The Canola Plant Challenge

It sounded simple, plant a canola seed and grow it the best you can for 21 days. That’s the short version of an email that arrived this week. I paused. Then the ideas all started sprouting, in typical Jenn fashion, sprouting all at once!

So, here I go. Off on my next #FarmToFoodFamily learning adventure. I hope you’ll follow along for when we learn together, we get to grow together!

Plant it and it will grow…or will it!

The Parameters:

• Plant your canola seed in the cup provided.
• Pick your own soil or use the soil provided.
• Use any inputs you want.
• Keep a record book.
• Bring your plant to be judged on November 25.

The plant will be judged on overall appearance:

• colour
• height
• biomass
• leaf surface area – you should be at 2 leaf stage

Let’s Get Planting

Container: pre-determined. Check!
Canola seeds: provided. Check!
Soil: provided. Can I do better?
Inputs: up to me. I better get help!

My first thought: I’ll mix compost in with the soil given to me, add a Tbsp of coffee grounds, dilute some plant fertilizer for watering, give it a splash of coffee every morning and we’ll be good to go. And for some reason I considered the idea of adding some ground flax to the soil mix too. Wait, what!?!

Then I realized I can do better. I can use this opportunity to connect, to learn and to grow. I can stand on my educational roots, I can stand on science. I can ask a farmer!

Follow me over the next few weeks on twitter using #FarmToFoodFamily. Join me as I expand my Farm to Food learning and have a little fun along the way.

Always…Jenn