Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom has been working for thirty years to bring agriculture to life for students in classrooms around the state. MAC, and the other state Agriculture in the Classroom programs, began in 1982 as an unfunded USDA mandate. In Massachusetts, the Commissioner of Agriculture led by appointing a committee of people interested in both agriculture and education. They founded a non-profit that was incorporated in 1984.
MAC remains a small non-profit educational organization today, but with a big impact in schools across the state. All programs support our Mission: “to foster an awareness and learning in all areas related to the food and agriculture industries and the economic and social importance of agriculture to the state, the nation and the world.” We do this by providing resources and training for classroom educators, so that they can take agricultural lessons and background context into their classrooms with curriculum connections. Programs include professional development training for teachers and farm educators with professional development credits including annually: the presentation of 10-15 workshops on the farm, three multi-tier conferences and a three-credit summer graduate course. Classroom resources for teachers include mini-grants, an educational newsletter, agricultural lessons and manuals, and an active website with rich agricultural content and activities.
Last year MAC launched a School Gardening Project and developed garden-based lessons, how-to-guides, directories of resources and direct garden mentoring. MAC recently received a grant from the Massachusetts Dairy Promotions Board to develop dairy-based lessons for educators that also will be available on our website. The grant also provides for dairy-based mini-grants to teachers for development of dairy-based lessons for their classrooms, and for offering four dairy workshops for educators. The first of these workshops will be held Thursday, July 11 at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle.
Teachers experience agriculture first hand at our educational workshops on the farm and conferences. They learn everything from spinning and weaving to raising animals, growing crops and insights for gardening with their students at their schools. |
Although MAC is a very small organization, we accomplish a great deal because we are fortunate enough to have many supporters who help us provide terrific educational opportunities for educators. These include our hard-working, all-volunteer board of directors, the many farmers who open their farms and businesses for workshops and conferences and the teachers who have taken our programs in the past and then return to share what they have learned with other educators. We gratefully thank you all! Find links on the MAC homepage for joining the conversation with Alice Posner in her School Garden Blog or for applying for a mentor to assist with your school garden. |
If you like what we do, please consider making a donation today to support MAC. We are a small non-profit with a big impact in classrooms across the state. All program and operational support is raised through donations and grants. You can help us to grow! Send your donation to MAC at P.O. Box 345, Seekonk, MA 02771.
Massachusetts Agriculture Calendar Photo Contest
The Massachusetts Agriculture Calendar is an excellent resource that serves as an educational tool for teachers, legislators and the public, providing an attractive daily reminder of the diversity of agriculture across the state, with educational tips and website links on each page. The calendar is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and MAC, the beneficiary of all sales and sponsorships.
Each calendar month features one full-size photograph portraying a local farm or farm product. An additional smaller photograph is included on most pages. The photographs for the 2014 Massachusetts Agriculture Calendar will be selected from winning entries submitted by amateur photographers for the 2013 Massachusetts Agriculture Calendar Photo Contest.
Send a picture of any Bay State farm, animal, field crop or floral display to the Calendar Photo Contest by June 1, 2013. Copies of photos from the 2013 Calendar can be found on the MAC website, click here to view.
To enter the Calendar Photo Contest, visit MDAR’s website at www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/docs/photo-contest-entry-form.pdf .
Summer Graduate Course
Spend an educational summer with Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom on farms across the state learning about agriculture and connections to the classroom. Our three-credit Summer Graduate Course is co-sponsored with Fitchburg State University. The course meets Tuesday, July 2 and Thursday August 15 at the Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each participant must attend both sessions and also participate in six additional workshops during the summer, selected from twelve workshopson farms across the state, on a variety of topics. Participants will also keep a journal of their agricultural journey and develop three new ag-related lessons plans for their classroom, one of which they will present to their peers on August 15. The fee for this eight day course is $500. Read more or view the full schedule of farm workshops.
New Summer Conference Connecting the School Garden and the Classroom
Mark Your Calendar! Our first Summer Gardening Conference will be held on Thursday, July 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Holden Christian Academy in Holden. All workshops will offer connections from the School Garden to the Classroom and the Curriculum. Learn how this school has modeled their whole curriculum on the garden and learn from educators at other schools how they integrate the garden into the curriculum. Three workshops will run concurrently through the day. There will also be the opportunity to harvest and prepare lunch from the school garden.
