Using a field or a garden as a classroom encourages many discussions about various agricultural techniques ,providing a real illustration of varying methods of food production. The garden afternoon activity offers students the opportunity to start with seeds during the spring, in the greenhouse, and work in the fall harvesting and preserving what they have grown. The garden program includes 2-3 acres of land and two greenhouses. Our goal is to grow a significant portion of the food consumed on campus. In doing this students get their first significant exposure to food production and all of the questions that it may encompass.
Students become aware of the fruits of their labor and the value of food.
All the gardens are organic , utilizing compost developed here on the farm. One of the joys of living in Vermont during the winter is the excitement of sugaring season beginning. The students share in that excitement and begin working outside in late February tapping trees, setting buckets and lines, and then in the gathering of the maple sap for boiling. The syrup we produce is used in the kitchen and is sold in the bookstore. By participating in sugaring students learn about weather and its effects, forestry, the process itself, and again the labor of love.