The Farm School, Athol, MA

“Being kind to one another is the only real rule here “said Ben Holmes, founder of the Farm School. The Farm School is a non-academic apprentice program similar to the one I visited in September at UC Santa Cruz, located near the town of Athol in Northern Massachusetts about 1.5 hours from Boston. Initially the goal was to develop a program for school kids. The program for visiting schools is still the core enterprise of the farm school. Every year 2000 kids stay for 2-3 days and experience the rich texture of farming. About 8 years ago, the farm school started the Learn to Farm apprenticeship program for adults. In their own words they “are still figuring things out” but it seemed to me a very well put together program.

Thirteen apprentices stay a full year (11.5 months) starting every year on October 1^st. Half of this year’s cohort was from New England, while the others were from all across the United States. I didn’t notice international students and ages varied between 20 and 40. I learned that students from 18-70 have participated in the program over the years. The apprentices live in the main farm building in small single rooms, they eat meals together in a community room, and share custodial and kitchen chores. The tuition is $ 12.000 for the entire year which includes room and board.

Any day at the farm school starts with circle time at 7 AM and then again at 1:30 PM. During this time, the apprentices learn about the task at hand and they can share anything that is important to them. The afternoon I visited, the apprentices were split into a group that learned tractor skills and another practicing wood working. It appears that starting the apprenticeship in October, allowing the students to learn various skills in the fall and winter and be part of the crop and animal production planning, is a great way for building confidence and ownership in the farm success before the hectic growing season starts in the spring.

The program started as a homesteading program and those roots are still evident in the curriculum (draft horse training, basic carpentry, etc.). With the national success of small scale farming and better opportunities of direct marketing in the last 10 years the program evolved into one that teaches students to become commercial growers. The students run a 160 share CSA selling produce to CSA members in the Boston area. The sales from the CSA, other farm sales and tuition cover 60% of the total cost of the program. The remaining 40% of funds are raised with an annual campaign and an annual fundraising event. Almost all donations come from individuals and many of those that are contributing have as kids gone through the program for visiting schools.

Apprentices learn farming on Maggie’s farm, a 200 ac farm with 12 acres of cultivated ground and the remainder under woodlot management. Vegetables are grown on beds and do not receive irrigation. The deep clayey soil hold moisture throughout the year. On the farm are various barns and buildings, used as repair shop, packing shed, hay storage, community building, a middle school and animal shelter. Animals on the farm include a herd of beef cattle, sheep, pigs, layers and meat chicken, and draft horses.

One of the things I really liked about this program is the fact that they developed an extensive skills list which defines the educational experience of the apprentices. Mechanical field management is one of the skills and this is the first program I visited where students were instructed in tractor and tractor drawn equipment handling. In my mind it is also very valuable that students go through an entire year to really experience the real world of farming. Another plus is the opportunity for apprentices to delve deeper into a particular subject. One afternoon per week each apprentice can work on an individually defined area of interest such as cheese making, advanced draft horse training, etc. Apprentices interested in agricultural education can rotate into the kids programs at the school.

The staff at the Farm School estimate that 80% or more of the apprentices go into agriculture related jobs and at least 50% of participants so far are involved in agricultural production. Those are impressive numbers; they speak to the quality of the program.

Thank you to Patrick and Ben for showing me around and their kind support of my exploration of farmer training programs.

Sterling College - Sustainable Agriculture

Sterling College is a small progressive college in Craftsbury in Northern Vermont with a strong emphasis on experiential learning. The college is a work college, meaning that students live on campus and have many chores in the daily maintenance and administration of the college. The 80 hours of chores per semester are mostly spend in the kitchen, custodial and on the farm.

The roughly 100 students are in one of three fields of study: outdoor leadership and education, conservation ecology and sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture has enjoyed a healthy growth and is now the strongest major in terms of student numbers. Any student graduating from the Sterling sustainable ag program needs to show competency in vegetable production, livestock management, woodlot management and draft horse handling. However, to accommodate divergent interest/student cultures and to create more depth in a field of interes, students now have to choose either an animal, crop or food systems track.

A garden/field area and an animal farm provide learning opportunities for students and fresh, local food for the college kitchen. The number and type of animals on the farm depend on student educational and food needs but at the time of my visit included draft horses, heifers, ducks, chicken, goats, pigs, rabbits, and turkeys. I saw goats used for weed management, pigs tilling the soil, turkeys and rabbits contributing to soil fertility, and chicken used for meats and eggs. I was also able to briefly attend a basic draft horse training lab. Draft horses play an important role in small wood lot management (and most New England farms have woodlots). They also are used in quiet a few small scale sustainable crop production operations.

