Bolting is when there is longer hours of light and or a cold spell hits and the lettuce reacts to it. The lettuce prematurely flowers which is its seeds. This results in a possibly unusable plant or a bitter taste in it when you eat it. The only lettuce that has started the bolting process is the bibb. This processes started during thanksgiving break from the freeze that occurred. The signs started appearing on 11/29/18 by having the color of the upper leaves turn purple and the lower leaves started to follow suit. We tried the lettuce and it was indeed more bitter than the lettuce that had not bolted yet. One thing I found interesting was that the bibb lettuce in the raised bed in the healing garden had all bolted no matter the size of the head this included nine heads of bibb. This was a contrast from the lettuce in the fields because out of the twelve that I harvested on 11/30/18 only one of them had bolted. We harvested all the lettuce wither they were bolting or not because it was better to harvest them when they were close to harvest than to risk them maturing too soon.
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Twenty plants from both the Penelope and Sugar sprint peas grow. It took them three weeks to start to flower. This is a sign when they start flowering because they are becoming mature plants. The Penelope shelled pea is growing in height at a faster rate than its competitors. When measured on 11/28/18 the Penelope pant was two inches taller than the Sugar Sprint which was one foot and six inches tall. These varieties are not in favor of warm temperatures which might result in lower germination, lower yields, and the produce will be less sweet than the spring crop. When we directed seeded the weather was warmer and the sun was still out for most of the day. This is the conditions that the peas do not like. Since the environment has been cooling down the peas have noticeable been growing at a quicker rate and now flowering as well. We planted the seeds later due to the receiving the seeds late and preparing the field so it sets back our harvest time. It will be Christmas break by the time the peas are ready to go to market. I will not be able to gain conclusive data on the peas and their taste to one another and the effects on the environment to their growth. The Army Worms were a huge problem in the fields this year. They attacked everything especially the broccoli. Unfortunately the first round of transplants that we planted into the field were almost completely ate by the worms. Since we are a organic farm we could not spray traditional pesticides to get rid of the army worms. Instead we had to kill them with our own hands or the tools we had. The worms harvest one the leaves of the young broccoli plants until they went into their cocoons. This resulted in having to plant the broccoli that were under the shade cloth outside from the same trays that we used to put in the field. These plants were stunted in growth from staying in their trays for weeks. It was better the plant the new transplants than have to start the whole processes all over again. This resulted in the broccoli not being ready to harvest yet. The time to harvest is in the upper fifty days, so I will be on Christmas break when they are ready to go to harvest. I got to accompany the Howdy Farm on a Saturday morning to sell the produce that I had grown. My lettuce was the only thing that was growing in my favor so that is what I brought. The day before on Friday the 11/29/18 Michael and I harvest the lettuce. He helped me harvest ten heads of lettuce from each variety to sell. We than brought them into the building to start the cleaning process. We filled two skinks with water. The first was for the initial rinse to get the dirt off than the second was to double check for any cocoons of worms or any dirt the first had missed. After thoroughly cleaning all the heads they were then stored in a cooler for the next day. At the market we set up a booth. We sold things grown on the farm. These include oranges. lemon grass, spaghetti squash, red salad bowl, romaine lettuce, and bibb lettuce. We sold the lettuce for one dollar a head and we sold every single head. I felt like this was a great success because I did not think that this was possible. I was very to meet the people and talk to the people who bought me lettuce. This was defiantly a great experience. My lettuce went to the farmers market on 12/1/18 to sell the reset of my projects red salad bowl and romaine lettuce. This was defiantly an experience that I won't forget.
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AuthorI am the loudest, the proudest, member of the Fighting Aggie class of 2019 Whoop! I am from Garland, Tx and a Horticulture major. Come visit me at the farm and ask me about plants! Archives |
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