Education, Stockbridge, UMass SFF News

Retail Floral Design is BACK!

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This fall, Stockbridge revived an old course–and was met with lots of positive feedback. Led by the thoughtful instruction of professor Sarah Berquist, students in Retail Floral Design (STOCKSCH 210) combined 2.5 hours of weekly class time with a host of hands-on opportunities to practice fresh and dried floral design (and flower farm work!). And none of this would be possible without Sarah’s beautiful flowers, grown at Astarte Farm in Hadley, which she graciously donated to build this program. Sarah connected her class with paying customers on campus, including UMass Dining, the Student Farmers Market, and the Chancellor’s House event staff, among others, and the class made arrangements for 11 events, two markets, and a large installation.

Some passionate students share their experiences in Retail Floral Design below:

Alison Dembek

(Above) Bud Vases we made for the Chancellor’s house! 

“Retail “Floral Design opened my eyes to a new direction in my Sustainable Food and Farming degree. This class sparked a greater love for flowers and has inspired me to consider my future as a flower farmer and possible designer. As a result of this class, I gained a great deal of knowledge regarding the implementation of sustainable practices within the floral industry, including promoting local flowers, using alternatives to floral foam and reducing the carbon footprint. This new path aligns with my passion for sustainability and presents me with the potential to make a positive impact in the industry. The prospect of combining my background as a Sustainable Food and Farming major with the beauty of flower farming and design is exciting to me.”

Irely Knox

(Above) Dried Floral Wreath!

“I have really enjoyed my experience this semester, especially the hands-on practice hours and classwork. The most meaningful part of the class was being able to collaborate with other people who are passionate about flowers! Not only did I learn from Sarah, I also learned a lot from my classmates especially when collaborating on arrangements and projects. In the past, I have been more independent when it comes to creative/artistic work, but in Retail Floral Design I was always inspired by what everyone else was doing, which makes me excited to collaborate with others on future creative projects.” 

Natalie Straub

 (Above) This bouquet was made in a group where we were given a vase to fill with flowers that were in the front of the class. We all worked together to make this large one sided bouquet. 

“Being a part of the Retail Floral Design class was very inspiring and motivating. During this experience, the most meaningful part would have to be working with an awesome group of people to create beautiful bouquets. I loved how much group and independent work we did during this class, it allowed for us to find our own floral design style while getting feedback from peers. There was so much about floral design and the floral business industry that I took from this class. I’m hoping to apply my learnings about bouquet making techniques and tips on the business side of flowers into my future.”

Berlyn Ellsworth

(Above) Dried flower bouquet made for the student farmers market.

“This semester I have been a proud member of the Retail Floral Design class. As a Stockbridge student I encounter lots of fun hands-on classes, but nothing holds a candle to the floral design class. The classroom has been a warm and welcoming space. Sarah has done a wonderful job giving us inspiring direction for both collaborative and independent work in and outside of the classroom. Our projects are incredibly fulfilling to make and I love having something beautiful I can bring back to my dorm. I enjoyed this class so much I have decided to pursue a farmer-florist job over the summer!”

Make sure to add STOCKSCH 210 to your schedule next fall if this class sounds exciting to you!

Below are pictures from our floral wall installation at the Student Farmers Market in September.

Farming, Food Policy and Advocacy, UMass SFF News, Work and Internships

SFF Student Independent Study Profiles from Summer 2023

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The Sustainable Food and Farming program encourages students to have hands-on experience (denoted as “independent study” or
“practicum” for credit) in their field of interest, while they are still students. Because SFF supports such a large range of sustainable agriculture and food systems work, these independent studies are all unique.

Here are some awesome examples of SFF students who turned their passion into action in order to earn independent study credit toward their degree during the summer of 2023:

Datev Gevorkian

: 

  • Studied Effects of Tobacco Derived Nicotine as a Natural Insecticide
  • Research based independent study

Excerpt from Datev:

“During this past summer of 2023, I, performed a series of trials against a common insect pest of the Potato plant known as the Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB). Tobacco-derived nicotine has shown promising results [as an insecticide] for insects that have developed resistance to commercially available conventional insecticides. In my trial, I had three 50-foot rows of Yukon Gold Potatoes in a plot with previously high CPB pressure. The rows were split into thirds, the first third being sprayed with tobacco tea, the middle row being a control group (this will help determine overspray and insects without treatment), and the final third being sprayed with spinosad; a popular choice of an organic insecticide among small organic farms and home gardeners. After scouting the next day, I saw a significant reduction in the CPB Larvae population (approximately 90%) compared to the control group. The group sprayed with spinosad acted very fast (within 38 minutes). I also noticed a reduced population (also around 90%) after scouting the next day. After my trials, I have determined that more research is needed to fully understand the effects of nicotine on the CPB as a natural insecticide although my small experiment seems promising.” Read more about Datev’s experiment here.

