We're your friendly neighborhood garden experts

 Poughkeepsie Farm Project supports educators to develop and use gardens as centers of learning, and fosters community member capabilities to grow, prepare, and preserve their own food.

School-based programs can play an important role in promoting lifelong healthy eating. The more positive exposure children have to nutritious foods, the more likely they are to incorporate these foods into their day. 

Join PFP educators in learning practical strategies for effective health promotion in and out of the classroom. In this workshop, we share:

• Materials for use in the classroom

• Examples of crop plans for an edible harvest

• Ways to engage parents in the process

• Nutrition and cooking lessons that align with learning standards

• Nutrition information in an understandable format

School gardens serve as outdoor classrooms that can help develop resilient youth and enhance student learning in many academic subjects, especially science, math, and nutrition. PFP partners with new and existing school gardens by providing training and technical assistance with the goal for the gardens to become fully integrated into the curriculum and academic landscape. We provide:

• Garden Planning Advice

• Seeds and Seedlings

• Curriculum materials including gardening videos

Registration for the summer institute is now closed. Thank you for your interest and please keep checking back for more on these events.

The summer institute is designed to help educators integrate gardens into their teaching. We cover topics in literacy, social studies, science, math, and nutrition, as well as build knowledge about sustainable agriculture, food systems, social justice, and ecological gardening practices. Join us for three days of hands-on learning!

2019 Using Gardens to Teach – Building Community

This year we will examine gardens not merely as knowledge-building tools for young people, but as vehicles that empower youth to celebrate diversity in their communities. Educational gardens serve as a natural context for connecting with others and promoting dignity and the joy of meaningful collaborative work. Through the critical lenses of social justice, equity, and inclusion, we will focus on the ways we can use gardens to promote the development of positive social skills, emotional regulation, and friendship. In addition, we will provide examples of how to use the history of and literature about food and farming to demonstrate how young people can create positive change in their communities.

Learn to use your educational garden to:

• Learn to use your educational garden to:

• Develop a learning community

• Prevent bullying and biased behavior

• Celebrate diversity in its many forms

• Advocate for inclusion and social justice

• Enhance instruction in academic subjects