Fall Greening the School Conference for Educators
Our 5th annual Fall Conference for Educators will be held November 9th at the Clay Science Center of Dexter & Southfield Schools in Brookline. There will be tours of the school and Allandale Farm and a choice of concurrent workshops during four workshop sessions. Each will focus on gardening, composting, natural resource conservation and local foods. The $50 fee includes lunch, materials and ten professional development points with activity.
Scholarships are available for new and urban teachers and farm educators thanks to a grant from Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement.
Teacher Awards: AgriScience Excellence Award Winner
The Board of Directors of MAC, along with the Massachusetts Trustees of of the Eastern States Exposition, are pleased to announce that our 2013 winner of the AgriScience Excellence Award is Kira Jewett, Grade 8 teacher at Hampshire Regional Middle/High School in Westhampton. This award is given to a teacher who has done at outstanding job of bringing agriculture to the classroom. The prize is accompanied by a plaque, $200 classroom grant and a trip to The Big E for the teacher and her/his class for September.
Kira is a regular participant at our summer workshops on the farm and also taught a cold-frame technology workshop at our 2012 winter conference. She has been teaching science for more than ten years, in settings ranging from small private schools, to state colleges, to urban locations such as Charlestown High School.
Kira moved to the Pioneer Valley with her young family about 8 years ago and entered her current teaching position. She is passionate about helping students and others live harmoniously on the earth, and often leads students in outdoor exploration and service learning. She has also led wilderness expeditions for teens, directed a primitive skills overnight camp for 6-12 year olds, and is organizing a teen expedition in Massachusetts this summer. In her personal life, she expresses this by practicing primitive skills, managing a small farm which includes dairy goats and permaculture plantings, and living as much like a Native as is possible in our “modern” society. She is also an award-winning Irish fiddler. Congratulations, Kira! |
Kira Jewett of Hampshire Regional Middle School in Westhampton was presented with the award by Susan Lavoie, Vice President of Eastern States Exposition and Marjorie Cooper, President of Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom
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Supporting Biodiversity: An Overview
Biodiversity refers to the variety of all life on Earth, at all levels from genes to ecosystems. It includes all plants, animals and microorganisms, whether terrestrial, marine or aquatic. It also refers to organisms in both managed and unmanaged systems.
Biodiversity is also multi-dimensi-onal. It comprises diversity within species and between species, as well as their genetic makeup and also the ecosystems that support them. Biodiversity can be studied on many levels, ranging from the entire Earth to an individual ecosystem, such as a schoolyard or neighborhood park.
Species diversity is the most common way that people approach biodiversity, usually through an inventory of the full range of species that live in a designated area. A species is a group of living organisms that can interbreed. Within any species there is a diversity of genes in individual organisms. An analysis of the gene pool is referred to as genetic biodiversity. Species need genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding, which can cause populations to diminish.
The last type of biodiversity is ecological diversity. This is the complexity and richness of an entire ecosystem, natural community or habitat. In essence, it’s the variety of ways that species interact with each other and their environment.
Biodiversity is found wherever there is life on Earth. Research estimates there are as many as 30 million species on Earth, and currently only 1.7 million have been identified. Tropical ecosystems contain many more species than temperate systems, including ocean and marine environments. The most diverse group of animals are invertebrates, including insects, arthropods, crustaceans, sponges, and scorpions.
Why Is Biodiversity Important?
Biodiversity provides a balanced ecosystems, where multiple species depend on the services of one another. Every species has a role, no matter how small. Together they perform a number of critical natural services including soil formation; oxygen produc-tion; purification of water; nutrient recycling; seed dispersal; pollination; absorption and breakdown of pollutants, and climate control.
Biodiversity also allows ecosystems to withstand and recover from fluctuations and extremes conditions. Genetic diversity provides a safeguard to help some members of a threatened species adjust to diseases and changes in their environment.
Humans rely on biodiversity for the food we eat, our homes, medicines, clean air and water, and so much more including beauty and recreation.
The loss of biodiversity reduces nature’s ability to perform these useful functions. As greater fluctuations occur, ecosystems as a whole become less stable. Instability causes ecosystems to be more vulnerable to extreme conditions and may also decrease productivity.
Over the past century, human activity has rapidly altered ecosystems so there is now a massive loss of biodiversity across the planet. While changes and extinctions have always occurred, the current rate is unprecedented. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature , globally about one third of all known species are threatened with extinction.
The major threats to biodiversity today include: habitat destruction from clearing of forests and draining of wetlands; over-harvesting of natural resources such as fish in the oceans and trees in the forests; pollution of air, soil and water; the introduction of invasive species into foreign ecosystems, and climate change.