Emily Depina-Londono:

  • Interned with Food Rescue US in Boston
  • Created an English/Spanish resource guide connecting folks in Boston with free food distribution

Excerpt from Emily:

“This summer I interned with Food Rescue US, a nationwide nonprofit across 43 states that collaborates with grocery stores and other donors to distribute surplus and leftover food to the community. Using their app and website, Food Rescue uses volunteers to transfer food surplus from local businesses to agencies that work with people experiencing food insecurity, such as food pantries, food shelters. My learning objectives for this semester were to learn about the logistics of running a nonprofit, participate in food rescue, and food donations, practice researching and collecting information, build outreach and communication skills, learn how we can be sustainable with our food use, and help my community. 

“For a good chunk of my summer, I began working on the Food Resource Guide, a guide for the community of East Boston, outlining where they can receive free food. I had to translate the Food Resource Guide in both English and Spanish and follow the guidelines of the Food Rescue US Marketing Department. 

“Doing Food Rescue helped me go out of my comfort zone, practice my Spanish and communication skills, and I’m really happy that I was able to help my community.” Learn more about Emily’s experience here.

Madi Woolford:

  • Worked on a farm 
  • Independently researched closed flocks and sheep breeding

Experience:

“The Dittmar Family Farm is a small regenerative farm where the main focus is growing and supplying vegetables to the community through CSA, restaurants, and farmers markets. Zach and Jenny value regenerative farming practices and they try to keep to no till farming as possible. The specific tasks I did this summer were helping with planting, caring for and harvesting all the varieties of vegetables they grow, tilling the fields, preparing raised beds, pruning and trellising tomatoes and cucumbers, mowing, rotating cows and sheep to different pastures. I learned about managing herd health, washing and packaging produce for market days, and finally I helped with weeding.”

Research: 

Excerpt from Madi:

“When it comes to raising animals it is best to create a closed herd or flock to avoid introducing diseases from the outside. The question is: is it possible to create a 100 percent closed flock of sheep? The main purpose of having a closed flock is to limit or eliminate the risk of exposing the flock to diseases that come from other farms where the same standards for animal health may not be upheld. It is quite easy to have the ewes be closed but breeding with a ram from another farm  risks exposing the ewes to diseases. In conclusion, having a closed flock is obtainable but not in the way that some may think.  New rams must be brought in every 2-3 years to ensure the health of a flock but even by bringing in a new ram every once in a while a partly closed flock can be achieved.” Read more about Madi’s experience here.

These three students did some awesome work to enrich their education, while adding valuable experience to their resume! To earn independent study credit for participating in an internship (during the summer or the school year), students must be sponsored by a faculty member, who will help establish learning goals and encourage reflection through an internship. About 2/3 or 3/4 of the time is spent on your work and 1/4 or 1/3 spent reflecting on it. If you are interested in getting involved with an organization or doing independent research, talk to your advisor to match you with a faculty sponsor!

Stockbridge

Congratulations SFF Class of 2023!

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At the end of each academic year, I take a little time to compile some photos and offer some celebratory words to the Sustainable Food & Farming graduating seniors.

Earning your bachelor’s degree is a *BIG* deal! Often, the stack of end of the semester to-dos, beginning of summer work (for some), and even moving to a new home or town can make the occasion feel like a blur. Even those who do attend our Commencement ceremonies, I invite you to acknowledge this significant threshold crossing that is graduation.

It might take a while for it to sink in that you’re actually done. Perhaps not even until September when you don’t have to go to (undergrad) classes again. Maybe you finished last fall and completion of your degree already feels like a distant memory. Like January 1st can invite fresh beginnings entering into a new year, or a birthday a moment to reflection on and celebrate life, this completion of your degree is a chance to recognize your work, the community that supported you through the inevitable ups and downs, and the reality that you are indeed a different person now than who you were when you began at UMass.

