Tours, Microgreens, and More: A Look at Spark-Y's Urban Ag Lab

Spark-Y’s Urban Agriculture Lab (UAL), offers a blooming paradise in a cold Minnesota winter! Youth operate our aquaponic production facility, raising microgreens for sale through the Gentleman Forager, facilitating regular tours, and organizing events such as our spring plant sale. Since the beginning of 2018 alone, more than 180 students and over 20 community members have toured Spark-Y’s UAL. Read on to learn more about the UAL, and the activities that our awesome interns, volunteers, youth apprentices, and citizen scientists are participating in.

The Latest from the Urban Agriculture Lab

Spark-Y’s fresh, local, youth-grown microgreens are being used in restaurants across the Twin Cities, through our partnership with the Gentleman Forager. These microgreens will also soon be offered for sale at the Gentleman Forager stand in the new Keg and Case marketplace opening spring, 2018. Revenue earned through this partnership allows youth in Spark-Y’s school programs to be employed in the UAL, where they can apply the skills and knowledge learned in their school program to a real-world setting. Kelly, our first youth apprentice, was a student at Roosevelt High School. He participated in the Roosevelt Urban Farm Squad for two years, and in Spark-Y’s summer internship for two years. He was hired on as staff in August, 2017, and is now helping produce microgreens for the Gentleman Forager partnership.

Baby Blue Tilapia were bred as a special project by our intern Nicholas Jacob. They were born on November 3rd, 2017. These fry will reach a mature size within about nine months. Tilapia are the ideal species to raise with students in our school programs for their hearty nature, and ability to reach maturity quickly. We like to celebrate the creation of a food system with the students in our school programs, by participating in a fish fry at the end of each year. These Blue Tilapia fry are currently being raised by the youth apprentices and interns operating our UAL. We intend to sell them to local restaurants and individual consumers right around August, 2018 when they reach maturity. Our tilapia make extra tasty (and sustainable!) fish tacos incase you were wondering.

Spark-Y’s mission of sustainability education and empowerment stretches beyond the youth in our programs. Every-other Thursday evening from 6 to 7pm we welcome the public to join us on a tour of the UAL. Tours only cost $10, and will go through each of the sustainable systems we utilize in the classroom as drivers of STEM education. You can sign up for a tour on Spark-Y’s Shop page.

Side note: You can also stop by before the tour on Thursdays from 5-6pm to purchase fresh, youth-grown microgreens!

This summer, Spark-Y will also be partnering with the Hennepin County Library to offer a series of STEM focused workshops. Keep an eye on our Facebook page, or sign up for our newsletter to learn more.

What’s Ahead for the Urban Agriculture Lab:

Are you getting antsy for spring? We sure are! Get your pants from Spark-Y at our 2nd annual Spring Plant Sale taking place May 5th, 2018. All your veggies, flowers, herbs, and even native plants will be available! We will also be offering mushroom log demonstrations, UAL tours, and activities for the kiddos throughout the day. Sign up for our newsletter at Spark-Y.org to receive a pre-order form for the 2018 plant sale.

Looking to get involved?

You can support Spark-Y and our UAL by participating in any of the following events:

• Come on a tour - Offered every-other Thursday 6-7pm.
• Purchase microgreens @ Spark-Y, 5-6pm on Thursdays.
• Come to our plant sale on May 5th.
• Purchase a mushroom log, T-shirt, fanny pack, SCOBY, or vermicompost bin at Spark-Y.org, or on Thursdays 5-6pm.
• Sign up for our newsletter.
• Donate
• Volunteer
• Like & follow us on Facebook

Student-Driven: Design to Build Day at IAA

Background: Integrated Arts Academy (IAA) is a Spark-Y school partner with an apprenticeship / school program hybrid. Students in the program spend half time at Spark-Y at our commercial-scale aquaponics system, learning to care system health, and the other half of their time learning STEM-based curriculum with a focus in sustainability. As a part of their education in sustainability, students submitted their own aquaponics system designs and chose one to build on-site at school. Having completed their apprenticeship at Spark-Y, students are now equipped to care for their own aquaponics system, with continued learning in their own classroom.

IAA

Youth-designed model and student-built aquaponics frame behind it.

