Take the mystery out of successful blueberry production. How to grow happy plants that will supply an abundance of this delicious and nutritious fruit.

AdAgrA 2018: Something Better

<p>Take the mystery out of successful blueberry production. How to grow happy plants that will supply an abundance of this delicious and nutritious fruit.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

Session 4

Paul Dysinger

Natasha Dysinger

How to Grow Microgreens Anywhere on Autopilot

I'm Paul Dysinger and this is my wife Natasha and We love growing food We love growing food and super excited to be here with all of you today and to be talking about microgreens, which Fancy this is 1 of our favorite things to grow, actually.

They are so fun, they are so exciting to grow, and we've been doing it for a little while now.

I lived for many years with my family on Bountiful Blessings Farm.

My dad Edwin and Uncle John, you all heard Uncle John last night, and they partnered together for many years on the farm, and I worked with the family business for many years, and then branched off and started teaching people how to grow their own food just more on a home scale.

And then from that I recognized a lot of people don't have a lot of space and that's kind of how I jumped into growing microgreens because they're something that you can grow literally anywhere.

Before we get started, do you mind if we just have a quick word of prayer?

Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for this opportunity to come together and to talk about growing food, and specifically about growing microgreens.

And we just invite your presence to be with us as we talk and share now.

All right, so growing microgreens is kind of the rage.

It's kind of the in thing to do in many ways.

Imagine it's so easy that literally your six-year-old can do it.

You can teach your six-year-old how to grow microgreens.

So it's a very low-cost barrier of entry to get started and get going.

You can eat your first harvest in 14 days.

I mean, there's no faster way to get a harvest and eat the work of your hands than growing microgreens.

You're growing food with up to 40 times...

All right, that'll help my voice too, so I'm not yelling the whole time.

All right, you can, with microgreens, you're growing food with up to 40 times the nutrients of regular veggies.

In fact, red cabbage was the 1 that they found had the most nutrients.

It had 40 times the nutrients of an adult cabbage in the red cabbage.

Those nutrients include nutrients that are extremely important for your skin, your eyes, and for fighting cancer.

So, you're really getting a strong nutrient boost with growing microgreens.

You don't have to deal with weeds when you're growing microgreens, so that's a huge plus.

Here, I'll let someone else figure that out while I keep talking here.

So you can grow them all year round, literally anywhere.

And when I mean literally anywhere, obviously If you're in the winter in Montana, you might not be able to grow them outside, but you can grow them inside.

So you can grow them down in your basement with a little supplemental lighting.

We like to grow them outside too when we can, because we like them just to get the natural sunlight, but we'll talk about lighting as well.

In fact, researchers that were studying microgreens said, this is their literal quotes, that it totally knocked me over.

It was quite astonishing, and when we first got the results, we had to rush to double and triple check them.

Just because of the nutrient differences that they were finding in the microgreens versus the regular, it just totally shocked the researchers.

So here are just a few of that, a few slides of that research.

This is from WebMD talking about how microgreens have up to 40 times more vital nutrients than mature plants.

The USDA talks about specialty greens packed with a nutritional punch and NPR had a whole segment on them.

And so microgreens have really been making their way in the news and they're a real specialty item.

Like if you go and buy microgreens at the store, they can be really expensive.

Which is why some people are really excited about doing it as a business.

And Lucia Tiffany is here and she's been doing microgreens as a business.

So if any of you are interested in doing them as a business, you know in this class we're gonna be specifically talking about just some of the nuts and bolts of growing them period.

But if you're interested in taking it to the next level and doing it as a business, I would really encourage you, and maybe Lucia you can just wave your hand, to talk to Lucia Tiffany because she can give you the ins and outs of doing it as a business.

Paradiseacres.farm is their website, so you can go there.

But they're expensive to buy in the store, but they are so cheap to grow.

And I literally did a little cost comparison, because I was interested in, they're super easy to grow, but they're not that heavy like you know once you harvest them It's not like harvesting a big bunch of kale, right?

So I did a little cost comparison I thought like wait for weight Am I still saving money growing microgreens versus buying an adult head of kale?

I know the microgreens are more nutrient dense.

They're packed with more nutrients, so I'm getting more nutrients out of them.

But am I saving money like wait for wait?

When I cost it out of how much it cost me to grow.

I used like kale microgreens as an example versus buying an adult bunch of kale in the store.

