Schoolhouse Earth

Contents

Schoolhouse Earth is a sustainable education center that provides assistance exchange with people that wish to learn how to grow sustainable yield crops. Located in Ashland, the site is a small farm-home on an acre of land, surrounded by 55 acre of pasture. 2009 is the second year of focused growing, composting and a bit of animal husbandry.

Barnyard and Merle are the hosts of the site. Barnyard is a jack of all trades – collecting lots of useful items and putting them to use. He is up early and going, looking for ways to balance the net flow of goods and services. Merle just likes to put plants in the ground and grow them – she was proud of the jade plants that she was able to grow from a previously neglected houseplant.

Most of the plants are in now – but there are still three rows of tomatoes and basil that will go in this week. The photo gallery shows some of the garden areas. We also met three skittish sheep who were getting used to a new pen area, and saw several horses in the distance. Three wells are on property and available for irrigation of fields and greenhouse. The farm is a base storehouse for knowledge – people always have value when they bring in fresh eyes, ears and hands that can be applied to regular tasks.

Schoolhouse Earth is a demonstration location to show people what works. It can be used to experiment; many different learning techniques will be available with a focus on doing things that support the farm enterprise. Barnyard is very focused on building soil through composting. He collects hops, peanut husks, spent milk and other items and adds EM – essential microbes. The combination of fungi, molds and bacteria is grown on a molasses base in aqueous solution. The latest additives to this year's compost are oyster mushroom spores, grown on diatomaceous earth panels. We shall hope to see mushrooms fruiting from the gardens.

Existence RPG gamers may choose a virtual role at Schoolhouse Earth. Describe the project idea for the garden and describe the virtual and real skills that you can bring to the task. If you are nearby, you may participate hands-on in the planting, growing and harvesting. Leave a response post to receive game credit for viewing this article.