Biodiversity is the basis of agriculture and it is critical for agriculture. It is the origin of all species of crops and domesticated livestock and the variety within them, and is the result of thousands of years of farmers’ and breeders’ activities and management. Today this agricultural biodiversity is still being shaped and developed by farmers to respond to new challenges and to maintain and increase productivity under constantly varying conditions.
Biodiversity and agriculture are strongly interrelated. While biodiversity is critical for agriculture, agriculture can also contribute to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Agricultural biodiversity performs many ecosystem services essential to sustain agriculture and human survival, such as soil and water conservation, maintenance of soil fertility and biota, and pollination. Because of the degree of human management, conservation of agricultural biodiversity in production systems is inherently linked to sustainable use.
For crops and domestic animals, diversity within species is at least as important as diversity between species and has been greatly expanded through agriculture. This genetic diversity provides species with the ability to adapt to changing environments and evolve, by increasing their tolerance to frost, high temperature, drought and water-logging, as well as their resistance to particular diseases, pests and parasites. The evolution of biodiversity, and therefore both its and our survival, mainly depends on this genetic diversity.
Agricultural biodiversity has declined in recent years due to developments in agriculture aimed at increasing productivity of selected plants, animals and microorganisms. Fruit and vegetables grown for commercial sale in the developed world are dominated by heavy cropping, using reliable varieties with a long shelf life. In addition, modern production utilizes a few highly specialized breeds of animals selected for maximum output in controlled environments. The older plant and animal species must continue to be raised in order to maintain their genetic traits and properties. It is also important that we do not lose the knowledge relating to these species in terms of their breeding, cultivation, management and use.
The conservation and maintenance of this biodiversity is essential for the sustainable production of food and other agricultural products and the benefits these provide to humanity, including food security, nutrition and livelihoods. They play a critical role in the fight against hunger, by ensuring environmental sustainability while increasing food production. This diversity will further help maintain and rehabilitate productive ecosystems to supply future generations with abundant food and agriculture. Sustainable farmers help to preserve genetic diversity by ensuring that these unique plant and animals varieties continue to exist along side modern agriculture.
There are three major categories of seeds available to gardeners and farmers today. These include hybrid, genetically modified and open pollinated seeds.
Starting in the 1920’s hybrid seeds were bred to change the characteristic of resulting plants to make them more suitable for commercial growers. New qualities included higher yield, greater uniformity, more even ripening, improved color and disease resistance. In recent years, an additional focus has been flavor. Seed is produced by artificially cross pollinating, by hand, two genetically different plants of the same species to create a new F1 hybrid with the desired characteristics. Any seed produced will not grow true to either parent, and some varieties are actually sterile and unable to produce seed. Therefore, new seed must be purchased each year.
Genetically modified seed is produced by inserting DNA from completely different species and organisms to give different traits such as resistance to herbicides and acceptance of chemical fertilizers. Some DNA donors may be plants but other include fish, frogs and bacteria. The major crops that are genetically modified are corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat. These seeds are patented, making it illegal to collect and save seed for planting. Thus farmers and gardeners must purchase new seed each year.
Open pollinated seeds are pollinated by insects or wind, without human intervention. Each generation produces offspring that are true to the generation before. Each variety is genetically distinct, having evolved within its own ecological niche over thousands of years. Open pollinated seeds can be harvested from the plant, saved, and the same variety will regrow year after year, saving money for the gardener and the farmer, and assuring the quality of the plants. These are ideal for the school garden as you can show the full cycle from planting seed to harvest and saving seeds.
Heirlooms seeds are always open pollinated. However, all open pollinated seeds are not heirlooms. These are seeds that have been saved and passed from one generation to another because they are perceived to be valuable and worth growing. The value may be due to taste, productivity, hardiness or adaptability. By definition an heirloom seed must have existed through open pollination for over 50 years, some have been grown and saved for hundred of years.
Enduring generations of tilling and harvesting, these crops are sturdy, rich in flavor and nutrients, resistant to disease and genetically stable. Plant breeders use heirlooms to breed insect, disease, and drought tolerance into modern crops. When a plant variety disappears, its potential to aid us in the future is lost forever.
Plants and Animals Support One Another and the Community
Green plants are essential to all life on Earth. They capture and convert the sun’s energy to make food for themselves through photosynthesis. This same food, directly or indirectly, supplies the energy source that every other living organism utilizes for growth and sustained metabolic processes.
