Blog Post #5

Welcome back Poly (culture) Pocket fans! 

Today we got into the nitty gritty of it all. The team spent the entire session planting, measuring, and wheeling supplies back and forth. With the alert about potential weed sprouts, we stayed vigilant, ready to spot any rogue plants that might hinder our crops.

 Beyond that we planted two full rows of bunching onions, and the rest of our tomatoes and peppers. We also covered a portion of the plot with various fertilizer coverings. One of our objectives for this project was to determine how various coverings affect the growth of plants. We’ve set up three test groups: hay, mulch, and compost, alongside a control group with no added cover. We will be looking at how these different coverings can suprress weeds, support growth, and retain water in the soil. As the semester unfolds, we’ll be keeping a close watch on our garden’s progress. So far, everything is looking fantastic!

Thanks for keeping up with us and be sure to be on the lookout for next week's installment!

Photo captions (left to right, down to up): 

1. This is a picture of some of our transplants that have not yet been added to our field. Some crops are planted later than others to ensure that they are grown at the right temperature and time of year for them to best flourish. 

2. In this picture you can see team members Philip and Kensley covering our plot with hay. Hay is a good soil cover that suppresses weeds, maintains a moderate soil temperature, and retains moisture in the soil better. We used a few wheelbarrows worth of hay to ensure we had a nice, thick layer to protect our plants.

3. Here you can see team member Daniel inspecting an ant hill on our farm plot. Fire ants have been a major nuisance for our team this semester as they make working in the soil very difficult. Their bites are very painful!

4. Here is our farm team! From left to right: Daniel, Naomi, Philip, Florence, Kyle, and Kensley.

5. Kyle cutout: Here is team member Kyle using a hoe to clear out some weeds from our plot. Hoe cultivation is very useful to clear out weeds and makes clearing an entire field a much easier task than hand-weeding. Some weeds that have been problematic for us this semester are nut-sedge and oxalis.