Systems Engineer, Andrew Rescorla, shares his
experience of build day at Integrated Arts Academy (IAA).

Early on, a few students milled around while Wolid and I cut 2x4's with the chop saw. The teacher had announced that the students didn't have to help with the build, but they could if they wanted. None of the students seemed too eager- they had the too-cool-for-school vibe going.

One student, Sean, stopped to watch us. I asked if he wanted to help and he said he would, though he wasn't so sure about making a cut with the chop saw.

"Nah, I'll let you all do that."

He hadn't spent much time around power tools.

After watching a couple of cuts, he gave it a try himself and seemed surprised with how easy it was. After a few minutes, Sean and another student wandered over to Sam, our Operations Director.  The three of them began laying out posts and assembling the wood framing.

When I joined them later, Sean was zipping in screws with an impact driver. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. He was doing a great job. There was also a newfound confidence, evident as he shared his opinions on wood screws vs. hex bolts and tested the strength of his joints by applying pressure to the cross beams.

Before he left for the afternoon, he stood back, admired what he'd built, and nodded. (I know this sounds corny but it really happened).

At Spark-Y we talk about empowering students to change the world - to create, invent, design, and build sustainable solutions to enormous global problems. But along the way are smaller moments of empowerment - when a student learns that they are capable of building something.

This was a small but cool moment for me to see in my first experience with a student build day. As I had imagined, many of the students were not that interested. But a few were. And those that engaged, they took ownership of the small tasks that were given to them. They learned how to use new tools, and they saw an aquaponics system take shape from a bunch of boards on the floor.

Soil, Not Dirt: Building a Soil Laboratory at Spark-Y

In this ongoing series, our Spark-Y 2017 Summer interns are sharing their experiences.
The following post is written by the Urban Ag Lab Management team: 
Sarah Wescott, Maverick Oblekson, Salma Ahmed, Ojuigo Ojebe, and Charlie Kinnegerg.

Soil, often incorrectly thought of as dirt, plays an important role in our food web by providing a nutrient source for almost all of our plant life. What goes on below ground is far more complex than meets the eye. An entire community of organisms is interacting to create healthy soil that plants can flourish in. Fungus and Bacteria eat all of the organic matter, such as leaves and twigs, that fall onto the ground helping it break down. Then, tiny worm-looking creatures called Nematodes eat these stores of fungi and bacteria. Even bigger predators called Arthropods eat the Nematodes, forming a whole food chain in the soil. All of this life, death, reproduction, and pooping is what makes up soil. Dirt, on the other hand, does not contain this same frenzy of life, making it far less useful for plants who are trying to grow.

Unfortunately, heavy chemical use across the agricultural industry is destroying more and more of our healthy soil each year, in turn leaving us with lifeless dirt. Furthermore, less than 1 percent of agricultural land in the United States is grown under organic standards and those who want to convert to organic farming struggle to escape the intense chemical cycle due to the time it takes and the potential loss in profits.

As the Urban Agriculture Lab management team, we are attempting to combat this soil loss by making soil a bigger part of Spark-Y. To do this, we are building a soil laboratory where staff, students, and visitors can get a close look at what goes on in soil, how soil is made, and the role that worms play in the soil cycle. The soil lab is made up of five main components:

Soil Lab

1. Composting Tower: a four tiered shelving unit that holds vermicompost at different stages in the process. Each of the shelves can be removed for easy access and the entire tower is on wheels so it can be moved around the lab.
2. Live Edge Work Table: a clean work space made from locally sourced lumber cut near Stillwater, Minnesota along the St. Croix and provided by TwinsCitiesTimber. The legs are made out of piping to create a stable work bench or meeting space.
3. Compost Amendment Storage Space: amendments for the vermicompost and compost tea will be stored here to help balance the levels of bacteria, moisture, and fungus in the tea or compost. Some of these ingredients are: sawdust, wood chips, nitrogen stored with a carbon filter, yeast, soybean meal, and alfalfa meal.
4. Compost Tea Maker: brews a naturally nutrient rich water that is a great fertilizer for plants. This will help to keep the aquaponics lab plants healthy and avoids using synthetic fertilizers that have negative downsides.
5. Soil Analysis Space: This area will include a microscope and the proper tools needed to look at the abundance of life found in soil and to check on the balance of bacteria and fungus in the compost.