The second trophic level in the food chain comprises all the organisms that feed on plants. These are the herbivorous members of the animal kingdom that eat plants and the organisms that break down plant material once it dies.
Insects are the most important organisms that eat plants and pass their energy on to the higher trophic levels. Worldwide thirty percent of animal species are herbivorous insects. These species are very good at converting plant tissue of all types to insect tissue. As a consequence, they excel at providing food, in the form of themselves, for other species. Insects are very nutritious. Pound for pound they contain more protein that beef.
A large percentage of the world’s fauna depends entirely on insects to access energy stored in plants, especially birds. Ninety-six percent of terrestrial birds rely on insects and arthropods to feed their young. So if we want to have these members of higher trophic levels in our ecosystems, we must also have their primary food source - insects.
Because animals depend on plants for their food, the diversity of animals in a particular habitat is very closely linked to the diversity of plants in that habitat. Greater numbers of plant species mean more opportunities for animals to obtain their energy without interfering with one another. Plants in turn rely on insects and other pollinators to help them form and disperse their seeds.
Biodiversity benefits an ecosystem by making it less susceptible to alien invaders. While these aliens do increase biodiversity, they do not fill the same niches as their native counterparts. Native refers to plants that have co-evolved over time in a habitat, with an historical evolutionary relationship. In most cases plants from another area will not perform the same role.
About ninety percent of our insect herbivores have adapted over a long period of time with specific plants so that their life cycles coincide. They have also adapted to the specific chemicals inside the leaves of these plants, and in certain parts of their life cycles, particularly the larval stage, feed only on these specific plants.
The ten percent of generalists insect herbivores are common and have a much greater impact on insect biomass. They can eat the aliens plants, however testing at the University of Delaware proves that native plants supported 35% more caterpillar biomass than aliens. Two studies have also shown bird decline in areas taken over by aliens. It restructures the insect community and reduces the number of insectivorous birds in those areas. Nestlings grow more slowly making them more vulnerable, while at the same time the adult birds must search longer for food taking them away from the nest for longer periods of time.
The number of species in a given area depends on the size of the area. In North America suburbanization has caused fragmented habitat patches that are getting smaller and smaller. It is estimated that 3-to-5 percent of the land remains as undisturbed habitat for plants and animals. The remaining lands are not contiguous and function as islands. We are losing our native birds because we have taken away their food and their homes.
A solution is to provide the food, shelter and nest sites for insects, birds and animals in the suburban landscape. Because the food for all animals starts with the energy harnessed by plants, the plants we grow in our gardens have the critical role of sustaining, directly or indirectly all the animals with which we share our living spaces. Choosing the best plants helps determine what animals will make it. Research before planting to determine which perennials, trees and shrubs will support the desired species.
Adapted From: “Bringing Nature Home” by Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware.
Gardening Practices to Support Biodiversity
The best ways to support biodiversity in the garden is to share it with the insects. While insect herbivores will eat the plants, dozens of predators, parasites and diseases will keep them in check. These in turn will be eaten by birds, amphibians, and small mammals. Decomposer also play and important role. If the garden community is healthy and balanced, no one member will dominate. Here are some tips for supporting the insects in the garden:
Include a diverse variety of flowering plants with bloom times that cross the season and also the length of the day. This will provide pollen and nectar sources for many species.
Use native plants to provide food for larval stages of native insects.
Group plants to provide enough food for larval insects and to make flowering plants more visible to pollinators.
Favor single flowers and those with fragrance to attract pollinators. Highly hybridized flowers are likely to be sterile with no pollen or nectar.
Plant layers in the garden from trees and shrubs, to perennials, vines and ground covers to provide shelter for insects, birds and other animals. Be sure to include lots of fruiting shrubs and trees.
Cover the soil with mulch to provide a healthy habitat for the decomposers. Many native insects such as butterflies and native bees will make their home or overwinter in the soil. Composted leaves are ideal.
Don’t be too tidy in the garden. Many native insects overwinter in the garden on dead branches, perennial stalks and even in the soil.
Avoid pesticides, even biologicals. BT, for example, paralyzes the stomach of caterpillars so they can’t eat and grow. Those caterpillars might turn out to be a favorite butterfly.
Reduce lawn area and leave some patches of unmowed grass and weeds. The reward will be lightning bugs, butterflies and other insects that will provide food for native birds.
