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The Reading the Northwoods Landscape Pod explores the talus and Wheeler Mountain’s recognizable open granite ledge landscape as part of geology class. The talus is a sloping, accumulated heap or mass of rock fragments lying at the base of a cliff or very steep, rocky slope, and formed chiefly by gravitational falling, rolling, or sliding.

Sterling's own Philip Ackerman-Leist and his book -- A Precautionary Tale: How One Small Town Banned Pesticides, Preserved Its Food Heritage, and Inspired a Movement -- was recently selected as 1 of 8 books that inspire social change by Chelsea Green Publishing. Philip is the Dean of Professional Education and the School of the New American Farmstead.

Our classroom is roofed by the sky. Our knowledge is built by experience. In summer's final hours, our learning took the shape of roasting sunchokes over a fire.

This photo captures the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Pod partaking in cooking and tasting demos after exploring the biocultural histories of specific food items, in this case, Jerusalem artichokes.

Welcome Katahdin, our new ram lamb at the Wendell Berry Farming Program in Kentucky! Katahdin's father (third image) is one of the major reasons for selecting this ram. We currently have young ewe-lambs that have never given birth before. Giving birth, or lambing, is new to them. We want to give them a favorable experience and avoid any injuring during the lambing process. A way to do this is ensure they are old enough, have enough size, and are in good health. In addition, we will select a ram, the father, whose genetics are known to produce small lambs; a highly heritable trait that makes the lambing process easier on our young ewes. In addition, we want moderate growth until weaning. This means the our young lambs do not have to sustain the high energy requirements for lactation needed to support fast growing lambs. We want them these young ewes to take care of themselves.

When our ewes are fully mature, and more experienced, they can give birth to larger lambs and support lambs with better growth potential. By holding back the first year the lifetime productivity of the ewe is greater. She produces more lambs with better growth potential during her lifetime. We also increase the productivity of the flock and we loose fewer sheep due to lambing difficulties. This is why just any ram isn’t good enough. We want a ram that fits our ewes. Understanding the heritable traits of the ram saves lives, provides for healthier ewes, and is more profitable with less effort. ⁣
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#ramlamb #farmlife #ewe #ewelamb #ramlambs #sheep

I’ve (Ira Powsner '12 Ecology) been volunteering with Vermont Fish & Wildlife for three seasons on the Softshell Nest Monitoring Program in Swanton and North Hero, VT. Farley Brown, Sterling faculty, helped me to make a connection with the biologist who started the program. The program is there to help the threatened species spiny softshell turtle, but other species like map, painted, and snapping turtles get a hand too. Lakeshore development limits the available shale nesting beaches. The rise of populations of subsidized predators, like raccoons and skunks, cause more turtles to nest on increasingly fragmented sections of shoreline where there is an overabundance of small mammals that like to eat turtle eggs. As a volunteer, I check a few beaches that have been protected from predators, once a week, from late August through September during the fall emergence of hatchlings. When I find nests I carefully dig them up and take data on the number of empty eggshells in the nest, as well as counting any live hatchlings and releasing them into the lake. Last year, some nests were found on the beaches that had smaller clutches. Good news, this means young females are coming up to lay eggs. Hopefully the program sees more of this kind of data going forward!

Some of the hatchlings get to overwinter at ECHO where I work in Animal Care, so I get to bridge my volunteer work with my job. I think the Headstart Program at ECHO really makes a difference in the conservation of this species, because after being cared for and fed over the winter, they are released in the spring a little larger and more equipped to deal with life in the lake.

If it weren't for my education at Sterling that was so immersed in the ecology of Vermont, I wouldn't have these opportunities which allow me to integrate my knowledge of ecology with hands on conservation work. I'm very lucky, and I can only thank my larger community for it.

