Slotnick, Joshua H.

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi 1-2015 ENSC 396.00: Supervised Internship (PEAS) Joshua H. Slotnick University of Montana - Missoula, joshua.slotnick@umontana.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Slotnick, Joshua H., "ENSC 396.00: Supervised Internship (PEAS)" (2015). Syllabi. 2635. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/2635 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. ENST 396 Spring PEAS Feb 23rd – May 7th  2 credits   Instructor Josh Slotnick, 239-6993, joshua.slotnick@mso.umt.edu Assistants: Jane Philips and Kat Raan   Background on the farm  The PEAS farm is the result of a partnership between EVST and the non-profit Garden City Harvest (GCH). GCH supplies the operating expenses to run the farm, and EVST sends the labor, in the form of students and a teacher. GCH’s primary missions are to grow high quality food for low-income people, and to offer educational opportunities in ecological food production. In addition to the partnership in the PEAS farm, GCH also manages two other neighborhood farms in Missoula and 7 community gardens. The Missoula Public School district owns the land and leases the property to the City of Missoula.  The City then subleases to GCH. The farm has been in operation since 1997, and has been in the Rattlesnake since 2002.   What you will do Greeenhouse Work We start all of our seedlings in our greenhouse. In order to get these plants going, we will work at the following tasks: making potting mix, sowing seeds in flats and trays and shuffling them weekly. Later in the season some crops will require transplanting within the greenhouse, from smaller containers to bigger ones.  Transplanting/Direct seeding When the greenhouse starts are ready to move outdoors, into the field, we will transplant them into their beds. Some crops, however, are not transplanted, instead we put their seeds directly into the ground, you’ll do this too. Transplanting and direct seeding involve an initial irrigation (watering-in), and covering with re-may. You will mess with all of that.  Making compost We make some compost with tractors and our sometimes-functioning manure spreader, we also make a lot of compost with human power, that means you all, but we’ll have some visiting groups work on compost too.  General maintenance In spring-time we set up the infrastructure for the season. Spring is the season of most of our of repair/maintenance. This spring our barn is due for some work, as is our greenhouse and hoophouse. You may get the chance to work with some power tools, please speak up if you’ve never done this type of work and want to learn. Spring PEAS is a great place to gain some power tool experience.  Irrigation We’ll set up both the overhead and the drip irrigation systems. This happens somewhat all at once, as soon as our spring tractor work is done.  Orchard maintenance While winter’s still on, we’ll prune all our fruit trees. After the ground has thawed, we’ll de-quack all of our trees to their drip lines, mulch with compost and straw, and install/repair the drip irrigation in the orchard.   Other programs and people you will see on the farm  Ethan Smith Ethan is GCH’s Operations Manager, he watches over the infrastructure of the PEAS farm and GCH’s other neighborhood farms, and he is the main person responsible for our orchard and composting operation. His home base is the PEAS farm and you will see him often. He also teaches a graduate course in Agro-ecology and is a great resource.   Samantha Cypher is our caretaker. She lives in the apartment above the barn. The farm is a public space, it is ours, and it is hers. If an ethic of respect pervades all our actions we live and work in relative harmony.  Laurie Bridgeman and Youth Harvest Laurie runs GCH’s Youth Harvest program. She will oversee the work of a handful of Missoula teens at the farm this summer. Some of these kids will begin working at the farm this spring. On Mondays and Thursdays during the summer YH operates a mobile market, they drive off in our big red panel van and set up subsidized markets at a handful of retirement homes in Missoula.  Jason Mandala and Farm to School Shortly you will begin to see organized hordes of children descend on the farm. Jason and GCH’s Community Education program, host these field trips for hundreds of Missoula schoolchildren. Jason also teaches the EVST course, Practicum in Sustainable Ag. Education, in the fall. The students in this course lead field trips and in so doing learn some hand-on instructional skills.   Wed. Afternoon Class. Wed. afternooons all the students in Spring PEAS come to the farm. In this linked section class I will talk more in depth about what we are doing at the farm and why. Attendance is mandatory.  Grades This is an internship course. However, you should keep a journal with an entry for each week, starting next week. Entries should reference the Wed. section course, as well as something you did during the week. Journal’s are due the last week of the PEAS farm season. A journal entry should be no longer than a page, but long enough to show that you thought a bit about what you saw and did. A journal can include photos. Your attendance should be near perfect. If you can’t make it at your section time, call me. Having a paper/test in another course is not a suitable cause for missing the farm.   Journal: 50 points Attendance and Enthusiasm: 50 points  Office Hours: Time w/ me is readily available upon request – just ask and we can sit down and chat at the farm. 

ENSC 396.00: Supervised Internship (PEAS)

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ENSC 396.00: Supervised Internship (PEAS)

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