Extreme Nutritional Value growers

Journal Entry for group progress and observations:

Week 1: September 15-19

Vegetables of interest were chose to plant and cultivars were selected. Most of the crops we chose was cole crops.
We were able to decide on a variety of crops such as, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, broccoli, and cabbage. The cultivar we selected for some of the plants listed above in on the previous page.
The next step was seeding and transplanting plants to the field.

Week 2: September 22-26

On September 24th was the beginning of our CSA project. The group members were able to arrange a time to meet and plant the vegetables listed above
Steps taken to prep field was:

good field selection
removed all debris and weed from field
made sure there was level of bed orientation
Seeded plants did not used methods such as precision seeding or plug-mix seeding

this is because this was a small time farming
the closest process that we can compare to would be precision seeding

dug holes spaced out a certain distance and at optimum depth for seed

Next, the remaining plants were transplanted on to the field.

Where you transplant is key to growth of the plant. In class we learned that field selection can be vital to a plants productivity.

This is because of good drainage or water holding capacity
Levels of nutrients
soil diseases

Steps taken for transplantation

We used bare root transplanting and controlled how deep the plant should be transplanted

this is vital in times of famine and time of floods

immediately after transplantation, the plant was watered
High amounts of nutrients are needed after transplantation such as phosphorus( we did not apply fertilizer)

Plants that were seeded: cucumber only
Plants that were transplanted: cabbage, pepper, cucumber, and eggplant
For cole crops, such as our, it is important that we choose a field with certain characteristics. For example:

Cole crops require high nitrogen
potassium and phosphorous
micronutrients such as boron and molybdenum
High water holding capacity of the field
Frequent irrigation

A irrigation system was already placed. Sprinklers were located around the field for irrigation. This was key for germination of seeds. For successful germination, we needed good water source, oxygen, optimum temperature, and light. The field was open and clean of weeds. Light source was sufficient for good germination of seeds. Fertilization is usually applied for cole crops. This is important for the cole crops we are trying to grow. Cole crops are known to require high amounts of Nitrogen in the soil. One thing we wish we could have tested was the depth of transplantation. In lecture we learned that in drought plants are planted deeper and more exposed in times when water is plentiful.

Week 3: September 29- October 3

On September 30th we were able to go back out to the field and attempt to plant the cucumber seeds. We were able to go and weed the field and plant the cucumber seeds successfully. Everything seems to be going normal and as planned. The transplanted plants seem to be doing well.
At this point, it is too early to see any significant growth.
We have recently transplanted the plants to the field

For now, we are looking at ongoing signs of successful transplantation

Plant hardening is one big sign

This will help us know if the plants is putting down the roots and it is starting to grow
Next we will look out for vegetative growth, differentiation, and reproductive development

Week 4: October 6-October 10

Weather: Mostly sunny and high 80's- good for growth
This week has been very busy for us. We were able to make it back out at the farm to just check on everything but were not able to further work on our CSA project.
For now our major concern is how to maximize the growth potential
We still have not applied any fertilizer

At this point we want to see if the growth is affected if no fertilizer is applied

Knowing that the cole crops are known to require a lot of micronutrients and high amounts of Nitrogen, we believe that this could impact our growth

I took the time to upgrade our blog website further to make it more attractive and organized.

Week 5: October 13-October 17

Weather: Around the 80's and observed rain on 14th- good for growth
We were able to go back out to the field to maintain our plants and remove any weeds that were growing. So far the plants are germinating and starting to grow. Germination at this point is nearly 100%. The hay is helping to prevent some of the excess weed growth and minimize the work input. Herbicides can be used to prevent certain weed growth. We were limited with the control measures that we could take. Most of the control measures that we took were mechanical or hand removal of weeds.
Other method that we could have used was plasticulture!!!

Peppers and eggplants are often grown using this method
This would have allowed us to overcome certain problems we were facing

Plasticulture helps to control certain weeds
We could have used it to prevent the leach of nutrient
Less chance of nutrient deficency

Low nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur
http://www.seminis.com/global/us/growerresources/documents/sem-12095_pepperdiseases_8p5x11_072313.pdf

At this point we are hoping to look out for good vegetative growth and look for any imperfections that could help us understand if the plants are deprived of nutrients or are diseased.
As of now we are still in the growth phase but expect to see some differentiation or initiation of reproductive organs. Also we were able to update the blog with pictures of our current progress and planting.

