Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The Target Audience served during this reporting period consist of the White Earth community consisting of youth, families, Tribal and non-Tribal programs which serve the community of White Earth, and the WETCC Student body. Changes/Problems:The prior Community Extension Directorbegan her position on 05/01/23 and submitted her letter of resignation on 01/16/24. Her last day in the office was 01/24/24. The Community Extension Coordinatorwas assigned the role of Interim Community Extension Directoron 01/25/24 and was subsequently hired permanently for the position on 02/21/24. This left the Community Extension Coordinatorposition open and the new Directorcontinued to also fill the Coordinator'sjob responsibilities until the position was filled on April 22, 2024. The Director and Extension Supervisorareguidingthe Coordinatoras they learn their new role. The Community Extension Garden Assistant began part-time on 04/08/24 to assist with the 2024 gardening season. In FY3, a Community Extension Garden Educator will be hired full-time to take the place of the place of the temporary garden assistant position to strengthen educational outreachefforts throughout the year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?01/30/24 NIFA-Allowable/Unallowable Costs (Director/Supervisor) 02/02/24 MN DNR School Forest Conference (Director/Supervisor) 02/10/24 Sustainable Farming Conference (Supervisor) 03/05/24 NIFA Webinar-AFRI (Director/Supervisor) 03/07-10/24 Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference (Director/Supervisor) 04/06-10/24 National Extension & Research Administrative Officers Conference (NERAOC) Directors' Training (Director) 04/26/24 WETCC-Team Building: All Staff Training (Director/Supervisor/Coordinator) 04/30/24 MDA Farmers' Market Training (Coordinator: Co-Market Manager) 05/01/24 NIFA-Ripple Mapping Webinar (Director) 05/02/24 Extension CRED Impact Indicators Webinar (Director) 05/16/24 FALCON Webinar-Communication (Director/Supervisor) 05/29/24 IHS Dietetics-Online (Supervisor) 05/30/24 WETCC Water Summit (Director/Supervisor/Coordinator/Garden Assistant) 06/05/24 The Store Outside Your Door: The Legacy Continues (Supervisor) 06/10/24 Ripple Mapping Webinar (Director) 07/24/24 Humans for Abundance-Food Security Presentation (MNIAC) (Director/Supervisor/Coordinator/Garden Assistant) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Community Extension staff meet regularly with community partners and outcomes are shared after collaborative events. At times, a summary of event activities is provided to the community in newspaper articles. The Community Extension webpage is in the process of being redone and dissemination of outcome results will be added through this platform, which will provide a broader range of communication to communities of interest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1, Objective 1: Hiring a Garden Educator to strengthen gardening education outreach and continuing to gather and strengthen educational resources with the assistance of WETCC Culture and Language staff/faculty. Goal 2, Objective 1: Working with community partners to determine Train-the-Trainer needs and developing a collaborative implementation plan. Goal 3, Objective 1: Collaborative planning of camps with WETCC Culture and Language staff/faculty to strengthen educational activities. Goal 4, Objective 1: Looking at shifting the business focus to a family focus, as Community Partners have requested food budgeting and pantry planning training for their clients. Goal 5, Objective 1: Community Extension will be working with WETCC Science Faculty in utilizing the soon-to-be built deep winter greenhouse as part of educational activities with students. Goal 5, Objective 2: Community Extension has a request from another local school to develop a small-scale Food Forest at their site.