The first season of the East Campus Discovery Days and Farmer’s Market concludes with a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. event on Aug. 14.
Hosted by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the series is more than a regular farmer’s market. It offers hands-on, science-focused experiences from various Nebraska departments, as well as a vendor fair, live music and food trucks. Campus visitors also have the opportunity to tour the Backyard Farmer Garden; arboretum; newly renovated Dairy Store and Dinsdale Family Learning Commons; and Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement interactive digital kiosk.
Through the market, Nebraska seeks to offer the East Campus community, neighbors and friends access to science literacy opportunities, locally produced fresh food, value-added artisans, on-campus family activities and an avenue for producers to sell their products. The market activities are free and open to the public, while food and crafts will be available for purchase.
Backyard Farmer panelists and volunteers will answer gardening questions located at the Backyard Farmer Garden.
The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture has several activity stations planned for youth at its booth, including Plant Your Vegetables/Fruit, Pesticide Education and Soil Erosion.
At Plant Your Vegetables/Fruit, agronomy and horticulture students will split open fresh peppers and tomatoes for participating youth to observe and learn about seeds, characteristics of a plant and plant succession. Participants will plant seeds in a cup of soil to take home to grow in their own garden. They will also be given growing and harvesting tips for their plant.
At the Pesticide Education station, Jennifer Weisbrod, assistant extension educator, will give out Mr. Yuk stickers and participating youth will get to match pesticide term definitions and identify the pest in a pesticide game. A new transfer activity will teach adult and childhood learners about properly handling bottles of chemical. The activity will use a glow powder that can only be seen under UV light.
At Soil Erosion, Becky Young, assistant professor of practice in agronomy and horticulture, will guide participants to interact with table-top erosion models and play the soil water infiltration game — matching sediments to one of three infiltration columns.
The East Campus Discovery Days and Farmer’s Market is supported by the university. For more information on the market, including a full list of vendors, click here. For additional information, contact Jessie Brophy at jbrophy3@unl.edu or Kirstin Taylor at ktaylor21@unl.edu.
Nebraska Today and the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture contributed to this report.
