FINAL INSECT DATA COLLECTION AND INSECT DAMAGE PERCENTAGE DATA
As I went through the field collecting my last week of insect data, I was truly impressed by the size of my plants. Remembering the days just after transplant, I am at turns shocked, impressed, and proud at their survival. The insect damage charts are particularly telling in terms of when certain pests appeared in the field this year and their pervasiveness. Were some student to continue trialing cabbage in particular, it would be interesting to see how those appearances change with the shift in climate.
CREATING A SCIENTIFIC POSTER
Having spent the summer collecting massive amounts of data, September was spent as time of analysis. SURF fellows are expected to produce a scientific poster for their projects, and the file was due for delivery to the coordinator no later than September 17th. I chose three areas of research to present in my poster: germination, vigor, and insect damage percentage. My poster follows the conventions of the excellent scientific poster design examples presented by Colin Purrington on his website. I attempted to keep the wording on the poster brief and to the point, allowing my visual data to do most of the talking.
FIELD SIGNAGE
FIRST HARVEST
After developing a tentative harvest schedule, I also made my first two harvests on at the end of September. After much discussion with my supervisors and Andrew, I decided to harvest heads as they each become ready, as opposed to harvesting all of each variety at the same time, creating the space for excellent tasting produce as opposed to strict data collection.
Radicchio was supplied to the farm’s CSA and market stand. Educational material was produced for customers explaining what radicchio is and how it is prepared. I also included five radicchio recipes that showcase its many culinary uses. I decided to use this initial material to build materials for the radicchio tasting planned for October 6th.