Progress report for YENC24-211
Project Information
The primary piece of this project is a summer internship at our school that will demonstrate intensive high-tunnel vegetable production. One of our research components is tracking water input of the production in order to assess the need and potential viability of installing some catchment on nearby buildings. While we plan on donating the produce from these efforts, we will be tracking the monetary value in order to demonstrate the potential economic independence of the project. The end goal is to set up the framework for existing infrastructure to be maintained and utilized during the summer break at the school.
- Offer urban based learners the opportunity to see a working farm with its possibility for ongoing professional opportunities and proximity to their current lifestyle.
- Support ongoing interest with an advanced summer vegetable production program.
- Provide examples of greater community connections by partnering with an established food security outreach program.
- Provide an opportunity to volunteer in the marketplace where they can share what they have learned and see first hand the impact of their efforts.
- Increase the impact of our existing program with supplementary funding for sustainability initiatives. ( Farm to table cafe support, pollinator garden materials, and beneficial insects.)
Cooperators
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Our project had multiple levels of participation. Firstly for our summer internship, learners reported in their exit survey that they were surprised to learn what could be done in a small amount of space in a small amount of weekly time. Some learners also gained more self confidence by participating with a social group that was new to them. We all agreed that it would have been reasonable to manage twice as much space as was available with the time that we had, but they also valued that we were able to have group discussions about our individual experiences. There is no more valuable a learning tool than the sharing of ideas. Stand out activities were tomato grafting, water calculations, and pruning methods. Both the project leader and the learners would have liked to have the program run long enough to manage more of the harvest. Production was very unusual in our vegetable crops. Trouble shooting possible results from filtered light from the shade cloth leading to slowed plant development made for good problem solving opportunities.
The largest group of learners were impacted during our farm field trip. Our lead educator was able to meet with the farmers before hand to develop a guided list of questions and three separate areas on the farm where they were to ask them. Learners expressed a shift ideas about what sustains a small farm, the role of animals beyond economics return, the challenges that may present themselves, and first hand understanding about how profitability is tracked from seed to tomato or feed to egg.
Currently we are working on our relationship between our gardening and our cafe group. They are slowly learning how to communicate what may be available from our greenhouse that can be incorporated into menu items for our weekly lunch line. The first visit from our professional chef has clearly jump started a healthier approach to food service with the addition of a "culinary corner" where farm/garden products can be showcased.
Final report revision: With our "Farm to Table" dinner event under our belts, it is possible to say that this was the most impactful of our programs resulting from this grant. The learners who chose to be a part of this years' Cafe Occupation were given a whole new perspective on how to work with seasonal ingredients. The guidance of a professional chef allowed them to take the information more seriously, and brought them some deeper concepts of presentation, what is useful out of the greenhouse, (marketable garnish, flowers, etc) and how one might compose a menu that can have ingredients swapped out based on what a farm might have available. In the end, our middle school commons space was converted to an impromptu restaurant, where the kids, with the support of adults, were able to see their vision through to the end.
Beneficial insects as pest control. We were successful in monitoring the insect population in our greenhouse with sticky traps, and with the help of information shared at the Indiana Small Farmers conference put on by Purdue, we were able to identify and eliminate some host plants from our greenhouse. We talked about and saw first hand how aphids would collect on certain plants, and how they were active under much shorter day length conditions. Seemingly we were able to correct the population with our release of assassin bugs, but at the time of this writing, (late May) the very hot greenhouse is fairly inundated once more. The inclusion of nectar bearing, small flowered plants has increased the diversity in the space, and we are optimistic for the future. Additionally, our soil is more balanced than ever as a result of our testing and amendments. This will become a regular part of our existing program.
Learning outcomes from the Summer Internship portion of our grant:
In terms of reaching and engaging youth, this part of the program was a complete success. It was a refreshing change to work with teens who had elected to apply and had been awarded a position. The motivation and interest from each of them was a joy to work with. Shortly after announcing the internship, there was not a great response, but after some increased marketing to parents, we ended up with 3 applicants for every position. An unforeseen challenge was sorting through 28 applicants. This was simplified by sending blind responses to a community partner and having them narrow it down to their top 16, and then choosing from there. We had hoped that we would produce enough produce to support future summer programs. Over all we were only able to donate around a $200 value to our Let us Learn partners. From an educators stand point, the participants were able to take quite a bit away from the experience, but we wished we would have more workable space to work with. The yield was diminished, possibly due to the dense plant spacing that we chose. It was the first season growing food crops during the summer months. This coming summer we are planning on just planting sweet potatoes and pumpkins in the same space to see if they do well over the summer break. Interns all agreed that while reluctant to say so, they could have managed twice as much space with the time that we had. They also reflected that they would have liked to have been a part of more of the harvest process, so a longer term would have supported the groups learning experience.