Heritage breeds are traditional livestock breeds that were raised by farmers in the past. Each was bred over time to develop traits that made them well-adapted to the specific environmental conditions of the region where they were raised. These older breeds have unique genetic traits that generally make them better adapted to withstand disease, survive in harsh environmental conditions and to live on pasture.
Yet, many of these historically significant breeds are now in danger of extinction. When heritage breeds become extinct their unique genes are lost forever and can no longer be used for breeding new traits into existing livestock. Within the past couple of decades, 190 breeds of heritage farm animals have gone extinct worldwide, and 1,500 others are at risk of becoming extinct.
Changes in modern agriculture have made these heritage breeds obsolete. Today’s farming methods focus on increased yields with a goal to feed more people with maximum efficiency. The system relies on a few highly specialized breeds that have been selected for maximum output in a controlled environment. These animals are bred to produce lots of milk or eggs, gain weight quickly, or yield particular types of meat within confined facilities.
This reliance on just a few breeds creates a monoculture. A new pest or disease can arise that impacts the entire population. Then farmers will need the genes from these heritage breeds to create resistance. Today many small sustainable farmers are raising heritage breeds to maintain variety within our livestock populations, and also to preserve these valuable genetic traits.
Butterflies go through four distinctive stages in their life cycle. It is often possible to identify a species from its immature forms.
Each butterflies begins its life as an egg, laid either singly or in clusters depending on the species. Most are less than a millimeter in diameter and hatch within a week. Some species overwinter as an egg.
Once hatched, a very tiny caterpillar emerges. It consumes its shell and then begins feeding on the host plant. It soon outgrows its rigid outer covering. Beneath this exoskeleton a new “skin” forms of the same tough chitinous material. Before shedding its old skin, a caterpillar remains stationary on a plant for as long as a day without eating. When the exoskeleton reaches its limits of flexibility, the caterpillar crawls out and returns to eating. A caterpillar will molt four or five times before entering its chrysalis or pupal stage.
The fully grown caterpillar stops feeding and searches for a sheltered place to pupate. It spins a tiny pad of silk on the substrate into which it hooks its anal prolegs. It molts for the last time, but this time, instead of a larger caterpillar a chrysalis appears.
First the caterpillar breaks down into a viscous substance. The cells of the butterfly are activated, sparking the development of the wings, head, thorax and abdomen. Shortly before a butterfly emerges as an adult, the chrysalis changes noticeably.
Most species hatch from the chrysalis in ten to fourteen days, although some overwinter as pupae. Most emerge in the morning to take advantage of the day’s sun. At first the body is immense and swollen, with wings that appear crumpled and deformed. Then pumped up and flattened out by bodily fluids, the wings assume their full size and the body shrinks to its proper proportion. A newly hatched butterfly holds its wings slightly apart for an hour or more, allowing them to dry. It begins opening and closing the wings preparing for its first flight. Suddenly its body quivers and it rises into the air and flies to a nearby nectar plant to feed. Soon the cycle will begin again.
Map the Biodiversity of the schoolyard, including trees, shrubs, plants, insects, birds and animals. Be sure to consider all the seasons.
Determine which species are native by researching each species as to where it originated.
Make a plan to eliminate those introduced plants that have become invasive. Plan a volunteer work day.
Plant native species. Make a list of the native birds, animals and insects you would like to see in the schoolyard. Investigate the plants that will support each with food, shelter and nest sites. Add some to the landscape. Mulch to support the soil organisms.
Eliminate some of the mowed lawn area. Lawn is a monoculture that does not support native species. Find areas in the schoolyard for more gardens or a wild patch of tall grass and weeds.
Put up bird baths, feeders and houses. Add a house for bats or native bees.
Lower your energy footprint by switching off electrical devices, lowering the thermostat and replacing bulbs and appliances.
Reduce wastes by packing lunch in washable containers, using refillable bottles and cups, composting, recycling and bringing your own grocery bags.
Avoid pesticides whenever possible. Keep domestic cats indoors or put a bell on them.
Buy local. Shop at local farms, farmstands and farmers markets to find fresh healthy foods that were grown locally using sustainable practices.
