Upper Valley Farm to School Network 2023 Mini-Grant Projects
Twelve Upper Valley schools and early childcare centers were awarded mini-grants to support Farm to School projects this year! These…
The Upper Valley Farm to School Network brings together educators, farmers, and community members to integrate local food and farms into the classrooms, cafeterias, and communities of our region. Our staff is available to help you with your farm-to-school projects, be they large or small. Find out about our services and resources, and connect to other FTS schools.
Each year, Vital Communities Farm To School Program offers mini-grants (currently up to $700 each) to support farm-to-school projects in the Upper Valley. These grants can help your school, afterschool program, or school-related wellness program launch (or continue) projects related to farms, our agricultural heritage, farm products, food production, or local food consumption at the school.
All schools in the Vital Communities Service area are welcome to apply! Reach out to Andrew Deaett (andrew@vitalcommunities.org) with any questions or for assistance. We are excited to support your farm to school projects.
Twelve Upper Valley schools and early childcare centers were awarded mini-grants to support Farm to School projects this year! These…
Are you looking to connect your Farm to School program with more community partners? The C.R.A.F.T program at Woodstock Union…
Spring is here and at Bradford Elementary School, Farm to School coordinator Katie Cole is gearing up for another gardening…
We had an amazing group of projects that were supported this year through our mini-grant program. Read below to see…
Ten Upper Valley schools and day care facilities have been awarded $500 mini-grants to support farm-to-school projects this year! These…
“Food is nourishing,” said Craig Locarno, food service director for the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union, when asked why it’s so…
I hope this note finds you all healthy and adjusting to the routines of remote learning and teaching. I know my family…
Over these past few weeks I have experienced waves of anxiety and sadness, and at the same time such gratitude.…
Kale. Carrots. Beets. Potatoes. Powerkraut®! These are just a few of the delightful local foods I’ve received from Root 5…
Meet Your Local Farm to School Network! The Upper Valley Farm to School Network invites you to gather in…
Join Upper Valley Farm to School Network as we learn how to make the dough! King Arthur Flour…
Join Upper Valley Farm to School and Vermont FEED for a Level I Professional Learning Course: Cultivating Farm to School.…
Newbury Elementary School: “The Newbury Elementary School has been enjoying the fruits of many labors with the success of our first “Grow-a-Row”…
Sharon Elementary School: “Our gardens are put to bed, but the cooking and learning continue here at Sharon. The first…
Celebrate National Farm to School Month in October October is National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate connections…
“Love your Farmer” Scavenger Hunts at participating farmers’ markets in the Upper Valley, to Celebrate New Hampshire Eat Local Month…
Planning for the Future in Newbury We ended the school year with various classes “adopting” raised “laboratory” beds, perennial, and…
Growing Gardens in Canaan In the winter of 2015-2016 it was brought to my attention that Canaan Elementary School would…
Tunbridge Students Try Taste Tests Tunbridge Central School students spent time in May and June exploring foods through snack-time taste…
Abundant Variety at Unity! Unity Elementary School’s greenhouses are looking better than ever! Our school’s Builders Club members, a community service…
Ottauquechee Farm-to-School-to-Forest! This Spring our Farm-to-School Mini-Grant allowed us to get creative and local with cooking in our Forest Kindergarten outdoor classroom.…
Sharon Farm and Field Day a Success! On Thursday, May 26th, we enjoyed our annual Farm and Field Day! Children…
Garden Expansion at the Newton School! We are deep into planting our three new field plots and our regular raised beds,…
Perennial Maintenance at Thetford! Students from all grades have planted in most of our 13 raised beds, our pumpkin patch,…
Trek to Taste, an annual celebration of trails, local food, and healthy living will be hosted at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park and Billings…
We are getting ready for spring in Hartland! • Our K-2 pod has plants growing for our gardens outside. The…
Groovy Growers at Dothan Brook Dartmouth’s Growing Change was excited to use its grant from Vital Communities this year to…
Spring has sprung at Newbury Elementary School! There’s been a lot of planning for our “lab gardens” here at NES. …
Season-Extending Techniques for Your School Gardens Are you the lone garden volunteer at your school through the summer months? Is…
We’ve planted our garden beds on the south facing walls. We’ve put in radishes, lettuce and carrots. It’s an early…
Thetford Elementary Continues to be a model school with our award winning recycling program, school gardens, composting system, and our…
The Tunbridge Central School first and second grade classrooms have been busy hatching eggs. They hatched chickens the last week…
Last week I joined the Hartland Elementary School’s farm to school committee. Forming a farm to school committee is one…
We are busy planning our Farm and Field Day that will take place in June. We are contacting farmers and…
The Friday before vacation the first and second graders at Hartland Elementary School participated in a nutritious cooking program. They…
Third and fourth grade students from Strafford’s Newton School grew seven types of soil sprouts in the classroom. Students each…
The soups keep coming! Using our garden harvest we have just tasted our third soup. This time the 5th grade…
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Making it Happen At School Being mindful of waste is good for the planet, is educational, saves…
Most of the districts around the supervisory union were able to plant garlic for the first time last month. November was…
An end of year highlight at TES was the First Grade farm stand. Every day after school the week before…
