Greenhouse trip

The last farm trip is about a greenhouse.this greenhouse is called Ever-Green Greenhouse.it is located in Red Deer.this greemhouse is owned by Brian.he graduated from olds college in 1974.  Kathy recepted us,she has been a grower for 16 years.

She took us to a dugout first,this is the water resouce for their greenhouse.They have a water pump set in this dugout.

And for the irrigation system,we saw a control centre ,water should be checked and filted before reaching plants.the PH value,the contents also should be tested.this is the control centre:

Pots for growing plants.we can see some empty area between pots,this is for the convenience to reach every pot when workers are working here.another thing she told us is the planting depth is very important.if got too deep or too shallow,plants might not grow well.

Ever-Greenhouse's main customer is walmart.the supermarket.which means the quality of production from this greenhouse is really good.such massive customer means they don't have much problems on sale. but at the same time,when you trade with massive customer like this big,the profit margin is very small.which means production quantity makes sense.

I got some valuable things from this trip,the first thing is ,a grower like Kathy,she has been working in this place for 16 years,so everyday she has to do the same job,but this does not make her bored,on the contrary,she has been thinking about how to be more effective when doing the repeation.to figure out what will be more efficient way to do the same thing.The second is when working at a new place,better be modest,better for us to learn more from different working system.the knowledge we got from program doesn't mean we are experts ,every farm has their specific way to cope with the specific condition on their own farms.there are more details,process,new systems for us to learn .

visit to a sod farm

This monday,we visited a sod farm-Mountain Sod Farms.it covers about 550 acres filed.This company has established their business for 49 years.   The owner recepeted us,when we arrived ,he was harvesting sod.

look at his mower,really brilliant ,this is an effective machine supported by computer.it can cut the sod precisely for a certain length and width.and then delivers it by a conveyor.


Then it rolls the sod through this special track.

After that ,it puts those rolls inside the back container.

when harvest enough rolls ,our driver will stack rolls up like this:
 
To imagine how precise this mower is ,just have a look at the sod track it just got through.


This farm uses pipe irrigation system ,the pipes are set around the field.here they are：

when watering,here will be like this:

The owner told us that the best time to cut sod should be in early morning,because at this time ,moiture will come up to the surface,so it is easier for cut and better for holding moisture in soil which have been rolled out with roots.Normally sod growing season needs two years,the first year to get prepared and sale in second year.
I think,for sod market,it mainly has something to do with sports,like football fields,golf fields.sports customers are the one who need to change their turf regular and to maitain.so for sod farm business,it is better to set nearer to areas where football or golf games are popular.