Whether it’s a fire, a hike, a nap in a hammock, alone or with friends, my invitation is to give yourself permission to just *be* for a minute (or an hour). There can be a lot of pressure to know what comes next, what your career plan is. Instead of asking the overwhelming “What are you doing after college?”, I like to ask, “What are you up to this summer?” because each step on this path is important and it is OK to not know! In times of abundant change, I always try to remember adrienne maree brown’s principle of emergent strategy: “Change is constant. (Be like water).”

And, personally, I like to be *in* water. Swimming is such a special way to help me ground and refresh and punctuate an occasion. Whatever that special activity is for you, I hope you take some time to celebrate yourself, to feel and behold if there are questions alive for you, and to trust the emergence of whatever is unfolding next.

For those who I have been fortunate enough to have in class or in advising, THANK YOU for all that you have shared and taught me. I am truly proud of all of you, amazed by your resilience in making through these particularly complicated years, and aware of your capacity, individually and collectively, to make an impact in our food system. CONGRATULATIONS! You are forever a part of the Stockbridge community…please keep in touch!

~Sarah Berquist

Senior Lecturer & Chief Undergraduate Advisor

Sustainable Food & Farming

Business, Farming, Work and Internships
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Summer Internships for SFF Students

After graduation, Sustainable Food & Farming students engage in work ranging from food production, community organizing in the food system, culinary and farm-to-table models, and even horticultural therapy. They can get started making these connections and getting some experience while they are in school. SFF students are able to earn credit for doing hands-on work in a field of interest, and we have a wide array of internships and independent studies that students undertake. Check out some of the internships that SFF students got up to this past summer.

Christina Mehlhorn: Boston Microgreens

Read the introduction to Christina’s internship here, and learn more about her summer work at her website here. 

“This summer I have the opportunity to intern at Boston Microgreens. Located on West Broadway Street in South Boston, the modern urban farm was created in 2018 by Northeastern graduate Oliver Homberg. The company grows a wide variety of 50+ types of microgreens for local restaurants in the city of Boston. Customers are given the opportunity to tailor their orders to the exact size and mix of what they need for their individual menus. In addition to their chef’s menu, the company offers a small residential menu which includes their esteemed nutrition mix as well as some of their popular cilantro and basil microgreens. Furthermore, the company prides itself on its use of renewable energy and ability to grow without the use of any pesticides, meaning the microgreens are both figuratively and literally green and clean!”

Caroline Harmon: Horticultural Therapy and Care Farms

This summer, Caroline was able to visit and talk to lots of different organizations and farms practicing some sort of horticultural therapy or care farming. Caroline was able to synthesize her visits and create a proposal for what her care farm would look like.

“I enjoyed visiting and researching different therapy farms with animals and horticultural therapy centers. I feel a connection to both and so I would want to combine them for my own therapy farm. I would want to have a decent amount of acres for my farm. Beth from The Care Farm wishes that her farm had more acres as she only has 15. She also wished that she had a more private property for care farming as there are two new houses being built right next to her. Once I found the perfect spot and acreage, I would want a few different areas. I would like a barn with a pasture for the animals. I would like to have some pens and stalls in order to separate animals in case clients are nervous around certain animals. I would then have a big area with many raised beds in it. In these raised beds I would grow vegetables, I would want my clients to take home what they are able to harvest. I would then have another area for vegetable crops. These crops I would harvest and sell at a roadside stand in order to make a little money to run the farm.” 

Click here to read more about the specific places that Caroline visited and her other wonderful learnings from this independent work.

Ben Weber: Nan’s Rustic Kitchen

Ben had the unique experience of working at a farm-to-table restaurant and getting to see first-hand what buying from local farmers in a wholesale market looks like. Get a glimpse into Ben’s experience here, and learn more about Ben’s experience at Nan’s here.

“When it comes to the fruits and vegetables served at Nan’s, some are sourced locally, while others not so much. In a perfect world, every bit of produce that comes in the door was grown somewhere nearby in central MA. Unfortunately as many other businesses discover, the volume of produce required is difficult to find consistently and year round. While some of the front-of-house vegetable dishes are seasonal and rotate frequently, our grain bowl staples of roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, and broccoli are used in such high quantities year round that it would take too much time and money to find a reliable source nearby. 

