The first growing season for the Heenah Mahyah club may be over, but the harvested crops were just the beginning.

Students in the club and their adviser, Ricardo Salvador, want more than just an abundance of fresh organic produce. They want the farm to serve as a basis for learning in the community as well.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Dale Cochran was quoted by The Tribune saying by the year 2000, organically grown crops will account for 10 percent of the nation’s produce.

This means students who understand sustainable agriculture and can apply permaculture techniques will have an edge over other students when they graduate.

Permaculture may not be an agriculture emphasis at Iowa State, but there are a growing number of classes that emphasize sustainability.

Due to Heenah Mahyah’s efforts this year to establish a permaculture farm at ISU, for the first time students will be able to get class credit practicing and experimenting with sustainable techniques.

Next semester, students interested in permaculture can register to use the farm as the basis for an independent-study class. Salvador, an associate professor of agronomy, will be the professor for those students who want an agronomy emphasis in the class.

Kathleen Delate, an assistant professor and organic specialist in the horticulture department, will be the professor for those students who want a horticulture emphasis.

Like other independent-study classes, the number of credits a student receives depends on how much work they’re willing to put in, Delate said.

Students who want two or three credits, Delate said, will probably have to design a project for the farm, implement it and report on it. Projects could range from designing an irrigation system to experimenting with different planting techniques.

The options for projects are relatively endless, she said. There is a great deal of information available about standard agriculture practices; however, there is relatively little about sustainable agriculture practices.

Since the farm was only established this year, little has been done in the way of controlled research experiments. Different varieties of plant species were cultivated to determine which grew better and were more resistant to insects and blights.

Designing the layout of the farm and natural plant strength are important to any farmer, but these factors are even more critical when genetic alterations, pesticides and products such as Roundup are not part of the growing process.

Club members said they were excited they could begin getting credit for what was considered an extracurricular activity. They usually spend as much time a week discussing plans for the farm and working on it as they do for any class.

Delate added that all students trying to get independent-study credit, even if they only registered for one credit, would have to spend a certain amount of time doing general farm work.

That was a critical point for club members, because weeds sometimes outgrew crops and other times the crops could not be harvested fast enough. More hands working on the farm would allow it to expand as well as keep the work load lighter for students.

By the spring semester of ’99, the farm should be the primary classroom for an experimental class. Salvador and Delate would like to see it dual-listed in horticulture and agronomy.

Students interested in learning more about the club, the farm or an independent-study class should visit the Heenah Mahyah Web page at http://www.agron.iastate.edu/studentfarm/.