The farm tour was a success and was engaging for the learners. Considering the cost of this trip, future projects might reallocate this experience to bringing in more experience to the school to support the space that we work with, or do field trips for smaller groups. Perhaps events for people to bring their learners to in smaller, more accessible groups. The tour itself was a great way to kick off our in school year programs. Ultimately it was a success, but upon reflection, a stand alone camp, possibly just supplemented with grant funding might offer more lasting engagement.
The farm to Table activities showed us that learners are able to take on projects of larger ambition and scale. While we made great efforts (and were able to, thanks to this grant funding) to have them well supported by professional help, they were able to engage in confidence building work. They learned how to communicate under pressure, see and talk through potential bottlenecks in process, and most importantly, make a long term plan and goal that came true at the end. In a overall climate where we struggle to get parents engaged in our building, we saw families rally around their young ones with support, while being able to enjoy an evening in community with each other. This sort of programming will be supported in our school going forward. Challenges will be recruiting professionals with the needed background, who are also capable of adhering to the Montessori Philosophy. Ultimately, the funds provided by this grant allowed us to realize what a budget could look like, and we hope to apply these lessons to coming groups.
No tangible lesson plans were used as part of this grant. We relied on hands on, experiential learning, guided by skilled professionals.
These practices were incorporated into an already existing program, and as a supplemental element, we were successful in guiding the kids understanding towards small scale agriculture and value added approaches to gardening.
The long term nature of our garden program is essential to all of the learning opportunities that were offered. It is one thing to talk about aphid pressure in a classroom. It is another to have the same kids in a greenhouse over the course of months to see it actually happen, to have crop loss, and then to have a plan to implement. Since this grant did offer experiential engagement, it did not produce written curricula that could be followed. It did however, identify a need, and offer some learning experiences about timing, and approach.
Project Outcomes
While communicating informally about what we have been working on with our SARE grant, we have been able to make other connections around the community. We are currently talking with a local nursury about having their greenhouse manager come in and give a presentation on choosing varieties and tracking trends and costs. They are willing to support us making a field trip to their facility where our gardening group could see a large scale operation first hand. This particular nursery is interested in partnering more in the future to help learners see how things change seasonally. Our farm partners were very encouraged by the field trip and would like to make their property more accommodating. We are exploring ways to potentially have a farm camp where kids could have an overnight experience. Further planning needed.
The most memorable quote from our field trip experience exemplifies the middle school experience in a nutshell: "I used to think farmers were awesome. Now I KNOW farmers are awesome."
A spontaneous observation was made during our internship that I think really speaks to what these grants are about.
While tracking the water usage, the kids noticed that there was always a steady drip of water coming out of the building downspouts (from the air conditioning units on the roof.) After some discussion we decided to catch and measure the water output. We were able to capture nearly 20 gallons of water in the two hours that we were working. While this level of output was not consistent over the summer, we speculated that it would theoretically be enough to keep the greenhouse watered during the summer. Our math on the irrigation system had us using around 180 gallons a week at that time.
We did have a conversation about the cost of installing catchment on the building in a safe manner, and what a cost to benefit ration might look like, but it seemed to us like a viable option for sustainable design.
Another important piece of information from our field trip came from school staff. We had several learners with impulse control issues that had us reticent about the potential success of the whole trip. While we were at the farm, these particular learners were completely engaged in a positive and meaningful way. The farm itself was in its early stages and it was clear these folks were giving a lot of themselves to make the experience possible.
Quote from the operators of Box Car Acres:
"Sign us up next year!"
I absolutely feel like there is a demand for gardening/farming based internships for middle and high school aged kids. The inclusion of a stipend for that program gave us kids who were ready to get their hands dirty. This sort of thing could be expanded to multiple communities/sites across our area alone, and more involvement from working professionals could give them a better picture of what careers in Ag can look like. So many kids are given a large scale agriculture view into farming. More exposure to small working farm families, perhaps especially more experienced folks who are further along, could really showcase why they have chosen farming as a lifestyle and how it has served them.
The idea of a small farm as a multi-day camp came from our Montessori educators. They already emphasize camping as a way for middle school age kids to build community and confidence in themselves. This could be extended to some real world/hands on programming on a small vegetable/flower farm.
All we need are willing farmers and the proper facilities.