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1-Objective 1: Offer 13 workshops on food/agriculture (gardening) related topics through media and hands-on learning activities utilizing community gardens on campus: 09/27/23 YR2-Food Preservation: Water Bath Canning-Apples (WETCC Community Extension/26 Participants) 11/01/23 YR2-Food Preservation: Pressure Canning Chicken (WETCC Community Extension/12 Participants) 12/06/24 YR2-Food Preservation: Pressure Canning Beef (Pine Point Community Center/17 Participants) 05/10/24 YR2-Food Preservation: Water Bath Canning (WETCC/17 Participants) 10/18/23 YR2-Fall Planting & Fall Garden Prep: Planting Garlic Seed & Cloves & Soil Prep (Waubun School Forest/119 Participants) 10/25/23 YR2-Fall Planting & Fall Garden Prep: Planting Garlic Seed & Cloves & Soil Prep (White Earth Health Fair-Nay Tah Waush/385 Participants-Same event as Harvesting Produce: Garlic Bulbs) 11/08/23 YR2-Seed Saving: Tomatoes & Cucumbers (Waubun School Forest/85 Participants) 11/17/23 YR2-Seed Saving: Tomatoes, Cucumber, Watermelon, & Carrots (HOWAH Event/445 Participants-Same event as 11/17/23 Garden Planning) 05/17/24 YR2-Seed Saving: Squash Families (HOWAH Event/21 Participants) 02/14/24 YR2-Seed Saving: How to Save Tomato Seeds (SSC-WENTPH Heart Health Event/276 Participants-Same event as Garden Planning: Choosing Seeds for Your Garden) 03/12/24 YR2-Seed Saving: Respect for Seeds/Number of seeds needed for a family of 4/Packaging & Labeling Seeds (Waubun School Forest-40 Participants) 10/25/23 YR2-Harvesting Produce: Garlic Bulbs (White Earth Health Fair-Nay Tah Waush/Participants-Same event as Fall Planting & Fall Garden Prep: Planting Garlic Seed & Cloves) 11/17/23 YR2-Garden Planning: Choosing Seeds for Your Garden (HOWAH Event/Participants-Same event as Seed Saving: Tomatoes, Cucumber, Watermelon & Carrots.) 02/14/24 YR2-Garden Planning: Choosing Seeds for Your Garden (SSC-MMIW Heart Health/276 Participants-Same event as 02/14/24 Seed Saving) 01/20/24 YR2-Seed Ordering: (White Earth 4-H Winter Camp/22 Participants) 12/05/23 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Planting Lettuce in Winter (Waubun School Forest/89 Participants) 03/27/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (Rice Lake Community Center/19 Participants) 04/02/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (Waubun School Forest/72 Participants) 04/03/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (WETCC/5 Student Participants) 04/03/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (Pine Point Community Center/9 Participants) 04/08/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (White Earth/19 Participants) 04/10/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers (Men's Acute Care-Jack Haw Lake/14 Participants) 02/14/24 YR2-Plant Start Demo: Winter Sowing for Starting Seeds (SSC-MMIW-Heart Health/276 Participants: Same event as garden planning) 05/07/24 YR2-Gardening 101: Cool Season Crops-Seeds and Plant Starts-Brassicas (Locations: Pine Point, Naytahwaush, Mahnomen, Zerkel/123 Participants) 05/08/24 YR2-Gardening 101: Cool Season Crops-Seeds and Plant Starts-Brassicas (Locations: White Earth, Rice Lake, Mahnomen, Zerkel/163 Participants) 05/14/24 YR 2-Gardening 101: Cool & Warm Season Crops: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers-Plant Starts-Container Gardening (Location: Waubun School Forest/25 Participants) 05/15/24 YR 2-Gardening 101: Cool & Warm Season Crops: Brassicas, Tomatoes, & Peppers-Plant Starts-Container Gardening (Location: Waubun School Forest/8 Participants) 05/21/24 YR2-Gardening 101: Warm Season Crops: Tomatoes & Peppers-Seeds and Plant Starts (Locations: Pine Point, Naytahwaush, Mahnomen, Zerkel/82 Participants) 05/22/24 YR2-Gardening 101: Warm Season Crops-Tomatoes & Peppers-Seeds and Plant Starts (Locations: White Earth, Rice Lake, Mahnomen, Zerkel/92 Participants) Goal 2-Objective 1: Provide four "Train the Trainers" annually (change according to evaluation from community and stakeholders to the educational needs identified). 