Agriculture
Education & Conservation
Branch Hill Farm’s ever-evolving projects and initiatives continuously enable us to preserve, protect, and learn from our fields, forests, farmlands.
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Educational Gardens
at Branch Hill Farm
A sustainable learning environment.
The Educational Gardens at Branch Hill Farm are a model space for how learning and living occurs in a sustainable world. There can be no life-sustaining planet without life-affirming human systems, we believe there are particular ways of being that we must cultivate if the Earth is to sustain and thrive. Cooperation, communication, grit, compassion, teamwork, and gentleness are just a few of these ways of being, and we seek to model them every day in the gardens.
The Educational Gardens are structured such that all those who come to learn here are immersed while also being supported in work and life here. In the spirit of truly experiential learning, we maintain the gardens as a working, productive enterprise. We have 40+ CSA members, store customers, and food pantry patrons depending on us to deliver on the promise for high quality produce!
“Work is love made visible.” ~Wendell Berry
Production Methods at the Educational Gardens
Our Certified Naturally Grown produce and seedlings are the freshest, highest quality around, and raised bio-intensively without harmful chemicals. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, and yes locally-sourced compost! We utilize people-power, “no-till” practices and use only organic inputs: this means life has the chance to THRIVE in our soil.
We grow on 60 permanent beds totaling about ⅓ of an acre, along with a caterpillar tunnel and greenhouse.
Spring Plant Sale: May 23, 2026
Come by and bring home Certified Naturally Grown vegetable, flower, and herb garden starts.
Educational Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers of all ages are welcome to come learn and contribute in the gardens for a morning, a week, or a season. Garden visitors are expected to dive in and contribute to the work, as ability allows, of producing and distributing our vegetables, herbs, and fruits to the community. People are depending on us to deliver on the promise for high quality produce, so come prepared and expect to be given real work to do!
Volunteers are invited to help us get big jobs done on the following dates in 2026. Snacks provided.
- Saturday, April 4th from 1-4PM
- Saturday, May 9th from 9:30AM-1PM
- Wednesdays 1:30-3:30pm from May 6 – June 17
- Saturday, October 10th from 2-5pm (Potluck & Campfire to follow)
See our “Paid Teen Farm Apprenticeship Program” here!
If you are interested in arranging an opportunity with us for school credit, an internship, or simply for your own personal development, don’t hesitate to reach out! Options abound! Self-motivated younger folks under age 12 are welcome with parental supervision.
We gladly welcome visiting school groups/clubs/homeschoolers to the gardens. Those high school aged and beyond who are ready and willing to learn-by-doing are welcome to volunteer and hop into gardening work. We also welcome field trips, tours of the gardens, and garden-based programming for younger children in Fall 2026.
All inquiries for visiting the gardens should be directed to our Education Program Manager brianna_arnold@branchhillfarm.org.
Educational Gardens Community Partners
Cynthia Wyatt
Blueberry Patch
at Branch Hill Farm
Hay
at Branch Hill Farm
Branch Hill Farm currently stewards just over 80 acres of hay fields. Since 2022 we have committed to using only Organic Material Review Institute (OMRI) certified organic fertilizer. We also practice delayed mowing on most of our fields to the benefit of migratory birds such as the Bobolink and Savanah Sparrow. If you would like to inquire about purchasing hay this season, please call the office at 603-473-2535.
