Campus
Farm

For the past while, the Farm Com. has been seriously talking about the Farm's long-term place in this school. Whether it would be a source of food for our Dining Hall or simply an educational space, there is always the question of student turn-over. Whether we do lots now, did little then, did a lot then, we always want to know -- what will they do in the future? We want to have some prolonged impact on the student body, and put the farm to its maximum potential. This discussion page is for all who have some input -- please let us know what you want, and we'll let you know what we are doing on.

The main topics on the table at the moment are the legitimation of the Farm Manager's job position, pay, and housing stipend, the official recipients of the summer's harvest, and academic integration with farm activities.

This page will also serve as a News page, where we will spout new policies, arguments, achievements, and beyond.

April 3, 09

Hi Farm Committee, I read with great interest and enthusiasm the minutes of your March 12 meeting. The farm needs a greenhouse in order to be viable, and especially to have and encourage the participation of students, since most students are here during the colder months of the year.

But I think you may encounter some serious cynicism about a greenhouse, given the fate of the first structure. So my humble suggestion is that in addition to preparing to present details about the design of the structure and the type and source of the lumber, you also prepare a broader argument for why we need a greenhouse, and what we learned from the experience of building and losing the first one.

I am very interested in working on a farm project during the upcoming workday, and I'd like to offer another humble suggestion for that day: create a series of small-scale, defined projects for the farm, and put one individual in charge of each of those. In my experience with many Work Day projects, if projects are too big, too much time is wasted trying to organize the people who inevitably come and go during Work Day. Frequently the person in charge is reluctant to be too "bossy" and the project becomes amorphous and less productive. But if each project is of a manageable scale, with defined scope, and run by someone who knows the scope and goals and how it fits with other projects, much more work will get done .

I look forward to working on the farm on Work Day, and I'd be happy to lead a project, if you're looking for volunteers.

Thanks, Todd

http://cs.marlboro.edu/ courses/ campus_farm/ wiki/ Discussion
last modified Wednesday October 20 2010 9:34 am EDT

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farm_needs_you.tiff Feb 6 2009 12:20 pm 3.08MB