1

Cover Sheet University of Idaho Sustainability Center Project Proposal Date submitted: June 16th 2013 Project Title: Students that Weed Together, Lead Together Student PI/Team Leader: Natalie Gage Local Mailing Address: 409 S Almon St, Moscow, Idaho, 83843 Student E-Mail Address: gage7590@vandals.uidaho.edu Major, College, Level in School, and Expected Graduation Date: Resource Recreation and Tourism, College of Natural Resources, Junior, 2015 Team Members: N/A Academic Advisor: Name: Karen Thompson Email address: Thompson@uidaho.edu Department: English Project Advisor: Same as above Name: Email address: Department/Affiliation: Project Dates: _Start July 2013____________ Amount Requested: ____$1500___________ Project Synopsis (2-5 sentences): Students will ban together to create a garden plot located in the Agriculture section of the UI campus. They will then design crops that are sustainably viable as well as a permaculture template that will be implemented during Fall and Spring time for planting and harvesting. Upon first harvest, students will bring awareness and future participation to the community by hosting a fundraiser dinner using ingredients of their labor. This will allow for further purchase of seeds allowing larger yields thus moving toward local sustainable agricultural benefits. Advisor Confirmation: I confirm that _____________________________________ (student PI/leader) is competent and capable of carrying out the proposed project, and that the project fits within the students academic plan.

______________________________ ______________________________ Academic Advisor (Signature) Project Advisor (Signature)

______________________________ ______________________________ Academic Advisor (Please Print) Project Advisor (Please Print)

(Section II) Project Goals and Activities 1. Project Goals and Description: The Students that Weed Together, Lead Together garden and club will provide the UI student body with the opportunity to learn hands on how to be sustainable while working together for a common goal that will benefit the UI campus. Sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of human wellbeing; it starts with small actions at a local level to get the world to achieve sustainability. The basic goal of the club and its garden will be to autonomously achieve an organic sustainable crop for at least ten years. This garden will allow the campus to utilize its already existing programs for sustainable methods. Staffing of the garden will be volunteere based, it is urged that the leaders of the UI campus, including ASUI and club leaders, take part in the programs activities although a club will be established in order to form the foundation of the garden. Time commitments vary based on need of the garden; program activities will be laid out in a timeline that can be adjusted based on the gardens success and seasons climate. These program activities will include tilling the earth, researching and establishing organic methods, starting seedlings, starting compost pile, turning compost, planting, watering, harvesting, seed saving, and so on. As the months go on, volunteer and club members will be able to watch the gardens progress. After harvesting, ingredients will be collected to make a dinner that will be offered to the community. Tickets will be sold for this dinner and proceeds will go toward replenishing crops for the future. 2. Project Outcomes: As an expected result of this project, the UI student body will have a better idea of what sustainable permaculture is and how it can apply to their lives. Students active in the Students that Weed Together, Lead Together garden club will be able to aid community members in their own crop mapping and harvesting processes. The students will be a valuable local resource for those who want start their own home organic permaculture lifestyle. This will help fuse the UI campus and Moscow community in to one environmentally aware entity. Further down the projects timeline, students will see the value of their hard work as they share their harvest dinner; this is a rare opportunity that many young adults, ages 18 to 26, dont get to experience anymore. As harvest becomes more bountiful through the years, the club can take on preservation techniques to learn how to remain sustainable throughout the winter months and future seasons. Canning, smoking, and seed saving will all be learned and perfected as time goes on. Extra crop harvest can also be taken to the local food bank or sold at depreciated value for those in need. All project outcomes planned or not, will help fulfill its main goal of achieving an organic sustainable harvest. Once the ten year mark is achieved, students can write new goals to carry on sustainability for years to come. 3. Outreach Approach: In order for the student body and community to be aware of the progress that the garden club is making, there will be a variety of labels and flyers produced. Upon entering the garden, there will be a plaque made that will permanently signify the start of the organic sustainable garden and its overall goal. All crops will be tagged and labeled with variety and harvest time. Crop

