You will start nearly all crops from seed and grow them on through the semester and harvest them when they come ready during the semester. You can harvest from your plots through the day of the lecture final exam . The soil is shallow and intensive cultivation may have built up pests and diseases that should not be moved to other locations. During the first lab we will plan the plots and sow seeds of the crops that are to be transplanted. In the second and third labs we will mark off the plots and begin to seed those crops that are to be direct-seeded.
Students often go out to their plots at times when no instructor is present.
If you do go out to the plots to work, but do not know what the seedlings of your crops should look like, check the section of seedlings to avoid accidentally pulling out your crop shortly after it has germinated. Although each students plot will have only 10 crops in the required 500 sq. Your plot can be an organic plot or non-organic plot , i.e., one using standard practices. In recent semesters over half of the plots have been organic. Unfortunately it is not possible for a student to grow using both methods, since the organic and non-organic plots are in separate parts of the field and the logistics of working in two areas would be difficult.