The Georgic Schoolroom!
This is a 17 week long class for 18+
> What is The Georgic Schoolroom?
> Why are we reading 12 books before class starts?
> How old do I have to be to come to this class
> Rules
5 Pillars of the Georgic Schoolroom
Definition of Georgics in three bullet points:
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Georgics is a personal responsibility where a human being accepts the cultivation of life and community citizenship.
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Georgics is the art of being human, interacting with and controlling the environment in positive ways, which invites and increases abundant and diverse life.
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Georgics is developing and preserving a healthy culturally rich and educated society. These things make humans unique in the biosphere to care for other species through our belief that all life has a unique role in nature.
The Georgic Schoolroom has a focus on the five pillars below empowering students to know enough about themselves to make appropriate life choices to achieve their personal goals.
Pillar One: Self-Discovery
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Self-Discovery
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Personal Development
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Homesteading Skills
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Ecological Literacy
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Solving a Societal Problem
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Contentment. I have noticed that people who know something about themself tend to be more content in life than those who don’t.
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Self Confidence. We all sit down together in class and identify each student's unique traits and abilities. Once a person knows a few of these things about themself they rapidly build self-confidence.
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Personal Choice. I try to make sure my students are choosing their own life direction instead of choosing somebody else's expectations for them.
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Identifying our Qualities. To sharpen our skills it is nice to know how to identify things in our own life that may either spring us forward or stop us from progress.
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Mentor. It normally takes a mentor to help someone accomplish the things listed here under self-discovery. Very difficult to do this effectively by yourself.
Pillar Two: Personal Development
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Skills. I want people to go home with professional skills to change their family culture and their community with service.
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Communication skills
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Food production skills
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Time management skills
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Leadership skills
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Problem-solving skills
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Listening skills
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Empathy skills
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Make a Great Choice. I think for people to be successful at accomplishing their goals they need to have the ability and skill to know what they want and choose it with confidence.
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Good Citizens. I have noticed that there are way too many professionals today who are good at their employment, and the thing they went to school for, but a lot the rest of their life is a big mess. I want my students to be empowered to be good citizens of a community, not just trained professionals.
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Paradigm Shifts. I believe that education goes far beyond the self. Our graduates have started to see the world through the lens of what they can do to bless people instead of asking what the world should do to make life easier for them.
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Mentored by Nature There are plenty of careers, jobs, apprenticeships, and seminars out there for ambitious youth. But I don’t know anywhere in adult education where students can have four months of daily mentoring from nature to tell them the messages that only nature can tell them. Nature is highly ignored today and it shows in the ills of our society.
Pillar Three: Homesteading Skills
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Health. We need more healthy food being raised in our world
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Discovery. We study the most effective methods of food production out there, including:
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Soil health
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Regenerative Agriculture
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Permaculture
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Bio-Dynamics
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Holistic Management
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Silvopasture
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Ecological agriculture
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Georgics
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Train Professionals. Families need a personal, professional farmer in their community, just like they need a lawyer, plumber, accountant, banker, car mechanic, building contractor, internet tech, etc…
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Principles for all Places. The gardening and land stewardship skills I teach are way more than gardening skills. They are principles that work in all climates, all continents, with all gardening methods, in all ecosystems, and in any agriculture career.
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Feed People. The homesteading skills in my class teach you how to grow enough food to feed your family and your community.
Pillar Four: Ecological Literacy
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Worry-Free Eating Book. I wrote the book we use in this class for the common backyard gardener. I explain the principles of ecological literacy and how to engage with the four ecological processes to make the environment a healthy place for all living things.
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Your Best Garden Ever. Worry-Free Eating is my contribution to helping the common person have the best garden of their life in the easiest possible way.
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Focus on our Senses. Gardening skills teach you how to become ecologically literate; to observe, see, taste, hear, feel, understand, and make correct choices to make your ecosystem healthier and more abundant.
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From Mistakes to Solutions. In Worry-Free Eating I have mapped a pathway about the big environmental questions/arguments/issues of our modern time.
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From environmentalism to ecological literacy
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From tyranny to freedom
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From sickness to health
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From killing to inviting life
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From blaming to responsibility
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From fighting to understanding
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From climate change to how to properly change the climate
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From famine to feast
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From livestock being the problem to livestock being the solution.
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From government policy to citizen action
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Pillar Five: Solving a Societal Problem
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Societal Need. Everybody I have asked has said that they can think of at least one thing that is seriously wrong with our society, and they also have good ideas on how to start fixing it. Students choose a way to serve society in positive, effective ways.
