Field Preparation

We are avoiding the spilling of a lot of sweat and formation too many of blisters this year because our garden beds were formed before class began by our farm manager! Hours of raking and shoveling have been avoided. We don't even know how lucky we are... Thank you John!!

John is forming beds that are 2 feet wide, with 2 foot walkways between beds.  Each student gets four beds, 15 feet long to plant their crops.

First Day of Class

During this class period students were introduced to the course and we highlighted some important features in a garden including but not limited to soil, fertilization, irrigation, climate, and more. Members of the class are each responsible for their own blogs to track the progress of their garden plots from start to finish (planting to eating). 

The first activity we did was 'order our seeds.' Each student was given a worksheet to plan their gardens. We all get four 15 foot beds to plant the vegetables. The worksheet included the plants we have available to grow along with the recommended spacing from Johnny's Select Seeds and the IFAS EDIS Vegetable Gardening Guide. Everyone calculated how many of each plant they will grow and handed in their 'Seed Ordering Worksheets.' For next week they are to post their garden plot plan to their blogs, similar to the figure I have below.

Unfortunately, Labor Day is next week therefore we don't have a chance to meet as a class. Therefore, our next meeting is in TWO weeks, at which point we will start planting in our gardens.

Germination-Station

The greenhouse is now a Germination Station! All plants are emerging and some are starting to develop their first 'True Leaves.' The cotyledons are not considered to be true leaves because they have already been formed within the seed instead of being formed post-germination. Below are examples from pepper and tomato.

Pepper: 

Tomato:

The First of Many...

And we're off...! The broccoli has sprouted after 3 days. So quick! The rest of the seeds (tomato, eggplant, pepper) are expected to germinate soon. It gets quite hot in the greenhouse, despite the cooling system. Because of the heat and the intense sun, the trays dry out quickly and need to be watered at least once a day.

In just about 2 months these guys will be ready to harvest!

Class Preparation!

This is the area of land where we will be growing our gardens.

The seeds for class have arrived! 

In preparation for class to begin at the end of August, thousands of transplants are being produced for tomato, eggplant, broccoli, and pepper. They are currently growing in a greenhouse cooled by a fan-and-pad system. Having transplants gives these crops a 'jump' on the season so they can be harvested earlier than plants direct seeded at the same planting time. Most other crops will be direct seeded into the garden by students.