Growing Groceries

For our first unit of our Food class, we were asked to create a garden. In our first unit, we studied plants and how they grow. We also learned about ecosystems and symbiosis and how plants and animals work together. We also learned about systems of equations and graphing inequalities. We took an FE to a restaurant and garden called Big Delicious Planet where we got tips on how to start a garden of our own. We were asked to find containers and a spot to put them in as our garden. We also had to find 10 different companion plants to plant in our garden. We then had to test our soil and calculate how many different nutrients to add. I thought this project was cool and really connected with both the math and the science we studied in our first unit. My favorite part was picking out the plants and the containers for our garden. I am most proud of my design and location of my garden.

CM "Garden Plan" (2017)

When I was first asked to create a garden, my mind jumped to my somewhat successful real garden that does produce a fair amount of crops. I wanted to do something a little different than your traditional raised beds. I wanted to do something compact that still could produce plenty of crops. I chose my front porch. I think it needs a little bit of greenery. I have lots of plants and crops in the garden and in the backyard as well as in the front yard, but not much 0n the porch. My front porch is decently big, but I chose just a small section left of the door. The space is only about 3ft by 6ft but I could still fit a decent amount of pots, besides, all the rest of the porch is taken up by furniture.

I chose to use 5 ceramic pots that I have in my garage that we usually use to plant flowers in. Each pot is 1ft high with a radius of 6in. They each hold about 226 cubic in of soil and all together they hold 1130 cubic in of soil. I know this by taking the formula of volume of a cylinder which is pi x r^2 x h. Then our formula is 3.14 x 6^2 x 12 = 226. If you multiply that by 5 you get 226 x 5 = 1130. For the surface area, I took the area of a circle which is pi x r^2. Our equation is then 3.14 x 6^2 x 5 because we have 5 pots. Our total surface area is 562 sq in.

When I tested my soil I found out that my Nitrogen level was 25, my Phosphorus level was 2, my Potassium level was 272, and my CEC was 0. According to the Peaceful Valley Farm Supply’s guide to soil, my nitrogen levels were at a medium level which means I would have to apply a moderate amount of additives to my soil. I chose blood meal because it was the lightest. The meal is 4lbs per 100 sq ft. I first had to calculate my square footage: .5 x .5 x 3.14 x 5 = 3.925 sq ft. To find out how much to use, I used this calculation: 4 lbs/100 sq ft = x lbs/3.925 sq ft x = .157 lbs. My Phosphorus levels were very, very low so I need 5lbs of soft rock phosphate per 100 sq ft. My calculation is: 5 lbs/100 sq ft = x lbs/3.925 sq ft x = 0.19625 lbs. My Potassium levels were medium and since I have a CEC of under 15, I don’t have to add anything.

The plants I chose were: radishes, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, peas, onions, beets, cabbage, beans, and garlic. I chose these plants because they are all vegetables that are companion plants to each other. In the first pot, I put peas & radishes, in the second pot I put onions & beets, in the third pot I put carrots & lettuce, in the fourth pot I put beans & cucumbers, and in the fifth pot I put cabbage and garlic. All of the plants that are put together are companion plants. Companion plants mean that the plants support each other. This means they also have a mutualistic relationship meaning that they help each other.

Fukuoka’s 4 principles of natural farming are: no pesticides, no herbicides, no cultivation, and no fertilizer. In my garden, I will not use any of these and will go all natural like Fukuoka. I will do this because I don't believe in chemical pesticides and herbicides, and since my garden is so small there is no need for cultivation or fertilizer.

I might actually implement my garden. The pots I used are supposed to be for flowers so I might have to find different containers. I would also need to find a different space because that space is full of pots usually. In the end, this project taught me how complicated it actually is to decide what to plant in a garden. The garden I actually have was decided by my dad a number of years ago. I also thought about how hard it is to find the right containers and space.

Works cited:
"Companion Planting Guide." Growing Tips Article at Burpee.com. Burpee, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.