Hiding in the maize once again

Its been two weeks since the last harvest at this site so once again we don our overalls and gloves and dive in amongst the maize looking for those elusive plots to gather samples from. The maize was slightly lighter to carry because it had aged and was drying out, but scratchier and denser. It started off cooler but soon warmed up as the sun came out and there was no breeze coming through. Two and a half hours later we were done and heading back to the shed to start gathering the data needed.

I did have one moment near the end where I was the last in the maize with 3 samples to carry out. Unfortunately I didn't know which way to the path. I figured if I stayed put someone would come to guide me out, which they did. They did wonder why I was taking so long to come out...

One of our team working in the maize ahead.
Can you see the way through?

 With the maize waiting to be found...
(I took the photo)

 

The last samples to be carried out.

Carrot seeds

There are many different varieties of carrot seeds. I now know of Indy Baby, Carson Dice and Namdal Ring. The seeds look different so I assume the carrots will also look different?

How many seeds did I lay out? 3 kinds of carrot seeds, 5 petri dishes for each, and 50 seeds in each dish...

Indu Baby are the smallest

Carson Dice are the biggest

Namdal Ring are in between

How many seeds are there...?

The mighty beetroot...

 

 From the field the samples of beetroot are brought back to the Agronomy shed to processed. Once the roots are cut from the leaves, they are measured (diameter) and weighed individually, then cut up ready to go in the oven to be dried. The dried weight is subtracted from the fresh weight and water content calculated.
The leaves are weighed as a total, then have their leaf area measured, and finally put in a bag to be dried...

the beetroot in all its glory...

the roots

quite a difference in size in each sample

some bigger than the hand and some as small as a marble

 

the leaves

its a messy job...

Maize Photos

Setting up

the orange flag marks the plot to harvest from

the sample has to be carried out

Can you see the way out?

weighing the sample

A 'selfie' just to prove I was here...

loading up the sub-samples to take back for processing

 



 



Counting the emerging plants

As part of an investigation I planted beetroot, onion and carrot seeds in different containers, with each container having a different water content. Each container had 50 seeds so I expected 50 plants to emerge... It's taken a week for any sign of life in the pots. There are lots coming through now and its becoming a bit of a challenge to count. How many plants can you see? Not easy to count is it?

60% water content

80% water content

100% water content

As I discovered there were more than 50 plants growing. So some of the seeds were producing 2 plants.

Interesting...

I checked the onion and carrot pots but they seemed to be growing at a slower rate. And they are easier to count as they are only producing one plant per seed. Can I assume that the amount of water affects the speed of seed germination and plant emergence? I think so...





 

 

The amount of water affects the appearance of the plant. 60%, 80% and 100% in the photos.

The incubator is set at 15deg. Each shelf holds a different rep.

 In each rep there is each kind of seed in each % of WHC.

Another harvest...

5 February

I helped with the carrot and beetroot harvest samples today.  It was very much the same as the last time. The only difference is that I got to use the leaf area machine to measure the total area of the carrot leaves for each sub-sample. Its a clever machine that uses mirrors and electronics to measure each leaf. All i had to do was feed each leaf into the rollers with the stalk first, making sure the leaf moved and didn’t stop. Once the leaves had passed through the machine I recorded the total area, and put the leaf matter into a paper bag ready to go in the oven to be dried. Quite a simple task really!

The carrots are weighed

 

Once the roots are cut off the total leaf area is measured

The leaves go in...

The leaves come out...

 The leaf matter is dried in huge ovens

 

Maize harvest

27 January

Today we were collecting samples of the maize harvest at Clive. I was advised to wear overalls today. Glad I did, as it was big, dense and scratchy. Also pleased I was wearing sunglasses, as sometimes it was difficult to keep the maize leaves away from the face when you were carrying equipment to the next plot. Issy, Christina and I were in charge of weighing, and collecting a sub-sample. Nathan and Matt cut the samples. Rather than carry the samples to the track, we measured at the plots and then carried the samples (less sub-sample) about 8 rows over (past the plot area) to rot back into the ground. It was a cooler day but harder to get through the maize.

Back at the shed each sub-sample was mulched (have a new mulcher now!) and a smaller sample taken to dry. Should have kept the overalls on!  Must watch to see what the others do, if they keep something on, do the same, because they know what’s coming up!

Collecting harvest samples

 

23 January

Helped collect carrot samples today. Unfortunately because there had been recent rain there was quite a lot of soil stuck to the carrot. We had to remove that soil back at the shed so it didn’t affect the fresh weight. Mary (casual worker) and I ‘polished’ each individual carrot, and there were a lot! Once they were clean, they were weighed, the tops were cut off and the leaves were counted. The roots were chopped up to dry.

