The choice is made

So, I will be using the black oil seeds after all! Funny how things go. I was so reluctant to use them in the beginning, but they just performed too well! Their biomass/grams of seed was three times that of the confection variety and they were very consistent in all Read more…

Slowly but surely

Well, things are moving along, but as they do in the no-till world, they are moving slowly.  But a few things are happening.  First, in the larger area I have finished all my soil sampling and processed some of the data.  I don’t have the results handy right now, but Read more…

Moving Right Along

Well, one day you are growing sprouts and the next day you are measuring them in a laboratory! Day , Monday ended up being measurement day because the sprouts had been growing so well that they had already reached the size they would be outside. In fact, by day 9 Read more…

Day 6 Whoa!

So today is Saturday and I thought I should check on the sprouts even though I wasn’t really planning on going to campus. They made a such huge growth in the last 24 hours it was almost unbelievable. Sprouts were sticking out the side of the trays; the trays were Read more…

Day 5 Sprouts

Well, things are still looking good besides the mess the rats leave behind! The sprouts are now starting to push up on their covering trays so by Monday we should really be able to see where things are at. I can see with some of the higher density plantings that Read more…

And Day Four

Well, day four has been reassuring as the sprouts are growing very well, but the rodents were back! I will be really curious to see how production is at the different seed planting densities, especially taking into account the different germination rates for the two seed types. The black oil Read more…

Sprout trials begin

And off we go. I started sprout trials in the horticulture greenhouse at UBC yesterday. Last night I prepared trays of growing medium and soaked seeds to be planted this morning. Everything went according to plan! I have posted three videos and a picture below detailing some of the work Read more…