Berea College Farm Weblog

HARD WORK TAKES NO VACATIONS

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:47:52 -0500

June 2, 2008

Samantha Williams, who joined onto the livestock team, had prior experience with cows and goats on her parents’ hobby farm in eastern Oregon. She is currently enjoying the novelty of working with pigs at Hunt Acres, especially getting the newborn piglets ready for farm life.

Brittaney Simmons, a Biology major from Louisville, has found a way to link the farm experience to her desired career as a Physician’s Assistant. Taking care of the animals, she says, is good practice for working in the medical field. So far, she has happily participated in giving shots, trimming hooves, and helping to deliver piglets.

The summer group has already been served a generous slice of the farm’s to-do list, but there is always more work to do. Assistant Farm Manager Jamie Rowse offered a preview of what’s in store for Sammi, Brittaney, and the other members of the summer farm crew. The agenda includes replacing old fencing around ram pond and elsewhere, introducing the Spanish goats to a newly built research area called the “Goat Gazebo”, and preparing for the upcoming conversion to pastured pork scheduled to begin this September!

Affairs at the greenhouse are just as action-packed. With a much smaller staff of only three students, each one’s contribution carries extra weight. Weeding the lettuce, planting pepper transplants, and staking tomato plants are the current, short-term chores. Of course, harvesting and daily watering are persistent priorities!

International student Antonio Marchi, a Physical Education major, is enjoying the variety of tasks and chores at the greenhouse, although he admits that strawberry-picking can be a big backache. At his home in Argentina, his experience was limited to growing corn. This summer he hopes to learn the planting and harvesting skills necessary to own a greenhouse someday and produce a variety of vegetables and fruit.

Oliver Pogue, from Knoxville, Tennessee, worked for the greenhouse during the spring semester and decided it would make a good summer job. His favorite activities are harvesting strawberries and planting, but perhaps the honeybees are the real reason for his stay. During the fall semester, Oliver was the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Sean Clark’s beekeeping class. He’s looking forward to managing and monitoring the bees again this summer.

For both the greenhouse and farm, the Farmer’s Market is an ongoing project that will require the cooperation of every member of the summer crew. Look for these new, smiling faces at the usual time on Tuesdays and Fridays. And when you do, recall their stories and know that they love being there!

HARD WORK TAKES NO VACATIONS

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:47:09 -0500

Summer is when the Farm needs its crew the most. Although the main team of Aggies have left to pursue their own summer adventures, the livestock still need feeding, the plants need watering, and the myriad cares of managing a farm will not flee with those departing students. It’s a fragile time, but a good team can make it a fruitful one.
The first day of summer labor on May 23 ushered in a new mix of eager student workers. These young men and women will be the brains and muscle of the farm and greenhouse for the next few months. Some of them worked at the Farm during this past academic year and have come back for more. Others have been newly inducted into the family.
A decision to work at the hottest, sweatiest, most intense job on campus is not to be made lightly. The “newbies” have personal reasons for committing to the farm or greenhouse this summer.
Samantha Williams, who joined onto the livestock team, had prior experience with cows and goats on her parents’ hobby farm in eastern Oregon. She is currently enjoying the novelty of working with pigs at Hunt Acres, especially getting the newborn piglets ready for farm life.
Brittaney Simmons, a Biology major from Louisville, has found a way to link the farm experience to her desired career as a Physician’s Assistant. Taking care of the animals, she says, is good practice for working in the medical field. So far, she has happily participated in giving shots, trimming hooves, and helping to deliver piglets.
The summer group has already been served a generous slice of the farm’s to-do list, but there is always more work to do. Assistant Farm Manager Jamie Rowse offered a preview of what’s in store for Sammi, Brittaney, and the other members of the summer farm crew. The agenda includes replacing old fencing around ram pond and elsewhere, introducing the Spanish goats to a newly built research area called the “Goat Gazebo”, and preparing for the upcoming conversion to pastured pork scheduled to begin this September!
Affairs at the greenhouse are just as action-packed. With a much smaller staff of only three students, each one’s contribution carries extra weight. Weeding the lettuce, planting pepper transplants, and staking tomato plants are the current, short-term chores. Of course, harvesting and daily watering are persistent priorities!
International student Antonio Marchi, a Physical Education major, is enjoying the variety of tasks and chores at the greenhouse, although he admits that strawberry-picking can be a big backache. At his home in Argentina, his experience was limited to growing corn. This summer he hopes to learn the planting and harvesting skills necessary to own a greenhouse someday and produce a variety of vegetables and fruit.
Oliver Pogue, from Knoxville, Tennessee, worked for the greenhouse during the spring semester and decided it would make a good summer job. His favorite activities are harvesting strawberries and planting, but perhaps the honeybees are the real reason for his stay. During the fall semester, Oliver was the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Sean Clark’s beekeeping class. He’s looking forward to managing and monitoring the bees again this summer.
For both the greenhouse and farm, the Farmer’s Market is an ongoing project that will require the cooperation of every member of the summer crew. Look for these new, smiling faces at the usual time on Tuesdays and Fridays. And when you do, recall their stories and know that they love being there!

