Hey, Keuka students! Check out the projects we are happy to host in spring / summer 2024. We’ll cover project supply costs, too. Combine your Field Period with a job at Black Squirrel Farms this spring or summer. Students conducting Black Squirrel Farms Field Periods are given preferential consideration for available part time paid jobs. Click “I’m Interested” and reach out to alum Emily Reynolds to let us know ASAP.
Art & Design Spring or Summer
Explore using black walnut shells for paint texture.
Black walnut shell powder can be added to all paint types. Because it is less dense and fragments are more angular than sand, black walnut shell is a logical substitute for any sand-based paint additive application. Produce black walnut shell powders of varying grit size from black walnut shells and use them to develop paint texture creation guides / demonstrations for wall paint and acrylics. Create your own piece to be donated to this summer’s Northern Nut Growers Association auction. We’ll provide a $200 supply budget.
Environmental / biological sciences Spring and Summer
Test the impact of black walnut hull mulch on the growth of selected edible annuals.
We end up with a lot of black walnut hulls at the end of the season. They can enrich the soil but they impact the soil chemistry and biology. What edible annuals tolerate hull-rich soil? We’ll prepare two garden areas, one enriched with decomposed walnut hulls and one enriched with proven soil amendments, and let you figure it out. Optionally expand the project or split it with a friend by adding in an aspect of testing deer resistance too, with the result of the project being a deer resistant / black walnut tolerant garden plan!
We’ll provide money to buy seeds and access to irrigation equipment as needed and our Yates County Cooperative Extension office is interested in being involved as a project advisor! For this to be a successful summer project, some spring prep work is necessary.
Marketing and business Spring and/or Summer
Roadside Farm Stand or Alternative Approach
We’re located on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, right on Rt 14. How can we better engage or interest summer road traffic in what we are doing and what we are selling? Come up with a plan or several plans to help us more effectively engage the people who are literally driving right by. If we approve implementation of one or more of your suggestions, help us implement it and see what happens.
Social work Summer
Develop a program to connect 4-H volunteer walnut gathers to black walnut tree owners who need help maintaining their trees.
We get a lot of calls from people who have walnut trees but no longer have the physical capacity to pick them up. Some people will cut down their trees if care of the tree becomes too much of an issue. Developing a program that connects these folks to 4H members with required volunteer hours who could pick up the walnuts and also clear out small fallen branches or other debris helps everyone out!
Environmental / biological sciences Spring and Summer
Test native pollinator planting strategies across the site and introduce black-eyed susans to our native plants garden.
We have a small demonstration garden where we grow some key native species that have underutilized potential to contribute to local ecosystem restoration. How should we start to integrate some of these species into the landscape beyond our fenced-in gardens? Can we develop some best practices while making sure the garden can be used as a showcase again this year? Depending on project framing, this could be a one or two season Field Period.
Any major! Summer
Identify and evaluate regional black walnut heritage (200+ yr old) trees.
For the health of any tree population, the trees with the best genetics are the trees that should be grown out. The purpose of this project is to find and assess trees that would make good candidates for growing out. 200+ yr old trees have proven themselves from a resiliency perspective. Understanding the traits of local 200+ yr old black walnut trees lets us more intentionally future seed trees. We’ll provide access to a CCE Tompkins project advisor, so all majors welcome!
Art and Design Summer
Design and build an interactive pump/sluice art installation
This project provides hands-on experience designing and installing an outdoor art installation. We have a historic hang-dug stone-lined well on site that still works. We do not rely on it for water service so it is mainly a feature of interest. How to make the well an attractive, interactive site feature is the purpose of the project. Make the path the water takes be the art! Design must be approved by Black Squirrel Farms prior to installation. We will provide a $200 supply budget and access to our well. Design must allow safe access/interaction for any age as well as the option to fill a bucket.
Black Squirrel Farms 