The farming season is officially over. It seems like such a short time ago that I went out to the Roots farm for the first time to help build the hoophouse, and now here we are with November already upon us! I can't believe it's over, but it has been a wonderful experience.
This will be my last entry for the season. I may post from time to time with cool stories, articles, or updates, but it won't be on a regular basis. I would love to go back to Roots next year and might have the chance to do so, so maybe I will continue the blog then. But until then, let's do this one more time, shall we?
I have been out to visit the farm a few times throughout the fall, and a lot has happened! One of the coolest things is that Roots received funding to build a new pole barn! It turned out beautifully, and is a great place to store all of our tools and temporarily keep produce. Before this barn was built, we kept all of our tools in the barn up near the road, so it was a bit of a hike to when you had to lug lots of equipment with you and could be a hassle if you forgot something. Now everything will be close at hand!
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| The new barn, right next to the hoophouse! |
At the end of the summer, Roots also received funding for another awesome tool: a brand new Kubota tractor! The tractor makes a lot of tasks much easier, like mowing cover crop, tilling, and moving heavy loads of compost, soil, and rocks. The majority of the work at the farm is still done by hand, but the tractor provides a big help.
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| The tractor parked in the pole barn |
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| The new tractor! |
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| Broccoli heads |
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| Some tomatoes (I harvested them when they were still green because I didn't know when I would be back next and didn't want them to go to waste) |
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| Harvesting carrots |
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| Carrots everywhere!!! |
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| Snacking on a freshly harvested carrot |
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| The garden plot winding down in the fall |
As for my square foot gardening experiment, the results are in! For the experiment, I focused on comparing the tomato and broccoli yields. As suggested in the book, the boxes produced more pounds of food per square foot than the traditional rows. It was pretty amazing! The plants in the boxes produced just as much food in a fraction of the space! I did notice, however, that the tomatoes from the traditional beds seemed to have nicer aesthetics. They tended to be slightly larger, rounder, and more uniform than the tomatoes from the boxes. As for maintenance, I thought that the boxes were much easier to tend to. They are raised, so you don't have to bend down as far to work with the plants. The square layout also makes the plants easy to reach, so you only have to move once or twice to different spots around the box when working with the plants. With traditional rows, you constantly have to move down the row to tend to each plant. The boxes also had hardly any weeds all summer, while the traditional beds needed regular weeding.
My experiment showed me that there are advantages and disadvantages to each method. Square foot gardening produces more food per unit of space and the boxes are very easy to maintain, but the tightly spaced plants can impact the appearance of the produce and the plants can out-compete each other if you aren't careful where you place them. The broccoli plants in the boxes, for instance, seemed to shade out our pepper plants and stunt their growth. Traditional row gardening offers large, nice-looking produce without the hassle of assembling raised beds. All you need to do is loosen up the soil and maybe bring in some compost and you're good to go!
The method you choose to use depends on what you're looking for in the gardening experience. Square foot gardening would be great for beginning gardeners because it makes caring for the plants very easy. It would also be a fantastic option for growing food in an urban environment, a yard that's too small for a traditional garden, or a place with poor soil quality. It could also work for someone who just wants to grow their own food at home and isn't concerned about the appearance of the produce. Traditional gardening might be better for someone who wants to sell produce at a farmer's market, where the appearance of the produce is important. It could also be a viable option for someone who has the space and adequate soil quality to plant a traditional garden rather than assemble the boxes and fill them with bagged soil. Both methods have their benefits, so it's up to you to figure out what you want!
I had an awesome time at Roots this summer. I am very grateful to have had the chance to be part of such a cool program. I loved being out at the farm, working with the plants, and interacting with my coworkers and the farmers. I learned a lot and discovered a new passion in the process. I have been waiting to find something that I really love doing and am passionate about, and I have finally found it. Putting those seeds in the ground, watching them grow, and then harvesting the produce all while working with a fantastic group of people to do something great for the community was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Being outdoors at a beautiful farm surrounded by so much life brought joy to my heart, and I know that is where I want to be. I have already started getting involved with sustainable agriculture in other ways: I joined a club at school, am planning to take some courses in it, and am going to begin volunteering in the Bailey Hall hoophouse once marching band slows down. I am also exploring career options in the field. It's funny, because I never would have guessed I would end up here. But I am very happy I did.
Thank you so much for reading my blog this summer! I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I did living and writing about them. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions or comments.
Until next time!
Tyler
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