Week 6: October 20-October 24

Weather: Still around 80's- plenty of sunshine for photosynthesis- good for growth
The plants are requiring minimum amount of work. At this point there is not much we can do but to maintain the field to prevent competitors or predators. One way we were able to help control this, is during the initial planting process.
Intercropping is a technique used to reduce pest problems.

We were able to apply this technique in our initial stage by using the row intercroppping method. This allowed to create a environment for natural or biological control against crop pest.

One row consisted of broccoli intercropped with cabbage
second row consisted of only pepper plants
third row consisted of kale, cabbage and some broccoli

This would be also considered mixed intercropping
We are hoping this will prevent pest problems by creating an environment beneficial to natural predators

Weed removal is vital at this point. There is a lot of small plants growing around our crash crops. This could lead to problems with nutrients.
The cole crops we are using tend to have a lot of micronutrient deficiencies. It is best to remove most of the competition from the field to allow optimum nutrient absorption by the cash crop. We found a guide for fresh market growers that showed some of the popular deficiencies that is common in cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and overall cole crops.

The link to the study is:

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3684.PDF
This link helped us look out for certain requirements for these plants to have good growth. For example, optimum pH, transplantation procedures, essential nutrient, irrigation, and etc.

They are growing exponentially. We were able to go out to the field to examine their progress. There seems to be some weed growth over this week. We were able to finally get to cleaning the field from weeds to prevent anything competition for the desired plant and pest invasions.

Week 7: October 27-October 30

Weather: Started to get cold- low's of 45 degrees- can cause frost- and slow the growth
We have not been able to go to the field much this week. It is a busy week for all. We are hoping that the cold temperatures that is coming, does not effect the plants growth significantly.
Most of the crops we are using is cole crops, which tend to with stand temperatures as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit after hardening
The cold weather on cole crops are known to cause bolting and production of seed stalk
Once this week is over we plan to take pictures on the growth and to see if there was any damage from frost and low temperatures.

Week 8: November 3- November 7

Weather: Started the week cold and windy and ended with mid 70's
We were able to go back to the field to maintain the field for optimum growth. We discovered that there was a good amount of weeding that was needed.

This could be controlled mechanically or mulch can be applied
we used hay as a preventative measure, but not enough hay was applied to keep compete against the weeds

The cold temperatures did not affect the plants. Seed stalk production is not visible. This was a major concern because in plants such as cabbage and broccoli; extreme low temperatures can cause seed stalk production
This is still not over and we need to keep an eye out for this problem. This problem can lead to bad flavor and poor production
I believe we need to use alternate methods to control the weeds. If this was a commercial planting, herbicides can be applied to remove this weeds, which could results in less mechanical work or less labor. Another method could be addition of mulch! For now we were able to pull all of the weeds and remove debris from the field to prevent any competition for nutrients with the growing plant. We also noticed that the vegetive growth has been significant. By now there is 100% germination. This is week 8 as previously noted from the day of planting. The first sign of fruit has finally started to occur. The pepper plant has started to show signs of fruiting.
The pepper plants also have small flowers; showing differentiation and reproductive system development
We were able to spot small baby peppers starting to grow. Our cucumber plant has also shown significant vegetative growth. The plant leaves are green and bright, showing that the plants are nutritious and possess all of the necessary micro and macro nutrients. All of our efforts have not gone to waste.

Current Progress of Plants:

Cauliflower

Peppers: Showing Fruit

At the end of the day we were able to go home with a gorgeous rainbow right over our heads!!!!!!

Week 9: November 10- November 14:

Finally all of our handwork is starting to pay off. We finally begin to see small fruit sprouting and growing. We have seen baby eggplants and baby peppers. Initially, we all thought this would be hard work and time consuming. This project has been a good experience. It helped us gain new knowledge and acquire skills that we thought we never had. Finally seeing fruit makes us feel satisfied and more eager to go out to the field and maintain it for optimum growth. Now that the plants are starting to fruit there is not much work required.