We go through 1000s of pounds of these veggies every month and they are a key part of our menu. However, we still source a good amount of our produce locally with the help of Boston Food Hub, a nonprofit that connects Massachusetts farms with reliable wholesale markets. This was my first time hearing about the organization, which seems to be a great middleman for farmers to find consistent buyers of their produce. Boston Food Hub is built on a network of trust between farmers and purchasers to sell produce and avoid waste.”

____________

How do internships work?

In Stockbridge, one of our founding principles is hands-on experience. A lot of our classes blend theory and practice, and our internship opportunities are a great way for students to apply their knowledge of theory to the working world.  All of these projects contribute to our regional food system in different ways, and we are lucky to have so many students interested in a wide variety of food and farming adjacent industries.

Faculty member Sarah Berquist was able to sponsor all three of these projects, and students were able to receive credit for applying what they are learning in their classes to a professional context. If you are a student interested in doing an internship, talk to your advisor. They can help you find a faculty sponsor who will help outline some learning goals and explore possibilities. Shoutout to these students for all of their hard work this past summer! 

Activities and Events, Stockbridge

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS of 2022

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Each year, I write the graduating seniors in SFF a little note to acknowledge and celebrate this exciting moment, this *threshold crossing* that is graduation.  

One of my greatest teachers taught me the importance of saying goodbye, and how too often we don’t pause to recognize endings.  Graduating college is a pretty big deal. Because of the finals, moving, commencement ceremonies, maybe complex family dynamics that can come with those ceremonies, new jobs, it can be easy to just move right along to the next thing. An author I love, John O’Donohue writes the following about thresholds:

“At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. 

At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossing were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.

To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging……”

Whether you are a transfer student or have been in SFF for the last 4 years, a secondary or primary major, you have completed ALL of the requirements for the Sustainable Food & Farming major….during a global pandemic!  

These last few years certainly have taught me, and dare I say all of us, how to behold complexity and grief.   While you certainly have learned a lot in the classroom and in the field, I have seen you embrace these difficult times with resilience, patience, and persistence.  We have been through a lot together these last few years. There can be a lot of pressure on college graduates to know “what’s next?!” and while each of you will be taking steps on your unique path, I do know this resilience you have been cultivating will follow you wherever you go.  May you find time, even fleeting moments, to feel what comes alive for you in this threshold crossing.   

I am excited for your next steps and hope you will stay in touch. THANK YOU for all of your hard work.  Wishing you a happy summer and happy graduation! CONGRATULATIONS!

Sarah Berquist

Education, Work and Internships

Professional Development in SFF

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Back in March, the SFF advising team hosted “Searching for Jobs in SFF,” a Professional Development event aimed at sharing the nitty gritty details of what job-hunting in the field of sustainable agriculture and food systems looks like. Because Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems is an emerging field, there are so many directions and steps one can take to find and/or create good work for themselves.

We had a great turnout with about 20 students, peer advisor Alexeya O’Brien, and faculty members, including: Lisa Depiano, Sarah Berquist, John Gerber, Amanda Brown, and Nikki Burton. As a group, Sarah led us in an examination of relevant, current, professional opportunities across our four different concentrations in SFF (production, permaculture, food justice, agricultural education). We were lucky to hear from Amanda and Nikki about their experiences working in production, and what they look for when they are hiring…invaluable advice!

We then split up into focus areas, and did some small group analysis of two to three positions relevant to students’ current interest. Lisa led the permaculture group, Nikki led the production room, and Sarah and John led the Ag Ed/Food Justice group. As small groups, we discussed preferred and desired qualifications for different tiered positions. We identified reach positions, and made note of what type of experience we would need to gain, to obtain one of those reach positions in the future. Students brainstormed internships, and how to evaluate and advocate for fair pay while searching for an internship. 

Lisa and John talked to us about the importance of building relationships, and our community involvement. While this was an event aimed at covering the nitty gritty of job searching, we took some time to think about our core values because as Sarah reminded us, “we do our best work when our work aligns with our values.” The combination of applying practical job-hunting skills, with an examination of what is truly important to us, resulted in a meaningful night of thinking about what the future holds post-graduation. 

The nitty gritty nature of our workshop enabled students to take home some practical tools to help begin and organize their job hunt. Students left with a basic template to keep track of potential job opportunities, and a compilation of links to job databases with which SFF students have found success. The path post-college looks different for all SFFers, but having a conversation to know we are not alone in this process, and we have plenty of people to support us was a real benefit of this event. SFF faculty really care about their students, and our students really care about this work. The fact that students and faculty took time out of their busy schedules to come talk about jobs on a Wednesday evening on Zoom during dinner time is a testament to the caring and committed nature of both our students and teachers. Thanks for a great evening, SFF!