maps will be published and limitedly printed for use when touring the garden but will also be found in a digital copy. This will allow those who are touring the gardens to understand the permaculture without a human guide although tours will be available. More online material will become available as the garden and its club matures. For special events, such as the harvest dinner tickets, homemade seed paper will be utilized in order to further share the clubs bounty. Seed paper allows the recipient to plant the paper and enjoy a number of small seeded plants. Ticket holders will be delighted to watch their contribution to the garden club grow in their own home. Each semester events will be held to recruit more members in to the garden club in order to keep it well maintained and healthy. 4. Participation and Support: The goal of this garden is to be autonomous and self-sufficient but even autonomous movements must have members at its core that truly care about its success; this is the purpose of the club. The club will be open to all students, faculty, staff, and administration. On certain days of the week, community members will be invited to also partake in the clubs activities. In the current Moscow community, support is expected to come from the majority of its members. Financial support will first be from this proposal and donations, then harvest dinners, and eventually the garden will pay for itself. 5. Project Administration: The garden building will begin in July. In this time, local word will spread for students who still remain in the area who want to take part and a club will be established. With enough hands, this month will be dedicated to crop mapping, soil preparation such as tilling for aeration and seed and seedling donations will be collected from the community. A compost area will be set up in preparation for utilizing the compost bins from kitchens around campus when the school year begins. August will be used for planting hearty greens with short term germination that will last through winter. The students forming this club will attend important events to recruit other students to join the club. This is when the club will begin their monthly a progress report memos that will be given to UISC; there will also be a garden tour offered at this time. This month can also be used for further crop mapping, almanac and harvesting research. The months following will be used to set up a regular garden maintenance routine and to set up a compost collection schedule from kitchens around campus. Once spring arrives, seed starters should be planted under row covers or in hot boxes. This will allow a head start on growing season despite Moscows strange weather. During this time the garden can be mulched and the compost continued to be turned. Once weather permits, seeds and starters should be planted according to crop map and garden up keep should be implemented. At this time, club members should have a clear idea of the harvest time-frame; they can use interim time to plan, advertise, and sell tickets to the fundraiser harvest dinner. Harvest dinner, most likely to take place in September, should feature only campus grown produce and if there are additional ingredients required they should be local, sustainable products. Money from the harvest dinner will go directly in to the clubs budget for the following grow season. At this point the garden can once again begin preparation for the winter months. This will be a continuous cycle for years to come.

(Section III) Plan for Future Action: 1. Describe how the project will continue to give back to the UI and the UISC. Who will keep the project successes going? How will the project be supported/funded in the future? Being an organic sustainable garden, this project will eventually be able to pay for itself. Each years bounty and harvest dinner will allow for the next. Seed saving techniques will minimize if not eliminate seed costs allow for more money to go to expansion and equipment rental. The garden will give back to the UI and UISC through its beauty and knowledge that the students will teach. The projects success depends on the Students that Weed Together, Lead Together garden club; as students move through their college career, it is important to continue recruiting so that membership is high. The Moscow communitys involvement is important in the times when student involvement is low. The key to success is that all members work together and share the word. 2. Evaluation: Provide information on how project progress and outcomes will be monitored and measured. Clearly relate these measures to project goals and evaluation criteria (above). The gardens progress will be monitored constantly by the club members as they care for it. Each harvest will be recorded in order to watch the soils progress through the years. The gardens success can be measured by the quality of food during the harvest dinner.

(Section IV) Team Members Qualifications and Interests (not to exceed 2 pages): Hypothetical team member qualifications can include a wide range. There is a large amount of literature on permaculture where club members can teach themselves but it would also be nice to include members who have farmed before. Students from all colleges and majors can join and gain valuable experience that will apply to their lives and potentially their major. Nutritionists will learn how to grow the healthy food they will one day recommend to clients Ag-Scientists will gain small scale hands-on experience Biologist will be able to watch a local ecology in action and so on. A sustainable project such as this will teach its members as the project grows despite background and previous knowledge.

(Section V) Budget: Proposed Students that Weed Together, Lead Together Budget Requested Matched Funds Funds 1. Equipment / Capital Expenditure Tools Various Equipment Rental total equipment 2. Travel Donation and Material collections total travel 3. Other direct costs Soil base Initial seeds Publications reports/tickets/education Web hosting total other directs Total Budget Request 250 100 $350 140 $140 500 250 200 60 $1010 $1500

Budget Justification: Initial set-up of garden is based on half an acre. Tools will be purchased for future use but larger equipment, such as a till, will be rented to save money and time. It is assumed, living in Idaho, that someone will let the club borrow a truck to collect materials and donations, the cost is for gas. The bulk of expenditures comes from materials such as soil and seeds which are key components to the garden. Finally publication and web costs will be used when needed, i.e. dinner tickets, crop maps, educational literature, crop tags, etc.

(Section VI) Letters of Support: This is where letters of support would be included if this project proposal would actually be submitted.