Down on the MSU Student Organic Farm

by Mitra Sticklen

Strategies4Survival.com (under construction) is a new initiative by Journalism Instructor Bonnie Bucqueroux that offers information and advice on the coming emergencies - global warming, peak oil, war and terrorism, economic uncertainty. If you are interested in contributing, e-mail her by clicking here.

So. It has been quite the summer. But before I dive into details, let me tell you how I found my favorite place on campus, the Student Organic Farm. I’ve shuffled through a few majors in these years at MSU, and when I was a sophomore I saw a blurb about RISE in the State News. The Residential Initiative for the Study of the Environment is a mouthful specialization nearly anyone can tack onto their major that allows you to study environmental issues from a science, social and hands-on perspective. Plus you get to take cool RISE seminars like the one I’m taking this fall about camping and wilderness writing. I highly recommend getting the specialization, and it’s never too late!

Anyway, my advisor and mentor Laurie Thorp (an amazing and inspirational woman, I might add) told me about the farm when I was a junior, much to my surprise. I think food or agriculture is the perfect way to educate people about the environment and social systems, because we all eat!

I, along with most MSU students, didn’t even know there was a Student Organic Farm on campus. So I went to the 10-acre plot buried within the Horticulture Department farms off College Road to have a look for myself. What I saw was something I’d never seen or even heard about: four hoophouses full of greens with a few students harvesting. That wasn’t the unusual part though—it was in the middle of February. It was an amazing sight, with all the dead Michigan wintery blues around and all the vibrant and soothing life blooming inside.  My mind took a spin and I talked to Jeremy Moghtader as I volunteered to harvest with the farm crew. I learned that about four years previous (it’s been five years now), a few members of MSU’s faculty (including Dr. Thorp and Dr. John Bierenbaum, a conventional-turned-organic horticulture prof) along with a crew of very motivated grad and undergrad students put a long-time dream into existence with a small organic farm focused on education and research. The dream had a few components, including that it would be run by, and largely designed by, MSU students.

They chose a CSA market, or Community Supported Agriculture, in which there are members each season who pay a deposit before the season begins and pick up a fresh variety of produce weekly at the farm. The Student Organic Farm’s CSA, to my knowledge, is the only one in Michigan who does year-round (48-weeks of CSA), which means they use greenhouses and cold storage (of potatoes, onions and other hardy storage crops) to make it through the hard winter months. The farm has tours all the time from MSU classes (if your class seems appropriate to visit, ask your professor), LCC courses, local organizations and K-12 all over Michigan. Also, the farm grows best when students bring projects from campus onto the farm (including a new permaculture plot which integrates ecological methods into an edible forest garden as well as the inclusion of free range chickens and bees for honey production). Even ‘mistakes’ that would matter greatly on a “real” farm are looked upon as learning experiences and you educators out there will be amazed at the bounty of teachable moments. The more I heard about the farm, the more anxious I became to get involved.

Along with volunteering about once a month, I joined the farm’s student group, Ecological Food and Farm Stewardship, or EFFS. My classmate and friend Jay Tomczak told me about the club and I joined immediately. We take field trips all over Michigan to visit sustainable, organic, or community-oriented farms, restaurants and markets. We also help organize lectures on campus by inviting big names in the alternative food movement and sponsoring movie showings as well as farm events.

Last year was the first time the farm tried an on-campus farm stand, and it was a huge success, so this year we’ll be doing a weekly Student Organic Farm Stand in front of the Auditorium on Tuesday afternoons. Come check it out and tell us what you think or ask us anything that’s on your mind. I became a core member of EFFS and I’m proud to help represent the Student Organic Farm on campus.

As this summer drew nearer, I heard about a full-time internship at the farm. There was a stipend but I was warned that the work was very physical at times and the days were long (mostly 10 hour workdays including an hour for lunch). But we also had weekly “learning days” where we’d visit other farms in Michigan or stay at the farm and learn a skill like pest management or permaculture. And rather than just being a “worker,” all the interns make decisions collectively with the managers about the work and harvesting to do during the week, as we all took a Monday morning ‘farm walk’ and accessed everything that needed to be done. Also, the interns had the opportunity to focus on an aspect of the farm or a project and work on it throughout the summer. Once again, the more I heard, the more enthusiastic I became about joining. So I did. And here we are now, at the end of the most productive summer of my life.

What did I do all summer? What have I learned? Was it worth my time?

Well, considering that I had never farmed before, I learned plenty. I learned more than just the science of soils and composting, more than how to sow seeds, transplant, care for plants including flowers and veggies and then harvest them properly and efficiently, more than how a CSA works financially, more than how to care for chickens and maintain a productive bee hive, more than how to manage an organic farm considering there are plenty of weeds and insects out there. I learned most of these technical things in a crash-course plus lots of hands-on learning style, and I also grew in more meaningful ways.

Since my project was co-managing the CSA (which I will continue in the schoolyear), I learned how to interact comfortably with 200+ people (we have 60 members, most of which have families or split their share with others) and talk with pride about the food we grew for them. I also came to value the idea of having a space, not just a dorm or classroom, but a real and tangible and positive for learning, having fun, growing, meeting others, having parties, eating (of course!), and really feeling comfortable. I have finally found my niche at MSU with my huge extended farm family, and it feels good to be surrounded by such wonderful friends who all care deeply about one another and the future of the farm.

Spending fifty hours a week together brought us four interns and three managers together in a way I did not even experience working in an overnight camp. As our relationships blossomed and grew, so did our flow as a team with accomplishing tasks and communicating effectively. This summer has opened my eyes and my mind (while giving me a deep tan and some muscle tone, gasp) about where my food comes from, and I want to share my love for the Student Organic Farm with all of you.

As for my personal project, I was the community/CSA person of the interns, and one of my projects took form last weekend. I organized a Skill Share for Saturday August 19th, where many of our members as well as a few of us farmers and faculty taught one-hour sessions including yoga, raw food preparation, soap making, and plenty of other skills. There was a potluck lunch and although the weather was crappy around 50 people of all ages showed up to learn, engage and have fun throughout the day.

Through my experience organizing that, I realized that I love bringing the local community (beyond the farm, we had many people from the area come who had heard of it through East Lansing Food Co-operative and the Lansing Garden Project) to our farm and sharing with one another. This will become a regular thing, and I’ll be sure and share future events with you, fellow SpartanEdge readers.

Speaking of events, we’re having a huge Harvest Festival October 7, and we want you to come listen to some great live music and check out our farm and the delicious food we grow. For a five-year-old infant farm, the Student Organic Farm is growing at an exponential rate, with many upcoming changes and improvements.

Starting in January there will be a year-long certificate program combining course work with year-round production and an internship on a real working farm. The farm will be finalizing plans to build a green shade structurehat will have a low environmental impact while providing a much needed meeting and teaching space. Also, one of the things I’m interested in pursuing is bringing the farm more into MSU and Lansing’s public eye, which means doing more events like Skill Shares and having a weekly Student Organic Farm StandTuesday afternoons in front of the Auditorium. We all want to watch the farm become more beautiful and we would love artist donations for installations to decorate our fields and our workhouse.

Iif you have spare time and want to see the farm, or if you have questions about anything you’ve read, call the farm at 517-230-7987 to schedule a tour or to come volunteer. If you are a teacher and want to bring your class here, we love giving tours and spreading knowledge and passion for sustainable food systems! We also need more part-time student workers, and I speak from experience to say it really feels good to eat and share food that you produced while making a bit of money on the side.

Hope to see you all on the farm, or at the campus farm stand Tuesday afternoons.

Tea and Cookies,

Mitra (please feel free to e-mail - click here)