Resources/Recursos:
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- Watch Episode 5
- Download Episode 5 Venn Diagram
- Download Episode 5 Activity Instructions in English / Descargar episodio 5 actividad instrucciones en español
Laura, Director of Farm Operations at Project GROWS, shows us a garden bed full of onions planted directly into the ground!
Welcome to Episode 5 of our Signs of Spring video series with Project GROWS! In this episode, the Project GROWS farm team will give you a tour of three different growing spaces on the Project GROWS farm; a greenhouse, high tunnel, and garden bed. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn how to make your own “mini high tunnel.”
One sign of springtime is that environmental conditions start to shift. It’s warm during the day but cold at night, and we get quite a bit of rain! Each kind of plant has a set of environmental conditions that it grows best in, which means we need to choose the right time of year and the right place on the farm to plant it. If you’ve ever been to the Project GROWS farm on a field trip, this is something you may have learned! Environmental conditions include things like temperature and rainfall. Since we can’t take a tour of the farm together right now, we wanted to share this video and information so that you can still learn about the different environmental conditions that impact where plants grow! That way, even more of us can see the farm and learn about how we grow vegetables!
Clara, Associate Director of Farm Operations, shows us the greenhouse, the growing space on the farm where all of our plants are started from seed!
At our 10-acre farm at Project GROWS, we grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers. To help each grow the best it can, we need to provide the best environmental conditions for each of our plants. Using the following areas on farm, we can create three sets of conditions:
1. our greenhouse
2. our two high tunnels
3. our garden beds outside
Check out the video to learn all of the differences and similarities between the three growing spaces, which plants grow best in each, and why it is useful for farmers to have many options for where to put their plants.
ACTIVITY:
Natalie, Food Access Assistant, demonstrates how to make and use a “garden cloche” at home.
We’ll also show you how to make a mini “high tunnel” to cover an individual plant to help it grow. This can also be called a “garden cloche.” This way, you can control some of the environmental conditions of individual plants that you may be growing. Make it an experiment by growing two of the same plant in the same location, but covering one with the cloche and leaving one uncovered! Make sure to download the activity directions, below, and ask an adult to help with cutting the milk jug.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to also check out our previous Episodes and stay tuned for more!
Happy learning and exploring,
Team GROWS