There are many classes at the PEAS Farm - it acts as an outdoor classroom for sustainable, local agriculture.
Classes are listed here, including a few that are taught off the PEAS Campus.
The PEAS Farm Internship
Earn Credit While Nourishing People and the Land
Instructor: Josh Slotnick, Environmental Studies Lecturer, PEAS Farm Director
Semesters: Spring, Summer, Fall
Students can work for credit on the farm, located on 10 acres just two miles from campus. Their work earns them much more than credit hours. It is a classic internship, in that students learn by doing; yet, there are also frequent breaks in the action for demonstration and explanation. Moreover, the farm has real production obligations to Missoula food agencies and to a Community Supported Agriculture program.
Students are involved in all phases of the farm, from greenhouse work in February to selling pumpkins in October. Through a summer of spending 20 hours a week together working and learning on the farm, PEAS students bond to each other and to this place. Farm work is humble hand labor, and this kind of shared experience in a beautiful place melts barriers between people.
Students are involved deeply in work for their community: growing food for people in need, and doing it in a way they respects the integrity of the land. The tangible results create a feeling of personal effectiveness and empowerment that many students have never experienced. PEAS Farm alumni have started their own farms, or found work in hunger relief work or local food advocacy organizations.
Spring Semester
Work on the farm begins in late February. We work in the greenhouse until the ground thaws and the soil is tillable. In the greenhouse we make potting mixes, sow seeds, transplant and learn about greenhouse plant maintenance. As the weather warms and we work outside, we learn about springtime biological and horticultural issues pertinent to raising produce, herbs and flowers. We consider fertility and soil health, weed management, preventative as well as curative pest control, and farm planning. We share weekend watering responsibilities for the field and the greenhouse.
Summer Session
The summer session gets to the heart of the PEAS Farm. Monday through Thursday of each week are spent working the farm, and each Friday, Professor Slontick on a field trip to a sustainable food venture in Montana. Days on the Farm, students make lunch from the Farm fields.
The formal portion of Summer PEAS focuses on Agro-ecology. Students examine crucial biological production issues (i.e., soil fertility, weed management, crop physiology, and pest management in light of the health of the whole system). As the season progresses students, assume more of the decision-making responsibility at the farm. Throughout the season students manage the irrigation on the weekends. By the end of the season students are well acquainted with some of the technical issues growers face. The educational aim here is not to provide universal and definitive answers to those issues, rather to gain an understanding of the issues themselves. By August, students know the major vegetable crop families and are familiar with common techniques for building soil, managing weeds and dealing with the pest populations in our location. Students also gain an appreciation for the tight western Montana growing season and learn some strategies to work within those limits.Fall Semester
Work on the farm begins immediately after school starts and continues through Halloween. Until the first frost, much of the student work focuses on harvesting and setting up the food for pick-up by the public at our barn. These harvests supply our Community Supported Agriculture cooperative as well as the Missoula Food Bank. We share weekend watering responsibilities for the field and the greenhouse, where we are growing tomatoes.
[Other Classes] taught through the EVST/GCH Partnership
Culture and Agriculture
Appropriate Technology
Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture Education
Instructor: Jason Mandala, GCH Community Education Director
This 10-week practicum is open to graduate and upper division undergraduate students, offering a practical experience teaching elementary-aged youth in a hands-on environment. Practicum students will lead a minimum of two field trips at the PEAS Farm each week with elementary school groups visiting the PEAS Farm, teaching fun-filled educational activities focused on the social, scientific, and nutritional components of sustainable agriculture and the food system. Class will meet each Friday morning at PEAS to practice lessons, share teaching experiences, and discuss related readings. Prior experience as a PEAS Farm intern is helpful.