Business, Farming, Stockbridge, Uncategorized, Work and Internships

SFF ALUMNI STORIES…WHAT ARE THEY UP TO NOW?

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Ever wondered what Sustainable Food and Farming alumni are up to? What job advice they have for current students? In the spring of 2021, SFF student and peer advisor Isadora Harper interviewed a handful of alumni to find out, and turned those interviews into two videos to share with all of you.

As an about-to-graduate SFF student, she wanted to know about their experiences in their current jobs, with job searching, and, perhaps most importantly, what paths they have taken since graduating. Their responses highlight the huge array of possibilities within this field, and represent some different pathways across the SFF focus areas: sustainable production, permaculture, food justice and policy, and agriculture education.  Whether you’re a past, present, or future student, we hope you enjoy these conversations!

Zach Zeigler & Sarah Visnick in their greenhouse!

WATCH VIDEOS HERE:

  1. SFF Alumni Share Their Paths After Graduation.
  2. SFF Alumni Share Advice for Applying to Jobs & Grad School

FEATURING:

Jason De Pecol: Urban Food Programs Manager at Denver Botanic Gardens

Lilly Israel: Sales Manager at Kitchen Garden Farm

Michelle Nikfarjam: Emerson National Hunger Fellow

Sarah Visnick: Owner of Zeigler’s Market Garden and high school English teacher

Zachary Zeigler: Owner of Zeigler’s Market Garden

Education, Stockbridge

CONgratulations, sff class of 2021!

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SFF SENIORS, You did it!  What a year…

In my conversations and classes with SFF students this year, I learned so much about resilience, patience, and persistence.  Because the transition to remote learning (for our on-campus students) was so abrupt last year, there was not much time to prepare for what was about to unfold.  Teachers and students and staff had to quickly pivot and somehow still focus and be productive amidst uncertainty, loss, and injustice.  

The capacity to behold complexity, embrace change, and anchor in gratitude amidst challenge are all required to live a balanced  life.  Connection, community, and friendship are also essential in living a fulfilling life.   This pandemic year certainly tested our capacities to live balanced and fulfilling lives.  AND while it is not over, progress and improvements and hope are visible and palpable.  It feels similar to the cycles of hope and trust that unfold when we grow food or plants. It starts with a seed.  While we can follow best practices as growers, we also must remain hopeful and surrender to the plants and their capacity to thrive.

Keeping up with assignments, emails, and performing well on exams is already quite a lot.  Sharing a house with roommates, helping care for family, and navigating complicated conversations about COVID protocols is difficult. Reconciling political and protocol differences amongst family and friends is also difficult.  Add this on top of the already overwhelming demands of being a student… it is so difficult!  Many of you navigated hardships that perhaps went unseen.  While I don’t know the extent of what this past year has been for each of you, I do know it was hard.  I witnessed students showing up for each other in ways that kept me hopeful and clarified how important community is in order for us to thrive.  

Since SFF students are spread out across the globe, and this year’s graduation looks different than what you might have imagined, I’m here to remind you that you did it! AND you did it as a part of a larger community! You always will belong to the Stockbridge School of Agriculture Sustainable Food & Farming family.  On behalf of all of your instructors and advisors in SFF, we are so proud of your accomplishments and wish you the very best in your next steps…whatever they may be.  If you don’t know what your next steps are, that is OK! While financial pressures undoubtedly  persist, I hope you can take some time to celebrate your accomplishments and just be, even if only for seemingly fleeting moments.  Please stay in touch with me and each other.  Happy summer and CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2021! 

-Sarah Berquist (she/her)

Program Coordinator, Lecturer & Advisor for SFF

Education, UMass SFF News, Work and Internships

SFF STudent internship spotlight

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One of the grounding principles of the Sustainable Food and Farming program is that hands-on experience is one of the best ways to learn. Students are encouraged to seek out internships and practicums, and are able to work with faculty members to earn UMass credit while interning! Read about the experiences of some current SFF students below below.

