Bloomsbury Farm School didn’t start as a grand plan — it started as one farmer, one child, one teacher, and a whole lot of listening to what the land and community were asking for.

In this episode, I’m joined by founder and farm owner Lauren Palmer and Director Shannon Wilhelm for an honest conversation about how Bloomsbury grew from a small outdoor experiment into a full farm-based homeschool program — and what it really takes to keep something like this sustainable.

🌱 You’ll hear:
🌾 How Bloomsbury Farm School grew from one family learning inside Lauren's home into a multi-program farm school serving over a hundred children weekly
🌿 Why the combination of nature-based learning and academics filled a real gap for families looking beyond traditional schooling
🐦 What "emergent, child-led learning" looks like in practice - including how teachers pivot lessons based on things like bird migration, seasonal changes, and student curiosity
👩‍🏫 Why hiring and retaining educators who can teach outside, in all weather, with flexibility and heart is one of their biggest ongoing challenges
🚜 The behind-the-scenes realities of running a school on a working farm, from delivery trucks and tractors to icy driveways and shared spaces
💛 The surprise blessings - from deep family trust to watching children grow up connected to land, food, community.

If you’ve ever wondered what it really looks like to build a farm school — beyond the dreamy photos — this conversation pulls back the curtain in the best way.

🔗 Learn more
Bloomsbury Farm School & Bloomsbury Farms
Website: https://www.bloomsburyfarms.com
Instagram: @bloomsburyfarmschool

🌾 Farm Educator’s Roadmap
Website: https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com
Free Guide: https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps
Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
Facebook: @farmeducatorsroadmap
Private Facebook Group: Join us!

Project Grows sits on just five acres in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, but the impact reaches far beyond the fence line. What started as nine human service agencies responding to childhood obesity and food insecurity has become a full ecosystem of farm education, youth jobs, cooking classes, and a mobile market that brings fresh food directly into neighborhoods.

In this episode, I talk with Education Manager Laura Haney about how Project Grows balances production and education, why they’ve shifted from “just for kids” to “for the whole community,” and how they’re constantly adapting their programs as community needs change.

You’ll hear:
🌱 The origin story of Project Grows and how nine agencies turned data on childhood obesity and food insecurity into a working education farm.
🥦 Why they farm differently now—moving from “maximum production” to a mix of diverse, curiosity-sparking crops that are great for both markets and teaching.
🧒 How the Youth Leaders in Agriculture program works as a first paid job for high schoolers, mixing farm work, public speaking, mentorship, and mock interviews.
🚜 What a Youth Leader’s week actually looks like, from greenhouse starts and weeding to leading volunteer groups and visiting partner farms on “X days.”
🏕️ The heart behind their summer camps, and why Laura’s biggest goal is to send kids home a little braver about trying new foods and a lot more curious about farming.
🧑‍🍳 How they use cooking as education, letting kids harvest, chop, and cook simple recipes so they leave with real skills (and not just a one-time tasting).
🏫 Project Grows’ farm to school work, including field trips, Harvest of the Month tastings, and tailored lessons that match what teachers are doing in class.
🥕 The three-part structure of a Project Grows field trip: a focused lesson, a hands-on tasting or recipe, and a real farm task like adding scraps to the compost.
🚌 A peek inside the mobile market, which Laura describes as like an ice cream truck… but for fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, cheese, tofu, and more.
💸 How their fair-pricing model works, with a sliding scale so people choose what they can pay, plus SNAP matching and “Kids Bucks” that give children buying power.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Why they shifted from “kids only” to serving all ages, and how supporting parents and caregivers is key to making kids’ excitement about veggies stick.
🔄 Examples of how they stay flexible, from restarting cooking classes to teaming up with local farmers for extra food boxes when SNAP benefits were cut.
🌾 Laura’s encouragement to other farm educators about partnerships, youth employment programs, and letting your offerings evolve with your community’s needs.

Learn more:
🌐 Project Grows: www.projectgrows.org
👍 Facebook: @projectgrows
📸 Instagram: @projectgrows

Stay connected with the Farm Educator’s Roadmap:
🌐 Website: www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com
📥 Free guide – 5 Simple Steps to Growing an In-Demand Farm Education Program: www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps
📸 Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
👍 Facebook: @farmeducatorsroadmap
👩‍🌾 Private Facebook Community for farm educators: Join us!

Anne Kuehne started out teaching kindergarten and first grade—then saw, up close, how access to fresh food was out of reach for many kids. What began with collecting extra produce from neighbors and showing up (even once with only 15 snap peas and a tub of hummus!) grew into Sproutin’ Up: a youth-powered, community-rooted nonprofit in Fort Collins, CO.

Today, Sproutin’ Up farms a little over an acre near the neighborhoods they serve, runs paid youth programs for ages 9–18, donates food through CSA shares, and turns coffee grounds into compost (and soap!)—all while teaching real job skills and community care.

You’ll hear:
🫐 The “blueberries moment” that sparked Anne’s mission to remove barriers to healthy food
🧑‍🌾 Porch drop-offs → pop-up produce tables → an acre of vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
🐐 Meet Biff & Twig (the very lovable, not-so-hard-working goats) and the chickens & ducks for eggs
🧑‍🍳 Apprentices (9–11) earning stipends, learning nutrition, and cooking in the outdoor kitchen
💐 Budding Philanthropists biking bouquets to a local health center with Bike Fort Collins & Safe Routes
💼 Interns (14–16) building resumes, running the CSA, counseling at summer camp, and making soap
⚡ Oldest youth (18) paid hourly—charging e-bikes by solar, collecting Mugs coffee grounds, and composting
🥕 The CSA model (one sold = one donated) and why they’re shifting toward free shares only next season
💸 Funding mix: grants (about half the budget), donations, fundraisers, CSA, and summer camps
🌦️ Real-world lessons: when beans fail five times, deer eat “at the rate of harvest,” and resilience wins
🤝 How mentors, a starter board of friends, and “you never know who’s in the room” connections changed everything
🔁 Anne’s next-chapter vision: alumni returning to lead the programs and a full-circle youth pipeline

Learn more:
Website: sproutinup.com (no “g” in Sproutin’)
Facebook: @sproutinup
Instagram: @sproutin_up

Farm Educator’s Roadmap Links
Website: farmeducatorsroadmap.com
Free guide: farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps
Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
Facebook: @farmeducatorsroadmap
Private FB Group: Farm Educator’s Roadmap Community