HARD WORK TAKES NO VACATIONS

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:36:36 -0500

HARD WORK TAKES NO VACATIONS

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:34:47 -0500

WHEAT ON THE WAY!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:59:51 -0500

by Jennifer Boyle

Yet again, Berea College Farms’ summer team of researchers is conspiring to bring you a new product. The pavilion in the Agriculture building now conceals several storage containers of wheat ready to be ground. If all goes well, fans of the college’s homemade jam and local honey will soon have some bread to go with them.

The goal, according to one student researcher, Steve Hammond, is to begin grinding within a couple weeks and have flour and bread for sale sometime this fall – but it could be later.

They have good reason for the apparent delay. Between harvesting, separating the chaff, and grinding, a great deal of work goes into the conversion of raw wheat to flour. The summer researchers have pooled together all their time and energy in the process and even enlisted the help of the greenhouse employees. Trials began in late June, when students at the greenhouse harvested wheat from four varieties in the test field. Under the direction of Dr. Sean Clark and Andrew Oles, they worked by hand, clipping the golden stalks with shears and storing them separately for comparison.

To clean the grain, students rubbed the wheat heads to release the kernels. They then separated the chaff by bouncing the uncleaned wheat on a screen in front of a fan, says Steve Hammond. He estimates that the hand-cleaning process for just one trial variety required two days with two people working; it yielded five pounds of wheat.

In contrast, one person with machine power winnowed 60 pounds in 6 hours, making the task of harvesting more productive.

“I think if we’re using the combine we can do it in quantities that would be beneficial,” said Steve Hammond.

As part of the summer research, ‘Alice,’ ‘Fuller,’ ‘Jagger,’ and ‘Karl 92’ will be evaluated for grain yield and flour quality. According to the Journal of Plant Registrations, accessed via website, the hard winter wheat called Alice is a promising candidate. Their study concluded that this was the top-ranking variety for bread quality in its category. It also had the second highest yield.

Berea College Farms’ ‘Alice’ wheat is certified organic: produced from organic seed and grown in organic ground. The farm will be cooperating with Joyce Begley, better known as “the bread lady,” to produce local loaves from the flour. In an interview at the Berea Farmers Market yesterday, Joyce explained why she eagerly awaits the first batch.

“I would love to have a local source of flour because it’s fresher,” she said. In the past, her flour came from up to 60 miles away, but she currently buys it from Gordon Foods in Lexington.

Joyce says the high gluten content of hard winter wheat makes it perfect for bread-baking. She plans to use the new flour for her sourdough and “Good Seed” breads.

When choosing her flour, Joyce judges its quality by kneading the dough. “With bad flour the dough feels wimpy and lifeless. A good flour has life to it,” she says.

