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Mulch Zucchini
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Mulch is a layer of material applied to the soil surface to conserve moisture, regulate soil temperature, suppress weeds and increase crop yields.
The Great Mulch Study evaluates how different types of mulch affect soil temperature to better understand how mulch might speed up or mitigate permafrost thaw. |
"It's the data, not the zucchini"
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Measuring and harvesting for the mulch study required me to shift my thinking about growing vegetables. I needed to remember that the zucchini were not the point. The information they conveyed was the point. This was stranger to me than you might think. When teaching printmaking workshops, I try to have my students keep a similar information-versus-product mindset as they work. I recently used my mulch study experience as a metaphor, reminding them, as I remind myself, “it’s the data, not the zucchini.” |
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Art and text by Sara Tabbert, an artist and research technician on the Permafrost Grown Project.
Research led by Glenna Gannon, assistant research professor at the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension and co-investigator of the Permafrost Grown Project, and Melissa Ward Jones, research associate professor at the Institute of Northern Engineering and principal investigator of the Permafrost Grown Project.
Research led by Glenna Gannon, assistant research professor at the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension and co-investigator of the Permafrost Grown Project, and Melissa Ward Jones, research associate professor at the Institute of Northern Engineering and principal investigator of the Permafrost Grown Project.
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