Authored by: Lafayette College EGRS 451 group (Lucy Bass, Elise Buffinton, and Matt Pigott)

Date: Fall 2013

Course Instructor: Professor Cohen

Project Links: Memo and Poster pdfs

Abstract: Our team created two educational and informational signs for the Lafayette College Community Farm for students, faculty, visitors, and other community members that volunteer at LaFarm. Through our observations and student interviews, we discovered a disconnect between the intent of jobs needed to be accomplished on the farm and the practical outcomes of these jobs. We recognized that this disconnect comes from a variety of areas such as lack of knowledge of agricultural practices and techniques needed for the completion of projects. In response to this disconnect and with the help of our community partner, Sarah Edmonds, we collected information to be posted on the signs that would aid volunteers. A sign for good agricultural practices was developed that details proper soil practices such as preventing erosion, applying fertilizer, and maintaining organic content and details proper water practices such as irrigation, preventing run-off, and maintaining soil coverage. A sign for beneficial and harmful insects was also developed that gives descriptions of various types of insects while describing some of their characteristics and providing pictures. We see this project as part of the contexts of both the local farm movement and the development of university farms as centers for experiential learning, sustainable agriculture, and education. While our signs display valuable information for the farm, there are many more topics and areas that could be covered in additional signs and many options for future research.

Tags: EGRS 451, Fall 2013, LaFarm, Lafayette College Student Farm and Community Garden, good agricultural practices, beneficial insects