DAY ONE
Introduction to CSA’s (10 Minutes - Review)
This lesson is framed as an interdisciplinary, science and mathematics lesson. Introduce to your students the concept of the CSA. Community Supported Agriculture programs are popular in every major city around the country. The largest operation, in California feeds thousands of people from close-knit network of locally owned and operated farms.
The CSA model works as a cooperative system where local producers sell their goods to local consumers. The model is usually based on regional factors like climate and terrain. Consumers typically sign up in the early spring months and the program begins by late April and continues till November in many regions.
Although each program is unique, there is usually some kind of physical interface used as a drop off or collection point for the local produce or goods. Examples range from a farm stand, folding tables in a community center or something more complex.
Your Local Landscape (30 minutes - Investigate)
After introducing the concept of the CSA, have students investigate programs in their area. Ask each student to conduct individual research into farmers markets and CSA programs within a 50-mile radius of the school. Visit he National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service to find information about CSAs in your area: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/local_food/
Once information has been gathered, divide students into design teams. Ask each team to create a report on the findings of their research; this could take the form of an interview, a diagram, photographs or materials collected through this search.
Talk with students about the Viet Village Urban Farm project from the 2010 National Design Triennial and other examples found throughout the country.
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Viet Village Urban Farm is an urban farming project located in New Orleans East, an area hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. The location is in the northeast corner of the city. The new farm will use sustainable irrigation techniques that require little or no electricity to pump and filter water used in the fields. Locally-grown organic crops will be sold in a new on-site farmer’s market that will accommodate the estimated 3,000 Saturday shoppers who used to buy foods before Hurricane Katrina hit.
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The Anthill Farm - Anthill Farm is a 35-acre mixed vegetable, fruit, nut, and animal farm located outside of Honesdale, PA. Their CSA runs for twenty-two weeks starting at the beginning of June 3rd and running until the end of October. Week to week, each share includes a mix of produce as they become available along with a newsletter providing recipes and updates about the farm. They offer full shares and ½ shares—a full share is usually enough for a small family and a ½ share is often best for an individual. They currently offer two CSA programs, one in Honesdale, PA and one in New York City.
Activity: What’s Grown in your Area?
Ask students to research typical vegetables, grains and produce grown in their area. Use the matrix below as an example of what a CSA in Virginia offers its members. Ask each student to research the local harvest window found in their region for the following crops:
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Crop
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Harvest window for Virginia
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Local Harvest window
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Basil: Genovese
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July 1-Oct 15
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Beans: green
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July 1-Oct 15
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Beets
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June-Nov
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Broccoli
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Oct-Nov
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Cabbage
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Oct-Nov
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Cauliflower
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Oct-Nov
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Celery
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Sept-Nov
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Celery Root
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Oct-Nov
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Chinese Cabbage
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Sept-Nov
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Chinese Greens
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Sept-Nov
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Cucumbers
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June-Sept
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Collard
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Oct-Nov
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Eggplant
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July-Nov
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Fennel
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July-Nov
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Garlic
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July-Nov
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Greens-salad
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Sept-Nov
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Kale
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Sept-Nov
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Kohlrabi
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June-Nov
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Lettuce - head
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May-June
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Lettuce - Mix
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May-Jun, Oct-Nov
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Mustard Greens
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Sept-Nov
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Onions
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July-Sept
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Peas, sugarsnap
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June
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Peppers-sweet
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July-Nov
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Potatoes-Irish
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July-Nov
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Potatoes-Sweet
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Oct-Nov
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Pumpkin
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Oct-Nov
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Radish
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June-Nov
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Squash-Summer
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June-Oct
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Squash-Winter
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Sept-Nov
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Swiss Chard
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June-Nov
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Tomato-slicers
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July-Oct
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Tomato-cherry
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July-Oct
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Turnip
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Sept-Nov
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Cut Flowers
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July-Oct
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Herbs: Annual
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June-Nov
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Herbs: Perennial
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June-Nov
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DAY TWO
In Your Backyard (10 minutes - Frame/ReFrame)
The next session, discuss findings as a group and present some of the organizations profiled and talk about the regional harvest window and local produce/vegetables a CSA in the area can provide.
What are the physical attributes of your region, is it easy to grow most foods? Why or why not? Look at plant hardiness zone maps and farming information local to the region.
CSA Drop Off Stand Design: Part One (20 minutes - Generate)
Now it’s time to design! Using the same research teams you created previously, challenge students to physically design a CSA drop-off stand or structure for their school or community. The structure will be used to temporarily store produce and other goods for collection by CSA members.
As an example to get students thinking, talk about the Rural Studio’s Organic Farmer's Stand built by architectural students from Auburn University in Newbern, AL. https://www.cadc.auburn.edu/
Lead a preliminary sketch activity that has students thinking about the basic form and function of a farmer’s stand. Ask students to sketch from memory, examples they may have seen along the rode, in books or from visits to local or regional farms.
CSA Drop Off Stand Design: Part One (20 minutes - Edit and Develop)
Once brainstorming and sketching is complete lead students through a preliminary design methodology:
• Site: First, decide on a location and take some preliminary site measurements - how much room do you have to work with?
• Scale: Secondly think about the scale - how many people will be using the drop off location, how much storage is needed and during what seasons will it be used?
• Function: What kinds of function do you foresee being necessary beside storage? Think about how the drop off stand can serve multiple functions - help block out the sun, provide cooking demos or store things long-term.
• Materials: Decide what kinds of materials make sense for the stand.
• Model: Create a to-scale model of your stand using recyclable materials.
Math Connection:
This is an excellent opportunity to integrate geometry and basic measurement applications here to connect math to real-world problem solving. To get students started, ask each team to attach measurements to the previous sketches generated. Create some constants or challenges for each team to work through mathematically like the example below:
Design a storage unit for your CSA market stand that will hold the following volumes of produce:
• 10 cubic feet of yellow squash
• 5 cubic feet of eggplant
• 20 cubic feet of tomatoes
• 30 cubic fee of corn
Your unit cannot exceed 3 feet in height or 10 feet in length. You can create multiple drawers or levels to create a storage unit that will fit all of the contents of your harvest.
What is the final total volume of your storage area for the CSA market stand? What kinds of design innovations can you integrate to make it easy to access the vegetables and how can they also be presented to people at the market to see and choose from?
Once students have gone through this design process, each team will create a 3D model of their CSA drop-off stand. Use materials like cardboard, foam core, string and found objects to represent your recently designed farm stands. Ask teams to list what kinds of vegetables, produce and other items will be stored in the stand and how it will interact with the public.
Share your ideas with the class and the rest of the school. Ask the principle to judge the best design. Ask if money can be set aside to construct the CSA stand to be donated to a local farm or used by the school if a school garden exists! (Share and Evaluate)