Farm to Table Kids: Betting on Yourself, Following Nature, and Rebuilding Again

Stephanie McDonough’s journey is a powerful reminder that farm education isn’t tied to one piece of land — it’s rooted in purpose, persistence, and heart. From childhood days in her grandfather’s flower garden to building thriving farm camps and school partnerships, Steph’s path has been anything but linear.

In this episode, Steph shares the deeply personal story behind Farm to Table Kids — including land loss, reinvention, and why she believes nature always shows us the next step, if we’re willing to listen.

You’ll hear:
🌸 How gardening with her grandfather shaped her lifelong connection to nature
🏀 Why she left a successful business career (including the NBA) to follow a deeper calling
🌱 How a simple moms’ garden class in her backyard unexpectedly turned into a movement
🍅 What restaurant gardens taught her about community, scale, and teaching kids through food
😥 How her son's stage 4 cancer diagnosis changed everything - and why staying close to her kids shaped her next business decisions
💔 The heartbreaking moment she lost her farm lease — and how she found the courage to start again
🌻 How she rebuilt Farm to Table Kids at new locations, including a Waldorf school campus and a partner farm
🏕️ The behind-the-scenes story of launching a summer farm camp during one of the hardest seasons of her life
🏫 How schools and organizations found her through social media — and what makes partnerships thrive
📋 Why she shifted from nonprofit to LLC, and how that decision helped her stay nimble
🌿 Her honest advice for educators navigating burnout, uncertainty, or major life transitions

This conversation is full of grit, grace, and reassurance that starting where you are — even in a backyard — can lead to something lasting.

Learn more about Steph & Farm to Table Kids
🌐 https://www.farmtotablekids.org
📸 Instagram: Farm to Table Kids
🌼 Personal account: Farmer Steph

The Farm Educator’s Roadmap
🎧 Podcast + resources: https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com
📘 Free guide: https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps
📸 Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
📘 Facebook: @farmeducatorsroadmap
🤝 Private Facebook Group: The Farm Educator’s Roadmap Community

Letting the Land Lead: Growing a Farm Education Business One Step at a Time at Heritage Creek Farm

Cindi Hughes is the founder of Heritage Creek Farm & Education Center, and in this episode, she shares the very real, very grounded story of how she built her farm education programs over the past 14 years — without growing up on a farm, without a formal education background, and without chasing constant expansion.

From a childhood garden and food preservation to a career in accounting, Cindi’s path shows how life experience, patience, and thoughtful systems can come together to create a deeply authentic, sustainable farm education business. This conversation is full of insight for anyone wondering how to actually start, how to pace growth, and how to stay aligned with your values along the way.

You’ll hear: 🌱
🌻 How a childhood garden and preserving food shaped Cindi’s passion for farm education
🍽️ Why accounting and restaurant work turned out to be powerful preparation for entrepreneurship
🏕️ What Heritage Creek looked like in the very beginning — just a few weeks of camp and lots of volunteers
🌾 How Cindi let the farm itself (not themes or lesson plans) become the driver of her programming
🤝 Why word-of-mouth and community connections have been her primary form of marketing
💰 How education became the farm’s “cash crop,” even when food production is part of the picture
🔄 What “Full Circle Learning” looks like on the ground — blending agriculture, history, art, and practical life skills
🧮 A powerful example of integrating math, farming, and business through a school Mobile Market program
🌳 Why unstructured free play is intentionally built into the daily rhythm of camp
📋 How advanced preparation (not expensive software) keeps the business side sustainable
🥕 How the CSA evolved into a farm-to-table experience directly connected to camp families
🌱 Encouragement for new farm educators to ask for help and lean into community

Learn more about Heritage Creek Farm & Education Center
🌐 Website: https://www.heritagecreekfarmcamp.com
📘 Facebook: Heritage Creek Farm Camp

Farm Educator’s Roadmap
🌱 Website: https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com
🎁 Free Guide: 👉 https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps
📸 Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
📘 Facebook Page: @farmeducatorsroadmap
👩‍🌾 Private FB community for farm educators: Join us!

If this episode resonated with you, please follow the podcast, leave a review, and share it with another farm educator who might need this encouragement.

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

Fernbrook Farms is a living mosaic: education center, CSA, wholesale nursery, and a historic inn—braided together by one family’s multi-generation love of land and learning. In this conversation, Brian Kuser shares how Fernbrook’s “one farm, many doors” model works day-to-day—and why diversity (in programs and people) is their superpower.

From Saplings preschool naps outside to market-style CSA pickups in the farm shop, you’ll hear how logistics, staffing, and smart choices turn a complex operation into an inviting community hub.

You’ll hear:
🌱 How Fernbrook grew from a family legacy into a multi-enterprise farm that still feels like home
🐣 Inside the Saplings outdoor preschool (capacity, staffing, and those all-weather days)
🚌 Homeschool & school programs: semester structure, age ranges 3–17, and why continuity matters
🌞 Summer camp at scale: 160+ campers a week, nine weeks, and the magic that keeps waitlists long
🥕 CSA logistics: market-style pickups, farm-shop flow, and why they ended off-farm deliveries
🌳 The wholesale nursery: propagation, shared resources, and seasonal fundraising crossovers
🏡 The Inn & events: farm-to-table dinners, weddings, and blending guest hospitality with mission
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Staffing reality: education team of 12 year-round; seasonal surges across nursery, CSA, and Inn
💸 Pricing & capacity: what they watch, what they tweak, and how they avoid over-stretching
💡 Advice for beginners: join the Farm-Based Education Network and hire educators to teach

Learn more:
Fernbrook Farms — fernbrookfarms.com
Facebook: @fernbook.farms

Farm Educator’s Roadmap links:
• Website: farmeducatorsroadmap.com
• Free guide: Five Simple Steps
• Instagram: @farmeducatorsroadmap
• Facebook: @farmeducatorsroadmap
• Private FB Group: Farm Educator’s Roadmap Community

Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley Farm to School is proof that you don’t need your own farm to make a huge impact on kids, cafeterias, and local growers. Instead, they weave together partnerships with schools, teaching farms, and food service staff to bring real food and hands-on learning right where kids already are.

In this episode, I’m joined by Education Program Manager Ellie Thompson and Lead School Partnership Educator Elise Pfrommer, who share how they build relationships across districts, support teachers, and help move local food into school meals—while keeping education and community at the center.

You’ll hear:
🌱 How Ellie and Elise each found their way into farm-to-school work—from chicken farm childhoods to bilingual environmental education
🏫 What Rogue Valley Farm to School’s model looks like without a home farm, and how they balance working across multiple farms and school sites
🥕 A peek inside their Digging Deeper partnerships: weekly garden classes, tasting tables, and farm field trips for school districts
🍽️ The behind-the-scenes logistics of connecting local farmers with school cafeterias—and how they help kitchens actually use fresh, local produce
📚 Ways they support busy classroom teachers with ready-to-go curriculum that ties into standards and testing requirements
🤝 How relationships, not perfection, are at the heart of their work with schools, farmers, and families
🌍 Their equity-minded shift toward delivering farm programs through in-school cooking lessons and family programs
💡 Practical first steps for educators and farmers who want to start farm to school programming—especially if you don’t have a farm of your own

Learn more:
Rogue Valley Farm to School links:
🖥️ Website: https://www.rvfarm2school.org
👍 Facebook: @rvfarm2school
📸 Instagram: @rvfarm2school

Farm Educator’s Roadmap links:
🖥️ Website – https://www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com
📥 Free guide: 5 Simple Steps to Growing an In-Demand Farm Education Program
📸 Instagram – @farmeducatorsroadmap
👍 Facebook – @farmeducatorsroadmap
👩‍🌾 Private Facebook Group for Farm Educators – Join here

Fiddlehead Care Farm is a therapeutic farm in Ontario where counseling meets animals, gardens, and woodland trails. Founder and director Stephanie Deaken shares how growing up with a sister with Down syndrome, a “dream job” in a children’s hospital, and a move to a dairy farm all converged into a place where kids and families can breathe easier.

In this conversation, we explore why Stephanie is a therapist first and a farmer second—and how a therapy pig named Luna, garden beds, and a 20-pound beet can unlock social skills, confidence, and real relief.

You’ll hear:
🐖 How animal-assisted and nature-based therapy work at a real farm
🌳 What 50 acres of forest, barns, and raised beds look like as a clinical setting
🪴 Why Fiddlehead doesn’t require a diagnosis—and how that widens access
👥 Group magic: teamwork, social skills, and the “giant beet” breakthrough
📈 Impact at scale: 750+ kids served last year with a tiny part-time team
🛠️ Running a care farm: safety, staffing, funding, and starting a greenhouse
💼 Future vision: employing neurodiverse youth to grow and sell produce
🗺️ Getting started: the skills, credentials, and networks new care-farmers need

Learn more:
Fiddlehead Care Farm — fiddleheadcarefarm.com
Facebook: @GrowWithFCF
Instagram: @growwithfcf

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 (come join us!)