The Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) at UMD is a collaborative effort on the part of UMD students, faculty, staff and
SAP Activities
- adoption of the site as a course research project by several courses in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010
- apple cider pressing event in Fall, 2009
- pruning in Winter, 2010
- planning for restoration of depleted soils via cover cropping in 2010 in advance of vegetable gardening in 2011
area farmers to revitalize agricultural interest at the Research and Field Studies Center. Planning is underway to transform a ten acre field that was used for Timothy Grass production into vegetable fields. Additionally, a multi-year renovation of the Old Orchard seeks to salvage what was once the largest apple orchard in Northeast Minnesota on the former grounds of the Northeast Branch Experiment Station.
SAP is an experiential field site for exploring food, agriculture and gardening, integrating participatory and action oriented scholarship, learning, and teaching. The applied social skills, cultural knowledge, and biophysical understanding around food, agriculture and gardening are more important than ever.
While most of today's students won't be farmers, many will, and many more will be gardeners. And all are eaters. Indeed, 'foodskills' are liberal arts skills, in the sense that they are foundational for healthy individual lives, communities and society as a whole. Student interest in food, farming and gardening is very high. We see this project as one of many ways for UMD to become an institutional leader in the necessary social transformations ahead of us as we move toward sustainable communities.
Student Projects
Several team projects by University Faculty and Students are planned for the coming growing season, including Soil Samples, Seedlings, and other Student Projects.