Beautiful, organized, and so well marked I now feel like a complete hack. Next time my dogs knock down a plant, I am going to scream at them: "This is why we can't have nice things".
On the soil and lack of moisture: They do sell seeds, but their main function is research. Since operated by a state university, my guess is a huge chunk of their research is focused on that state's weather and soil conditions. I'd be willing to bet students are keeping track of plant height, pods, and other things from this year's season along with rain fall, temperatures, and so on. The other thing that comes to mind is that they are in part funded by larger scale industry than we small growers. So the techniques used to grow have gotta be more kin to industry. While you and I might use more water, I don't think it is all that common for the big boys and their hundred acre crops.
