Week 1: 8/28/24

First day starting the CSA project! 

To start off the CSA project, we first divided up our 25 x 25 ft plot of land to figure out what crops we wanted to plant and where. We’ve placed the pumpkins on the northeast end to minimize shading and maximize sun exposure, and we’ve placed the trellised peas and cucumbers near the top as well to keep them together. We’re hoping the nitrogen fixation from the peas will benefit the adjacent crops. We’re also using the carrots as a buffer between the peppers and the two different Brassica plants (bok choy and Chinese cabbage). We’ve tried to minimize competition for light, water, and nutrients in our layout.

    

Here, we’re examining the seeds and learning about the best planting depths/numbers for them. The smaller seeds need to be placed closer to the soil surface (to sense that there’s adequate sunlight to sustain themselves with photosynthesis once they germinate). We’re also planting 1 seed per cell for larger seeds, and 2-3 for smaller seeds and seeds that are less likely to germinate.

                 

By this point, we’ve filled up the trays with Pro-Line C/GP Germinating Mix and watered them until the soil is saturated. Us and the other two groups have started to plant the seeds in the cells. Our group is using around 3 trays for the plants we’re starting in the greenhouse. 

 

We’re continuing the process of seeding the trays! The plants we’re seeding are as follows: tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots, banana peppers, and jalapeños. We’re labeling wooden stakes with the plant names and planting dates, making holes in the soil with smaller plastic stakes, and placing the seeds in the cells.

We’ve finished seeding our trays! Here’s a picture of what a completed tray looks like, with the stakes indicating which seeds the cells contain. We’re expecting to see germination next week, where we can hopefully finalize the plans for our outdoor plot and plant seeds we haven’t planted this week.