UNH Students Integrate Agriculture Systems to Create Food Security

Project OASIS (Optimizing Aquaponic Systems to Improve Sustainability) is the name of a research project started in January 2016, by a group of engineering students at the University of New Hampshire. The goal of their project is to "develop an energy efficient, sustainable hydroponic system that will provide the food insecure with a source of local nutritious food." These students have been collecting data and discussing their plans for this project since their freshmen year at the university, and are now working with UNH's College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, along with the New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station at the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses on this research.

The project was kicked off when four engineering students, Paige Balcom, Siddharth Nigam, Will Taveras, and Allison Wood made plans to create a sustainable aquaponics system down in Honduras. Unfortunately the plans for Honduras fell through; however, the students found a new location in Costa Rica with the help of Professor Andrew Ogden. The students traveled to Uvita, a small community in Costa Rica, during their winter break in January 2016. The students chose this site as a model for a community that does not have the resources to produce or access fresh food. This community's land lacks the fertile soil necessary to grow vegetables, and the cost of food continues to increase. It's also prohibited to fish on the coastline in this community because the land and ocean are part of a National Park which does not allow fishing. The aquaponic system that the students plan to build in this community could potentially provide both fresh vegetables and a source of protein for the people, creating a more secure food system.

During this initial visit, the students visited the community, collected site data, and spoke with many members of the Uvita community who are interested in helping with this project. After returning home, the students quickly got to work on the construction of the model system and the scalability of the system considering the site location. The students are working with Dr. Todd Guerdat, Professor Andrew Ogden, and several other UNH students in the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses. Their goal is to build a sustainable aquaponics system that is economically and environmentally feasible in the Uvita community and potentially many other communities around the globe. The system has been up and running in the greenhouses since March, and further testing is being done to review its efficiency and potential. 

Project OASIS has received funding from their third place finish in the student category at the Social Venture Innovation Challenge, as well as from the Ocean Engineering Program, and a grant from Emeriti Council. The UNH Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center also awarded the team a Summer Seed Grant. The team is excited to head back down to Costa Rica this summer to build the system for the Uvita community. Although the originators of this project are seniors, many other students have shown interest in continuing their research in upcoming years. Dr. Todd Guerdat and his team will continue to research these aquaponic systems with a goal to integrate agricultural systems in order to maximize nutrient recycling and resource management.

For more information and updates on the project, visit Project OASIS on Facebook! 

https://www.facebook.com/ProjectOASISUNH/

Data Loggers: Monitoring Made Easy!

www.onsetcomp.com

www.onsetcomp.com

The Hobolink Data loggers are an innovative technology that Farm to YoU NH adopted in August of 2015. Andrew Ogden, Farm to YoU NH instructor, was rewarded with a grant from The Tuttle Foundation's Endowment for Environmental Horticulture at UNH which helps to supports horticulture education, teaching, and research here at UNH. This has allowed Farm to YoU NH to better monitor and manage environmental conditions in our high tunnels. This system measures many variables in our field and high tunnels that allow students to track the micro-environment for our farming systems online. Hobolink uses sensors in the beds and a datalogger to measure specific variables: soil and air temperature, relative humidity (%), water content of soil, dew point, and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). They are connected to a WiFi hot-spot that is installed in the heated high tunnel; this allows for 24 hours monitoring. The students can access this data online from any location to see the status of the farm. Having this system helps Farm to YoU NH stay as efficient as possible because the students can adjust the amount of irrigation and ventilation needed in the tunnels and on the field for optimal efficiency while also reducing waste. The Hobolink online database takes the data from the remote locations and create a chart for each variable measured. The changes in data are tracked for analysis and to make comparisons between the tunnels and the field, as well as making comparison between months, etc.

The set up of our data loggers in the high tunnels

The cost of the equipment itself is fairly reasonable- the unit itself costs about $900 and each individual sensor is an additional $100-200.  It's an investment for any grower to choose to make, but so far it has proven to be a very valuable resource to the class.  Our data logger is connected to a WiFi hotspot that is set up in our heated high tunnel, but there are other options for internet connection, such as direct connecting an Ethernet cord or by using cellular service.  They do not require a lot of electricity and can be run off of a very simple solar panel, allowing for use even in remote off-grid areas.  We have incredible technology at our disposal and can access the information our data loggers record whenever we want. The links to the information that is recorded by our three sensors are posted below and we encourage you to take a look!

Field: https://www.hobolink.com/p/d52ac0f50524c155df2afc193366abba

Heated tunnel: https://www.hobolink.com/p/ca57f95cf9e89739fe988ed1a1d79ead

Unheated tunnel: https://www.hobolink.com/p/8c892cc71f5e6a374eb28bd8a06b684c

Farm to YoU NH- Then... and Now!

