Multi-Quarter Overview

The 2024 Solanum aethiopicum ‘Gilo’ Variety Trial at the Evergreen Organic Farm is a multi-quarter, multi-student project designed to evaluate four varieties of S. aethiopicum ‘Gilo’ in the categories of germination, vigor, insect and disease resistance, yield and marketability, and flavor.

Specific learning objectives are to study the design and implementation of variety trials, to establish parameters and rubrics for evaluating S. aethiopicum ‘Gilo’, to learn how to assess selected varieties for insect and disease resistance, to collect data regarding yield and marketable yield, to assess the possibilities for marketing ‘Gilo’ in the Pacific Northwest, to create educational materials for customers of the Organic Farm, and to establish tasting protocols to be utilized when evaluating S. aethiopicum for flavor.

Students will utilize a selected field at the Evergreen Organic Farm to create a replicated variety trial for S. aethiopicum ‘Gilo’ and assess the suitability of the selected varieties for the farm and the climate of the Pacific Northwest.

Spring Quarter Overview

Student researchers will study replicated variety trials, specifically variety trial design, and will plan the design of the Solanum aethiopicum ‘Gilo’ variety trial at the Evergreen Organic Farm; they will then produce a cited report on the S. aethiopicum variety trial design, accounting for methodology across several different variables, such as plant spacing, trellising, soil amendment, mulch, and irrigation.

Students will design and implement a germination study and a vigor study surrounding the ‘Gilo’ varieties being grown in the trial, and they will produce a cited paper for each study, focusing on methodology and findings.

Additionally, students will complete a literature review, which could cover botanical information, cultivation, agricultural best practices, pest pressures, and disease issues surrounding S. aethiopicum ‘Gilo’.