This week, we watched the documentary Kiss the Ground, which focused on the relationship between soil health and climate change. To be honest, I didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know, but it did reinforce how deeply connected our environment is to agriculture. The main takeaway for me was how climate change is disrupting the natural balance of ecosystems, especially in farming. Rising temperatures, droughts, and heavy rain patterns are affecting how crops grow and how sustainable agriculture can be. Even though I’ve heard about climate change before, seeing how it directly impacts soil and food production made me realize that healthy soil is more important than I thought. It is the foundation for almost everything we eat.
In the greenhouse, we have been observing how weather affects plant growth firsthand. Lately, it has been getting cloudier and colder, and it definitely shows how slow our plants have been growing. They haven’t made much visible progress over the past week, which I think might be because there are less sunlight and the temperature is dropping. Plants need consistent warmth and light for photosynthesis, and when the weather gets gloomy for several days, it's like their energy source is being cut off. It's frustrating to check on them and not see much change, but I guess that is part of the learning process when it comes to growing plants. You cannot control the weather, but you can adapt to it.
Even though this period of slow growth has been a little discouraging, it is teaching us patience and observation. Every change in the environment, even small ones, affects how plants respond. I think this experience connects back to the documentary, since it is a reminder that climate and agriculture are completely intertwined. What happens in the atmosphere ends up reflected in the soil and plants we grow. Overall, this week was a quiet one in terms of progress (for our plants), but a meaningful one in understanding how much nature influences everything we’re trying to do.
One accomplishment, however, was building a grow table! Although I did not take part in the actual building process, I observed. They measured four sides before constructing the actual table. You must be sure that all lengths are symmetrical, or else the table will not be stable! Afterwards, they drilled the four sides together. Once the top of the table was completed, they measured four legs. When attaching the legs, there was a mistake, so our table is a bit lopsided. And on some of the outside, the screws are sticking out... but besides that the table looked great! For the final touch, we applied a wire top! The process required some mistakes, but they are easily learned from, so next time we make another table we will know what not to do.
What I hope for next is more progress in the growth of our plants. Also, we should figure out why some of our plants are not growing or sprouting at all. My pepper seeds and cabbage seeds have not made any visible progress!