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Graduates Choose to Serve Society. The world is currently divided politically and our children are being educated according to this environment. They are not necessarily picking sides but just hating the political process in general, which translates into indifference to society. This is bad. We need a good strong government to maintain civilized life and a healthy society.
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See Small Opportunities. The smallest changes on the local level have often had some of the biggest positive impacts on the people living in that community. We need people trained to see what can be done beyond their personal lives to enhance communities.
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Society is Desperate! There are needs everywhere! People need friends, people need access to clean water and nutritious food. People need stupid laws removed so they can have more opportunities to make a living. Gardeners need opportunities to purchase healthy transplants from ecologically literate farmers, instead of commercially grown transplants in dead soils that are addicted to miracle-gro. People need to understand that xeriscaping with stone heats the summer air and causes droughts a lot more than the water they would use to keep the ground covered with climate-appropriate species for your yard. Children need to know that they are the answer to climate problems, not the cause of them. We are the only species that can think through a problem and find a solution to help it. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are naked, clothe them. If they are lonely, visit them. If they are sick, give them relief. Every individual has the power to understand the unique ways that they can bless another person. In my Georgic Schoolroom, we never stop talking about this! This is the point. Humans can solve complex problems in simple ways, they just need somebody to encourage and support them.
The Five Pillar Chart
In the Georgic Schoolroom, we are creating good citizens, not just passing out skills to people so they can enter the workforce. The following chart helps us see how much average time is allotted to the 5 things we focus on in our four-month class.
These percentages change like the seasons at the Georgic Schoolroom. When we first begin it may be heavy in gardening skills. Near the end it has been heavy on societal needs and how each student's unique abilities can bless people's lives. Depending on the day it is usually heavy in self-discovery and personal development.
Application:
● Write an email to William DeMille telling about yourself and why you desire to take this class.
● Send email to william.miniag@gmail.com. Subject line should say: Georgic Schoolroom Application. Text me with any questions, especially if you don't get a response @ (435)-233-6126.
● This letter should be fun for you to write. Feel free to share with me who you are and why you want to spend the summer learning from me. It is ok to draw pictures, ask questions, and tell jokes. But convincing me to choose you is the key! I have limited space and can only take 20 students at a time.
● Please send in your application as soon as possible.
Curriculum:
Syllabus will be online and shared with you the first day of class via Google docs.
The curriculum consists of completing two projects explained in the next few paragraphs, learning and discussing soil health principles from the leading scientists today, doing many hands on chores, growing and packaging food, soil testing and inoculating. It also includes oral testing which is fun and designed to be enjoyable and helpful.
Class begins with a series of book discussions that will be held on zoom. This will prepare you for when your onsite class begins, May 20th.
We will call These zoom classes The Winter Room. The first will start Thursday Feb 22d and will continue each of the following Thursday's proceeding May 20th. These will be recorded and put on William's YouTube channel and if you can't make it to the live Zoom call then you can watch it on Youtube. If you sign up after our discussions begin, you can simply watch the ones you missed on YouTube.
The Georgic Schoolroom class requires you to read Worry Free Eating by William DeMille in order to graduate. The following book list will be discussed on Thursday nights. We will do these book discussions to enhance your experience. I highly encourage you to read these books and follow along and to engage in Thursday night zoom meeting discussions. If you find that you cannot finish a book in time for the discussion, I do not want you to feel guilty or embarrassed. Please come anyway! The book discussion will be beneficial to you even if you haven't read it. Just because life happens doesn't mean you are not welcome to be in our book discussion. There will be people invited to our book discussion that will not be part of the onsite Georgic Schoolroom, so feel free to invite your friends and family to enjoy some of my favorite books. Just remember, it is required to read Worry Free Eating before you arrive on May 20th, 2024.
Books for Winter Room discussions:
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Feb 22, The Winter Room -- Gary Paulesn
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Feb 29, One Straw Revolution -- Masanobu Fukuoka's
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March 7, As a Man Thinketh -- James Allen
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March 14, Green Grass in the Spring -- Tony Malmberg
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March 21, A Message to Garcia -- Elbert Hubbard
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March 28, Searching for Home Finding Grace -- Jared Sorensen
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April 4, The Strangest Secret -- Earl Nightingale
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April 11, 12 Rules of Life -- Jordan Peterson
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April 18, Holistic Management -- Allan Savory
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Boot camp April 25-27 -- No class this day
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May 2 Dirt to Soil -- Gabe Brown
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May 9 Worry Free Eating -- William DeMille
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May 16 The Lessons of History -- Will Durant
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May 20 On site class starts!