Considering the amount of life Berea College Farms has invested into its wheat – from flourishing, organic fields to the avid interest and dedicated labor of its students – its flour should be lively indeed.

Caption for photo: Steve Hammond demonstrates a low-tech method of cleaning wheat that relies on gravity. The chaff is blown away by the wind or a fan, while the heavier kernels fall back onto the screen.

FOUR-LEGGED WEED-EATERS

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:48:29 -0500

by Jennifer Boyle

Who says weed-eating has to be a noisy, messy job? Berea College Farms is always looking for the sustainable alternative – even to mundane chores like weed control. They recently contracted four goats to clean up a weedy situation near space reserved for shiitake mushroom production.

The goats are tackling a dense stand of oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, and bush honeysuckle. They might even eat the poison ivy, says Dr. Sean Clark.

The four-legged weed-eaters will need a few weeks to complete their job, but Dr. Clark says it’s worth the wait. He explained that although a couple people could do the same work in about half a day, the goats are more efficient. Using these livestock in place of human labor eliminates the need for chainsaws and traditional weed-eaters.

Scruggs Gets Serious Recognition

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:25:12 -0500

As you all may or may not know, the Labor Awards Banquet took place last evening, the 15th of April.

One of our own “aggies,” Jessica Scruggs, a senior ANR major from Cowee Valley, NC, was recognized not only for Student Employee of the Year for the College, she was also awarded Midwest Regional Student Employee of the Year, as well as…

NATIONAL STUDENT EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR!

Here’s what our office manager would like for you all to consider in light of this fantastic achievement:

“Because Bob Harned and I were the only lucky representatives of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at the Awards Banquet, I would like to say that you would all have been so proud to see Jessica receiving some rather huge honors. She has brought national attention to the Berea College labor program (which we all know is exceptional), but she also represents the best qualities of character that student farm laborers at Berea College possess and in that she represents all of your hard work!

If you see Jessica, let her know how proud you are of her even if you have to embarrass her with praise.”

Courtesy of Sarah Pauslon, Office and Farm Marketing manager, Agriculture and Natural Resources

More information about Jessica and her achievements are on their way, pending a face-to-face interview with her direct supervisor and Farm Manager, the aforementioned Bob Harned.

Update on Biodiesel Project

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:53:06 -0500

This is to let everyone know that the pilot project for Biodiesel production has been completed!

Last week Nathan Hall, along with Bob Harned, tested the fuel in a couple of the farm tractors.

The result? Full function with a mild stench of Chinese food!

For those who are interested in learning more, Nathan and the department are currently working on a proposal for a bigger, better operation for the future.

If you would like to help, or know of any funding resources, please contact the Agriculture and Natural Resources department at 859-985-3591 or email us at:

paulsons@berea.edu, halln@berea.edu, or greenem@berea.edu

Thanks for all your support and encouragement! Our biggest hope is to get more student interest and involvement so that when this next chapter in the project unfolds, we’ll have some help with it.

You've ordered the meat, now what?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:42:41 -0500

Check out the lamb and pork sections (lamb loin chops and half-ham, specifically) for delicious new recipes we found in Sunday’s edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Look for: * “Baked Ham with Bourbon Glaze” * “Conor McCarthy’s Shepherd’s Pie” and… * “Adobo-crusted Lamb Loin Chops”

These are just a few recipe ideas for you to try with Berea College herbs and meats!

Update: Antique Grain Mill

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:57:13 -0500

ANR has just been informed that one of the cast-iron pieces for the antique grain mill has been repaired. A metals T.A. from the Technology & Industrial Arts welded it back together, so there’s only one more cast-iron piece to go!

At this point, funds are being carefully allocated to purchase a trailer on which to mount the mill.

Will also has plans to meet with a gentleman from his hometown in West Virginia who restores old mills like the one in the pavilion. In addition to this meeting, Will plans to draft blueprints of the machine, along with a user manual, to provide easy instructions for the future operator.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more!

-Maggie Greene, ‘08