Supporting Biodiversity Resources
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources |
Massachusetts Flower Growers Association |
Massachusetts Nursery & Landscape Association |
Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection |
MassWildlife |
Ecological Landscaping Association |
New England Wildflower Societywww.newfs.org |
NA Butterfly Society - MA Chapter |
Northeast Organic Farming Association |
New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy www.nehbc.org |
Seed Savers Exchange |
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USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service |
Case for Native Gardening - Bringing Nature Home at the University of Delaware |
American Museum of Natural History www.amnh.org/our-research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation/about/what-is-biodiversity
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British Ecological Society
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Global Issues Article www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares |
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National Wildlife Association www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Biodiversity.aspx |
Soil and Water Conservation Service |
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Information for this Teacher’s Resource was taken from the references listed above. |
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Summer Workshops on the Farm
Join us for one of more of our summer workshops and gain knowledge and resources while you explore local farms. Each workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offers classroom-ready activities and focuses on one unique aspect of agriculture with exploration of the work that takes place at that farm. The fee of $40 includes lunch, all materials and 10 professional development points with related classroom experience.
| Wednesday, July 3 | Herbs for the Classroom and School Garden Plant Propagation and Nursery Production Workshop Tranquil Lake Nursery, Rehoboth |
| Tuesday, July 9 | Massachusetts Agricultural History: Through Tools and Practices Workshop Storrowtown Village Museum in West Springfield |
| Thursday, July 11 | Cutting Edge Technology on a New England Size Dairy Farm Workshop Great Brook Farm, Carlisle |
| Tuesday, July 16 | Exploring Soils in the Classroom and School Garden, Vegetable Farming, Farmstands and Horses Workshop Verrill Farm in Concord |
| Tuesday, July 23 | Dairy Goats, Fiber and Cheese Workshop Turkey Haven Farm in Pascoag, RI |
| Thursday, July 25 | Honeybees, Beekeeping and Pollination Workshop Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield |
| Tuesday, July 30 | Sharing STEM Connections in the School Garden Workshop |
| Thursday, August 1 | Cranberries, IPM, Water & Habitat Workshop Slocum Gibbs Cranberry Farm, Carver |
| Tuesday, August 6 | Gardens, Food Systems and Food Preservation Workshop Heifer International’s Learning Center at Overlook Farm in Rutland |
| Thursday, August 8 | Orchard, Cider Mill and Fibers Workshop Dowse Orchards and Iron Horse Farm, Sherborn |
| Tuesday August 13 | Pollination and Gardening at the School Workshop Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Worcrester Public Schools |
The Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association & Massachusetts Nursery & Landscape Association want you to plant something in you school or home garden on Wednesday May 15. Join in the fun of gardening and growing plants - herbs, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, trees and more. Find a local garden center, greenhouse or nursery professional to help you with the plants and the planning of your school garden project at www.PlantSomethingMA.com.
May 18, Great Tomato Giveaway & Heirloom Plant Sale at Old Sturbridge Village, visit www.osv.org . |
May 19 - Gardeners Fairs & Plant Sale at Mass. Horticultural Society’s Elm Bank, Dover, visit www.masshort.org. |
May 25-26 - 39th Annual MA Sheep & Woolcraft Fair, Cummington Fair-Grounds visit www.masheepwool.org. |
June 1st - Tower Hill Botanic Garden Plant Sale, Boylston, For information, visit www.towerhillbg.org. |
June 25-28, National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Minneapolis, MN. The theme is Land of 10,000 Ag Opportunities. Visit
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August 9 -11, 39th Annual NOFA Summer Conference, at UMass, Amherst, visit www.nofasummerconference.org. |
September 13 through 29 - Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield. Visit www.thebige.com. September 19 is Massachusetts Day. |
September 30 to October 4, Massachusetts Harvest for Schools Week 2013, visit www.massfarmtoschool.org. |
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“Pollinator Partnership Lessons and Resources” at http://pollinator.org/index.html. |
“160 Agriculture Related Lessons" to teach standards from OKAITC, www.clover.okstate.edu/fourh/aitc/.
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"Classroom Projects & Garden Activities” from National Gardening Association at www.gardeningwithkids.org/lessons-and-activities.html. |
“Massachusetts Agricultural Statistics & Facts” can be found at www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/agr/statistics/. |
“Growing a Nation” American History program for secondary teachers at www.agclassroom.org/gan. |
“Hydroponics, Dairy, Composting other Ag Lessons” can be found at www.agclassroom.org/ny/resources/lesson.htm. |
“Farm Recipes” from Farmers Markets and list of local markets at www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx. |
“Lesson Plans” from the National Agriculture in the Classroom Program& AgroWorld E-zine for secondary educators at www.agclassroom.org/teacher/index.htm. |
Garden-Based Lesson at http://aginclassroom.org/School%20Gardens/gardening_resources.html. |
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