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Compost Tower

Our soil lab is still in the works, but so far we have completed the soil tower and have gathered all of our materials for the remaining projects. Our live edge table top has arrived and we are in the process of making it into a working space. In the end, the soil lab will foster a learning environment that brings soil to the surface and gives Spark-Y visitors the tools to make their own soil better at home. Stop in soon to see the finished product!

What is Vermicomposting?

Vermicomposting is a type of composting that utilizes worms to speed up the process. The worms eat the organic material and convert it into nutrients at a much faster rate than bacteria and fungus do on their own. As a result, we can create healthy soil on a regular basis and grow stronger plants.

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Sources:

Jerad, Aaron. "Soil Science Basics for Beginners." The Permaculture Research Institute. Permaculture Research Institute, 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 26 July 2017.

Rethinking Farm-to-Table

“Our team is tasked with something new and challenging every day, shaping us into sustainably-minded entrepreneurs.”

This post chronicles 2017 Summer Internship
Urban Agriculture Outreach team's efforts.
Written by: Luke Carlson, Wil Larson, Sarah Ziskin, Claire Hueg.

Here at Spark-Y we are constantly seeking new innovations to create more tightly-knit food systems. We, as the Urban Agriculture Lab Outreach Team, aim to increase Spark-Y’s public presence.

During the first half of our internship, we made new restaurant partnerships and proved that alternative agriculture systems can still grow delicious and competitively priced produce. Increasing our restaurant presence across the Twin Cities is an important step in creating a more sustainable community, as the average meal travels over 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Creating a locally sourced food system increases food security and reduces the emissions from lengthy shipping. Additionally, Our system uses 98% less water than traditional farming. Red Stag Supper Club and Seward Co-op are both current produce partners, and we are working with many other well known restaurants around the Twin Cities who will help us foster a local food system. Check back on our website soon to see which new local restaurants will be serving our produce!
 

Impact-Driven Action

With a broad reach and comprehensive mission, Spark-Y builds meaningful relationships with many local restaurants. Restaurants we partner with have mutual goals with Spark-Y, and it is fulfilling to engage in a network where our partners are also focused on sustainability, local food, and youth empowerment. Community engagement is critical to a healthy, local food system, and our team looks forward to moving out of the formative stages into lasting restaurant partnerships.

In addition, we are working to make our systems more accessible by offering an enhanced tour experience. There are plans for additional tour graphics, a microgreens sample flight to end the event, and dynamic advertising for tour times and dates.

Anyone is welcome to come meet our outreach team and see our Urban Agriculture Lab by registering at spark-y.org/events. Tours are available every Thursday evening.
 

Reaching Out

This past Thursday, we were able to attend Youth Science Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Each year, the event gathers Twin Cities youth and teaches them about a relevant STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) related topic. This year’s event focused on community health, offering us the chance to share sunflower microgreen samples and engage students in a vegetable sorting game. We believe that an important part of community health is exposing community members to more healthy food options and local food access.

Upon sampling the sunflower greens, many children exclaimed “I’ve never eaten a plant before!” and then in the same breath said their favorite food was a strawberry or some other fruit. Being able to show young students what healthy local food looks like and teaching them about where their food comes from was very rewarding. The number of children who liked our sunflower microgreens was astounding, since most of them said they disliked eating vegetables. One boy even came back for multiple handfuls, and decided that they were his new favorite food!

There are plans for additional tabling events in an effort to increase our adult outreach and tour capacity. Look for us at Seward Co-op or Nokomis Farmers Market for a chance to say “hi”, grab samples, and learn more about why we love Spark-Y.
 

Moving Forward

One of the best parts about being an intern at Spark-Y is the monumental development we undergo as a team and as individuals. Our team is tasked with something new and challenging every day, shaping us into sustainably-minded entrepreneurs. Specifically, reaching out to potential new clients allowed us to get out of our comfort zone and develop new marketing and networking skills. We were met with inspiring positivity and support for our mission by the many like-minded organizations and businesses. While not every connection turned into a sale, it was still a rewarding and educational experience for us. As we gain confidence in our communication skills, team building, and professional evolution, we begin to recognize all of the ways that Spark-Y is preparing us to make very real impacts on very real problems.