The harvest: flags mark each plot

Each sample was put in a bin to take back to the shed to process

Sometimes we found unusual carrots...

 

Helped collect the beetroot samples ,too, today. Back at the shed they were weighed, and a sub-sample taken off. The remaining sample was cut from their leaves and kept for diameter measures later. The sub- sample had the root cut from the leaves. The leaves were sorted into 3 piles: healthy leaves, dead leaves and damaged leaves (there had been spray damage last week so this was measured). The leaves had their areas measured on a very clever machine that used mirrors. Each root in the samples and sub-samples then had their diameters measured.

Another full day!

Note to self: wear gloves when dealing with beetroot!

 

My first maize harvest

17 January

Today I went with Matt, Nathan and Terrance (a casual worker) to  gather a sample of the maize harvest at Lawn Road.

Nathan and Matt would go in and cut two rows of 2m in length. Terrance and I had to go in a carry the maize sample out, weigh it, record it, and take a sub-sample of 6 plants.

This was hard and hot work, as the maize was way over my head and very dense. In the end I stayed to do the weighing and recording while Terrance did the carrying. Once Nathan finished he also carried some.

Once the maize had been done we then had to take a soil sample of each plot. The soil was rock hard and didn’t want to come out of the tube. I had to get creative at getting it out. I only had to do 2 plots, but I was still the last one out!

Back at the shed, we sieved the soil to 2mm, so Matt could do some soil testing with it. The soil had to be weighed into a 20g sub-sample, dried for 4 days. Then 10ml of soil is mixed with 30ml water, put in a mixer for 5 minutes, then tested for nitrogen levels using a testing strip.

The day was not over. Because the mulcher was damaged, we had to cut each plant into small bits to be dried. There were 20 samples of 5 plants to cut. I cut only 3 samples as I used secateurs, and the guys used machetes.

A hard day. Definitely needed my water that day!

My first field work

16 January

Went with the team to a Landwise farm to take samples of the pea harvest.

To take a sample we measured a 1m2 plot, and removed all the plants in it, counting them.  This was repeated in 8 different plots.

Back at the agronomy shed, the samples were weighed and a sub-sample taken. From the sub-sample the pods were counted, the peas were shelled and counted, and bagged for further info gathering later. The rest of the sample was shelled and the peas weighed. The two pea weights were then added together.

Today I learnt that it hard to count when someone is talking to you or near you. I found it easier to count aloud, so I volunteered to shell, which meant I could talk to Tony (a casual worker).

This whole activity took us most of the day.

Note to self: wear old clothes during harvesting days!

The first day

13 January

First day!

Today was a day of orientation and inductions...

Had an induction of worksite with Maryanne, who is the worksite H&S rep. This included a general tour of the facility, which is shaped like a square with an open courtyard in the middle. If I get lost, I just head in one direction and I will end up back at the start. Also was introduced to as many people that were here. Maryanne also showed me all the health and safety aspects, such as signs and first aid kits. She then finished with a work station set up, checking the computer was at the right height; my seat was right, no glare, etc.

Also had an induction into the lab; basically got to have covered shoes and wear a lab coat. Lots of safety signs around to be aware of  and lots of 'sciencey stuff'. I've never worked in a lab before so this will be a new experience...

Finally, had an induction into the agronomy shed where a lot of analysis of crop samples is done. There seemed to be plenty of specialised equipment in the lab and shed, and I agreed that if and when I needed to use it I would have someone show me what to do then. 

Bruce (my host) met with me and outlined the project, how the idea came to be and how we would investigate it. A lot of it went over my head, but I will take it one small step at a time. I’m sure the next time we talk about it I will understand a bit more.

In all, my first day proved to be easier than I expected. Everyone is very helpful and explaining things in layman’s terms so I can understand it. And no one has gotten impatient with my questions yet!

 

The beginning...

Hi, my name is Colleen Reid and this blog is about my journey as a Primary Science fellow.

I am a primary school teacher at Port Ahuriri School. Its in the beautiful seaside village of Ahuriri in Napier. Check out our school website here:
www.portahuriri.school.nz

I was lucky enough to be awarded a Royal Society Primary Science Fellowship for this year. During the next few months I will work at Food and Plant Research in Havelock North, as well as attend curriculum development courses and a leadership course.

The purpose of the fellowship is to improve our knowledge and understanding of the nature of science through total immersion in the science field, and to become effective primary school science curriculum leaders. At the end of my fellowship I hope to take my knowledge and skills back to my school and help the children develop their interests and desire to learn about science.

To find out more information about the Primary Science Fellowship look at their website:
http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/teaching-learning/teacher-fellowships/primary-science/