Living on the Land Curriculum Expansion and Instructor Trainings

Living on the Land Curriculum Expansion and Instructor Trainings

Summary

In 2008, review, expansion and publication of the Living on the Land: Stewardship for Small Acreages was completed. The curriculum consists of 22 lessons arranged in 8 modules plus an instructor’s guide. Each lesson includes an annotated PowerPoint presentation for use by an instructor. We piloted the curriculum at a 2-day training in Bozeman, Montana for 33 trainers. After finalization, we trained an additional 27 trainers at a second 2-day training in Albuquerque, NM. A third training for 40 instructors was provided at Galaxy III. As of mid-December, 650 copies of the curriculum had been distributed. An educator’s Web site and listserve were also created. Evaluation of the trainings has been completed, and final evaluation of the curriculum and its use will occur during fall, 2009.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Objective 1: Update and Expand the Curriculum
The initial proposal was to update or expand several lessons in the existing curriculum, including adding a lesson on ponds.
Additionally, we proposed to add three modules to the existing curriculum:

Living with Wildfire

Marketing and Economics of Small-acreage Properties

Tying it Together: the Whole Farms Approach

Performance measure: Curriculum is successfully updated, expanded, reviewed and published.

Objective 2: Western States Trainings
We proposed to offer two, 2 day trainings, in two different locations in the Western United States. Fifty participants from the target audience will be invited to each training and financial support will be offered to defray travel expenses.

Performance measures: Up to 100 educators receive training in the use of the curriculum; educators evaluate the curriculum; educators use all or part of the curriculum in training small-acreage owners; educators share the materials with others.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Team meetings and curriculum development:

The Living on the Land development group has held three meetings to date: November 1-3, 2006; June 20-22, 2007; and November 5-7, 2007. All three meetings were held in Reno. During these meetings we reviewed existing curriculum content and identified needed changes. Activities in 2008 focused on completing revisions to the curriculum, completing blind review and official publication of the curriculum, and conducting 3 trainings. Team members were assigned specific tasks for individual modules. We also decided that we needed to include a final module to bring together all the elements learned into a whole-farms approach for managing small-acreage properties sustainably.

In February, 2008, workshop dates and venues were decided: Bozeman, Montana July 22- 23, 2008 and Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 30-October 1, 2008. Participant recruitment began, with all team members distributing recruitment information.

A phone conference on April 9, 2008 addressed final questions and concerns regarding the curriculum and workshop content, and the training presentations were aired and finalized.

New curriculum lessons and modules were sent out for blind peer review. Each new lesson or new module was sent out to a minimum of five reviewers. A final draft of the curriculum was piloted at the Bozeman training. Following the training, the peer review process was completed and a final official curriculum number (CM-08-07) obtained from UNCE prior to the Albuquerque training. The table of contents is shown below.

Introduction

Instructor’s Guide

Module 1: Setting the Stage: Inventorying Resources
Lesson 1: What Do You Have, and What Do You Want? Turning Dreams Into Reality
Lesson 2: What Can You Do?

Module 2: Your Living Soil
Lesson 1: Getting Down and Dirty With Soi
Lesson 2: Managing Soil to Keep It Productive
Lesson 3: Got Water?

Module 3: All Life Depends on Water
Lesson 1: Water Quality: Making the Connection Between You and the Water
Lesson 2: Protecting Household Drinking Water
Lesson 3: Maintaining Your Septic System
Lesson 4: My Place on a Stream
Lesson 5: So You Think You Want a Pond?

Module 4: Living With Wildfire
Lesson 1: Understanding and Reducing the Threat
Lesson 2: When Wildfire Occurs

Module 5: Love Your Grass as Much as Your Animals
Lesson 1: How Grass Grows
Lesson 2: Managing Grazing for Sustainable Pastures
Lesson 3: What to Do About Weeds
Lesson 4: Starting Over: Pasture Establishment and Renovation

Module 6: Don’t Forget the Animals!
Lesson 1: So You Want to Be an Animal Owner
Lesson 2: Caring for Your Animals
Lesson 3: Managing Wildlife

Module 7: So You Want to Make a Buck?
Lesson 1: Marketing and Economics for Small-acreage Properties
Lesson 2: Production: It’s All About Systems
Lesson 3: Can You Make It Work?

