In the first unit of my Food class, we studied food as a science, and how plants make and take nutrients. We watched a video about a guerilla gardener named, Ron Finley, who plants gardens in food deserts for people in that area to eat. This action inspired me to start growing more plants in a raised bed in my backyard. This would be good because then the food is organic and doesn't have to travel by plane or truck which can make the plant unhealthy. For the action project we designed a raised bed and then picked 10 plants that are companion plants, with one nitrogen fixer. The purpose of this action project was to learn how plants truly work together, and to see how important elements are to plants. It’s important to understand how plants grow together so that you can understand if your fruit or vegetable will grow healthy.
I don’t live in a food desert or the city where it can be very difficult to grow plants. I live in the outskirts of the city, which means there is less interference with the natural ecosystem. I decided that a raised bed would be the best for my plants to grow in because it is easier to maintain and I have more control of what happens to it. My garden will be 96 inches in length (8ft), 60 inches in width (5ft), and 24 inches in height (2ft). The total volume is 80 cubic ft. This is a great size so companions plants can protect and give nutrients to each other. In class, I learned that plants need 16 different elements to survive. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), are the primary elements. I tested my soil because, I needed to know if the soil I was testing was safe and if I needed to add any organic fertilizer. The soil is living because, its color is dark and there are worms and insects. In addition, I have used that soil to grow other plants before. I tested my soil for the nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and the pH to make sure the plants have the right living conditions.
Once my test results came back, I learned that the nitrogen level was deficient. Therefore, I added 2.4 pounds of feather meal, which is 13% nitrogen. My phosphorus level is surplus meaning that it has a good amount. My potassium level is adequate meaning it’s enough. The pH level is 7.0 which is perfect for any plant. I only want to use organic fertilizer because human made fertilizer can hurt the ecosystem and hurt things that could help the plants. The reason my nitrogen isn’t sufficient is due to the winter we just had. The soil needs time replenish itself with proper elements.
The 10 plants that I have chosen are, carrots, corn, eggplant, pepper, tomato, potato, turnips, parsley, and cucumber. The nitrogen fixer I chose is peanuts. A nitrogen-fixer is a plant that makes nitrogen compounds that can be absorbed by other plants to use as protein. The image below is the design drawn out:
NVA, "Raised Bed" 4-17-14, Chicago: GCE
This is a winning garden because all the plants work together in some way. The potatoes give shelter to corn and prevent carrots from getting disease. Eggplants and tomatoes share nutrients and tomatoes help corn grow tall. The tomato leaves, if spread next to parsley, keeps parasites away. The pepper can help give protection from the sun. The cucumber can provide shelter for corn, but a cucumber plant can’t grow next to a potato plant. Turnips can steal nutrients from potatoes but it can help other plants. Then the peanuts can give nutrients to all the plants.
In conclusion, what I learned was that soil is very important to the survival of plants and should always be taken care of. In addition, people should not add human made fertilizer and only use organic fertilizer. This garden is ready to be built and grow food that will be nutritional nutritional and very safe to eat. Classmates get ready to build this garden!
References:
“Companion Planting” Golden Harvest Organics, 3-10-14
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