We are now in our fourth year of production here at Farm to YoU NH at UNH (36 Spinney Lane at the Fairchild Dairy in Durham, NH). It has been an amazing adventure to see how the student participants of this program have transformed the way in which this farm runs and all the ideas we have put into action.

Take a look at our first ever blog to see how far we’ve come: Get to know Farm to YoU NH.

Starting in 2012, the students (with help of one instructor, SAFS lecturer Andrew Ogden, and a production coordinator/teaching assistant) have built two 90ft x 30ft high tunnels as well as formed two growing fields that comprise roughly a half acre. Farm to YoU NH began producing food in October 2012; just two months after the tunnels were finished and the class itself began in spring 2013. We now deliver a variety of crops ranging from salad mix and head lettuce, to tomatoes and peppers to the UNH Dairy Bar, Conference and Catering, and the three UNH Dining Halls here on campus. In total, we delivered 2519lbs to the Dairy Bar, 1,800 to catering, and 672lbs to the dining halls in the 2014-15 school year alone. Three new initiatives during this year for Farm to YoU NH include micro-greens production, cut flower production, and hydroponic lettuce production.

See what else that we’ve done in our community!
Farm to YoU NH and the Local Community

                Harvest Day at the Farm!

In the fall of 2014 the class decided to plant a pollinator bed from the middle of the outdoor growing field in hopes of attracting beneficial insects to our field by providing them a habitat.  Dr. Cathy Neal, landscape extension specialist here at UNH, provided plugs of pollinator plants to use in the pollinator bed.  In the summer of 2015 it was decided to add a second pollinator bed below the field and the high tunnels, which was planted with transplants that were seeded in the high tunnels. This helped increase the natural flow of the pollinator population throughout the field and high tunnels. It has also added to the aesthetic beauty of our fields.

This semester, we are growing strawberries, garlic and a combination of winter rye and hairy vetch as a cover crop in the fields.  In our unheated high tunnel we are growing onions, carrots, kale, Swiss chard and an array of herbs.  The heated high tunnel is growing kale, Swiss chard, spinach, Mache (a very cold hardy leafy green vegetable), head lettuce and salad mix.  We just constructed a germination incubator which is a foam box with a heating pad where we will begin to grow two varieties of ginger and turmeric.

We are currently in the process of establishing this year’s crops! We have discussed and intend to grow some cultivars that were bred by University faculty, Dr. Becky Sideman and Brent Loy. Dr. Sideman has developed a tomato variety grown from hanging baskets which would minimize the space needed to grow tomatoes! Dr. Loy is a plant breeder who has multiple varieties of melons and squash available from numerous regional and national seed vendors We will be using a variety of his squash in our “Three Sisters” planting of corn, beans, and squash. Brent has also created a spineless variety of summer squash which makes harvesting much easier! Using these varieties will allow this program to hone in on all of the University's assets.

In the last four years the class has flourished, networked, and has made a name for itself. We have implemented the use of four separate teams that all play important roles to our class as a whole: Propagation, Production, Records Keeping, and Social Media. Each team has various responsibilities and tasks to accomplish throughout the semester, which allows the class and farm to function smoothly.

                View, Like, and Follow all of our pages on Social Media!
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  Fifteen to twenty-five students have actively participated in the course each semester since the start of the program. The class offers a great opportunity for students to gain practical first-hand experience about vegetable production and farm management all the while getting their hands a little dirty.

THEN- 2014

NOW- 2016

From Seed to Salad

         Here at Farm to You NH we produce the salad mix, which mainly gets used at the UNH Dairy Bar in salads such as the Wildcat Harvest Salad (pictured below). The mix includes a variety of lettuces and a greens mix with mustards, baby kale and more. The mix is full with flavor and incredibly fresh!

           To start growing a salad mix we purchase a lettuce mix  and a greens mix from our local seed provider Johnny’s Seeds.  We then use a seeder to evenly spread lettuce mix in half the bed area we are dedicating to the salad mix. About 5 days later we then seed the greens mix in half the bed. Waiting is important because the greens are a bit quicker to germinate and mature to the harvest size than the lettuce mix.   
         By staggering the seeding both mixes are ready to harvest on the same day. We normally seed lettuce on Monday and greens on Friday every 3 weeks for a continual harvest. Three cuttings are harvested out of each bed and then typically buckwheat is seeded as a cover crop.

When harvesting greens mix enough plant should be left to regrow on its own. Ross is pictured instructing Peter on proper harvest height. Once harvested we weigh and then wash the mix in our sink. Following the wash is a spin in the salad spinner. This orange magical tool helps dry off the mix so it will stay fresh and clean. We then box it for shipping one mile to the Dairy Bar where they prepare great meals made with our own salad mix!
         The salads are incredibly flavorful and delicious and we hope you get to try one; they are available year-round as we grow in our heated tunnel all winter so you can get fresh green in February!