The plants seem to be doing fine
Signs of stress

no stress is noted so far

irrigation system is on a timer and the plants are receiving adequate amounts of water
the plants show no sign of nutrient deficiencies

minor problems with nitrogen is possible
the plants do not have too much vegetative growth or early flowering from the cold

We were able to weed the field once again and lay down more hay to prevent further weed growth.
So far the plants look healthy and seem to be growing rapidly. The plants do not seem to be malnourished. This week we were able to take a lot of pictures of the progress in our CSA project. Overall, we feel really happy with the growth we have seen so far. Here are some pictures we would like to share with you.

Week 10: November 17- November 21:

Weather: Started the week with great weather and ended up with two nights with frost warnings!!!!

Yes!!!! It was cold! I wouldn't say cold as the picture above, but there was a high chance of frost. We believe that the environmental stress will cause some delay in growth of our plants. We are hoping the temperature rising again will help cope with some of the losses that we might have faced during frost. Our growth is still exceptional for the current weather conditions we have faced. This week we were not able to put manual work into the field due to other tasks, but plan on taking more pictures next week to compare and see if the impact of the weather was significant or not.

Week 11: November 24-November 28:

Cabbage is probably one of our best growing plants on the field at the moment. This plant is known to tolerate low temperatures as well as kale. We believe the yellow color leaves could be due to the frost and also a nitrogen deficiency. The other farmers plants appear light green, which is a sign of this problem. Overall, the cabbage is flavorful and has survived the frost.

As you can see this plant is also doing well in the cold temperatures we are having.

This plant is also starting to show signs of some sort of deficiency. After during further research we came to another possibility of the cause of this change of color in older leaves. Another possible cause could be a Magnesium shortage in the soil.

http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/cabbage.htm

The frost has not done justice to us this season. Most of the plants we had died. We weren't expecting the frost and was not able to tend to the plants on time. The peppers were completely wiped out. If we were able to get to the plants we would have took other measure to prevent this problem.
For example, we could have covered the plants with plastic, bed sheets, and mulch or hay to keep temperatures higher than the outside environment to prevent frost.
Keeping the soil moist is also a way to keep plants warm. The water tends to hold heat well and can keep the plants warm near the soil.

Broccoli seems to show no problems nutritionally. It did not require any fertilizer.

We do not know what happened to this one leaf. But we have spotted some predators on the leaf. This could be a result of some damage done by pest.

Week 12: December 1-December 5:

It is finally time to harvest!!!!!!!!!!
Things that we did right

Well established irrigation

Number one thing in any farming is a good water source
The irrigation system was a sprinkler system that was timed to go out at certain times a day. It provided enough water for the plants to thrive

Planting

We used proper methods in planting and transplanting

Good field selection was used
field was prepped and cleaned for planting
raised beds were created and hay was added for competition with weed
The seeds were planted a certain distance apart from each other at a approximate spacing
Right after planting the field was irrigated

Maintenance

Weed was a concerning issue for us

weed was picked or pulled from the field and hay was just not doing the job

We were able to go out to see how the plants are progressing and to see if they show sign of stress

nutrion stress
water stress
heat stress
etc.

Harvesting

After the frost there was no product other than broccoli and cabbage left to harvest
Proper storage after harvest is key
most of these products are kept refrigerated to extend their freshness following harvest
broccoli and cabbage looked appealing to the consumer

post harvest handling can lead to loss of certain nutrients
Example, Vitamin C--- can be lost during high level of CO2
To prevent this companies use controlled environments to stores fruits and vegetables

Things that can be improved

For future production we would like to try the plasticulture method
This is used commercially in peppers and eggplants; two plants that we grew on the field
This method could solve our problems with excess weed growth that led to high amounts of maintenance
nutrient leaching from the rainfall that could have cause the magnesium and nitrogen deficiencies
Protection towards pest
With this drip irrigation could be considered

We did not used significant amounts of fertilizer and believe this could have been a problem in growth of some of our plants
FERTIGATION could be the answer to our problems.

