The Youth Farm as an Outdoor Classroom
As an "outdoor classroom" for all HSPS students, the Youth Farm is a space for hands-on, experiential learning across all learning disciplines. HSPS students participate on the farm through various means, from our customized year-round "Go Green" elective class, to after-school Farm Club, to Wrestling Team "practices," to Summer Youth Employment. In Go Green, students analyze and do hands-on projects about their food system -- from labor issues to corporate control by media to industrialized agriculture. After-school Farm Club is a voluntary club, in which students come out to the Farm and do hands-on work, from soil preparation to planting to carpentry and painting. Through our Summer Youth program, 12 Student farmers are hired to help manage the farm, harvest for our market, perform community outreach, run market cooking demonstrations, lead public tours, and more.
Education and Job Training
The Youth Farm seeks to provide educational experiences and job training opportunities for youth and adults. In addition to our student/youth education, we run a Farm Training Program from April-November, for adults interested in taking their interest in sustainable agriculture to the next level. This four or seven month program includes 20 hours a week on hands-on training, including weekly workshops on all aspects of urban agriculture, rotations in Propagation, Irrigation, CSA, Farmers Markets, and Flowers.
Youth Farm Food and Flowers
The Youth Farm also aims to produce fresh, affordable food and flowers for the HSPS community and our neighbors! In 2011, the Youth Farm grew 15,000 pounds of fresh produce. We grow over 80 varieties of vegetable crops and over 60 varieties of cut flowers. We follow sustainable farming practices and do not use any synthetic pest and pathogen controls, or genetically modified seed. We sell our delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers at affordable prices through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and a weekly farmers market. We also deliver to several Brooklyn restaurants.
Our Team
- Tanzania Roach Youth Coordinator & School Liaison
- Elizabeth Bee Ayer Co-Farm Manager & Market Manager
- Molly Culver Co-Farm Manager & Field Trip Coordinator
- Liz Dowd Assistant Farm Manager
- Stacey Murphy Youth Coordinator & Administrator
- Anita Singh Summer Youth Coordinator
Our Partners
The Youth Farm is partnership between the High School for Public Service, Green Guerillas, bk farmyards, all our dedicated volunteers & customers, the amazing youth of Wingate Campus all and so many others...
Contact Us
Want to visit the farm, get your hands dirty, buy our produce?
