Seed to Table focus of Science Club talk

In the event you missed the Sisters Science Club's Seed to Table Fall Harvest Dinner last week, not to worry - you'll have the opportunity to hear the father of the Seed to Table program, Paul Hudak, on Thursday evening, October 24 at The Belfry.

Hudak began the Seed to Table project in Muse Schools in Los Angeles County, California. He has since worked on organic farms in Finland, Belgium, France and Italy. In 2008, Hudak founded the Terra Nova Community Farm program in Beaverton. With the aid of a grant from the Gray Family Fund maintained by the Oregon Community Foundation, students converted a two-acre baseball field into a small working organic farm business that was run by students of the school.

At its peak, they provided produce to 35 schools in the Beaverton School District, a 30-family Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and to several restaurants in Portland.

To make it all work, Terra Nova students are involved in every aspect of the farm business. The student farm crew earns credits in math, science, health, nutrition, language arts, PE and art by working on the farm. During his program at The Belfry, Hudak will explain how the students bring their own personal interests to the farm to make the program even more dynamic.

Through mathematical calculations, farm crew students figured out how much of each crop to plant to meet customers' needs, and designed irrigation systems to conserve as much water as possible. Farm crew students are involved in the garden fertility plan that involves testing the soil and through chemistry, then figuring out what organic amendments are needed to increase soil health. And of course, students are responsible for growing and caring for the plants, then harvesting and passing them off to CSA members every week.

Hudak will also highlight how students have completed projects on medicinal herbs, beneficial insects, worm composting, and nutritional content of all of their crops. Typically, if students have a personal interest that relates to the farm, the teachers help them establish rigorous projects that, when completed, serve as learning tools for other students and CSA members.

Admission is free, the doors open at 6 p.m., and the program starts at 7 p.m.

The Belfry is located at 302 E. Main Ave. For more information call 541-815-9122.