Silverwood Park's Sustainable Agriculture Summer School

Project Overview

YENC21-167
Project Type: Youth Educator
Funds awarded in 2021: $4,000.00
Projected End Date: 01/31/2023
Grant Recipient: Friends of Silverwood Park, Inc.
Region: North Central
State: Wisconsin
Project Manager:
Kyle Richmond
Email
Friends of Silverwood Park, Inc.

Information Products

Commodities

Not commodity specific

Practices

  • Animal Production: animal protection and health, free-range
  • Crop Production: beekeeping, cover crops, food processing, forestry, grafting, high tunnels or hoop houses, no-till, organic fertilizers, pollination, seed saving
  • Education and Training: youth education
  • Farm Business Management: community-supported agriculture
  • Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, wildlife
  • Pest Management: mulches - general, mulching - plastic, soil solarization, weed ecology
  • Soil Management: composting, earthworms, green manures, organic matter, soil analysis, soil microbiology

    Proposal abstract:

    Silverwood Park is a 300-acre public park with a focus on sustainable agriculture education.  This project will strengthen an existing summer school partnership between the Friends of Silverwood Park (FoSP) and the Edgerton School District by allowing FoSP to hire a summer school coordinator. The coordinator will enhance the current program by planning and augmenting the sustainable agriculture components of summer school classes by arranging presentations/activities with local and regional individuals employed in agricultural fields. This project also will allow FoSP to develop a better model to extend the summer school program to other, neighboring school districts in the future.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    At the end of session, students will be able to:

    1. Define sustainability/regenerative agriculture practices and discuss various examples. 
    2. Describe soil formation and how to keep soil healthy, including no-till planting.
    3. Describe organic production methods and steps to organic certification.
    4. Identify the importance of crop management and its relationship to sustainable agriculture, including identifying plants that work well together in companion planting settings.
    5. Identify pests and demonstrate actions to manage, including insects & weeds. 
    6. Describe methods and benefits of composting
    7. Identify agriculture-related careers, actions needed to pursue those careers, and how the presenters employ sustainable agriculture practices. 
    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.