Your first day on the ranch each student will be assigned a set of chores. Those chores will be your responsibility as part of your educational experience. They will need to be done each morning before 9:00 when class starts. Chores will be rotated between students during the course.
There will be two projects for this course.
#1 Grow 99% of the food for the last month.
#2 Identifying a need or a problem in our world that you can help solve with your personal gifts and talents.
PROJECT #1: On the first day of class I will assign you a garden plot that you will be responsible to maintain and care for. This plot will be your property and responsibility for the 17 week course, you can not trade plots with other students. You will grow the garden you desire during the mornings before 9:00 and after class in the evenings. We will seldom work on students' individual gardens during class hours of 9am to 5 or 6 pm. This is designed as an individual project to promote quality time alone, creating something necessary for life: food. At stressful times you may ask for help, but I hope you will learn the beauty of alone time; to quietly gain confidence in growing food and become in tune with the creation and the creator. This garden will give you the opportunity to know you can grow your own food. You will be using this assigned garden plot to grow the food for the last four weeks of your time here.
The initial plan for this garden will be created on a zoom meeting on Feb 22 so that you have a say in choosing some of the transplants we will have ready for you when you get here in May. If you sign up later than February we will do this at the time you sign up.
I will be helping each student create their plan. This will be simple. In the Feb 22d zoom meeting, all you need to do is choose an approximate amount of vegetables in your garden. It doesn't need to be perfect and you can adjust it slightly once you arrive.
You will also create a one day menu of what you plan to feed 20-25 people three meals on one day. Your garden will be responsible for feeding the school for one day.
Project #2 Each student identifies a problem they see in our world. Then, in class, we do exercises to bring out each student's unique abilities. Each student can then create a project with their personal set of talents to address the societal problem.
Cost for the course?
$5,600
Which includes:
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Housing,
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Meals
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The class
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Personal mentoring
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Click here to see what you need to bring
What will I learn?
You can expect to learn the following:
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How to plant seeds
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How to propagate plants from cuttings
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How to grow plants in garden soils
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How to start plants for transplanting into the garden
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How and why to make paper pots
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How to transplant
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How to grow plants in pots and containers
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How to grow plants in weird places like the cracks of sidewalks and stone walls
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How to properly -water plants
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How to know what plants are telling you by their appearance
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What species/varieties of food to grow so you will have food in the winter. How to do a water infiltration test
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How to do a soil compaction test
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How to grow food in a greenhouse
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How to grow food outdoors
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How to grow food without man made fertilizer
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How to grow food without pesticides
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How to grow food without herbicides
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How to grow food without having to balance the soil ph
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How to grow food that does not suffer from lack of plant nutrients
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How to make potting soil
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How to partner with ecology/environment to our advantage
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How to make an earthworm box that will supply your garden with pure gold! How to identify the difference between european nightcrawlers and red worms and why that matters
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How to make compost extract
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How to make compost tea
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When it is appropriate to use compost extracts and teas
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How to make proper compost to supply your food plants with everything they ever wanted
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How to take a proper, representative soil sample, compost sample, compost extract and tea sample
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How to test your soil to know if plants will grow
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How to identify beneficial microorganisms in your soil
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How to know if compost is good or bad
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How to discern if a commercial compost is worth purchasing or if it is a waste of your $
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How to identify weeds
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How to completely eradicate noxious weeds like morning glory, bindweed, quackgrass without -using toxic chemicals. And growing a crop in that space at the same time without working too -hard.
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How to identify dangerous and disease causing organisms in the soil
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How to know if your soil is good
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How to properly use mulch and why
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How to plant without tilling and why
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How to grow cover crops and why
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How to grow multiple crops at the same time in the same soil and why
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How to grow plants in harsh climates
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What a keystone species is and why they matter
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How many earthworms should be in a cubic ft of soil and what they do
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How to deal with pests
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How to decide which crops to grow when you have limited space
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How to harvest and store foods for winter
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How to use a shadowing microscope to identify microorganisms
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Where to purchase a quality yet affordable microscope if you decide you want one
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What equipment you will need to set up your own home soil laboratory
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How to properly maintain garden equipment
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How to effectively save seeds
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How to breed landrace seeds to create new varieties for your local micro climate
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How to transform unproductive land into soil that will grow great food
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Common practices that destroy good soil and how to avoid them
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Understanding the proper soil test to use in a given situation
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Understanding the limitations of common and uncommon soil tests and what to do about it
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Understanding The Ecological Processes relevant to growing food:
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The Energy Cycle
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The Water Cycle
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The Mineral Cycle
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Ecological Succession Cycle
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How to build a greenhouse that will withstand harsh weather
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Crop rotation how and why
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Basic garden math used for:
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Figuring out microscopic dilutions
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Figuring out how many plants can be grown in a specific size garden
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How many transplants can be grown in a propagation house based on size of pots and growing space.
