May is always a busy month for the city of Bottineau, and it is no different for
the Horticulture Department at Dakota College. Not only are they getting ready for graduation,
they are also finishing the semester, getting ready for their annual plant sale, hiring for summer
workers, and managing the Greenhouse and campus high tunnels and gardens. This last semester
was one for the history books. There was a record number of “snow days” where classes had to
be cancelled due to the weather. There was also a damaging storm that swept through the state in
April and damaged all of the high tunnels on campus as well as some trees. The horticulture
program had 2 graduates while the Ag program had 7.

For the Agriculture program, it was their second year of doing 12 week classes. These classes
were made to be 12 weeks so that students could start internships early due to the fact that
“many Ag jobs want people to start in the early spring {and} many students have taken
advantage of this” states Linda Burbidge, Agriculture Instructor and Advisor at Dakota College.
For the Horticulture program, it was a very busy semester as they were preparing for the campus
gardens, city planters and the annual plant sale. The Greenhouse Manager position has become
vacant so the practicum students became involved in seeding and propagating plants. According
to Keith Knudson, head of the Horticulture Department, “it gives them the knowledge and skills
they will need when they begin their careers.”

With every school year comes new challenges. For the Ag program the weather was a big
challenge. Not only did students miss class time, but they also had a hard time trying to find a
good day to fly drones and they sometimes had to schedule time outside of their normal classes.
For the Horticulture program, their biggest challenge was and still is filling key positions. The
Greenhouse Manager position is not presently filled and this position is vital in the program
because this individual works directly with students to assist in developing necessary skills for
their future careers. Hopefully next year will bring some brighter days for the students, staff and
faculty. A new year brings new students. With some students returning, they will be able to talk
about their experiences at DCB and encourage juniors and seniors at surrounding high schools to
consider Dakota College for their higher education experience.

While students may be away for the summer, Dakota College is still busy getting ready for the
next school year. The Greenhouse will be busy planting plants around campus and providing
planters for the City of Bottineau. Hemp trials will also be taking place on Dakota College’s
campus. Linda will be working on developing materials for her new World Food Crops lab. She
is also attending a conference in Salt lake City that will provide information and guidance on
expanding and developing more curriculum for her drone courses.

Breanna Blue, ECH Administrative Assistant 

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With a new building on campus, comes landscaping ideas as well. In the summer of 2021, Dakota College of Bottineau started a new project on campus of building a new dining center for their students. This would open up a new area for students to eat, study and reminisce with each other. The design of the project also gave the dining center a cement patio area for students as well as a lawn area that wasn’t available previously. The horticulture department took this task and made this a project for the practicum students to tackle. According to the blueprints, the students had roughly 236 square feet to work with. Three students put their minds together and created a beautiful plan for this area. Eric Hildebrand, Dustin Gilseth, and Jessica McInnes started working on this project at the beginning of April and had presented their project ideas to Dr. Migler, Christopher Nero, director of physical plant services, and Keith Knudson, Head of Horticulture Department on May 2nd. “This will be one of the most visible landscaping projects on campus, as it will be seen by everyone who is using the dining center” states Dr. Migler, dean of Dakota College at Bottineau.

The students decided to make their designs a continuation of the pollinator garden that is already established on campus, which also happens to be in that area as well. This will also create a “no spray no mow” area. Because this is a continuation of the pollinator garden, the plants are deer and rabbit resistant and are specific for bees, birds, and other pollinators. According to Jessica McInnes, the students wanted to “have a cohesive theme by incorporating plants that already exist at other locations on campus {and} with the certified pollinator garden being the closest existing flowerbed it was a no-brainer.” This will also require little maintenance and “serve as a barrier between the areas of campus that are sprayed with chemicals and heavily mown” states Jess. Dr. Migler, Chris and Keith were all delighted that the students took it upon themselves to incorporate their project with the existing pollinator garden on campus.

There are going to be a plethora of plants associated with this project. Each student was asked what plant(s) they were most excited for. “I’m a huge fan of the prairie grasses we chose to implement in the design. Karl Foerster and Prairie Dropseed to be specific. The height and movement of these grasses seem to bring the design alive and give it that final touch we all seem to seek,” states Dustin. Eric is most excited about the Arctic Fire Dogwoods. According to him, “it is a perennial shrub that has four season appeal.” The Micro Clover Lawn is what Jess is most excited about. This lawn will bring important nutrients back to the soil and it will have an inviting green space for individuals to enjoy.

Some might ask how this project will benefit the school and future students. According to Chris Nero, Physical Plant Director, “a beautiful, landscaped area improves the quality of life for our students and it’s great for future students trying to decide where they may go to school.” Not only will it be a visually appealing area for students, it is also an area to showcase the horticulture department on campus. This project goes to show that the classes the students are required to take help tremendously with real-world tasks that they may face in their career plan. “All of our classes are meant to prepare students for real life situations, and when the landscape project was brought up, I immediately wanted to incorporate it into their studies” states Keith Knudson, Head of Horticulture Department. All three students stated that their professors and classes did a phenomenal job in preparing them for this project.

This is just the start of landscaping projects for the Horticulture Department. According to Dr. Migler, there are going to be similar projects in the future. Once renovations have been completed “there will be a need to develop a landscape plan for Old Main and also the new CTE Center in Minot,” states Dr. Migler. These projects are a great learning exercise and gives the students “something to be proud of” according to Chris. While the Jess, Dustin and Eric will not be here when the renovations are completed for Old Main and the new CTE Center, they certainly have something to be proud of for many years to come. “For the future, I have learned to take a step back and look at whatever I’m working on through a bigger lens. Everybody sees certain things differently, so when working on a project like this it can be hard to focus on the little details that you may not notice at first glance” according to Dustin.

A placard is being made with the students name and picture to be put up in that area to recognize them and all of their time and effort they have put in to make this design come to life.

Breanna Blue, ECH Administrative Assistant 

Not many individuals would think that the Horticulture Department at Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) would hold a fish fry every semester. On May 3rd, the horticulture practicum students were busy harvesting Tilapia. The Tilapia came from the aquaponics greenhouse that is located on campus. According to Keith Knudson, Department Chair, and Instructor for the Horticulture Department, stated that “Tilapia are preferred for aquaponics systems because they are very tolerant to water quality and water temperature, which is ideal when teaching students how to properly care for aquaponics systems.” These fish are also very food tolerant, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money on expensive fish food.

While the students started harvesting the Tilapia on Tuesday, the process actually started on Sunday, May 1st, when Jess McInnes, horticulture student, transferred the fish to a clean purge tank where they stayed for two days. “Doing this essentially allows the fish’s system to flush out before harvesting to make sure the filets taste clean and fresh,” said Jess. On Tuesday, Jess got the assembly line ready by transferring the fish to an ice bath to “shock” their system. The fish stayed in the ice bath for about an hour until the harvesting started.

The students harvested 57 Tilapia which produced about twelve pounds of filets! On Wednesday, the fish fry was held outside the Greenhouse, by the parking lot for students, faculty, and staff to enjoy. A table was set up to include the filets, ingredients for fish tacos, vegetables, freshly squeezed lemonade and a cheesecake for dessert.

Breanna Blue, ECH Administrative Assistant