Learning From Local Farming Experts

As part of the From Seed to Table: Adventures in Eco-Farming course, our students had the opportunity to take their adventures off our 315-acre campus and into the community to learn from experts who live and breathe the farming lifestyle. 

 

Over the past week, our students have ventured to four farms to meet with local farmers and learn about the business of starting, running, and growing a regenerative farm on large and small scales. The class started their week with a visit to Circle Organic where they met with Julie Fleming who shared her wealth of knowledge and experience navigating the organic certification process for her farm. She taught our students about sustainability, explaining the techniques Circle Organic employs to make their farm operations as environmentally responsible as possible. Julie brought many of the concepts and topics our students have learned in class (including soil health, the importance of microbes, and cover cropping) to life, helping them make real-world connections to their course material.

 

During their visit, our students were captivated by Roberto Garcia Lopez, a warm and welcoming worker at Circle Organics who joined the farm in 2013 from Michoacan, Mexico. Roberto is a vital member of the Circle Organic family and is featured in a newly released mini-documentary (The Hands that Feeds Us) about the importance of, and challenges with, the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).

 

After bidding Julie and Roberto farewell, the class journeyed to Wild Ginger Farmstead to meet Harmony. Harmony detailed the process of starting and operating her own farm over the past two years; she also shared some valuable lessons she learned along the way. Farming a similar plot size to our Northcote farm, the class was impressed with how Harmony maximised space to meet targets for her popular CSA and farmers market stand.

 

The class’s adventures didn’t stop there. Later in the week, they travelled to meet Katie, one half of the couple who owns and operates Tipsy Willow Farm. Katie introduced everyone to Tipsy Willow’s well-loved and friendly animals and spoke about the farm’s commitment to the ethical treatment of their animals. Our students appreciated Katie's honesty when learning about the highlights, as well as the challenges of livestock farming. 

 

 

To finish off their tour of local farms, our crew jetted off to Keene to visit Emily at Harley Farms. Emily took the class on a tour of the farm, sharing the story of how her family started and expanded their farm. Our students were excited to observe regenerative practices, like rotational cropping on such a large scale (Harley Farms is almost 1000 acres!).

 

In all, these days of adventuring provided great opportunities to learn more about the business of running a regenerative farm and the joy of providing the community with locally grown food.