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How large of a greenhouse or garden to build to meet the harvest needs for a specific crop
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How to use the Pythagorean Theorem to make a garden, greenhouse, or garden shed perfectly square when building it
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Using a reliable statistic to properly collect soil samples so you get useful results
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The Basics of
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Permaculture
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Biodynamics
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Holistic Management
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Georgics
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The basics of herbs
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Biodynamic
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Medicinal
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Culinary
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You will have the opportunity to learn all these things and more! We look forward to learning new things from you, others and Mother Nature together this summer!
- William, Bekah & Abby
The Georgic Schoolroom Team
How will I learn?
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Through daily practice in the garden
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Growing food
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Daily classroom discussion of food production topics
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Reading
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Practicing mindful management
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Observation
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Writing
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Listening
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Spending alone time in nature
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Sitting in your garden in your journal writing what you see
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Allowing other class members to make observations they see about you.
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Making observations about others
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Analyzing our own behaviors in specific situations
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Using the scientific method
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Using the analytical method
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Using the academic method
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Using the divine method
Why are we reading 12 books in 13 weeks before the Georgic schoolroom starts?
These books give context to your experience here and will help you achieve your goals.
I know that a book a week is a lot! But this is not like other classes where people shame you or make you feel bad if you have not read the book and taken notes. On the live Zoom meetings where we discuss the books I will NOT call on you unless you raise your hand and you want to talk or comment on the book. Many people do like to comment, and it is great when they do, but other people learn a lot from observation and listening. I am this way in classes. I love to sit in the back row (unless it is filled with loud and miserable, rude classmates) and observe the entire room. I learn really great things from being an observer instead of a contributor to the discussion. So I get it! I am an introvert and I like a class where everybody participating can be themself without the extroverts forcing the entire class to be like them! I have been in classes and book discussions all my life where people don't come because they are afraid of being put on the spot and felt like they have to apologize for not reading the book. I still want you to have the information so this is why I will be discussing the books and putting the recordings on Youtube. There are many ways for you to get the book through you, most of these books are on Audible, so you can listen to them. If that doesn’t work for you it can be read. Some are not, like mine. I will get it recorded but not before 2025. .
So let me share with you how to read a book, in a paragraph. It is a very sad thing that living in this world has taught us that reading has to be a big hairy monster of notes and remembering and tests, and saying something intelligent in front of classmates. NOT IN THIS CLASS!
Sometimes it is appropriate to read a book that is way above your understanding. You struggle, and study, and dwell in it. You take copious notes and try to remember all the things. You study one page or paragraph for a long time and connect it to other things. That is not the context of this class. Those things can certainly happen for you in this class if that is what you want and it excites you! If it is hard to read or listen to a book for this class, then we need to talk. Here’s my phone number. 435-233-6126. I want you to discover the joy of simply reading a book to see what happens.
Just listen like it is fun! Like leaves dancing on a breeze. A romance to discover. Just to find a tiny portion that gives you true love.
Read and let it happen, and the pieces that you need will appear like diamond dust. No pressure, just discovery.
Why are we reading 12 books in 13 weeks before the Georgic schoolroom starts? These books give context to your experience here and will help you achieve your goals.
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When?
Class starts Monday May 20th, 2024
Class ends Sep 14th, 2024
● You will be here for the summer growing season which is approx. 17 weeks
● Monday - Friday: Daily class of 2 to 4 hours of instruction, daily hands on 4 -5 hours growing food crops.
● Saturday and Sunday are free time days, you can go home for the weekend or stay at the ranch.
Why 17 weeks?
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To see/experience/comprehend the entire growing season so you can become an expert.
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There is power in the experience of the whole season. From seed to harvest you can experience all the daily nuances that can happen along the journey.
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Here in Clover Valley we experience a very short growing season, often close to 17 weeks.
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Growing food in our short harsh climate makes you an expert in other climates that are easier to grow food in.
How old do I have to be to come to this class?
Age for this course: Anyone between the ages of 18 and 103.