02/02/24 Food Forest Presentation: Fruit Tree Guild-Layers & Categories (MN DNR School Forest Conference-Breezy Point/20 Participants) 03/14/24 State of MN-Farmers' Market Vendor Training (WETCC-Mahnomen/10 Participants) 04/02/24 Plant Start Demo: Brassicas, Tomatoes, Peppers (Waubun School Forest Staff/4 Participants) 04/24/24 Placement: Planting a Wild Edible Hedge (MOMs & MATs Program-Nay Tah Waush/6 Participants) Goal 3-Objective 1: Offer 4 seasonal camps per year. 1. September 16-17, 2023 (Wild Rice Camp) [Little Elbow Lake Tribal Campground/87 Participants-54 Unduplicated Participants] 2. January 20-21, 2024 (White Earth 4-H Winter Camp-Collaborative) [Rediscovery Center-White Earth Lake/44 Participants] 3. February 25-March 20, 2024 (White Earth 4-H Sugar Bush Camp-Collaborative) [40 Participants] 4. July 12-13, 2024 (Berry Camp) [24 Participants] Goal 4-Objective 1: Develop and provide 3 Financial Literacy workshops annually. Financial Literacy 101 Business Management 1 Business Management 2 Total Participation: Has not yet been held. Goal 5-Objective 1: Work with WETCC Science Faculty, Allen Derks to bridge the gap between science and traditional ecological knowledge by engaging students in the harvesting/process and analyzing agricultural foods from the WETCC Campus Gardens. WETCC Summer Session 2024: WETCC Science Faculty worked with 4 students in growing plants starts and planted a 3 Sisters Garden in a different area of the campus gardens to protect it from deer pressure. Goal 5-Objective 2: Promote community learning and resiliency through development of small-scale Food Forests at 3 community sites. WETCC Campus 06/06/24 Prepped site and planted Trees/Shrubs (Mahnomen/3 Participants) Men's Acute Care 06/06/24 Planting Trees (Jackhaw Lake/2 Participants) Note: Replaces White Earth Head Start Program in Mahnomen (Not participating) Waubun Public School Site 1: Waubun School 05/16/24 Planted Trees (Waubun/1 Participant) Site 2: Ogema School 05/16/24 Planted Trees (Ogema/1 Participants) Site 3: Waubun School Forest (WSF) 01/10/24 Fruit Tree Guild-Layers & Categories (WSF/90 Participants) 02/06/24 Root Layer-Plant Starts (WSF/87 Participants) 05/14/24 Planted Trees/Shrubs/Forbs/Living Mulch Layers (WSF/12 Participants) 05/15/24 Planted Trees/Forbs/Living Mulch Layers (WSF/12 Participants) 05/28/24 Planted Annuals-Living Mulch Layer (WSF/3 Participants) 06/13/24 Vining Layer (WSF/1 Participant) 4. MOMs & MATs Program (Harm Reduction and Treatment Programs-Nay Tah Waush) 04/30/24 Planting a Wild Edible Hedge-Collaborative with WENTPH (Nay Tah Waush/32 Participants)
Publications
|
Progress 09/15/22 to 09/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is the White Earth Community members, tribal and non-tribal programming that serve the community of White Earth and the WETCC student body. Changes/Problems:Change in Director position. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. 09/15 & 16/2022 Regenerative Farming-Field Day-Sites 1 & 2(Extension Supervisor and Extension Coordinator) 09/30/2022 Wild Edibles Harvesting (Extension Supervisor and Extension Coordinator) 10/14/2022 MAND-NW Dietitian meeting with CEUs (Extension Supervisor) 10/21-24/2022 FALCON Conference-(Extension Supervisor and Extension Coordinator) 11/17/2022 Cultural Training-Anishinaabeg Arts (Extension Supervisor, Extension Coordinator) 02/08/2023 Blazing Trails-Farmers' Market Food Regs.-(Extension Coordinator) 02/28/2023 Blazing Trails-Cottage Food, Product of the Farm, Food Sampling-(Extension Coordinator) 02/21/2023 "A Practitioner's Guide to Intermittent Fasting" 22 CEUs (Extension Supervisor) 03/08 & 09/2023 "Midwest Soil Health Summit" (Extension Supervisor and Extension Coordinator) 03/10/2023 Indigenous Farming Conference (Extension Supervisor and Extension Coordinator) 06/15/2023 "Drought Resilience" (Extension Supervisor) 06/23/2023 WECFM-Moisture Meter Testing (Extension Coordinator) 07/24/2023 "Grant Management Workshop-Allowable & Unallowable Costs" (Extension Coordinator) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extension Staff regularly meet with project partners and outcomes are shared after the collaborative events. At times, a summary of event activities is provided to the community in newspaper articles. The Extension Service webpage is in the process of being redone and dissemination of outcome results will be added through this platform, which will provide a broader range of communication to communities of