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Sprouting Seeds of Sustainability: Lessons In SPROUTING SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY: LESSONS IN SCHOOL SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY By Natalie A. Faris A Project Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Social Science: Environment and Community May 2012 SPROUTING SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY: LESSONS IN SCHOOL SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE By Natalie A. Faris Approved by Master's Project Committee: ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Noah Zerbe, Committee Chair Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Corey Lee Lewis, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Llyn Smith, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. J. Mark Baker, Graduate Coordinator Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jená Burges, Vice Provost Date ABSTRACT SPROUTING SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY: LESSONS IN SCHOOL SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE Natalie A. Faris Through this project, I developed and assembled resources to assist high school educators with garden based learning. For the duration of one school year I served as the garden coordinator at the McKinleyville High School Garden. I gained instrumental first- hand experience in community organization and planning, curriculum development and implementation, and a greater understanding of the challenges associated with school supported agriculture. Teachers face many obstacles when providing students with hands- on learning experiences. The resources that I compiled are constructed with this in mind and can be adapted to a wide variety of educational situations. While the materials reflect my experience at the McKinleyville High School Garden, they are comprehensive and include resource references and supplemental materials to support the curriculum. The curriculum provides educators with the necessary tools to implement a garden based learning program that promotes self and collective empowerment and has the potential to encourage action for community change. This paper addresses the lessons learned throughout the process of implementing the curriculum and highlights the outlook for school supported agriculture in the future. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my committee members for your unrelenting faith and advice. It has been a blessing to have such a talented and supportive team of professors, Drs. Noah Zerbe, Corey Lee Lewis, and Llyn Smith. I appreciate all the hard work each one of you has put into assisting me in achieving my goal. This also goes for the entire Environment and Community Program. The professors, administrators, and colleagues I have encountered throughout this program have helped to shape my educational experience, one that was both challenging and understanding. Thanks also to my remarkable friends and family, my parents Robert and Elizabeth Faris, and my wonderful partner Samuel Deyton. I have been so pleased to have such an amazing and supportive network of folks that have helped me through this process. Thank you also to the Locally Delicious ladies, who facilitated the initial beginnings of this project, to the North Coast Community Gardening Collaborative for organizational assistance, and to all the donors and community volunteers for their collective efforts and resources. Finally, thank you to McKinleyville High School and the Northern Humboldt Union High School District for giving me the opportunity to work with Stacy Kastler and her students, who deserve the biggest thanks of all. My work is a result of your desire to establish and participate in school supported agriculture at McKinleyville High School. Thank you for all your efforts and commitment to this project. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v TABLE OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 5 Shifting School Spaces ................................................................................................... 6 Shifting Student Connections ......................................................................................... 8 Shifting Community Sustainability .............................................................................. 11 METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 15 MCKINLEYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL GARDEN PROJECT .......................................... 19 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................ 28 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 32 APPENDIX A LIST OF ACRONYMS USED ............................................................... 37 APPENDIX B MHS GARDEN MATERIALS ............................................................... 38 Appendix B.1 MHS Garden Committee Meeting Agenda ........................................... 38 Appendix B.2 Press Release ......................................................................................... 40 Appendix B.3 Workday Flyer ....................................................................................... 41 Appendix B.4 General Donation Letter ........................................................................ 42 Appendix B.5 Farmer Donation Letter ......................................................................... 43 v Appendix B.6 McKinleyville High School Speaker Schedule ..................................... 44 APPENDIX C MHS GARDEN ACTIVITIES ................................................................ 46 Appendix C.1 Local Food Systems Game .................................................................... 46 Appendix C.2 Alternative Food Markets ...................................................................... 50 Appendix C.3 Identifying and Improving Soil Texture and Type ................................ 53 Appendix C.4 Composting ........................................................................................... 57 Appendix C.4A Wooden Pallet Compost Bin Plan ...................................................... 62 Appendix C.4B Compost Tracking .............................................................................. 64 Appendix C.5 Vermicomposting .................................................................................. 66 Appendix C.5A Vermicomposting Bin Plans ............................................................... 69 Appendix C.6 Agricultural Irrigation ........................................................................... 71 Appendix C.7 Plant Parts for Food ............................................................................... 74 Appendix C.7A Plant Parts for Food Handout ............................................................. 79 Appendix C.8 Seeds and Greenhouse Propagation ...................................................... 82 Appendix C.9 Integrated Pest Management & Companion Planting ........................... 87 Appendix C.10 Appropriate Technology ...................................................................... 92 Appendix C.11 Nutrition, Harvesting & Tasting .......................................................... 96 Appendix C.11A Nutrition Handout 5 A DAY the Color Way & Harvest Worksheet 99 Appendix C.12 Hunger 101 Game ............................................................................. 101 APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................. 104 vi TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Principles Linking Pedagogy and Pedology (Williams & Brown, 2012) Figure 2. MHS garden before workday and after workday. Figure 3. MHS garden beds, orchard and composting area before and after the workday Figure 4. MHS garden several weeks after the workday vii 1 INTRODUCTION This project was created in response to the recent resurgence of interest in Garden Based Learning (GBL) programs and curriculum that focus on sustainability education in schools. Many programs and curriculum have been applied in elementary schools (Waliczek, Bradley, Lineberger, & Zajicek, 2001) using popular curricula such as Life Lab K-5 (LifeLab, 2006), GrowLab (National Gardening Association, 2006) and Nutrition to Grow On (California Department of Education, 2005). Consequently literature exists on garden based learning at the elementary level. However, there is a lack of research regarding high school gardens and even fewer collective curricula for high school teachers and high school garden programs. This project was designed to provide high school teachers with GBL that simultaneously supports curricular efforts that reinforce standards in education. The materials and activities are intended to help students create
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