Outreach and Education
Integrated Organic Agriculture Course: AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH
Coming soon!
Over the past seven years, Spring Valley EcoFarms and the University of Georgia have presented the "Maymester" course in Organic Agriculture. This fully integrated course has been very successful by all standards, and has drawn outstanding reviews from participating students.
For many of the participants, it was their first experience in learning outside the classroom and in a real-world setting. The entire course was held at the farm and included lectures on the principles of organic agriculture, labs on soil fertility, visits from specialists, participatory experiments and practical experience – all of which took place amidst fields, forests, animals and pastures.  The courses historically have taken place every-day, despite weather conditions, all day for three weeks.
Now- a new model is emerging out from this original course model. This new offering is currently being developed and details are coming together as you read this.
For 2010, the Maymester course will not be available.
However, we invite you to stay tuned to this site for a major announcement regarding a much more in-depth, well-rounded course that will more closely pattern nature, that will not face limits of a single semester timeline and provide students a more enhanced experience- than was ever possible before.
Questions? Please drop us a note at: info@springvalleyecofarms.org
Please indicate why you are interested in organic agriculture, and your experience in farming/ gardening/ the environment/ sustainable agriculture.
The “Certificate in Organic Agriculture” Program of the College of Agriculture, University of Georgia
In 2007, the College of Agriculture, Univ. of Georgia, initiated a “Certificate in Organic Agriculture Program” that would be comparable to a minor in organic agriculture. One of the required courses for this program is “Organic Agriculture” offered every year at Spring Valley EcoFarms by the School of Ecology’s Agroecology Laboratory. The course, however, is not limited to those in the program, but can be taken by anyone enrolled in the University. Typically we have students from philosophy and religion to anthropology and physics.
Undergraduate experience at Spring Valley Ecofarms
The School of Ecology at the University of Georgia offers two introductory courses in Ecology, one for majors, the other for non-majors. As one of their laboratory exercises, each class visits Spring Valley EcoFarms to experience sustainable agriculture, and to write a report on the concepts they have learned. More than 2,500 students per year visit Spring Valley EcoFarms as part of their courses during the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. In addition, several hundred students from Gainesville State College in Watkinsville visit the farm as part of their course work.
Gainesville State College makes coming to Spring Valley EcoFarms a key part of their course introduction to Biology. Environmental Science Courses also make SVE part of their course roadmap.
Some of the recent feedback from student surveys after visiting the farm in the context of their classes:
"My favorite lab was going to the organic farm and seeing all the ways they’re coming up with to preserve the land."
"My favorite lab was the trip to the east side of Athens. I loved seeing all the land and the pigs!"
"I liked the tour of the ecofarms. It was cool to see where the “real” food comes from and how it is maintained. "
"My favorite lab was the trip to the farm. I liked it because I saw the most direct correlation between it and what we were doing in lecture."
"My favorite lab was when we went to the Ecofarm because I was exposed to an atmosphere I hadn’t been exposed to in full as I did then."
Other outreach activities
In addition to these outreach and education activities, Spring Valley EcoFarms hosts groups from the State Botanical Garden, the International Agriculture Program at the University of Georgia, Science Education majors from the College of Education, the NRCS, USDA, the YMCA, and others.
The Future
Spring Valley EcoFarms Incorporated is a Domestic Non-Profit organization operating within the 501(c)(3) section of the Internal Revenue code. Our primary interest is to educate (and cross-pollinate!).
Spring Valley EcoFarms has been very focused on graduate and post graduate education and research with local institutions such as the University of Georgia. A new goal for the years to come is to reach out to a wider range of schools, organizations and institutions to develop programs aimed at making conservation a general interest subject for everyone.
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