interest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1, Objective 1 Continuing to gather and strengthen educational resources to provide a deeper dive into topic areas. Goal 2, Objective 1 Would like to decrease from 4 to 2 Train-the-Trainer workshops annually. Goal 3-Objective 1: Less activities within the camp and a deeper dive into the topic areas have resonated with camp participants, enabling more time for participant interaction and learning. ? Goal 5, Objective 1: Move this Objective to Equity as it focuses on WETCC Students and is a better fit for that grant? Goal 5, Objective 2: Ongoing in years 2-4 of Capacity Grant-Will continue to add educational pieces and plants to round out the 7 layers of a food forest at each site.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 Seed Saving 101 (2/YR) with squash - how to harvest & save seed through hands-on activities White Earth Health Fair: October 26, 2022: 274 adults & youth Waubun School Forest: November 1, 2022: 65 youth Food Preservation (3/YR) Water Bath Canning: Apple Sauce, Apple Jelly, Apple Pie Filling, Apple Juice. October 12, 2022: 9 participants learned the process of water bath canning Fish Smoking w/Men's Acute Care May 4th& 5th, 2023: 12 participants learned the process of cleaning, brining, and smoking fish Water Bath Canning: Making Homemade Jelly. July 7, 2023: 24 youth from Wright County 4-H learned the process of water bath canning Fall planting/garden prep and planning (1/YR) HOWAH event: Best Fall Crops (Handout) & Improve Your Garden Soil with Organic Matter (Handout) and "Crops Which Do Well in Zone 3", November 18, 2022: 461 participants Harvesting produce (1/YR) - Corn harvesting & braiding, November 1, 2022: 16 participants learned how toharvest corn & braid for drying seed on the cobs Garden planning (1/YR) HOWAH event-Planning a garden November 18, 2022: same as c.1 - shared pdf about how to plan a garden and answered participant questions Winter Camp-White Earth 4-H: companion planting, February 12, 2023: 21 participants - shared handout and answered participant questions HOWAH Event-Companion Planting, May 19, 2023: 208 participants - shared handout and answered participant questions Plant start demo (2/YR) - Waubun School Forest (February 9-10, 2023: 44 youth - planting activity with garlic bulbettes, onion seed, and chives seed g)Gardening 101 (2/YR) Cool Season Crops: Seed/Plant Distribution & Planting Literature, May 9, 2023: 245 participants Seed Distribution and Companion Planting Literature-HOWAH Event at White Earth RBC May 19, 2023: 248 participants Warm season crops: seed/plant distribution & planting literature May 23, 2023: 246 participants Total distribution: 7,242 seed packets & 11,484 plant starts distributed May 2023. WENRD donated 300 White Cedar trees to distribute to community Community feedback: request spaghetti squash seed, straight-8 cucumbers, rutabaga seed, and flower varieties as pollinators - recipes for Russian bear pickles, sauerkraut in a jar h)Seed ordering (1/YR) - Winter Camp-White Earth 4-H: companion planting February 12, 2023: Same as above, e.2-shared a listing of plants that make good companions in the garden, provided a pdf listing of area seed vendors and explained the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seedvarieties. Goal 2(Objective Met) Braided Wool Rugmaking (February 23, 2023 & April 12, 2023: 1 Participant*) *Note: Had multiple people request this workshop, however we had to reschedule multiple times due to the weather, so it made it challenging for more people to attend. As wool coats were both expensive and hard to obtain, we utilized thinner wool material to teach the basics. Making Homemade Bread: No-Knead Method-Waubun School Forest (January 11, 2023: 63 Participants) Taught how to make no-knead bread through a hands-on youth activity. Brought finished loaves and homemade jelly for the participants to taste. Canoe Rebuild: March 21, 2023 - March 30, 2023: 248 participants- Instructors showed process and resources used to restore canoe Seed lanting w/Ogema school teachers, April 11, 2023: 3 participants to teach youth about planting seeds ServSafe Certification: June 13-14, 