On a warm late summer day, Gray Hunter (Community Advisor of The Permaculture & Whole Farm Planning pod) shows fellow student Ian Whipp how CSA shares work, while exhibiting delicious looking 🍅 , bok choy, 🥕 , daikon radish, green beans, bulls horn pepper, bulb fennel, and 🍉 ! 📷: @ck.zoo

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#supportyourlocalfarmer #organic #locallygrown #localfood #csaproduce #farming #veggies #csa #supportlocal #eatlocal #buylocal #farm #smallfarm #communitysupportedagriculture #organicfarming #knowyourfarmer #smallscalefarming #csashare #farmtotable #csafarm #vermontcsa

Rex, Sterling's longtime teacher and partner in work, left this earthly world as a horse last week from his retirement home. May his body nourish the soil and his spirit live on in all who knew him. Thank you to @teaching_teamster , faculty in Sustainable Agriculture for the Wendell Berry Farming Program, for putting words to this loss.

For those of us who know horses, or that one horse, losing a partner is so personal; to feel like I can speak for everyone who knew Rex is especially difficult. When we left Vermont for the Wendell Berry Farming Program, I had tears in my eyes knowing I probably would never see him again. My goodbye with him was woefully inadequate. I am grateful for every minute I spent with him and I believe I can step out onto our Kentucky farm and hear, blowing in the warm south wind, a chorus of Sterling College teamsters echoing that sentiment.

I’ve taken pause the past few days wondering how to live a life without him in it, somehow I always expected him to be walking to the barn and stepping into his stall to eat his breakfast forever. I know though that he would want us to continue working so hard every day to achieve our dreams of farming behind a good pair of horses. Rex was such a peaceful and loving horse, he cared deeply for all who he came into contact with; he guided many of you to connect with a part of yourself you didn’t know how to explain. I am grateful for all who took care of him too, chiseling snotty icicles from his nose, busting open his water on a cold January morning, grooming him, keeping his complicated feet well-cared, nursing him to health when he was sick, and showing such dignity and care in your horse work. I know that tomorrow when I take up the lines, I’ll thank Rex for all the lessons he taught me, the mistakes he allowed me to make, and the compassion he showed me as I learned the teamster’s craft. If I had words bigger than “thank you” I’d use them here, maybe “I love you” will do.

Katie Pauly, a student in the Wendell Berry Farming Program, and one of her breeding cows on her family's farm near Stamping Ground, Kentucky. The white cow with her in the photo is a registered Charolais. Generally Charolais are quite large framed and were originally bred as draft animals. Katie has done a good job of selecting animals with moderate frame size. Smaller frame sizes are more efficient in a nutritionally limiting environment like her hillside farm. This particular cow has been bred to a registered Red Poll bull. The offspring crossbreed known as an F1, will have genetic hybrid vigor from the two parents and a stronger immune system.

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#charloiscow #yourdailydoseofcows #charlois #cowsofig #cows #cowstagram

Sense of Place is a long-standing Sterling tradition which culminated yesterday with a closing ceremony where new students were welcomed as new members of the Sterling community, joining the hundreds of alumni that came before them. In celebration of this moment, students were presented with compasses and enjoyed cupcakes on the Common. Thank you for choosing Sterling! #thisissterlingcollege

Honoring Sterling’s approach to experiential education, new students just returned from Expedition I. Expedition 1 is a four-day backpacking trip on Vermont’s Long Trail that serves as orientation to Sterling and Northern Vermont. It’s the beginning of the Sterling College journey, and the knowledge gained about yourself and your community through this experience will serve as the building blocks for your Sterling education.

📸: Anna Dye

School spirit is alive! Bright and Lion sporting their new halters in Sterling College colors.

The Wendell Berry Farming Program of Sterling College is a two-year program, based in Henry County, Kentucky, through which students earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sustainable Agriculture from Sterling College. Through their work, graduates of the program are expected to embody an ethic of environmental stewardship, and contribute to the revitalization and renewal of rural agrarian communities in Kentucky and beyond. ⁣
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#farmlife #knowyourfarmer #sustainable #sustainableagriculture #permaculture #organic #agriculture #regenerativefarming #farmtotable #farm #regenerativeagriculture #farmer #smallscalefarming #farming #sustainablefarming #climatechange #sustainability

Dig In!

Common Voice: The Food Issue

Common Voice, our magazine for alumni and friends of Sterling College, is at the printer right now, and we couldn’t be more excited. This is our second theme issue and…

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