It was still costing me half the price of buying the adult bunch of kale in the store to grow my own microgreens pound for pound, plus you're getting that extra nutrient punch.

So, here's an overview of what we're going to talk about today.

We're going to talk about, first of all, gathering your materials.

Like, what's it going to take to actually do this yourself, starting your seeds, seed starting, caring for your microgreens, fertilizing them like a fertilizer mix or how we go about fertilizing them, lighting for your microgreens if you end up with supplemental lighting, harvesting them.

And then as a bonus, you got to stay for this because this is a game changer.

We're going to be sharing with you an autopilot tray system that I invented to literally put your microgreens on autopilot so you can seed them and Come back 10 to 14 days later and harvest them and you don't have to do anything in between you don't have to worry about Watering them fertilizing them anything in between It really is a huge game changer and is a lifesaver for us living on a busy schedule that we do.

And I know many of you have busy schedules as well.

So let's jump in starting out with gathering your materials, what you need.

And, hun, do you want to grab, yeah, let's grab some of the, maybe just grab the kit there and we can show you all what you need.

So, The first thing that you need is some type of tray to grow them in.

And so my wife Natasha here has these little trays.

And we kind of personally like growing in these 10 by 10 trays.

We have some examples up here and I've got to give a thank you to Tommy Mayer who started some microgreens for us to show you as an example because Natasha and I flew in today and so we couldn't bring the microgreens on the airplane.

So he came and we have some examples here for you.

And you can get larger, like 10 by 20 trays, that you can grow them in as well.

So this is also a good way to grow microgreens.

I would say they're, I don't know, 5 to 7 days old, about like this.

So let me tell you the difference between microgreens and sprouts, because that's 1 of the biggest questions, right?

So the difference is the stage of growth of the plant.

Mark Chuljian

Teriz Chuljian

Blueberries

Dear Heavenly Father, we just pray you will now bless us as we share together.

Well, I can tell you a good reason we do berries, because berries fall in the category of small fruits.

And small fruits are often easier and quicker to grow than big fruits.

Quite a few years ago, my husband had the burden to have, this 1?

To have this 10I had the burden to start up some kind of, to start up some kind of, something that we could do for a family activity because we saw other children where we were living that were running around their parents were concerned about them because what are they doing they didn't have something so this had always been a quest of my husband's to grow blueberry plants from cuttings so we went visiting some people and found out how to do it but this is an inspiration here parents can secure small homes in the country and what can they do they They can cultivate the land and do what?

Raise Vegetables and small fruits to take the place of flesh meat which so corrupting to the life blood.

This is wherever fruit can be grown in abundance a liberal supply should be prepared for winter.

And this is 1 place, let's see, she doesn't list blueberries here But there's but they're small fruits such as currants gooseberry strawberries raspberries and blackberries can be grown to advantage in many places where other things can't be grown and so it's just Blueberries are a Native American fruit the rabbit-eye blueberries are native of Georgia and So it's something that and they're so good for you A few health benefits, and there's many different health benefits from blueberries, but chronic diseases associated with aging, folic acid protection against cervical cancer, help to prevent urinary tract infections like cranberries, you know, and they're powerful antioxidant and they're just downright delicious.

James White had such a burden about growing small fruits.

With the discarding of flesh, with the discarding of flesh meats as food by health reformers has come a need of something to take its place, blueberries to take the place of flesh meats.

We know of nothing so eminently adapted to supply this as fruit.

So James White wrote a little booklet to promote small fruits.

And he, for a wide distribution it was published, do you have the page there?

So James White published Babble Creek Review and Herald back in 1870.

This book if you have the Ellen White CD-ROM 2008 edition, look under James White under the Pioneer Authors, and look under James White and the last entry will be that book on small fruits.

Where he covers the raising of strawberries where he spends most of his, you know he concentrates in those but also raspberries, blackberries and grapes And then in the back of the book they have where you can order the plants from Battle Creek the publishing house So they were actually really encouraging it and selling the plants so We you don't find blueberries in there because blueberries had not yet been domesticated at that time.

They are mentioned just in 1 spot, and it's in the context of canning the fruits, that they can be well canned.

Okay, and of course at the end, yeah, they're called Whortleberries.

W-H-O-R-T-T-E-L-E, 1-T-L-E-B, Whortleberries.

So you may have read about wartleberries.

That's the old name for a blueberry, and they were wild then.