Module 8: Tying It Together: The Whole-property Approach
Lesson 1: Focusing on Stewardship for Long-term Sustainability

Glossary

Workshops for educators:

The economic downturn affected travel budgets and impacted many who hoped to attend the workshops. Our offer of $250 in travel support was not sufficient to overcome the freeze in state travel funds for many educators. A total of 60 participants participated in one of two, two-day workshops for the revised Living on the Land Curriculum.

In addition to recruiting nationwide via email, posters and handouts on the program were also provided at three venues:

SARE New American Farm Conference, March 25-27, 2008, Kansas City, MO

ANREP Biennial National Conference, May 20-23, Madison, WI

WSARE Subregional Conference, June 9-10, Albuquerque, NM

The Bozeman, Montana training, held on July 22 – 23, 2008, was attended by 33 participants with the following affiliations:

Extension personnel, 20
Other University personnel, 4
Other Federal/State/County, 3
Conservation District, 3
NRCS/RC&D, 1
NGO, 2

Representation by states included:

Arizona – 1
California – 2
Colorado – 3
Idaho – 4
Indiana – 1
Minnesota – 1
Montana – 12
Nevada – 3
Washington – 3
Wyoming – 2
South Africa – 1

The second training workshop, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 30 – October 1, 2008, was attended by 27 participants with the following affiliations:

Extension personnel, 22
Other University personnel, 3
NGO, 2

Representation by states included:

America Samoa – 1
Arizona – 1
California – 2
Colorado – 2
Illinois – 1
Iowa – 1
Nebraska – 1
Nevada – 3
New Mexico – 5
Oregon – 3
South Dakota – 3
Utah – 2
Washington – 1
Wisconsin – 1

The trainings focused on building skills for working with adult learners; helping educators develop and deliver small-acreage education programs; and increasing familiarity with curriculum contents and activities. The outline for the training is attached to the hardcopy report. Each workshop included many hands-on activities that can be used in small-acreage programs. We also visited two small-acreage properties during each training. Participants completed the resource inventory activity from Module 1 during the tours.

In Bozeman, with assistance from Wendy Williams, our local NRCS contact, we toured the 10-acre property of a Living on the Land class participant, Jen Mohler, who has focused on developing sustainable pastures for her horses, and Story Hill Farm (Bob Schaap), a small-acreage property incorporating family sustainability, some energy generation onsite, building soils, specialty crops (herbs, etc.) in a greenhouse and in keyhole gardens, direct marketing techniques, grazing to control weeds, and youth education. Story Hill Farm is included as a case study in Module 7.

In Albuquerque, with help from the local NRCS team of Ana Gomes and Jean Foster, we visited Ironwood Farm (Chris and Jenny Altenbach). Ironwood Farm is a 10-acre property where the small-acreage farmers are experimenting with self-sufficiency and sustainability. They raise livestock and vegetables, flood-irrigate pastures that are managed by the Savory method, and are investigating commercial enterprises. Their house is off-grid with energy generated primarily by solar panels. The second stop was at Chispas Farm, a certified organic operation with direct marketing at growers’ markets, and cultivation of heritage varieties.

An additional 90-minute workshop was provided by Sue Donaldson and Stephanie Etter at the Galaxy III conference in Indianapolis. The training was attended by 40 people, many of whom were from Purdue Extension. Content included overview to the curriculum and instructor’s guide; adult learners and learning styles; developing a small-acreage program; selected activities; and a question/answer period.

Web site and listserve development:

At the request of program participants, two additional tools were developed in 2008: a program Web site for educators, and an email listserve that can be used to post questions and share information. The Web site, www.livingontheland.info, requires a password to access. By collecting requests for access, we can monitor site use and conduct additional evaluations. The Web site, which is hosted on the UNCE server, includes links to the curriculum files, additional materials contributed by participants, resources, a photo gallery of shared photos for participants to contribute to or use, and an updated master file of Web sites that participants can use to update the original lesson plans. This list of Web sites will be updated every 6 months.