2023: 9 participants Fermented beverages August 23, 2023: 3 participants - made caffeine-free fermented drink with hibiscus flowers & homegrown raspberries. Goal 3Objective Met Wild Rice Camp September 10-11, 2022: 100 participants Winter Camp: Winter Seasonal Gathering January 18-19, 2023: 73 participants & White Earth 4-H with 21 participants: Ice fishing, beading, storytelling, sock puppet making, Ojibwe language, board games, sledding, drawing/coloring, & learning companion planting & gardening Sugar bush camp March/April of 2023: 25 participants at Extension's camp with hands-on teaching/learning about process of collecting & making maple sap into syrup -18 participants Hands-on teaching about collecting & turning maple sap into maple syrup. Berry camp July 15-16, 2023 with 52 participants - berry picking, storytelling/Ojibwe language, nature walk/plant identification, berry jam making, berry vinaigrette, art activities Goal 4: Objective Met 3 weekly workshops held as part of same class over 6 weeks in March/April of 2023 as collaborative effort with WETCC Customized Ed. An Extension Educator from University of MN instructed on financial literacy, business management 1, and business Management 2: 16 participants 5 participants completed evaluation (3) learned of class from social media (e.g., Facebook), (1) from the Flyer, (1) from WETCC (3) gave "excellent" rating for the instructor, (2) gave a satisfactory rating for the instructor Overall course satisfaction: very satisfied (2) & satisfied (3) Goal 5, Objective 1: Partially Met? WETCC Students will create science posters of their findings and share with WETCC Campus and Community. Student led event to support leadership development & roles within the institution, among student body & community. WETCC Environmental Science class: 4 students & science instructor planted 3-Sisters Garden,researched traditional vs. conventional planting methods for corn, beans, & squash. Findings were presented by students in final class. Hire student interns to support agricultural & traditional ecological learning to support understanding of food security & future role in agriculture. (Challenge: No current WETCC students applied for the temporary position of Student Intern: recent WETCC graduate applied, worked 2 weeks, then quit in spring 2023. Another 4-year graduate from another institution applied & quit within a few weeks as garden assistant. Position filled by community member. challenge retaining temp staff & providing high level supervision - could be alleviated by hiring 1FTE garden manager Objective 2:Objective Met WETCC Campus June 1, 2023: taught Garden Assistants about tree placement & how to plant Wright Cty 4-H toured Extension gardens: taught about Fruit Tree Guild on 07/07/23 - 18 students & 6 adults Waubun Public School-3 Sites: Waubun School Forest (WSF), Waubun School, and Ogema School May 31, 2023: distributed trees & educational literature WSF 11/01/22 taught seed saving & how to incorporate vegetables into the food forest (63 Youth/2 Adults) WSF 1/11/23 taught about the 7 layers of fruit tree guild & apple trees selection-students selected favorite cultivars (63 Youth/2 Adults) WSF 2/09/23 Taught how to plant chives, garlic chives, garlic seed & onions & incorporating into layers of food forest (66Youth/2 Adults) WSF 4/25/23 Fruit Tree Guild: Companion Planting (68 Youth/2 Adults) taught youth companion planting around fruit trees to increase plant diversity and enhance pollination WSF 5/5/23 Forest Walk (70 Students/3 Adults)completed a plant walk at WSF to identify ephemeral native plants in the school forest. WSF 5/17/23 Tree Guild Planting (72 Youth/5 Adults) [Partners: Waubun Public School & White Earth Public Health Service, planted fruit trees/shrubs WSF 5/18/23 tree guild-planting - 8 youth planted remaining trees/shrubs at WSF WSF 5/17/23 tree distribution for Waubun/Ogema Schools & taught 3 adults about trees & how to plant WSF 7/12/23 collaborators landscaped & planted educational prairie addition at WSF grounds. Men's Acute Care -May 31, 2023 distributed trees, provided educational literature & taught how to plant
Publications
|