I built this program for people seeking serious knowledge of how to grow food. Young adults seeking trade school type training to feed a community as a business venture or to feed your family. Older adults seeking food production skills to feed their communities.
Existing farmers who are struggling financially because they are dependent on the corporate system.
Why does this class exist?
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To learn how to grow food.
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Because it is fun.
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To build the individual and citizen.
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The world needs new food producers creating the healthiest food possible.
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To train new farmers who can successfully grow enough food to feed their community.
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To help farm business owners who need practical food production skills to grow enough food to meet the demand for their customers' needs.
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Find healing in Mother Nature.
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To educate people in practical solutions to the modern environmental challenges.
What we provide:
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Food for students: You can eat from our garden and we supply some groceries. If you don't like what we have you are welcome to purchase your own food but the price remains the same for the class.
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Water. Bring your own water bottle.
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Housing for students: We have two separate houses, one for boys and one for girls. Students will be roommates.
You are welcome to bring your own RV if you do not want to live with roommates but there is no electricity, sewer or water hook ups, so it would be a dry camping situation. Price for the course remains the same for RV. If you have questions text me @ (435)-233-6126
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The class.
What to bring:
The closest Walmart is 40 miles away. The closest Costco is in Salt Lake City or Twin Falls. Make sure to bring everything on this list when you come.
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Personal items: toiletries, hygiene stuff, pillow, sleeping bag, bath towel, soap, shampoo, needed medication, flashlight, lotion, sunscreen and bug repellant.
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Laundry soap and laundry bag.
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Water bottle that you can take with you into the fields.
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Hat, long pants with big pockets, work shirts. (You will want long sleeve shirts for some work projects. Tee shirts are ok.)
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Sturdy work shoes.
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Mud boots. (waterproof type irrigation shoes)
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Pocket knife (You will use it a lot). If you are not used to using a pocket knife regularly then play with it a lot before you come here so you get used to it so you become safe when handling it.
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Notebook for class and what you are learning about the food production process
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Private Journal for recording your personal triumphs and struggles
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Please bring a phone with a camera or a camera. You will use it as a tool to document the progress of your garden.
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A mountain bike with a tarp to keep it covered. It may be fun for you to have a bike, but not required. There are good places to ride a bike during your down time here.
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Snack food, if desired. (Meals are provided)
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Any books you will want to read.
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Minimal Jewelry! Jewelry can be dangerous when doing ranch activities. It can also be easily lost. (no rings)
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Long pants with big pockets so your cell phone doesn't get lost. (girls, good luck. America Eagle is a great brand for big pockets)
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Music. If you have a portable instrument please, feel free to bring it. We love music!
Rules:
The purpose of the rules is to create an atmosphere of positive impact that inspires greatness. If you break rules you go home without a refund:
● Smile
● Patience
● Participation
● Say “I don't know” instead of pretending to know things you don't know.
● No drugs
● No alcohol
● No smoking
● No vaping
● No mean words!
● No breaking laws
● You must be clean cut
● You must wear modest clothing
● Minimal Jewelry! Jewelry can be dangerous when doing ranch activities. It can also be easily lost. (no rings, they can be very dangerous when doing farm work )
● No overnight guests without prior permission
Personal time off?
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Saturdays and Sundays are days off
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If you need personal time away from Clover Valley let me know ASAP so we can plan, organize and take care of your chores and gardens while you are away.
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There will be no refunds of money for the time you are gone.
Holidays:
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The 4th and 5th of July - (This gives you a 4 day weekend)
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Memorial Day - Three day weekend
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Labor day - Three day weekend
Daily routine:
Morning: Wake up early, breakfast, free time, chores, clean living areas, reading, working in your personal gardens, yoga, journal, prayer, scripture, stretching, observations, writing! Be done by 9am
The hands-on portion of class starts at 9am Pacific time each morning we meet in the classroom and have class, outside projects, etc.
12pm to 1pm: Free time, lunch, nap, write, pray, journal, sing, be done by 1pm sharp
1pm Pacific time classroom time for 1 to 4 hours depending on the day and is subject to change.
We will work outside to reinforce the things we learn in class. The majority of the time will be spent growing food in the gardens and greenhouse, and some other jobs as needed, mowing lawns, and doing other random ranch work as needed.
After the work is done for the day your evenings are free for you to do what you love, work in your gardens, school work, etc.
Class concludes about 5pm or 6pm This depends on the work we are doing. When we are planting and harvesting there may be some long days that we work longer.
Hot weather conditions: During very hot weather we may trade afternoon work time for evening work time when the temperatures are lower.