Okay, In our experience, of course, the domesticated varieties, which had been developed by then.

There you see us in the blueberry patches.

It's a beautiful sight when they're in full leaf and pretty and they haven't started, you know, they're just in full flush with all the berries.

They start out looking loaded and then if they're good healthy plants they get to looking less loaded because they've grown beyond the berries but they're still in there.

And small hands were really good for getting these little cuttings out of the rooting bed.

Those are, there you see the rooting bed, and there you see the plants under sprinklers just beyond.

That was kind of the avocation that we used to keep our children busy some of the time.

There's a bunch being moved on a trailer.

And now, just for the overview of it, What do we do for varieties?

And site planning, going on through the list.

It's good to know these things before you start.

Okay, And there we have the name Hortleberry there.

Now in the blueberry realm there are 3 main cultivars.

That is 3 main, 3 main types of blueberries I should say.

The Northern Highbush and the Rabbit Eye.

Northern Highbush was the first 1 to be developed.

And then later on came the southern highbush which was quite recent.

Besides that we also have the lowbush which is in the far north.

The lowbush berries have never really been domesticated but the wild cultivars have been planted and so the low bush is not so important.

Now the rabbit eye bushes haven't they all come from 4 different plants?

Yeah basically the rabbit eye bush came we our experience has been just about 100% with rabbit eye.

Rabbit eye are easier to grow, we're in the middle of their zone.

And rabbit eye was developed, just like the rest of them, from wild varieties.

They just interbred about 4 main varieties of rabbit, of wild rabbit eye.

And from these 4 come all the different varieties within the type.

So there's 3 types, but each type has a number of different varieties that have been developed and are being developed, things are still going on.

So Now we'll look at the selection within each category, the varieties.

All right, so with the variety selection within the category, excuse me there, variety selection within a category, And each, you know, the difference is the berry properties, how they ripen, when they ripen.

And that's important because see, if you pick a variety that's early and a variety that's mid-season a variety that's later You can have blueberries for 2 months Just imagine having fresh fruit available like that all summer long you know that's that's a good thing that's in the rabbit eye realm and Of course they have it So here are some examples of northern highbush.

And it tells you the fruit size, the plant habit, Is it an upright bush or more of a spreading bush?

It's They have comments on it the flavor And then you notice on the left the season Okay Go ahead there are some examples of southern highbush, and that's The jewel you know and they are they grow southern highbush in California a lot so It's 1 thing about the blueberries is that the the northern highbush and the southern highbush are more vulnerable to pests and diseases as I understand and so they're more likely to need to be sprayed than the rabbit eye so we are very happy to be in the region for rabbit eye.

Yes the southern highbush and the northern highbush have thinner skins And the rabbit eye are well adapted because they have a thicker and they're fleshier, maybe not quite as sweet, but I think they're pretty good.

And there may not be quite as big, but now they're developing even larger varieties of rabbit eye.

And so anyway, we heartily suggest that you start out with rabbiteye and go if you're in the right region.

There's some examples of rabbiteye and some of the old standbys I would say are tip blue and climax and Besides that there's premier I Bright well Yeah, right.

We've had experience with them some of these varieties.

Now here are some pictures of the different berries.

Okay but as far as taste is concerned I personally don't think there's anything that compares with the little bitty wild blueberries.

But they're hard to find and they take a long time to pick.

Yeah, the little berries, the wild ones, like we have some on the corner, you know, on the edge of our, by our driveway, you know, we have a wild blueberry plant, rabbiteye, and I don't know, some of them taste better, some of them taste worse.

Now that, on the left you see a cluster of rabbit eye berries and you notice the blossom end of the berry is flat.

Okay Now look at the high bush blueberry on the right.

See, they have a little nose sticking out.

So when you buy blueberries, you can right away tell what kind they are by looking at them.

Rabbiteye blueberries, by the way, are also shine because they're well adapted to different more adaptable to different soils.

In fact you don't have to have it quite so acid for them.

Pamela Dysinger

The Original Classroom: Could it Really be the Best?

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the privilege that we have to participate in our children's education.

And Lord, we thank you for the counsels that you have given us.

And I pray that you would put the words in my mouth that I would reflect or write the education that you want our children to have in this world.

I mean that just looks like a boy's haven.

And when the Lord placed us on my in-law's farm, I didn't know I was gonna be the mother of 4 boys.