Production-related internships:

Hussein’s Practicum at  Sunset Farm  

I’ve been working on Sunset Farm since September 2019, and I’ve loved every moment of it. It is a 10-acre plot, run mostly by elderly volunteers, and I am the only paid help, which means I do most of the lifting and physically-taxing jobs, but I don’t mind. The beauty of working here is that it is low stakes- it is a hobby farm- but I’ve learnt a lot. We grow over 40 vegetables, and countless cut flowers, and I am involved in every part of the process of farming. From sprouting seedlings in trays in a greenhouse, to plowing and tilling with a tractor, to transplanting, cultivating and hand weeding, to harvest and marketing. I was able to approach my job more critically through a practicum, getting even more from my fruitful relationship with Bill (the owner).

The practicum pushed me to detail and succinctly present my arguments about how we should change/alter certain things at the farm- and being prepared like that helped me convince Bill to implement my suggestions (whether that was wise or not is a different story). Bill is also flexible with working hours, he always tells me “I don’t care if you come with headlights at 1 am, just do what I’ve asked.” So to sum it all up, I learn a multitude of techniques, work hard whenever I want, and I can make mistakes along the way without too much of a consequence (as long as I don’t do them again!) He also allows UMASS students to run experiments on his farm, and is open (somewhat) to trying things differently… it is probably the best job I’ll ever have. 

-Hussein El-Shafei

Nicole’s Independent Study at Common Share Food Co-op 

My name is Nicole Hayduk, and I am a junior in sustainable food and farming with a minor in business and most recently have had the opportunity to intern with the Common Share Food Co-op. Last summer after bouncing around between different ideas of what exactly to do with my degree for the last two years, I decided to focus on finding an internship for the upcoming fall 2020 semester that could give me an idea of what the business side of agriculture and food looks like. Sarah Berquist assisted me with narrowing down some options that would fit in this field of interest and I was immediately interested in Common Share. 

            Common Share Food Co-op is a developing community and employee owned grocery store that will specialize in providing the Amherst community an attainable way to find local, fresh and affordable food. Currently, the co-op is still working on gaining member-owners, or people who have purchased shares to essentially invest in the business before opening an official storefront that will be located here in Amherst. 

            Since working with Common Share, I have been able to tie together the skills learned in my agricultural courses as well as those from business. Many of my tasks at the co-op such as generating activity on our social media pages or creating spreadsheets to document survey responses from member-owners have gone hand in hand with the material learned in my business classes. To be honest, the real life examples and uses of the material I am covering in my business textbooks definitely gives it more meaning, especially for someone who never considered themselves interested in “business”. Classes in Stockbridge have allowed me to understand the mindsets of many of the producers we are looking to work with, especially financially. Sometimes we look for partnerships in the area, and it is useful to have a basic understanding of who you are working with. 

            Overall, getting into an internship was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Before this, I always felt very lost with what I wanted to do with my degree, or even what I was even interested in. This experience has allowed me to try new things within the organization that I never even considered before. Most importantly, I have really enjoyed getting to meet people within our community (even if only over Zoom for now!) and working for something that benefits that community. 

-Nicole Hayduk

Theo’s Practicum at Astarte Farm 

After declaring a major in Sustainable Food and Farming only a couple semesters ago, I was eager to get some hands-on experience working on a farm over this past summer. In July, I landed a job working at Astarte Farm, a no-till/no-spray vegetable production farm right on the Hadley Common. I was absolutely thrilled to get my hands in the soil and to work alongside such a wonderful, supportive crew. With their guidance, I slowly started to gain confidence in the rigorous every-day tasks related to no-till farming, i.e. laying occultation tarps, attentive bed and soil upkeep, and careful efficient harvests. It was so exciting to constantly draw on and apply the knowledge I had learned during the previous semester in my Stockbridge soil science and permaculture courses to the farmwork. 

Faced with the upcoming fall semester, I dreaded having to abandon my work on the farm for a full course-load of zoom classes. Luckily, I was able to continue my work at Astarte as an Intern, receiving credit for my increased involvement in behind-the-scenes work on the farm. I worked with my managers and the farm-owners to devise a strategy aimed at converting compacted path space into productive no-till beds. After a fair amount of research into the best “layer-cake” mulch formula, we concluded that the best method would be to rely on a base-layer of cardboard, topped with a mixture of home-grown compost and leaf mulch to turn path space into rich, productive beds. Throughout this process, as a final project for my internship, I put together a short film outlining our mission and aspirations at Astarte. It was such an invaluable experience to interview and learn from the incredible farmers whom I look up to each day to become a better grower myself. I can’t wait to get back to get back to work on the farm this spring!

