Research Projects at Troy Gardens Cover
Crop and Soil Amendment Trials at Troy Community CSA Farm |
1) What cover crop should be used during the fallow soil building year of the farms eight year crop rotation?2) How will soil amendments, such as leaves, woodchips, compost, and alfalfa meal affect crop yield and will there be an interaction between these soil amendments and cover crops?The purpose of this research was increase farm productivity by establishing effective methods of weed suppression and soil enhancement. Photo: Camilla's study area at Troy Gardens (photo by: Camilla Vargas). For
further information about the results of this research please contact
Camilla Vargas at: camillaclvargas at yahoo.com (replace "at"
with @ when sending the email). |
This research was conducted between 2003 and 2005 by Camilla Vargas for completion of her Masters thesis in the Department of Agronomy. Camilla worked with her academic advisor, Professor Bill Tracy who is also from Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Acknowledgements I would like thank Bill Tracy for his advice and guidance during this project. I would also like to thank Claire Strader for her mentorship; I learned so much from you. The youth from the farm and field program, worker shares and volunteers also helped maintain my plots and collect data. Funding for this project was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Food & Society Initiative. |
This
project was designed in collaboration with Claire Strader, the managing
farmer at Troy Community Farm, to answer two key questions: