Year: 2024

“This new facility will provide community learners with a concrete connection between our pastures and the products we grow. Our aim is to offer hands-on experiences that close the knowledge gap on agricultural topics while bringing state standards in subjects like Social Studies and Science to life. We also see this as a chance to teach how we farm for biodiversity using Holistic Management practices, ensuring that actions taken to restore land and livelihoods are ecologically, socially, and economically sound.” – Scott Wingate, Chief Program Officer, Greenacres Foundation

The Buildings and Grounds Team has been busy all summer preparing for the exciting opening of the Nippert Barn. Their efforts are focusing on creating custom features that will enhance this incredible new space at Greenacres.

The team is building custom checkout counters and tables for the new Farm Store, as well as designing engaging displays for the Experience Center and classroom space. These displays will include a native grass root showcase and a bee hive exhibit, offering unique educational opportunities for visitors.

Outside, they’re collaborating with the Garden Department to design new fences and gates along the driveway, and they are working on a custom fence for the Nippert Garden. Additionally, they’re creating a new entrance sign that will warmly welcome guests to the barn.

The Buildings and Grounds Team’s dedication to these projects is helping bring the vision for the Nippert Barn to life, and we can’t wait to share this exciting new space with you soon!

The Equine Department was full of energy this summer, hosting a variety of engaging camps and programs. From our popular rider-themed camps, like Horsin’ Around, to collaboration camps with other Greenacres education departments, the stables were constantly abuzz with activity. In addition, we held several Exploring With Grace programs, where around 140 children had the chance to learn about and interact with our amazing horses. These programs ranged from single-day events to 3-part series, catering to children aged 5-18.

A standout highlight of the summer was our horse painting activity! Children teamed up with a horse to create vibrant abstract masterpieces. Using grain placed on plastic-wrapped canvases, the horses swirled paint across the surface with their muzzles as they nibbled, creating one-of-a-kind designs. It was a fun and memorable experience for everyone involved—including the horses, who showed their excitement by nickering and whinnying as soon as they saw the canvases!

If you haven’t joined one of our farm tours or Ley Field Garden Picnics yet, you might be surprised to learn that we grow flowers in our vegetable gardens. While the bright blooms certainly add beauty to the rows of crops, their true value goes much deeper.

Flowers play a crucial role in companion planting by attracting beneficial pollinators and deterring pests. A stroll through our garden will reveal calendula, zinnias, sunflowers, alyssum, safflower, and chamomile—all strategically planted to support our vegetables.

For instance, calendula attracts beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings, which help keep pests in check. Marigolds, on the other hand, are known for repelling or trapping insects that can damage crops. Bees and other pollinators are also drawn to the flowers, helping to spread pollen across vegetable blooms, which boosts productivity.

By welcoming a variety of beneficial insects, flowers help keep our plants healthier, and in return, the vegetables they produce are more nutritious. Next time you’re tending to your own garden, consider adding flowers to your plot for a vibrant, more productive space!

As part of our future plans, we are excited to expand the program in 2025 to include internships in our Arts and Agriculture Education Departments. Applications for the 2025 cohort will open in March of next year.

We were thrilled to have these passionate individuals join the Greenacres team and look forward to seeing how they apply their skills in the future!

Our Indian Hill campus features underground cisterns with a total capacity of 19,000 gallons, alongside four ponds covering a quarter of an acre each. These cisterns connect to an extensive network of underground pipelines, delivering essential non-potable water to our livestock and supporting the irrigation needs of our greenhouse and Ley field garden. This system of pipes and cisterns is not connected to the Indian Hill potable water system.

This system allows us to meet most of our agricultural water needs independently, reducing our reliance on external sources and creating resilience during periods of low rainfall. Using these resources efficiently allows us to maintain the health of our livestock and crops, even when nature falls short. It’s just one of the many ways we stay true to our mission of sustainable, responsible land stewardship.