-Theo Eagle

WATCH Theo’s VIDEO about Astarte HERE!

You can see how students in Sustainable Food & Farming are engaging in their communities and gaining valuable hands-on professional experience. And having fun while doing it! There are many directions our students can pursue internships based on their interests within sustainable agriculture and food systems. If you’re a current student, talk to your advisor about how to set up an internship! Happy Spring!

-Sarah Berquist Program Coordinator &
Isadora Harper SFF Peer Advisor

Farming, Stockbridge, UMass SFF News, Work and Internships

how did sff students spend their winter break?

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What were SFF students up to over winter break 2020/2021? Despite limitations of the continued pandemic, students made time for cooking, planning gardens, and definitely sleeping. Some students engaged in some pretty cool activities directly related to their studies and interests… read more below!

Braiding Sweetgrass Book Club

Over winter break, I formed and led a virtual reading group for the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

I kept hearing about Braiding Sweetgrass in my classes and really wanted to read it. I noticed a similar desire among some of my classmates and figured a book club would be the perfect way to get the most out of it while also staying connected over the long break. It would also be a great way to utilize the skills and knowledge that I gained from my Agricultural Leadership and Community Education class. I put the word out and received a ton of support from my fellow students, teachers, and faculty. My gratitude goes out to librarian Madeleine Charney who was able to secure 15 copies of the book to give out to our group. 

In our 10 weeks together, a wonderful community emerged around the teachings of plants and the messages of love and reciprocity found in the book. One of the greatest strengths of our group was the diversity of ages between our members which allowed for an interesting range of perspectives. This experience taught me a lot about how to organize a group towards a shared goal and what it means to be a strong leader.

-Adam Finke (SFF & BDIC Double major)

Seed Saving Conference

Over winter break I attended the NOFA NY (Northeast Organic Farming Association New York) seed saving conference, which was housed within the general NOFA NY farming conference. The week included sessions such as Seed Saving 101, Seed and Plant Pathology, and Seed Activists and Not-For-Profits in the Northeast. These sessions, while informative on the actual process of seed saving, also emphasized the significance of the stories, history and culture behind seeds. Seed rematriation efforts were discussed, as were stories of growing and stewarding culturally significant crops. (Seed rematriation, put simply, refers to the return of seeds to their Indigenous seedkeepers; the removal of such seeds from Indigenous communities is but one facet of the legacy of colonialism in this country). It was impossible to leave the conference without some fundamental questions about my relationship to seeds rattling around in my brain. What seeds might my ancestors have grown? What plants do I feel pulled towards? The importance of history in the work of seed saving is almost always removed from the seed-as-industry equation. It was exciting to learn about all the people working to reclaim a regional and mindful seed system.

-Isadora Harper (SFF Senior)

Relevant links: Seedshed, Turtle Tree Seeds, Freed Seed Federation, Reclaim Seed NYC, Truelove Seeds

Exploring the Small Farm Dream Course

For my independent study, I took an MDAR (Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources) course titled “Exploring the Small Farm Dream: Is Starting an Agricultural Business Right for You?’”. I was mainly interested in taking this course because as a prospective future farmer, I wanted to know more about the business aspect of farming. All of the number crunching, marketing, decision-making, and paperwork for running a farm felt overwhelming and scary. Going into this course, I wanted to work to demystify this aspect of farming and to honestly look at whether or not running a farm business was right for me. 

The class ran mainly over winter break, meeting Tuesdays from 6-8. The coursework was split into four different sections: Assess Yourself, Research the Landscape, Assess Your Resources, and Make A Decision & Plan Next Steps. All of these steps were vital to helping me come out of this class more prepared and ready to take on the next steps of my life in farming. Before, I just had a vague, idealistic vision of a farm that I wanted to have some day. Going through homework, the worksheets, and chatting with my peers, it quickly became apparent that that wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to figure out what I wanted if I wanted to have a shot at farming — and farming well. At the direction of the workbook, and instructor Jennifer Hashley, I was encouraged to create a timeline of steps to help obtain my dream of running a farm. Coming out of the class, I feel more focused and energized on what I want to do — and the prospect of owning a farm business feels less intimidating!

-Annemarie Walsh (SFF Senior)