Agriculture is fun! It ain't no rye!

Thursday May 18^th 2017

Sadly, there will be no more crimson clover bouquets at the Terraces

Straight from the get go this day did not go as planned! Our Agroecosystems management class was supposed to go spread compost out on the Orchard, but as this winter was wet and nasty the conditions are still to wet to allow us to start working. Fortunately, there is no shortage of other work that could be done on the Terraces!

Lets talk about the walk about!

The rye grass cover crop exploded during our three-week break from class, and it was starting to go to seed. Ideally we would have been able to cut it back a bit earlier, but as mentioned before things don’t always happen according to plan, and it is important to be able to adapt the best you can!

During our walk-about, we noticed that the colour of the rye grass was inconsistent, and we wanted to measure the difference in colour from area to area. A SPAD-metre was used to measure these differences in colour. A Spadmetre is a tool that measures the concentration of leaf chlorophyll in SPAS units. Areas of darker rye grass measured 40.0 SPAD units at its lowest concentration to 50.6 SPAD units at its highest concentration that we measured. Areas of lighter green rye grass measured from as low as 24.0 SPAD unites to about 33.0 SPAD units.  There was clearly a drastic difference in concentration of chlorophyll in the rye grass, even if we didn’t fully grasp all of the technical workings of this SPAD-metre, it was helpful to be able to quantify the intensity of the colour seen.

                

We discussed the possible reasons for these differences in colour and what it could mean for our crop. We concluded that the lighter green rye grass was not getting efficient nutrients in comparison to the darker green areas.  This could the result of a couple of different scenarios. Firstly, it could be because compost or other fertilizers could have been applied at different rates throughout the terraces, resulting in different amounts of available nutrients for the rye grass. Adversely, it could be that these areas of lighter rye grass could be the result of a faster burning rate of nutrients due to the high rate of drainage of the soil, or the higher temperatures due to the surrounding concrete structures.

 

When cutting down the rye grass we started from the top and gradually cut the grass further down as we went. This resulted in the rye grass being chopped up as much as possible before we covered it with a layer of compost. We wanted the rye grass to be chopped up as much as possible so that it could be broken down rapidly.  Instead of mixing the layer of chopped up rye grass and compost together with the existing soil, we decided that we could let the microbes and the earthworms do that work for us! Ideally a flail mower would be used to make sure everything gets chopped up, but when a flail mower is not available, this method is sufficient. In addition, it would also be ideal to let the chopped up rye grass dry up in the field a bit before adding the compost, however, time has not been on our side this spring.

Mike showing us how to tie off the ends of
the irrigation tape 

Next we layed down irrigation tape on the western terraces, but using the same system used in previous years. Instead of using a solid PVC pipe, a flexible PVC pipe was used, this gives us the ability to add more lines if we want, instead of having to take apart the whole pipe if more lines need to be added. This flexible PVC pipe is cheaper, easier to set up, and can withstand being run over by wheelbarrows without breaking.

Our next task was to lay out the irrigation tape. Unfortunately we were unable to hook it all up completely as we were short on connector pieces, but it was good to get an idea of the layout of the irrigation, and see which empty spaces needed to be filled in. 

Compost on top of the chopped up rye grass 

Meanwhile, other aggies were transplanting tomatoes in the North bed.  These tomatoes were looking pretty sad, and had not had an easy life before getting to their final resting space in the Terraces.  We were a bit late transplanting these tomato plants, and they had grown too big for their initial pots and needed to be repotted. After being re-potted, they were accidentally placed under 24 hour light, so they were pretty stressed out to say the least! Plans had changed, yet again, shortly after this re-potting, and they were transplanted into the terraces without first being hardened off. To help them out with this transition of environment, we covered them with a floating row cover protect them from the direct sunlight and our chilly spring nights.

Tomato varieties that were transplanted include: Sungold, Old German, Blackrim, Sunrise, Sungella, Pazzano, Taxi, and Purple Bumble. 

Our sad, stressed out tomato transplants :( 

Nasturtiums were also transplanted in the South terraces. The nasturtiums had been a bit ignored in past years, and had never been given a home of their own. This year, however, they have been given a bit more thought, and will definitely have an opportunity to thrive. 

Isabel excited to teach us about the plow!

WOW, THE PLOW!

 Isabel did our presentation of the day!  She discussed the history of the plow, and how it has become the plows that we see today. The discussion that resulted from her presentation was how plowing can increase carbon emissions from your field and how and why this happens. Essentially, a bloom of microbial activity occurs after plowing. The extra oxygen throughout the profile allows microbes to access carbon it would otherwise have no access to, resulting in the increased decomposition, and increased emissions. 

During out initial walkabout, we noticed that our carrots and parsnips were starting to go to seed. Although saving seed from these plants may not be ideal, the opportunity to practice could not be passed up! So the carrot and parsnip were transplanted from their prime real estate spot, to right next to our rhubarb plant, and the class will practice saving seed later on in the year!

And like most of our Agroecosystems classes, it is hard to not find a day where the students get a bit silly!

Finished product of the terraces at the end of the day