Aiden's HOS1014 Garden Blog

 For the last week, class was at the same time as an event in the Teaching Garden (I think it was called the Fall Festival?). There were a lot of plant related organizations there as well as plenty to do. Some notable ones were the you pick sunflowers, sweet potato harvest, and cassava harvest (as shown in the pic below with Kevin) I forgot to take a photo of the garden this week, honestly it looks very similar to last week. With the cold weather, the plants aren't growing much anymore, and they're pretty much fully grown too.  Here is a photo on my way out, I always like the clear skies and sunsets in the fall. And I just wanted to say thank you for teaching this awesome class! Your vegetable gardening class is one of the best and definitely the most memorable course I have taken at UF. What a great way to learn about gardening, by doing hands on work literally in the field. Thank you for providing me with this experience, and also thank you for introducing me to Connor and t...

I started off the day by harvesting cucumbers and beans from the garden. They did really well and look perfect! Now for the bad news, the cucumber plants' leaves are still slowly dying from whatever disease they got. But the cucumbers are still growing.    Key takeaways from the Protected Ag presentation: Lack of bacterial contamination by herbivores = greater food safety Types of hydroponic systems = Nutrient film technique, deep water culture, wick system, ebb and flow, drip system, aeroponics Pros of hydroponics = up to 90% less water used, no chemicals, consumers get it fresher, reduces damage/spoilage/waste due to not having to be transported as far, more can be grown quickly Cons of hydroponics = time consuming, requires expertise, requires 24/7 on site supervision/maintenance, needs constant electricity

First thing that I noticed at the garden is that something had gotten to everyone's cucumber plants. The leaves on all of the plants were completely dying, starting with the oldest leaves. Then I noticed that my watermelon was leaking water for some reason After determining that it was either due to an insect getting inside or from absorbing too much water (there has been a lot of rain), we decided to open it. Unfortunately the photos of it being opened are on someone else's phone but it had a ton of pressure inside and did seem to have just absorbed too much water. Very strange!  Key takeaways from the Composting presentation: Build a compost pile = Layer equal amounts of greens and browns in 3-4 inch layers, water the layers as you go, stop layering at 3-5 feet in height. Managing your pile = Check temperature, moisture, and smell Do not compost = Dairy and meat, pet waste, pesticides, oils, pressure-treated wood, seeds