Farm Manager Steve Hed, PIM 61: A Personal Note on the SIT Farm

Steve was asked to write some thoughts on how he came to work on the SIT Farm Project,and his experiences with it thus far. His submission is below:

SIT Farm, June 2009

I was hired in mid-March as Farm Manager for the new Sustainability Farm on World Learning’s campus. It was in no small sense a dream come true for me, and remains so despite significant uncertainty around funding. I’ve been searching for this type of thing for the past 20 years, especially since my 2002 Practicum at UVM Extension’s Youth Horticulture Project. The reasons for my excitement are many; I’ll touch on several.

First, I’m an educator. Farming, and sustainable agriculture in particular,comprises one of the best multidisciplinary approaches to education that I can think of. And real learning comes from doing, not just regurgitating facts, as the SIT community knows so well. Additionally, sustainable agriculture gives one the opportunity to re-learn and re-connect to the land, something quite lacking in the U.S. today.

Second, and perhaps most important, this project embodies tangible progress towards the goals of sustainable development. In a very real sense, SD programs are superfluous if quality, affordable local food is not available to everyone. I have been very hungry before, and not much else mattered while looking for food. This would be even more pronounced if I’d had children at the time. For this reason I believe that sustainable agriculture is THE key to a successful sustainable development.

Third, sustainable agriculture is about community, innovation and capacity building. Everyone can and should participate. When people begin to work together to reach an equitable goal for all, i.e., realizing that it’s not just ‘all about me’, collective ownership and empowerment can occur.

The Project

The idea was spawned by Post Oil Solution’s (POS) Food Security Project, who wrote the proposal for a 1.5-acre sustainability farm at SIT and applied for grants to fund it. The underlying premise is that everyone, regardless of socio-economic status, has the right to healthy, local food. Indeed, the fact that more than ten percent of Americans are underfed is a testament to a skewed agricultural and economic system. One may insert here, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”. The goal is to begin a farm that can supply food to the World Learning cafeteria, donate food to the Drop-In Center in Brattleboro, as well as turn a profit by selling retail at an onsite farmstand.

Before the Project: photo provided by Steve Hed, 5/09

The farm is situated on the southeastern edge of campus near the ‘strawbale.’ There are approximately 1.5 usable acres, one acre of which has been cover-cropped early this spring to control weeds and enrich the soil for future use. The remaining half-acre is being farmed with mixed vegetables. In early spring seeds were ordered and plants started in the ‘greenhouse’ of Gamble Dorm, and these are in the process of transplanting to the farm.

This project is a true start-up: Nothing but the land existed in the space in early May! While we had use of the 1.5 acres and access to World Learning maintenance, we began with virtually no farming implements and an almost non-existent budget while grant applications were pending (more on that below).

Our progress thus far owes tremendously to the generosity and innovation of the community: A Big Thank You!

Elizabeth Wood from nearby New Leaf CSA let us use her plow. Gerry from Hinsdale gave us a disc harrow. Sue Hawkins of Putney gave us a rototiller. Mindy from Guilford sold us a fence charger at half price. Someone donated a truck battery for the charger. We were given a discount from the fence company. Larry from Dummerston loaned us a 325-gallon sap tank for our
irrigation. Anything that didn’t work properly or broke down, Rodney Chase Sr. from SIT maintenance handily repaired in addition to doing tractor work and anything else I requested of him. Andy Martyn Sr. has been working on a low-tech bicycle pump that could allow us to use water from the pond. I’ve received invaluable advice from other SIT maintenance staff who were formerly farmers. Vern Grubinger and Liz Kenton at UVM Extension have offered valuable help. I’ve received incredible encouragement from WL’s surrounding neighbors who walk their dogs, etc. in the area. There are many others who have helped, Tim and the incredible Americorps staff (Angela, Richard, Liz and Katherine) at POS and Molly, Tom, Reeve! In short, the
community really sees the value and is behind a project like this! I thank you all.

Progress: photo provided by Steve Hed, 5/09

The result? To date we have mowed, plowed, and tilled the land, planted the cover crop on 1.5 acres, installed 880 feet of six-foot, five-strand (that’s almost a mile of wire!) animal deterrent electric fence, and transplanted or seeded over 1,950 row-feet of crops, with much more to go.

Future Potential
If the project continues, it will become a CSA next year that would include a low-income farm share option. The farm would offer the additional possibility of becoming part of an innovative Sustainable Agriculture focus within the SIT Graduate Institute courses, in which students could get hands-on practical experience. This is significant, not only for farming experience but for applied theory and practice in numerous areas of study within the SIT program. The farm could be a haven for experimentation in appropriate technology, bringing the practical and theoretical levels together. For example, we could test the use of low-tech technologies such as: bicycle pump, gravity fed, solar powered irrigation projects; field to pot solar ovens, efficient brick ovens, food storage and preservation including root cellars and lacto-fermentation and other ‘added value’ product production. We could experiment with social structures … farm organizing; CSA, small business skills, micro lending, food justice and sovereignty, potentially a case study for other SIT classes. We could apply concepts such as; permaculture, Natural Farming, Biodynamic Agriculture, low/no-till, cover cropping, animal incorporation… the list goes on. In essence, I believe this could be the Experiment in Local Living (with the underutilized additional inputs, ideas and  expertise of methods used by international staff and students). This would further set SIT apart as an innovator in
education.

Lessons Learned . . .

First, creative ways of gathering and producing resources! The harder lesson though is when one confronts an uncomfortable reality. Farming in general is an inherently risky venture as there are many uncontrollable variables. Also, I have seen and lived around poverty but as most Westerners, it was a choice. And so with that, as mentioned above, I started work full time the end of March while grants were still pending…

I am very grateful for this opportunity and have been stunned by the tremendous support I’ve received. I have a lot of faith and am very optimistic, I don’t give up easily regardless the uncertain outcome; my optimism is motivated by the many people involved. Community is empowerment!

Steve Hed was a PIM 61 in Sustainable Development.  Also contributing to the success of the SIT Farm is Katherine Gillespie, a PIM 68 who is conducting her practicum on the Farm with AmeriCorps in the Master’s Community Development Program.

See an earlier post about the SIT Farm here.

Tags: Katherine Gillespie, PIM 68, Steve Hed, PIM 61, Master's Community Development, - Americorps