During the fall semester, Dr. Hintz and the students in his Sustainable Food Systems Course (EGGS 351) took a field trip to Greene Kitchen Farm, which is a small meat and
vegetable farm located just a couple of miles outside of Bloomsburg. Students
learned about sustainable livestock grazing, movable poultry pens, and organic
vegetable production for a community supported agriculture (CSA) subscription
service. This was an enriching experience for the students because they had the opportunity to help out in each area of the farm that we visited. For the livestock
pasture, students moved and set up portable electric fence and moved and filled
a stock tank so that Joshua Greene (the farm’s proprietor) could move the herd
of cattle from one pasture to another. (They learned that moving livestock from
pasture to pasture on a near-daily schedule is key to sustainable maintenance
of the pasture.)
Students learned how to set up electric fences |
Students also moved the portable, outdoor chicken and turkey
pens and then fed the birds. These poultry pens are moved into livestock
pasture after the livestock are rotated to a new pasture. The birds peck
through the cow pies, receiving high protein feed in the form of grubs and
larvae and removing potential disease pathogens from the pasture in the
process. To top off the visit, students picked green beans in the organic vegetable
rows for the farm’s CSA subscribers. Being actively involved in the afternoon’s
farm work really made the day for the students.. All in all, a beautiful
afternoon and an enlightening and enriching experience for everyone.
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