Deep Food Learning Challenge

For this assignment we were asked to take a close look at our relationship with food. Having done something similar in the previous course (check posts starting October 17, 2016), I wondered what I could do that was practical, sustainable, and most importantly meaningful.

The easy solution, find a local restaurant that supports sustainable practices, pick up a fork, and dig in. While I was really leaning towards this option at first, I didn't feel that it was entirely inline with the intent of the activity. So I decided to go a little "deeper".

As we all know, spring an summer are fast approaching and we were already starting to discuss plans for the garden this coming season. For the last 17 years we have always had some sort of garden, never really taken it too seriously, but as a hobby, it has been fun. Now that our family has grown, our skills have developed, and the number of plants has steadily increased, we often questioned the "bang for the buck" when buying our plants from the garden centre. In an attempt to reduce our costs, increase our harvest, and model sustainable behaviour for our kids, we are starting with seeds this year...

I have to admit, I am the only person I know of that collects acorns from oak trees, places them in zip lock bags with some sawdust, and then stores them in the fridge until the sprout. Then, I plant and car for one of the slowest growing trees in our yard. One day, someone will appreciate my efforts. For now my neighbour laughs at me. Outside of the acorns, I have never started anything from seed and was/am nervous about it.

Thankfully my research wasn't totally overwhelming as I kind of know the basics, but very quickly I realized this wasn't as easy as seeds and mud. I had to consider a few critical aspects before I started.

Time - You don't want to start early and you don't want to start late. In Winnipeg, the rule of thumb is to put your plants in the ground the weekend after May long. That way, we should be frost free and your plants should survive the season. We started the seeds on March 20, hopefully they will be ready on time.

Location - Unfortunately, we do not have a very good window in the house that gets enough sunlight at this time of year for a house plant, never mind starting seeds. Also, I felt that considering this was my first time trying, I wanted to pick a high traffic location so I don't forget about the seeds.

Heat - We keep the house at 22, which I found out was not warm enough.

Equipment - Considering this will hopefully turn into a regular practice anything we purchase to use should pay for itself over time. Despite that, I did want to find the cheapest option just incase I blow it.

My final decision?

I bought a 72 plant greenhouse. The package came with everything you need other than seeds and water for a huge investment of $32.00 ( I did spend an additional $30 on seeds, enough for 2 seasons for sure). It even came with a heat mat, which we need because we just don't have the ambient temperature in the house. The heat mat was the real selling feature of the product, most of the mats I had been looking at initially were between $50 and $150 (just for the mat). I did put the greenhouse in the kitchen so I can keep an eye on it.

Once the plants start growing I will have to add a grow light to ensure they keep going and will most likely have to do some transplanting. A friend of mine mentioned that I should run an oscillating fan over the plants for a few hours a day as they grow. He says it will strengthen the plant and I will better survive the wind once out in the garden.

Take a look at the pictures and the video I found, (same product, different supplier). I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that McKenzie Seeds and additional products are from Brandon Manitoba. That's really local in my opinion.

Reusable heat mat.

I have already added the water, figured out the order of the seeds, and made a map because they will all look the same to me in a few weeks.

Water and seeds are in, heat mat is on and the things are already happening.

This video is really good, I wish I had watched it first. One of the best suggestions was to save your seeds from the previous season to further reduce your costs. Hopefully that will be possible for next year.

If and when we start to see some growth I will post the pictures.