Vegetable and other plant production is practiced in a small hand-cultivated area (1/4 ac) which has a few greens but over the years has been being transformed more and more into a perennial forest garden planted with various shrubs and trees. Another two acres of field area are horse-cultivated and planted with various crops such as leeks, greens and brassicas. Rotational grazing turkeys and rabbits in movable houses were providing necessary weed control and soil fertility after crop harvest on those fields. Two unheated greenhouses provide some opportunity for year-round crop production, but in climate zone 3 only the soil in the very center of the greenhouse stays unfrozen during the winter months.. To gain experience in direct marketing, garden students operate a 12 member CSA for Sterling College staff.

The kitchen plays on integral part in fulfilling the college’s sustainability mission. 15 years ago began a transition from a traditional college diet and commercial supply of food to a situation without soda/juice machines and 3 healthy, local meals daily for students and staff. For the reduced number of students and staff in the summer, 90% of the produce needs are from the college garden, during the remainder of academic year it is somewhere in 20-30% range. The other food comes from local distributors who sell local foods. Many students work in the kitchen as part of the work chores anyway but soon, some will gain a much deeper understanding of the food system. The college just hired a new kitchen manager, who will also develop a sustainable food systems curriculum. She brings a wealth of experience from her food systems studies at Tuffs University and her previous job where she connected growers and restaurant owners.

The sustainable agriculture program at Sterling College has numerous strengths. Topping my list are the focus on hands on learning; the integration of crop-animal-wood lot-, and soon the new, food systems curriculum; the year-round course offerings (2 short summer semesters), dedicated faculty and the location. Sterling College is situated in a regional hotspot for the local food movement. There are many small sustainable farms that market directly to consumers; there are several local food processors in immediate vicinity (tofu factory, local cheese makers, etc.); and related organizations such Center of Agricultural Economy, and the High Fields Center of Composting . Even a book has been written about the local food movement in the town of Hardwick (just few miles down the road from Sterling College): The Town that Food Saved – How one community found Vitality in Local Food.

Just like any other program, this one also has some weaknesses. The first one regarding college life is the small number of students. With only 100 students, most of them of a similar young age group and same ethnicity there is little exposure to different viewpoints and ways of doing things. On a curriculum level, I feel that the students could benefit from a stronger grounding in business and entrepreneurship, especially if they would go into farm production. Maybe another weakness is the limited capital resources that the college has to invest in up-to-date equipment and buildings (on the other hand this situation mirrors what most small farmers would find for themselves when starting a business).

I am grateful to Allison, Ann, Brandon, Corie and Charlotte who met with me to make this a great visit.

College of the Atlantic - Sustainable Food Systems

First stop on my New England trip was the Sustainable Food Systems program at the College of the Atlantic. On a sunny, crisp, full fall color day I met with Molly Anderson on this beautiful campus in Bar Harbor Maine. Bar Harbor is on Mt Desert Island surrounded by Acadia National Park. The campus is located right on the coast with great views into Frenchman Bay. The campus is relatively small for a 4 year institution and has a mix of old and new buildings. The college has a strong environmental commitment evident by the building design, waste management and campus food purchases.

According to COA’s website “small classes (average size is 12 students) emphasize engaged, interdisciplinary learning. Many classes are project-based, hands-on and are taught in a seminar format.” Students have only one option for a major, which is “human ecology”. However they can take different tracks within this major, one of which is sustainable food systems.

Academically, students in this track take classes about growing food such as agroecology and organic gardening. The bulk of classes, however, are about the social, cultural, political, ecological and economic factors of our food system. A key course is called “Our daily Bread: Following Grains through the Food System”. During this course students spend a month studying grains, bread making and food quality in the UK and Germany. This travel is part of COA’s transatlantic partnership and 65% of all COA students study abroad as part of their academic program.

