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• 1 media/Vega_Item0200.jpg 2024-04-23T13:42:58-07:00 De Agricultura Vulgare (1519) 20 plain 2024-05-24T12:15:44-07:00 Many things from yesterday can be used today. Ancient farming practices? Check. Keeping bees at the center of survival even in modern times? Check. The SMC Sustainable Farm aims at taking a step back from modern day mass farming practices and the use of pesticides, and a step towards sustainable farming. Many of these sustainable farming methods can be traced back to as far as the 1500s. For example, De Agricultura Vulgare, a book from SMC's Rare Book Room, shows many different, traditional farming and agriculture practices, such as using farm tools, raising chickens, and bee keeping.
  Chickens specifically are shown to be a big part of agriculture and farming in De Agricultura Vulgare (1519), as seen in the image of a woman feeding chickens near a chicken coup. Though published in the 1500s, some farming techniques or concepts represented in De Agricultura Vulgare are still relevant today and applicable to modern-day agricultural practices in the Sustainable Farm, such as tending chickens and caring for bees. Upon entering the Sustainable Farm you will quickly see the chickens hard at work turning the soil which allows for better planting of seeds and various plants. The chickens also eat all the food scraps from the dining hall and, in doing so, make compost for the soil. When chickens eat food scraps from the dining hall, they are also fighting food waste, as large amounts of leftover food are no longer ending up in the garbage. All of the eggs and produce from Saint Mary’s Sustainable Farm are donated to local shelters.
  According to Farmer Abbie, an expert on the SMC Sustainable Farm, the Sustainable Farm also has bees for beekeeping. In De Agricultura Vulgare, bees are shown flying around in one of the image prints. It is known that bees are imperative to the propagation of many plants, as they are key pollinators and necessary for the successful growth of a majority of flowering plants, which includes most produce (fruits and vegetables). Although certain agricultural practices have evolved over the years, the fundamentals of farming have not changed a whole lot. For farming, the basic necessities are still: sunlight, soil, water, and bees. Although ways of doing certain things may evolve or change over time, De Agricultura Vulgare shows us how the basics of farming remain the same.