The school vegetable gardenChiara Tozzi & Sara Marabissi

IntroductionThis year we started a new project with the teacher of Science Ales Roberto. We created a vegetable garden project and planted many vegetables, after which we

prepared some technical sheets.

QUESTIONS: ANSWERS:

What do you plant in winter in your vegetable garden? In winter I plant celery, cabbage, sprouts, beets and chicory.

How do you plant a vegetables garden? I work the soil, I divide it into parcels where then later I make

small holes with the shovel, put the seedlings, and cover the

seedling roots with the ground and finally water them.

How much time do you spend in your vegetable garden? In my garden I spend 1 hour a day.

What plants are in your vegetable garden? In my vegetable garden I grow various vegetables according

to the season.

Why have you decided to grow a vegetable garden? I decided to make a vegetable garden because the vegetables

are healthier and so they are good for the body.

What tools or machinery do you usually use? To work the deep ground I usually use the tractor, the plow

and the cutter.

How many times a week do you go to your vegetable

garden?

In a week I go to my vegetable garden 3 times to water the

plants.

Is your vegetable garden organic or conventional? My vegetable garden is organic.

What is your favourite plant? My favourite plant is salad.

Interview

Starting a home vegetable garden is a easy way to save money and be outdoor, in addition it is a good way to produce your own healthy vegs. It is better to start from the small and think about the amount of vegetables you will eat. You do not always need a large space to start if you decide to grow your vegetables.

Advantages of planting a vegetable garden:

The basic requirements for success

The three main basic requirements for success are:

• A lot of sun

• Lots of water

• Good quality soil

The layout of a vegetable gardenYou can plant in rows, leaving enough space to walk between the rows of plants and where you can grow tall plants such as tomatoes to better use the space, or in an intensive way.

Intensive cropping methodIntensive cropping reduces the amount of area for walking paths making your vegetable garden more productive. This allows you to have a second harvest later in the season but you have to remove weeds manually.

Steps in planting a vegetable garden

Classifying the soil: to classify the soil you must first wet it and see if the water is absorbed, if it isn’t, you must add compost to improve dranaige in sandy soils (theyretain more moisture) or clay to make them less compact and more permeable. If the soil doesn’t drain water well you have to install raised beds.

Loosen the soil, spread it, plant the plants in rows or sow, then water.

How to choose varietiesThere are thousands of types of vegetables. For each type of plant it is good to plant two or three plant varieties among the most promising. If one does not do well, you will have other plants to compensate for the harvest. The following year, grow the plants with better yield and choose a new one to try.

Many vegetables can be bought in the form of a nursery. The benefit of this purchase is the possibility of an early harvest compared to having planted that vegetable directly in the field.

How to take care of yourvegetable garden

To take care of you garden it is sufficient to irrigate according to the needs of the plants, free the soil from weeds and always check for parasites to intervene in time.

HarvestingThe harvest, which can last several months, is the most satisfying phase and you ‘llharvest the vegetables according to the size and degree of ripeness you prefer.

Pests and diseases type remediesParasites like rabbits, moles or deer can quickly destroy an entire vagetable garden. To defend it it is necessary to equip suitable fences to avoid their entry. For insects and spring frosts it is advisable to install a plastic cover to the rows. For fungal diseases we need to water the soil at the beginning of the day, remove any dead or sick plants and possibly use natural or organic products.

Activites for each seasonRadicchio

Gen Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Sowing X X X X X

Transplan

tingX X X X

Collection X X X X X X X

Data Sheet• Common name: Lettuce. There are many varieties of lettuce that differ in flavor and/or color but also for

their cultivation cycle: there are plants that are more resistant to frost with a late cycle and others that

demand milder climates and are precocious. The lettuce varieties can also be divided into 2 large groups:

head lettuce: with head, they form a compact head; without head, they do not form a compact head. The

whole plant is collected .

• Leaf lettuce: they do not form the head, they give more crops after their cutting and allow more

collections per year.

• Botanical name: Lactuca Sativa

• Family: Asteraceae

• Origin and diffusion: Originating in the temperate areas of Asia, it is spread almost everywhere.