After obtaining permission from the workshop participants, a Living on the Land listserve was developed (livingontheland@unr.edu). The listserve is also hosted at UNR with maintenance of the list by Donaldson. Participants can now contact other Living on the Land graduates and instructors with questions or concerns they may have during the implementation of their programs.

Curriculum distribution:

The curriculum has been mass-produced on a CD (3000 copies). As of December 16, 2008, more than 650 copies of the CD had been distributed. Copies of the CD are available to Living on the Land participants by request. Additionally, copies of the CD may be requested from the Living on the Land Web site, livingontheland.info, at no cost to recipients. Contact information is required for all those receiving the curriculum and a database has been constructed to track curriculum use.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

In addition to the 60 participants trained at the two, 2-day workshops; the 40 participants trained at the Galaxy III workshop; and the 650 CDs distributed, we focused on collecting information from training participants about what they had learned and how they intend to use the curriculum. Each participant completed a post workshop survey consisting of a rating of their skills and abilities and knowledge of curriculum materials, as well as eight open-ended questions. The quantitative data is provided below. We used a post-pre design for the evaluation, which was administered at the end of the workshop.

Participants were asked to rate their knowledge of different subjects before and after the workshops on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being “very limited knowledge” to 5 being “very knowledgeable.” Full data is provided in the tables in the printed reports. The greatest gains in knowledge, overall, occurred for:

Developing a small-acreage program, average gain of 1.63 points

Module 1 (setting goals and inventorying resources), average gain of 1.50 points

Module 8 (sustainability), average gain of 1.39 points

Module 4 (wildfire), average gain of 1.37 points

Module 7 (enterprises), average gain of 1.28 points

Engaging adult learners, average gain of 1.26 points

Response summaries from the eight open-ended questions and a compilation of comments are summarized below. Because the field trips were so different at each of the trainings, the responses to questions about the field trip have been separated by training.

1. List one or more new techniques or ideas you learned on the field trip.

Bozeman

Topic – # of Responses
Resource inventory – 6
Livestock weed control – 6
Solar energy – 4
Pasture stick – 4
Energy balance – 3
Greenhouse profitability – 2
Keyhole gardens – 2
Multiple intelligences – 2
Work-in-progress vs. ideal – 2
Raised beds – 1
Sheet mulching – 1
Pasture/corral layout – 1
Irrigation management – 1
Permaculture – 1
Beneficial insects – 1
Systems approach – 1
Companion planting – 1
Conservation plan – 1

Albuquerque

Topic – # of Responses
Straw bale houses – 5
Irrigation tricks/methods – 5
Sustainability/systems approach – 4
Cultural practices/growing methods – 3
Delivery methods for program – 2
Recycled materials – 2
Seed saving – 2
Community supported agriculture (CSA) – 2
Living off the grid – 2
Aquaculture – 2
Polycultures – 1
Pastured poultry – 1
Marketing – 1
Multiple animal species – 1

2. What did you learn from the landowner’s perspective related to their involvement in the Living on the Land program? (applied only to the Bozeman training; New Mexico had not historically offered the program)

Respect their wishes/vision, don’t impose your vision on them, 10
We need to help them gain knowledge, 10
It can be overwhelming to think of the whole system/set goals, 10
Did not know landowners were part of LOL (NM), 7
Sustainability, 5

3. How will knowing the characteristics of adult learners help you plan and carry out your small acreage program?

Use multiple intelligences learning, 22
Target specific audiences, 15
Increase hand-on activities, 13
Recruitment, 3

4. What new ideas did you learn from the evaluation and sustaining programs, marketing and delivery presentations that you will use in your programming?

