they have done as well as displaying actual calorie and composite harvest numbers taken from their bed. Every bed had some sort of calorie output with the total mean being 8.05lbs. Groups were definitely more successful in producing compost with the total mean being 41.08lbs. Overall this project helped students be able to look at all the work they have done with their own bed this past year as well as the work of others. —Talis

Irrigation

Here we see our student's fine craftsmanship with some innovative overhead irrigation systems for the plant starters we have in our greenhouse aka the Hoop house. Within our Redwood garden resides tons of irrigation systems ranging from overhead (shown in images above), to perhaps one of most efficient methods, Drip irrigation. The system allocates water directly to the roots of the plants, so none of the water is wasted. As time passes and we become less inept with our irrigation, our garden will be one of the most sustainable any High School has seen before.     

-Oliver Lewis

The Future of Food

  On Wednesday this week in class we watched a documentary called The Future of Food. The documentary focused on the agri-business and how they manipulate the agriculture business and force the usage of genetically modified seeds/food. The documentary showed the perspectives of several farmers throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico and showed their experiences. The documentary also showed the process on how plants and seeds can be genetically modified. It also goes over the positive and negative aspects of pesticides and herbicides. Also, the documentary focuses on the monopoly on the agriculture business. The monopoly is controlled by a company called Monsanto that has brought up smaller companies. Monsanto has also brought lawsuits against farmers after making them use their products without the farmers knowledge. Last but not least the Future of Food shows how the EPA and big agriculture businesses are connected which shows that high ranking members in the EPA used to work for companies such as Monsanto which shows that they will not pass laws that will harm Monsanto or make them less successful. This relates to our SustAg class because it explains the facts about herbicides and pesticides and shows us why not to use them. It also shows us information about GMOs and why not to use them either. The video also shows the impact of agriculture and why we do it the way we do at the farm.

• John

One Bed Projects

Starting at the end of last week, us Sustainable Agriculture kids have been back to crunching numbers and analyzing data for our one beds. Although it's not the most exciting aspect of our one-bed project, it really allows us to view the development of our beds whether they are negative or positive. We calculated how much we harvested, calorie crops and compost crops, and compared those numbers to our predictions from the beginning of the year. We also calculated how much of each amendment we had used during the semester along with how much water as well as planned for the next growing season. Particularly in my bed after all of our data analysis, A10, we found out that we weren't quite tending to our bed in the most sustainable manner. We were using 2 gallons over the sustainable goal of 6 gallons each day. We also really needed to use our bed space more efficiently as well as plant more nitrogen-fixing plants to help replenish our soil naturally. In the next season, or semester, we plan to plant mostly light feeder vegetables, many more nitrogen-fixing plants, and more compost crops. We plan on specifically planting crops such as rye grass, beets, beans, and alfalfa, though according to Mr. Stewart, alfalfa has not done well on the farm. Still, we are going to give that crop a try. We also plan on reducing water usage next season. (here are some photos of our bed as of December 5th) -Sarah

Winter Planting

Throughout this first semester of sustainable agriculture with Mr. Stewart we have spent more than 50% of our class time on the sustag farm. We have become familiar with the tools we use, safety precautions, and how the farm runs on a daily basis. However out of all the information we have compiled over the months the most important is each groups one bed. Each one bed has about 4 people assigned to it for the entire year. The one beds are 3 by 20 feet (60 square feet) and have drip irrigation tubes in place. There are previous crops that we planted by past classes that we have maintained as well as new planting additions of our own.

During the fall season we have worked on our one beds by composting dead plants, weeding, and harvesting for the first Friday monthly market. We have additionally adequately watered and maintained healthy soil composition. More specifically, we tested the soil chemical makeup of N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) plus the ph level of the soil. Some other soil tests we performed were breaking up the soil elements in a cylinder with water, rolling the soil to see if it made a ball, and squeezing the soil to make ribbons.

For the Winter season we will continue to test the soil levels for all its components. Based on our findings and whether or not we need to amend our one bed because of any deficiencies or surpluses. It is also important that for the new season we plant appropriate crops for the one of year. The winter season can be a dangerous time for plant growth with the harsh conditions. It is beneficial to plant a number of companion plants throughout the one bed to keep in check nitrogen status and to be helpful towards other plants thriving.

by Andrew R

Working on Our Final Presentations

by Bryce Jehling

This week we spent most of our time inside the classroom due to the rainy weather. While we were inside, we started preparing our final group bed presentations for the end of the semester. There are three to four people in each group. The groups have been working together since the beginning of the school year. Each group has a plot of land in the garden where they planted and maintained different crops throughout the semester. For the final presentation we will share out to the class information about our one beds. We will discuss our bed growth and the amount of pounds of yield that we have harvested in both calorie and compost crops. We will share the different procedures and materials that we have used throughout the semester such as double digging. Our groups will also discuss the type of soil that we have in our bed as they relate to the soil tests that we took. We will show a diagram of our bed and describe the different plants we have. Finally, we will share the actual sustainability of our one beds. Our time inside the classroom this week gave us a great opportunity to work with our groups to plan and prepare for our final presentation.