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[Phys-L] Re: Hours of sunlight

Howdy-

--- Rick Swanson <swansonr@SANDHILLS.EDU> wrote:

Or ... you could ask the people who really know what
matters -- your local gardening experts, who will
probably tell you to watch the site during the
different seasons.

Ah, you have sussed out the situation.

I teach environmental science as well as physics, and
I am trying to set up a garden for my enviromental
science class. (The actual assignment is for the
students to try to grow as many human-available
calories as possible in one square meter of space.) We
are an urban school in the middle of San Francisco,
and real estate is at a premium. The plot that has
been offered is in the southern part of the campus,
and the school has suggested that this is a good place
because southern exposures get more sun.

However, I point out that the spot is next to a tall,
opaque fence. Our plot, right now, gets no direct
exposure at all. The sun is so low on the horizon and
far south that the shadow of the fence covers the plot
all day.

The school says that the situation will improve. I am
not convinced. I have been working with Professor
Bowman's equations and it doens't seem like the
situation gets all that much better.

Oh, the plants that are already their are pretty
stumpy. Maybe they don't grow well because they don't
get much sun.

Sigh.


I would recommend a book used by our landscape
gardening department: Ortho's Complete Guide to
Vegetables, by Jacqueline Heriteau. The second
capter is on "Light and Site." There are other
considerations than just the amount of direct
sunlight. For example, "Reflected light can greatly
increase the potential of an area that seems too
shaded for food plants. The usual sources of
reflected light are white and pale-colored walls and
expanses of glass and water. You can create
reflected light by whitewashing a wall or fence."

The building perpendicularly east of the plot is light
colored stone. Directly in front is a dark
green-painted basketball court.

Marc "Zeke" Kossover




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