Students in the sustainable food systems program get their practical food growing experience on Beech Hill Farm (BHF), a commercial vegetable farm that was donated to the College by a former COA graduate. BHF is 73 ac farm, 12 of which are cultivated with 5 acres in annual crop production. They grow all types of vegetables there but do not have any animal production. Greenhouses allow them year-round production (3 crops per year), roughly following some of famous organic producer /author Elliot Coleman’s advice and crop sequences Elliot’sFour Season Farm is only 30 miles away. BFT is staffed with one production manager, one business managers, 12-15 work study students during school time and 6-7 summer farm crew. Spring, summer and fall work crews They sell produce wholesale to COA and various high-end restaurants and retail through a 25 member CSA and a farm stand that also features other locally produced, value added products. The wholesale prices they charge are significantly above Sysco or other national wholesale chain prices. Beech Hill Farm also composts the food wastes from the COA campus and serves as a showcase for small windmill and solar energy production.

Overall I felt like this program is best suited for students who will be advocates for local food and sustainable food production. For it to be a place to become a farm manager, it is lacking some of the background academics in biology and ecological crop and pest management as well as the entrepreneurial foundation courses. That said, highly motivated students who are very active for multiple semesters at Beech Hill Farm can acquire the necessary skills to eventually run a farm. The program is not isolated to production Ag through its business style run Beech Hill Farm and its connections to organizations such as the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener Association - MOFGA . One of the issues for the program is the 12 mile distance to the farm. That makes logistics both for teaching and for student workers difficult. A great opportunity is on the horizon as the College just recently received a gift of another farm, involving 120 acres of pastureland and various farm buildings. This farm could be developed into a showcase of sustainable animal production and education in Maine.

Thanks to Molly and Alisha for showing me around and explaining the program to me.

Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC

After my visit at Central Carolina Community College, I went to the Center of Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro (CEFS), North Carolina. According to their website "CEFS is dedicated to sustainable agriculture research, extension and education. Goals are to provide new economic opportunities in rural and urban communities, develop technologies that promote a cleaner and healthier environment, educate the next generation of farmers, consumers, and scientists, and engage all citizens in the food system". The place itself is a huge area of land dived into various focus areas such as sustainable crop production, small farms, agroforestry, sustainable animal production. I toured all of these areas but focused most closely on the organically managed small farm unit.

I was very interested in how the Center runs farming education programs. They offers a 8 week internship program for college credit not students from around the country. Each intern is paired with a mentor faculty in the focus area that the intern is most interested (i.e. community food systems, organic crop production, etc. ). The internship is meant to be an introduction to research and understanding of agricultural systems. The interns move around to various areas, which gives them a great overview of the whole agricultural system. At the same time they are only a few days at each unit, leaving little time for real training and sometimes leaving them with work that trained employee do not want to do.

The small farms unit also runs an apprenticeship program. Four apprentices work closely with a the farm manager, Steve Moore, from February though November operating a 35 acre farm. Steve is a very experienced farmer. Most of the farm is in perennial forages, producing feed for a few steers. About 1.5 acres is in annual crop production. In addition they have some berries and agroforesty trees. A heated greenhouse provides a propagation space and unheated hoop houses offer the opportunity for season extension. The heat for the propagation house is created with solar hot water tubes. The hoop houses are built on a metal sled. The produce from the farm is donated to a near by hospital unit for the mentally disabled. Unfortunately the patients do not work on the farm anymore. In my own apprenticeship on the Aspichhof in in Germany about 25 years ago, I had the opportunity to work with mentally disabled patients, which was a wonderful educational experience. According to one apprentice at CEFS, the apprenticeship is better suited for someone who will be involved in education in some form later on (Peace Corps, Extension, School Gardens, etc. ) and not someone wanting to start a commercially sustainable farming operation.

After my farm visit I had a chance to visit with colleagues back in Raleight, where NC State University is located. Tes Thraves is a project leader in community based food systems and she gave me many good contacts in this field. We also talked about incubator programs. Incubator programs allow a transition time between farm education and commercial farming. State or county owned farm land is managed by beginner farmers and a farm manager serves a mentor and equipment is shared. After I spoke with Tes I had a chance to meet with Nancy Creamer, director of CEFS and distinguished professor of sustainable agriculture and community food systems and Chris Reberg-Horton an extension professor I used to work during my employment at the University of New Hampshire. I also met my Oregon colleague and friend Alex Stone, organic vegetable specialist from Oregon State University. We rarely have time to visit with each other in Corvallis, so a meeting in Raleigh, NC was kind of strange but a nice opportunity to catch up.

