What Did We Learn?

I learned through this project the importance of rotational crops.   I previously thought that farms could just plant a crop, harvest, then the next year plant a nitrogen fixer and rotate like that; the organic farm rotates seven crops that have seven different uses to the soil.

-Matthew

One thing I learned about soils was just how interconnected and essential it truly was to supporting the ecosystem and life itself. Granted, I had been told similar things before, but being able to see and touch it added tremendously to the experience, like seeing the connection between the roots and the soil in the rhizosphere (the most biologically active part of the soil). It was truly amazing how even the grass weed still had such an extensive root system beneath ground key to its survival. This goes to show the concept of a diversity of organism survive because of the diversity of habitat that soils provide.

-Rylan

        Picture of the Rhizosphere

One thing I learned is the importance of trees to gardens! Tree drop leaves or cones or needles, and leave behind precious organic matter, which the soil can take and turn into humus. The strawberries planted under the ash tree produced more than all the other strawberries from the rest of the garden because of the added nutrients, the different environment, under the tree. And one or two can be a habitat for important soil managers: birds! They take up little space; an efficient addition to any garden.

-Patrick

During this project I learned that by just adding water to a row of soil, amazing local vegetation will grow. All sorts of seeds from plants are just waiting in soil for the right conditions to grow. The benefits of local vegetation around growing crops are many. For example at the farm a tree sprouted up right next to a strawberry patch. This particular variety puts nitrogen back into the soil. The strawberries from just around the tree yielded many times over what the rest of the row did. This natural vegetation also helps to give a habitat to the good bugs that help to reduce the pest population.

-Gavin

            The most interesting thing I learned during this project was about how the farm uses a seven year rotation of crops in order to keep and restore nutrients in the soil, as well as help keep pest populations down. Each bed goes through a seven-year cycle of crops, including a year with nitrogen-fixing plants and a cover crop year. By changing the crop that is in each bed every year, it makes it difficult for one type of pest to get established, because pests tend to be specific to one crop, so each pest only has a year to sprout up and then the crop is likes is gone the next year.

-Hannah