Sunday, April 29, 2012

Shade

NOTE:  To those that read this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the pictures in the post.  To see the actual blog you need to go to:  http://http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com/

Shade

One of the goals this summer is to experiment with planting densities, growth rates, and continuous vegetable/fruit harvesting for maximum efficiency.  With some plants the entire vegetable is harvested such as lettuce, cabbage, arugula, and spinach.  Other plants like tomatoes and peppers just the fruit is harvested but the plant remains in the system.

Teaching Moment

Fruit is a part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower, mainly one or more ovaries.
Vegetable means an edible plant or part of a plant, but usually excludes seeds and most sweet fruit

Most people refer to all plants grown in the garden as vegetables.  We often do not hear people say, "I am going to grow a fruit garden," although a majority of people grow tomatoes which are technically a fruit.  Botanically, any edible ovary from a plant is a fruit.  We often think of oranges and apples as fruits, which they are, but do not usually refer to peppers and tomatoes as fruit. 

Here are common garden plants.  Let's see what you know.  Which of these common garden plants are fruits and which ones vegetables. (answers below)

tomato, peppers (all kinds), squash, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, corn, melons (all kinds), peas, beans, strawberries


spinach, lettuce, beets, rhubarb, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower (yuk, sorry), celery, potatoes, onions, cabbage


Now back to our post...
 
I planted the lettuce, cabbage, arugula, and spinach about forty nine days ago.  The lettuce, arugula, and spinach can be fully harvested within the week.  The idea is to have these plants in different stages of growth for a continuous harvest.

But.....

these are spring and fall plants.  They do not do well in the heat and direct light of the summer.  Therefore, to continue to experiment I needed to provide shade, at least, for these plants.  I was already starting to see them react to the direct sun.

So.....

I had to build a shade cover.  I wanted to design one that would cover one raft, was lightweight, and easy to move.

1x2x8 furring, 1-1/4 in drywall screws, pre-drilled holes


landscaping weed fabric

temporary shade cover




Answers: 

Purple = fruits
Blue = vegetables

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