By Sara Dougherty
The Paul Smith’s College Sustainable Community Agriculture class has been very busy this semester! Over the course of the past few weeks we’ve not only been in the classroom learning about different types of agricultural practices, but we’ve also had a few fun projects that have gotten us out into the surrounding community. The class has volunteered time at Osgood farm; helping pick the last of the tomato crop as well as assisting in some final weeding and bed preparation for the coming winter months. Bethany Garretson, advisor of the Osgood program, gave an onsite tour of the farm and went over some of the local initiatives put in place by students, staff, and alumni alike.
Students also got to visit the PSC horse barn where they were able to learn first hand what it takes to care for a draft horse. Students were also able to learn about Lady and Fee’s role within our school’s woodlot and gardens, and how we promote draft horse power as an alternative energy supply in contrast to the mechanized equipment they commonly see in action.
Most recently, we used class time to create beautiful digestive tract dioramas, to showcase the inner workings of several types of farm animals, ranging from a chicken to a Cow! Each student partnered with another and were tasked with researching an animal and building a diagram of that animal’s anatomy, followed by class room presentations.
We’d like to give a special thanks to the guest speakers who have joined us this semester including Brett Mcleod and Justin Waskiewicz. Brett spent time reviewing his newly published book, “The Woodland Homestead.” He provided students with an insight as to how he began developing his food and forest landscape here in the ADK Park. While Justin gave a wonderful presentation a few weeks ago on silviculture, forest management practices, and different conservation techniques used within the forestry community. Although the semester is winding down, our class is still working on our final projects and looking forward to the snowy months to come!
