The students in Professor 鈥檚 course on vegetable crop production could not have been happier sitting in the middle of 911爆料鈥檚 giant pumpkin patch on the first day of autumn. They were harvesting 17 new and experimental varieties of pumpkins and collecting data about them for a research project designed to determine which would be best as Halloween jack-o-lanterns and which will last the longest sitting on your front doorstep鈥攁ssuming trick-or-treaters don鈥檛 smash them first.
鈥淭he farm is our classroom,鈥� said Professor Brown, noting that her students spend every class day in September and October learning amid fields of corn, squash, tomatoes, and other crops. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 sit in a lecture hall. And this isn鈥檛 a make-work assignment. It鈥檚 real research.鈥�
And the students can鈥檛 get enough of it. For senior Rassmeay Morm, it was his first hands-on experience on a vegetable farm. 鈥淚 love to get down and dirty while we鈥檙e learning about crop production,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that the whole class was going to be like this, but it鈥檚 great experience and great not having to worry about a test coming up.鈥�
major Emily Condon said she wants to incorporate edible gardens into her landscape designs, so she enrolled in the class to learn more about how vegetables grow. 鈥淵ou learn so much more when you鈥檙e outside doing the work yourself,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we get to eat some of the vegetables right off the plants, so that鈥檚 a big plus.鈥�
The farm is our classroom. We don鈥檛 sit in a lecture hall. And this isn鈥檛 a make-work assignment. It鈥檚 real research.
Chris Allen agrees. 鈥淚 can learn in a lecture environment, but this is much more my style,鈥� said the major. 鈥淚 like being outside getting my hands dirty and having something to show for it at the end of the day.鈥�
For several hours, the students weighed and measured the various pumpkin varieties. Later, a group of freshmen will deliver some of them to local 4-H groups and the organizers of the campus Fall Festival to sell. The rest of the pumpkins will go to , who will leave them on their porch until the pumpkins begin to rot, providing important data on the 鈥渄oorstep life鈥� of each variety. Once the project is completed, Professor Brown will report the results to local pumpkin farmers.
But the pumpkin project isn鈥檛 the only vegetable research project the students in Professor Brown鈥檚 class are getting their hands into this fall. They鈥檙e also collecting harvest data for a butternut squash trial, planting numerous garlic varieties for a future study, and spending a great deal of time in the teaching garden.
As important as the research is, though, senior Talia Loyola said the best part of the class is the learning environment. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 all about the green,鈥� she said 鈥淚 love to be out here in the green.鈥