From Angie, an ASI student this summer . . .

A wise friend once observed that without plants, we all die. Every single meal I eat, without exception, would not have been possible without plants. So, I decided that it might be a good idea to foster some kind of a relationship with the rooted members of the Earth community. 


About 10 years ago, I participated in the Master Gardener program … then in 2006, I earned a Masters Degree in Earth Literacy from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Ind., writing my thesis on how community gardens can contribute to food security in Indianapolis. 


But I wanted to delve deeper into the plant world. As it is, our global food supply relies primarily on a handful of grains. But to attain true community food security, shouldn’t we relearn not only the diversity of available plant foods that that our ancestors took for granted, but also how to grow them in ways that nourish the soil? 

To that end, I’m participating in Goshen College’s Agroecology Summer Intensive so that I might understand more of what my Hoosier ancestors understood, and so that I might share my learnings with others in the community.

And what better way to spend a summer learning than with six motivated and engaged college students and a great Merry Lea faculty and staff!


Photos submitted by Angie.


To learn more about the Agroecology Summer Intensive, visit the Merry Lea web site.

Agroecology Summer Intensive gets underway

The 2010 Agroceology Summer Intensive (ASI) at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center began this week.  Students will spend 9 weeks taking four credits and applying their knowledge by working in the Kitchen and Permaculture Gardens.  In addition, nine field trips to area farms and related businesses are scheduled giving students opportunities to see agroecology principles in action.

The cohort of seven students is the largest in the 3 year history of the program.  And it’s an especially diverse group.  Geographically, students have come all the way from New York and New Mexico – and places in between – to study at Merry Lea for the summer.  One Hoosier rounds out the group.

Already two classes have started:  Vegetable Crops and Soils.  The first field trip to Metzger’s Farm near Wolf Lake took place on Tuesday.  Planting in the Kitchen Garden is almost complete. 

On Thursday morning, the ASI crew joined other staff and volunteers to plant the program gardens.  These plots will be used as a learning tool in Merry Lea’s fall Farmcraft programs.  In a blitz of activity, 1,750 square feet of space was planted, watered and mulched.  Also, the herb garden plot got a thorough and much needed weeding.

One more thing the students did:  they harvested and ate fresh lettuce, spinach and radishes from the hoophouse garden which had been planted in anticipation of their arrival.  It’s the first of many opportunities over the summer to savor the fruit of the land and of their own labor.


To learn more about the Agroecology Summer Intensive, visit the Merry Lea web site.

RM 

Visit to White Yarrow Farm, Marcellus, Michigan

Agroecolgoy Summer Intensive students traveled to White Yarrow Farm near Marcellus, Michigan on July 14. Farmer Dale Hasenick and intern Luke Nofsinger hosted our visit.

White Yarrow Farm offers a mix of vegetable, cut flower, meat and egg production. Dale and his wife Jo Beachy own and operate the farm.

White Yarrow Farm has about 5 acres of vegetables under cultivation. Half of the produce is distributed through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares, and the remainder is taken to the Goshen Farmer’s Market. There are about 60 CSA shares; boxes of fresh produce are distributed on Monday in Kalamazoo, Michigan and on Wednesday in Three Rivers, Michigan.

It takes about 8 weeks to raise chickens to butchering size. Dale can produce three batches per season. The chickens are kept in open bottom cages that are moved every day. The animals eat much of the vegetation, and also receive a grain supplement.

Laying hens are kept in another pasture. They have coop on wheels that Dale and a volunteer built several years ago. Both eggs and frozen whole chickens are available for sale to CSA members.

Beef cattle are also a part of the farm mix.

Our tour of the farm included the heated greenhouse where seeds are started, the chicken pasture, vegetable plots, and the washing/packing stations. Along the way we stopped in the garlic beds where two volunteer/shareholders were working. We joined them in harvesting and tying up bundles of garlic which will be dried in the barn and then distributed later to CSA shareholders.

Later when it was time to gather eggs, Dale invited us to help. We collected a pail full of fresh brown eggs, some of them still warm under the hens.

When asked about the most important lesson so far this summer, Luke responded, “straight rows!” He has learned that every field task through the remainder of the season is much easier if seeds are planted in straight rows right at the beginning.

Visit to Clay Bottom Farm near Goshen Indiana

On Thursday, July 9, Agroecology Summer Intensive (ASI) students visited Clay Bottom Farm owned and operated by Rachel Hershberger and Ben Hartman. They were able to purchase the property in fall 2008, and are spending this growing season conducting trials, planning drainage and irrigation, and getting ready for full scale production. They continue to rent land for vegetables this year.Though they have been growing and marketing vegetables for several years, Rachel and Ben started offering produce this year under a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) arrangement. They have 11 shareholders, each of whom paid at the beginning of the season for a weekly box of food. Clay Bottom Farm runs the only on-farm CSA in the Goshen area.

Our visit began with Rachel telling us about CSA models and about the history of Clay Bottom Farm. Later Ben gave us a tour of the farm. We saw the moveable greenhouse, cover cropping, compost bins, tractors, implements, and the farm buildings. Most intriguing was a chest-type freezer adapted to serve as a refrigerator for produce.

Moveable greenhouse in the Clay Bottom Farm trial plot. Ben is working with a local welder on finding a way to put wheels on his larger greenhouses.

Agroecology Summer Intensive students check out the compost set up. Clay Bottom Farms gets duck manure from a neighboring farmer. The manure is composted and then spread on the soil as fertilizer.

L to R Darin Swartzentruber ASI student and Ben Hartman of Clay Bottom Farm. Both Rachel and Ben shared their suggestions for helpful farming resources.



RM 07-15-09