2009 Annual Report
Carleton Student Organic Farm
History:
In 1914, Carleton bought land in order to start a farm. The farm was institutionally
supported with full time staff and provided food for the dining halls until 1964 when it was sold.
It was not until 1991 that there was another, well-defined farm. This time, the farm was student
initiated and run. This farm lasted until 2001 when it was bulldozed to make way for athletic
fields. Since then, Carleton students have created and maintained various gardens until gaining a
more permanent residence in the backyard of Farm House. Here it has been maintained for
several years by a summer student internship funded by the former Environmental and
Technology Studies Department (ENTS).
This growing season set many precedents for student agriculture at Carleton. To begin,
the summer internship was expanded to two interns, one paid for by ENTS, the other paid for by
produce sales. This was the first year since Carleton’s original farm was disbanded that produce
grown on campus was sold to the dining halls. The increase in cultivated land and summer labor
as well as the change from Sodexho to Bon Appétit as the contractor for Carleton’s dining halls
contributed to the farm’s resurrection.
The Growing Season:
By mid April we had started seedlings in the Biology Department’s wonderful greenhouse
while our actual prepared farmland was still suffering expansion setbacks. Finally, the expansion
was set and just over 15,000 square feet in Farm House’s backyard was tilled and prepared for
planting. This expansion required the removal of some small fruit trees that had been killed by
the previous winter but other than that, our newly cultivated farmland gladly took the place of
lawn. This plot alone nearly quadrupled the previous year’s cultivated land. In addition to this
plot, another 10,000 square feet was prepared behind Carleton’s baseball fields. By early June
we, along with help from Farm Club, were direct seeding and moving transplants from the
greenhouse.
After finals had fried our brains, we spent our time in the much-missed sun and finished
planting the main plot behind Farm House. Then we moved on to plant squash behind the
baseball fields. To our unfortunate surprise, the nearly quarter of an acre was infested with
thistle. After part of an effort appropriately named “Operation Die Thistle,” we succeeded in
planting all of our squash transplants and promptly took a nap. After everything was planted,
besides weeding and harvesting, we installed a new drip irrigation system that saved us an
estimated tons of hours of labor as well as being the most water efficient method of irrigation
available. We also built a harvest station, an outdoor shower, and bought a much-loved garden
cart before we were through.
Even with a late start, we began selling to Bon Appétit in early July and dropped off our
last produce at the end of October. In addition to Carleton’s dining halls, we sold to Just Food Coop, at the Dennison Farmer’s Market, and donated produce to the local food shelf when Bon
Appétit slowed down during the summer.
By the numbers:
$13,858.50 in sales
$3,500 invested by the ENTS Department for one intern’s summer salary
$1,000 grant won from the CHS Foundation – for building a hoop house
$2,158.92 in startup costs
$0 starting funds in the farm’s bank account
$8,014.48 final funds (to be invested in next year’s farm)
6679 pounds of produce (nearly 3.5 tons)
3191 pounds of tomatoes
2065 pounds of winter squash
1,856 ft from farm to dining hall
32,000 square feet of cultivated land (~3/4 acre)
Dreams:
Late this summer, we were able to expand even more in the backyard of Farmhouse and
create a fall student job for one intern to work on the farm finishing the season’s harvesting and
maintaining relations with Bon Appétit. We hope to create a spring student job as well in order
to train the new interns and begin relations with Bon Appétit before the season even begins.
Other goals for next year’s farm include hiring a third summer intern, building a hoop house, and
expanding to one acre. Our long-term goals are to expand to two acres, cultivate land in more
visible locations on campus, and to create space for student, staff, and faculty community garden
plots.
Thanks, thanks, thanks:
We would like to thank David Hougen-Eitzman, Carleton Biology professor for his wellrooted advice and support throughout. Also thanks to senior Katie Blanchard for her vision and
untiring dedication to the farm and everything it stands for. Thank you to Craig Lindberg, our
Bon Appétit contact, for working with us through our first year and to Susan Benson, Carleton
business office accounting assistant, for her constant patience with our confusion and her reliable
commitment to students. Thanks to the entire Carleton grounds crew for the numerous
equipment and material loans not to mention their helpful and unwearied input on our,
sometimes harebrained, projects. Thank you to the ENTS department for their generous
institutional and monetary backing as well as to the Biology Department for kindly allowing us to
use their greenhouse. Many thanks to Farm Club and all those who have shown interest and
volunteered their time amongst the plants.
Carleton Student Organic Farm 2009 Interns,
Kelsey Ross and Griffin Williams