With the combination of drip irrigation and fertilizer we could have used the banded method to apply fertilizer to our crops
this would allow for less labor and and cost productive
the calculation for applying the fertilizer would be simple with the amount of field we are using

One thing I also would like to experiment is the type of fertilizer

Organic matter could have been a good source of nutrients
I believe we could have added organic matter early
this would have allowed the slow release of nutrients and supporting the plants when they are nutrient deprived
Nitrogen fixation is a key process for microorganism to provide nitrogen for plants
Organic matter would have helped microorganisms and indirectly help with the nitrogen issue we were having without having to apply synthetic fertilizer

This project has not been costly

If this was a real business, we believe that the cost of taking care of the plants would have been significant compared to profits from harvest. This is mainly due to the loss of 50% of plants to the cold weather. The methods we used required a lot of labor which can lead to increase cost
The new methods we would like to use could be costly, but can prevent the problems we faced during this season and lead to a good harvest

Overall, this experience was not only new to all of my group members, but also a very challenging one. This not being our element was a challenging but fun project. We were able to apply what we learned on the field to try to achieve efficient production. We believe that we could do some things differently for better results in the future. Without the frost impacting a lot of our plants, we would have had a entire garden full of plants flourishing and flowering. This project allowed us to learn the growing process of the vegetables and fruits that we take for granted and be able understand the vegetable and fruit industry from another perspective.

Vegetable and the Vegetable Industry- Worksheet

1. Write down the top 10 of your favorite vegetables?

· Green beans, carrots, cucumbers, peas, onions, lettuce, spinach, avocado, potato, and broccoli.

2. List the top 10 vegetables based on per capita consumption in 2011(compare it to your to 10 list).

Potato, tomato, lettuce, weet corn, onion, watermelon, peppers, carrots, cucumber, melons.

· Total Consumption:

o 410 lbs per person per year

· Fresh vegetable consumption

o 76.7 lbs per person per year

· Processing vegetable consumption:

o 91 lbs per person per year

3. List the top 10 fresh market vegetables based on production amount(cwt) in 2013.

· Potatoes

· Lettuce

· Sweet corn

· Onions

· Watermelons

· Broccoli

· Tomatoes

· Snap beans

· Cantaloupe

· Carrots

4. List the top 10 fresh market vegetables based on total value in 2013.

· Broccoli

· Carrots

· Sweet Corn

· Lettuce head

· Lettuce leaf

· Lettuce romaine

· Onions

· Bell peppers

· Tomatoes

· Watermelons

5. List the top 5 states in fresh market vegetable production:

· California

· Florida

· Arizona

· Georgia

· New york

6. List the top 5 states in processing vegetable production.

· California

· Wisconsin

· Minnesota

· Washington

· Michigan

7. List the top 5 leading countries world vegetable production in 2011.

· China

· Russia

· Iran

· Turkey

· United States

8. List the top 5 vegetable in world production in 2001.

· Watermelon

· Cucumbers

· Eggplant

· Peppers

· cantaloupe

9. Did the vegetable production acreage increase in the past……

· The production acreage has been very close to the same in the past 30-40 years.

· The cwt of vegetables has also been very close to the same in the past 30-40 yrs.

· The value of production of vegetables has increased in the past 30-40 yrs.

· I think the reason for the increase in market value of vegetables has increased because the cost of farming equipment has gone up in the last 40 years and so value of product must go up.

FLORIDA VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

1. List the top 5 vegetable based on harvested acerage in the 2011-2012 season:

· Sweet corn

· Onions

· Lettuce

· Broccoli

· Watermelons

2. List the top 5 vegetables based on total value in the 2011-2012 season:

· Lettuce head

· Tomatoes

· Lettuce romaine

· Sweet corn

· Carrots

3. What is the role of Florida in the U.S. vegetable production? What are the major challenges facing the Florida vegetables industry today?

Florida is 2nd in value of production of bell peppers. First in value of production of fresh market snap beans, cucumbers for fresh market, cucumbers for pickles, squash, sweet corn and fresh market tomatoes. Florida ranks second to California in the total value of fresh market vegetable production.

Extreme Nutritional Value growers

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A little about us

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Nutritional Value and Health benefits from consumption:

Friday, October 3, 2014

Vegetables:

Friday, September 19, 2014

Journal Entries

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Vegetable Worksheet