• Italian areas interested in production: Campania, Lazio, Abruzzo, Veneto, Lombardy, Liguria and

Piedmont.

• Parts of the plant used: leaves

• Use: in cooking, row in salads

• Climatic needs: Herbaceous plant has biennial biological cycle, annual in

cultivation, it loves quite cool temperatures and for this reason it is an ideal

vegetable to be cultivated in open fields in Autumn and Spring.

• Temperature: Optimal growth temperature 14-18 ° C, minimum -2 ° C

• Water: It requires constant irrigation for the entire cultivation period.

• Pedological needs: It prefers loose soils even if it produces in any well

drained supplied with organic substances.

• Cultural precession: In rotation with other horticultural crops, avoid

repeated culture.

• Ground preparation: main Spring / Summer processing (digging) 20-25

cm in depth with burying of organic fertilizers

• Sowing mode and density:

- Sowing: in alveolar containers

- Sowing period: from February to June

- Depth: 0.5-1.0 cm

- Investment: 2 seeds / alveolus

• Transplant mode and period:

- Transplantation period: about 20-30 days after sowing in containers

- Investment: 10-12 plants / m2

- Distance between rows: 30-40 cm

- Distance on the row: 25-40 cm

• Fertilization: Organic (2-3 kg / m2 mature manure or compound or 1-2 kg / m2 pelleted

manure), to be distributed before tillage (digging) by incorporating it into the soil in a

homogeneous way.

• Weed control: Weeding and scouring or mulching with organic materials (e.g. straw)

Disease control and pests: Cryptogamic diseases: Rhizoctonia, Pythium spp,Downy Mildew, Verticillium, Botrite, Oidium; to avoid the incidence ofavoiding water stagnation and applying multi-year rotations. In case ofinfection, evaluate the intervention with suitable anti-cryptogamic products tobe distributed in the mode and dose indicated in the commercial package.Animal parasites: larvae of elateridae, noctu larvae of oziorrinco and beetles;cause damage to the roots and to the collar and can be controlled with productsbased on Bacillus Thuringiensis var. Kurstaki (Lepidoptera larvae) or BacillusThuringiensis var. Tenebronis (larvae of beetles) used at the doses indicated inthe different commercial packages (to be distributed in the early morning orlate afternoon) or with synthetic active ingredients.Snails: attack the leaves and can be controlled by preparing bait traps.Aphids: attack the leaves, they are controlled with products of "natural"(pyrethrum) or synthetic (chemical insecticides) origin.

• Irrigation: in the early stages of growth, especially if they coincide with the hot period,

frequent but moderate irrigation interventions, especially during the rooting phase of the

plants and the formation of the head; afterwards, keep the soil constantly moist avoiding

stagnation and wetting of the leaves.

• Collection: The harvest is done by cutting the entire head. the early varieties are harvested

starting from the end of September, the late varieties in Autumn / Winter. Generally, it is

collected within 80-100 days of cultivation, including 2-3 weeks in seedbeds. If the head

lettuces are harvested, the whole head is cut, while the cut varieties allow more collections

every year: cut the leaves of the salad, then wait for them to grow again for a second

harvest.

• Yields: 1.0 / 4.0 kg / m2

First we chose a piece of fertile soil with easy access to water.

Step 1

Step 2We worked it with rakes to make it aerate and make it softer.

Step 3

Then with strings and wooden poles we squared the ground, and built raised beds.

Step 4

Finally parcels were created in which we planted the vegetables.

Step 5After trasforming the land we dug and planted the seedlings.

Step 6

To make them grow we put an insecticide and a fertilizer.

Step 7

We regularly watered the seedlings to make them grow.

Step 8

With a hoe we removed invasive plants and invasive insects.

Step 9

After that we applied a fabric over the vegetables in order not to make them freeze with the cold, and we fixed it with wooden poles.

Step 10

Finally we collected the vegetables,

(raising a little soil).

Step 11We took the picked vegetables to our schoolmates from the Hotel institute who

cooked and served them.