Evaluation and sustaining programs:

Focus groups, 8
Follow-up (success stories, alumni, participants become instructors), 7
Outcome -driven evaluation/Logic model, 5
Pre-post questions, 3
Time-saving methods, 2

Marketing and delivery methods:

Target marketing, 10
Direct marketing, 7
Learning styles, 3
Activities versus lectures, 2

5. What new ideas or presentation techniques did you learn from attending the Living on the Land training?

Use of activities (in general or specific activity mentioned), 30
Multiple intelligences, 16
Reduce PowerPoint use, 5

6. As you reviewed the training material, were there specific subjects you would like to add to the curriculum?

None/ask after review or use, 14
Renewable resources/ alternative energy/ reduced fuels use, 4
Farm equipment/machinery, 3
Forestry, 3
Functional landscaping, 2

Single vote subjects:

Construction ideas
Composting
Plant science
Livestock financing and budgeting
Haying for profit
Feeds and feeding
Backyard poultry
Realtors training
Ecotourism
Private property issues
Rural/urban interface
Neighboring issues
More success stories

7. What topics were most useful to you?

All, 6
Tours, 10
Needs assessment/program development, 9
Multiple intelligences, 5
Adult learners, 11
Marketing/delivery methods, 9
Evaluation/sustaining programs, 5
Module 1 Setting Goals, 8
Module 2 Soils, 6
Module 3 Water, 7
Module 4 Fire, 6
Module 5 Grass, 6
Module 6 Animals, 3
Module 7 Enterprises, 13
Module 8 Sustainability, 8
Instructors Guide, 1
Don’t Know, 1

8. How do you plan to use the Living on the Land curriculum?

Use as a foundation for my own program, 10
Use all or almost all, 10
Use portions, 10
Use for short courses, 6
Use for single workshops, 6
Incorporate into existing program, 8
Share with colleagues, 2
Use to work one-on-one with small-acreage landowners, 3
Don’t know/ unsure, 4

9. Comments

Great job, 15
Well planned, well organized, 8
Great field trips, 7
Good materials, 6
Good contacts/ networking, 5
Good activities/ interactive, 3

Evaluation results from Galaxy III workshop (n=20):

This evaluation asked that participants rate the following on a scale from 0, strongly disagree, to 4, strongly agree.

1. Information shared met audience need, 3.45
2. Overall presentation was clear and well-organized, 3.65
3. The AV and other teaching aids were used appropriately, 3.60
4. The instructors are well-informed and kept the audience interested, 3.70
5. The instructors encouraged questions and interaction with participants, 3.55

Six participants noted that they plan to use the curriculum with small-acreage owners in their states. Other comments included:

“Great presentation! I learned a great deal! Thanks.”

“Very good session overall! Glad I came.”

To follow up on the use of the curriculum by training participants, the following query was made by the Living on the Land team to the participants in early December via the listserve:

1. How many of you have used the Living on the Land curriculum since attending our training in 2008?

2. Do you have firm plans to use the Living on the Land Curriculum in 2009 for a small acreage program in your state?

Forty responses were received by December 19 from both team members and participants. Responses are summarized below:

Shared curriculum with colleagues, 9
Used in 2008, not specified, 14
Not used in 2008, but reviewing, 6
Possible use in 2009, 17
Planning train-the-trainer-type workshops in 2009, 4
Planning to use portions in 2009, single workshop, 7
Planning workshops in 2009 (more than 1 class), 14
Possible use in 2010, 2

The respondents were from 17 states and American Samoa. Individual states are listed below:

Western SARE (30)
Arizona 1
California 2
Colorado 4
Idaho 7
Montana 4
Nevada 3
New Mexico 1
Oregon 2
Utah 2
Washington 3
Wyoming 1

Other States (10)
Illinois 1
Iowa 1
Minnesota 1
Nebraska 1
South Dakota 3
Virginia 1
Wisconsin 1
America Samoa 1
CD distribution by team members and program participants, 2008, WSARE states:

Utah: CDs distributed to all Extension personnel
Colorado: CDs distributed to all Extension personnel
Idaho: CDs distributed to Living on the Land instructors and participants
Washington: CDs distributed to all Extension personnel
Montana: CDs distributed to the Director and Assistant Director of Montana Extension
Oregon: Interested in conducting a workshop series

Programs developed or in development, 2008-2009, outside WSARE states:

Illinois: Developing a program
Indiana: Planning workshops for 2009 (Purdue)
Iowa: Pilot class to be offered, Feb. 2009
Nebraska: 15 CDs distributed
North Dakota: Adapting the curriculum
Wisconsin: Beginning planning a multi-county program in 2009

A follow-up evaluation will be conducted during fall of 2009 to document use of the curriculum. 

Collaborators: