Field Trip to Cornocopia

Tess Ergen
May 1^st 2013
As a class we took a fieldtrip to the Student Organic Farm (Cornercopia) lead by Courtney.  I was surprised to learn there was an organic farming organization for students at the University of Minnesota. Courtney claimed the Cornercopia developed not too long ago in 2006, if I am to be exact which surprised me that there was not one sooner in the agriculture field.  The process of creating an organic farm with a variety of seeds (over a 100) was a hit and miss building strategy. As students and instructors that are both new to organic farming, a learning tool is making mistakes. Courtney agrees that she has been able to grow more efficiently from her past mistakes. For instance, Cornercopia plants seeds in a little square dirt that is sheltered inside for the plant to develop until it’s ready to be placed outside because the roots will stay in a confined area and the plant will be safer inside while it’s maturing. This technique was made after many errors of seeds dying in the fields when planted in the ground and the roots becoming tangled and broken when they needed to be transported. Farming is a process of trial and error and hit and miss- we learn best from our mistakes to exceed. An interesting part about Cornercopia was their clients. One of Courtney’s clients is a chef that works in the restaurant sitting on top of Coffman at the University Of Minnesota. Courtney will meet every winter to discuss with her client what they may need, for fresh produce and herbs, over the next year. During the year, her client may call her up to see if there are anything extra that Courtney needs to give away and or have too much. This is a great connection for each group since Courtney gets all her produces sold, including making profit enough for internships, and the chef gets to experiment with new ingredients. As we walked around the student organic farm, we noticed nothing was planted outside since the ground was still too cold from the late Minnesota winter. All the plants were displayed in the green house waiting to be transported outside, to the newer, bigger field given specially for organic farming at the University of Minnesota.  Ive really appreciated the experience of learning more about my university and the movement towards organic, hands-on agriculture training. Leaving Cornocopia, I hope to believe soon the Student Organic Farm will be the number one distributor for the food on campus including dorms.

Here are some snap shots of what they are growing this semester!