Class 3 - Food

Today we stepped out of the classroom again to visit the neighboring South Coast Farm that is situated right next to the Ecology Center.  I believe its a 2 acre farm that grows many different types of vegetables for distribution and sale throughout the community.  The owners have success in their business however their main expense is the cost of water for their property.  Recent re-zoning and water laws have increased the cost of their water exponentially.  For this they are looking into other solutions to harvest/source water.

Before continuing our food discussion, Evan wanted to ensure we had a clear understanding of a few key terms:

Agroecology - study of sustainable agriculture food systems within Ecology and Permaculture

Annuals - one year cycle, mostly vegetables, energy intensive

Perenial - longer lived, herbs, lower maintenance

Garden - typically be hand, diversity
Farm - mechanization, larger scale

Biodynamics - cosmic system for growing, (ie moon cycle) looking at micro elements also with the integration of animals

Organic - not using synthetic pesticides, herbicides that are chemically based

Biointensive - traditional European gardening (Alan Chadwick and John Jevans)

High cultivation and high yield - double digging, companion planting

Integrated Pest Management - if pests are present, observe first, find relationships between pests and predators

Cover crops - specific plants that feed our soil not necessarily us, planting these before rains/winters, wheats, grasses, legumes (not harvesting for 1/4 of year) cover cops at least once a year (you can also do this with green manure)

Biological Nitrogen fixation - symbiotic relationship with rizobiums

Intercropping - fruit tree, row of vegetables, herbs...repeat

Economic imperative - value added (cheese, preserves) and direct market (farm stands, markets, CSA) Interesting * CSA model is actually Japanese in origin

Agroforestry - integration of trees into farmscape

Genetic diversity - heirloom (open pollinated seed) and hybridization (hybrid vigor)

We spent some time studying Seasonal Planting and working on creating our own charts.  I like this idea as an activity for our students to introduce the concept of eating seasonally and planting the appropriate food at the right time.

The afternoon was spent discussing sprouting and its many healthy benefits along with microgreens and the many types of containers you can grow them in.  The interesting aspect of these microgreen containers is that they did not require soil but rather just a paper towel that stays damp/wet from the water source underneath.