Sustainable Technologies at Central Carolina Community College

In addition to the sustainable Ag at CCCC, I also visited the sustainable technologies program. Students choose from currently two, and in the future from three, tracks: Alternative Energy , Green Building, and Biofuels. The biofuel is currently its own degree program but will become a track. The programs are housed in a LEED certified building. Unfortunately, the faculty had almost no input in the design of the building. It still turned out well and includes a green roof, solar hot water, radiant heat, chilled water HVAC, natural light optimized classrooms and a most impressive gray water recycling system. The water recycling system saves the college 100,000 gal each month and will be used for outdoor irrigation, indoor cooling, and toilet flushing. Unfortunately the green roof died in the extreme heat this summer (60 consecutive days over 95 F) and has to be replanted. The radiant heat in the concrete floor is only installed on the north side of the building while the south is just heated with passive solar. The natural light capture allows teaching without any additional light during the day. Various LCD monitors show energy and water use for different time intervals.

The technical courses of the sustainable technology program fill quickly without much marketing. They focus on weatherization, zero energy houses, residential photovoltaic and geothermal . Students also take several courses on the general concepts of sustainability.

I was very interested in the biofuel progam because LBCC Mechatronics and Ag/Horticulture are currently developing a biofuels program. CCCC biofuels has a great lab space and has $400.000 worth of various pieces of equipment. The main instructor, Bob Armantrout, felt that some of that equipment is not necessarily the best for teaching. What really is needed are small parts (such as pumps, gauges, etc.) that students can use to built larger. Bob used to manage a biofuel plant and has a wealth of real world experience. He focuses his program on biodiesel and appropriate scale technology. His view is similar to mine in that biofuels, and biodiesel in particular, can make a lot of sense if inputs such as feedstock and labor can be sourced locally and support the local communities.

The visit to the sustainable technologies program gave me a lot of insights into the development of a LBCC biofuels program. We know that we want we want to cover more than just biodiesel. We also decided that a stand alone program may not be viable and both Mechatronics and Agriculture will develop tracks within their programs. Also hearing what equipment is necessary for teaching was extremely valuable and can save the college hundreds of thousands of dollars. After hearing how little the CCCC faculty was able to be part of the teaching/lab building design process I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to be part of a multi-year planning team for the new LBCC Science and Ag/Math buildings.

Sustainable Agriculture at Central Carolina Community College

My first trip on the East Coast brought me to North Carolina. The soils, crops and wildlife here are very different compared to Oregon and the West Coast in general. Soybeans, sweet potatoes, okra grow on a red sandy clay. I visited the sustainable agriculture program at Central Carolina Community College. Conceived by a local farmer about 10 years ago, this program is now probably the best community college small farm education program in the country. They offer an impressive set of hands-on courses for those who would like to get into small scale, organic, direct- marketing farming. The program has a strong entrepreneurial focus , which is so essential in this industry. Much of the teaching happens on the college farm, right next to the classroom buildings. On the farm are several structures built by the students in the farm buildings course. There are also bee hives, movable greenhouses, pollinator gardens and chicken "tractors". The chickens are pasture raised. No other animals are currently on the farm.

Labs in classes such as organic farming are taught by the farm manager and one or two faculty. Field labs have a maximum 18 students taught by 2-3 instructors. Over 80% of the students in the program already have a 4 year degree some of them also have a Masters. Two thirds of the students go through a 1 year (2 semester) certificate program while about one third finishes with 2 year Associate degree. Students are required to complete a 160 hour work experience in the summer.

The strengths of the program are the support from the college administration, the selection of classes, the focus on entrepreneurship, the staff (including a fulltime faculty, full time farm manager and a half time CSA manager), and the interactions with the other tracks in the sustainable technology programs (sustainable technologies, green building, biofuel). A continuing eduction program called the "Natural Chef" provides some potential for future collaboration.

Weaknesses in the program include the crowed farm space and the fact that the 30 member all campus CSA is the only opportunity to get real world marketing experience. The farm space issue should soon be resolved because a sustainable farm center is being build soon. It will serve as a program welcome center and include a produce packing/washing area, propagation greenhouse, and walk-in cooler. The building will be a zero energy facility, designed and build by students and faculty from the sustainable technologies program.

I can see developing a similar program at LBCC. I feel that there are many post bac students at OSU and from other PNW University looking for a hands-on program such as this. In the near future is is clear that we need at least expand to a fall and spring organic farming course and farm marketing and farm management classes that are designed for small scale, direct marketing farming.