I only had 1 boy when we moved to the farm, and the Lord continued to bless us with boys.

I wouldn't say this is even the original, this is the best classroom, especially for boys.

I have a quote I'm going to start with, and I can't tell you.

This is my favorite quote on education, and it's a very long 1, and I have broken it up into 1 sentence bites, because honestly, I feel like Each sentence could be a whole topic in and of itself.

So, with the people of that age, just talking about Christ and his education.

With the people of that age, The value of all things was determined by outward show.

How does that...Christ's Day, the value of all things was determined by outward show.

Second sentence, as religion had declined in power, it had increased in pomp.

Religion had declined in power and it had increased in pomp.

I won't ask you to agree with me, but I'm just going to say that it's my belief that it's that more than it's ever been.

We might have POMP a little bit more subdued, maybe a little more acceptable, but if we could really reach down into our hearts and really see that we're miserable, wretched, poor, blind, and naked, religion has declined in power, and it has increased in pomp, just as in Christ's day.

The educators of the time sought to command respect by display and ostentation.

And in some ways, I feel like our world today is actually really casual.

It's not, it doesn't have the same pomp as maybe it did in times past.

And in Christ's day, you get this idea of the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming in in all of their fancy dress of the day, and everyone being like, I think that it has changed some, but I think that the root is still the same.

Things can change on the outward, but the root is still the same.

Let me just go back to this commanding respect.

How do we command respect in this day and age?

What about All the letters that follow one's name.

Do you need to tell somebody all your letters?

I hope you were at Alan's devotional this morning.

It was such a blessing and it really touched on some of these things.

You know, respect and our self-worth are to be gained from our relationship with the Lord.

To all this, the life of Jesus, all that pomp, all that pride, all that decline of religious power and the increase of pomp, To all this, the life of Jesus, all that pomp, all that pride, all that decline of religious power and the increase of pomp, to all this, the life of Jesus presented a marked contrast.

Can you see Jesus coming into this place and behind his name it would say, Son of God, commander of the universe, creator of all things.

Now he says that in the Bible because it's important for us to know who he is, but you know you don't get the idea when you read the Gospels that Jesus was out there, you know, don't forget who you're talking to.

His life demonstrated the worthlessness of those things that men regard as life's great essentials.

We could take a lot of time to think about what are the great essentials of life.

But his life demonstrated the worthlessness.

Oh, how many things we focus on that are worthless in our education.

Born amidst surroundings, the rudest, sharing a peasant's home, a peasant's fair, a craftsman's occupation, living a life of obscurity, identifying himself with the world's unknown toilers.

Amidst these conditions and surroundings, Jesus followed the divine plan of education.

The education that I received was not in a peasant's home, it was not of peasant's fair, it was not of a craftsman's occupation, living a life of obscurity, identifying with the world's unknown toilets, amidst conditions of...

When it became that for me, for my children, it was hard.

You come through the system, you think you have something to offer the world, you get out of college, and you feel like you've got the tiger by the tail, and, I'm here!

What can I do for you to change your world?

And 1 by 1, the Lord just started to take us back and back and back.

20 years ago, let me tell you, farming was not at all looked upon with any accolades.

I mean, when we would be in our circles and tell people, we're leaving our teaching and we're going to start farming, it'd be like, have you lost your mind?

So, The schools of his time, with their magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great, he did not seek.

His education was gained directly from the heaven-appointed sources, from Useful work.

When I grew up, I'll have to say, I had some chores, but there's a difference between chores and really useful work that has to be done.

My mom just, bless her heart, she didn't give me enough chores.

From the study of nature, I mean, excuse me, from the study of scriptures and of nature, the experiences of life.

So, Christ got his, the heaven-appointed sources were from useful work, from the study of scriptures, and of nature, and from the experiences of life.

God's lesson books full of instruction to all who bring to them the willing hand, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart.

You know, there were times when I didn't have the money to buy the books, and so then you go, okay, well, Lord, but I've got, I mean, how much money do you need for useful work?

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Series

Session 4

Blueberries

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Attachments

Parts

How to Grow Microgreens Anywhere on Autopilot

50m

Blueberries

1h

The Original Classroom: Could it Really be the Best?

39m

Cover Crops: What? When? and Why?

54m

Season Extension: Low-tech Methods & Materials

53m

Soil Tests: Learning the Language

57m

Sound Doctrine