Strafford’s Newton School students are creating a variety of farm and food based gifts to sell at the town craft…
The 3rd grade class at Upper Valley Waldorf School has had many gardening and farming experiences so far this School…
The third annual Taste of Tunbridge community dinner was a huge success. We had a fantastic crowd of more than…
Join Upper Valley Farm to School and Vermont FEED for Integrating Farm to School into the Classroom with Common Core…
What a growing season! Most of our gardens have been put to bed, but we are still harvesting some herbs,…
Newbury Elementary School hosted the Third Annual FarmRaiser on the Newbury Common in October. Many local farmers were present selling their…
The Marion Cross Elementary School community enjoyed the fruits of the school garden harvest at the Open House event in…
Second graders at Hanover Street School in Lebanon, NH are currently collecting change to buy a goat through Heifer International.…
Things are humming at Newbury Elementary! Our raised beds and gardens yielded some delicious crops for our kitchen: potatoes, squash,…
Woodstock Union Middle High School started off the year with potato harvesting, seed saving, pesto and pickle making and more!…
USDA Procurement Regulations and Farm to School Practices Presented by Stacey Purslow, NH Farm to School program coordinator USDA Procurement regulations regarding…
A highlight for TCS students in September is, of course, visiting the Tunbridge World’s Fair. On Thursday, Sept 17, the…
We continue to harvest from our gardens! Our lunch has featured roasted root veggies, kale chips and fresh salad fixings…
Marion Cross Elementary students in Norwich have been harvesting the school garden during “elective” time on Wednesdays. Every year our…
Around WSESU the gardens are in various stages of use and bloom! In Windsor the new raised beds are full of…
The Thetford Elementary School gardens are simply stunning this year. The apple and pear trees, the fall raspberries, and the…
This week Newton Elementary School in Strafford will begin harvesting their awesome Pizza Garden. The Grade 3-5 students will clip…
Unity Elementary’s salad bar features tomatoes and cucumbers from our small but growing garden! We are looking forward to starting…
We are back in session and our gardens are in full bloom! During our First Day celebration students harvested veggies.…
Our seven school lunch beds, six theme beds, raspberries, blueberries, and fruit trees are all doing spectacularly well this year.…
For the 7th year in a row, the Woodstock Union Middle and High School Farm to School groups served up…
The pizza-garden wheat and “sauce veggies” are thriving thanks to a perfect mix of sun and rain this summer. “Stone…
Upper Valley Farm to School will host a Vermont Community Garden Network Grow it! workshop in White River Junction. Join…
The Westshire Elementary School students were eagerly awaiting spring planting time. Last year’s gardens were just a big beautiful memory…
The Tunbridge Central School held their second annual “Garden Day” on Thursday, May 28. Students and teachers celebrated and enjoyed…
What is the buzz all about at Maple Avenue Elementary School in Claremont, NH? The pollinator garden! Students in Mrs. Tetu’s 4th…
Hartland Elementary School is very pleased and excited to show what we have been doing with our mini-grant from UVFTS.…
At the Ledyard Charter School our classroom greenhouse has been a great success. A variety of students have been able…
The PAWS (Program After Weathersfield School) program has taken this UVFTS grant opportunity to learn more about the edible flowering…
We are thankful and excited about our gardening! For many of the children it was their first hands-on experience…
Third and fourth graders at Reading Elementary School learned about Native America in social studies. Students discovered that corn was…
Since receiving a farm-to-school mini- grant we identified areas around the school for perennials and vegetable plants for our pollinator garden and edible landscape projects. We…
Tunbridge Central School students have participated in two farm-to-school taste tests this spring, and have one more to go before the…
Here in Newbury we’re getting underway with our implementation grant by taking a close look at the costs of running our salad…
Our latest Partner Up included planting seeds and creating a mini book “How a Seed Grows” to celebrate Health and Wellness week at the school. During…
Unity students, staff, parents, and community members will be working together to construct a butterfly/herb garden this spring. The first step in…
The big news at Sharon in March was our Iron Chef teams claiming two of the three categories at the VT Junior Iron Chef competition.…
On Friday, April 3rd, the Tunbridge middle school students visited the Bogardus Family sugar house, spending the morning helping gather buckets of sap, and the afternoon participating…
Marion Cross students are tapping, tasting, and boiling! We are learning how to identify maples and how the tree makes the sweetness it is sharing…
Woodstock Union High School and Middle School Farm to School program is sliding sweetly into spring. The Locally Grown class has been sugaring at the…
This spring, Dartmouth students involved in the Growing Change Project were eager to plant our garden at Dothan Brook School…
Adams Family Farm Alice’s Kitchen Angry Goat Pepper Co. Ariana’s Restaurant B&W Catering Big Fatty’s BBQ Blue Ox Farm Cedar…
Teaching from the Garden: Using Gardens to Enhance Student Learning Did you know that a shovel is not just a gardening…
The day we were to plant our children’s garden at the Shaker Museum the pelting rain sent us inside to…
With cold temperatures and plenty of snow outside, I think we’ve all been longing for some greenery – and that is what…
We completed our planning grant in December.The grant allowed us to pursue our dream of creating a sustainable salad bar program…
Sharon has been busy tasting new foods. The kindergarten class made, Confetti Soup for our most recent taste test. It is a turkey based…
With the help of the Upper Valley Farm to School mini-grant that we received this year, Hanover Street School is…
February Farm-To-School Educational Forum: Let the Good Times Roll! Join Upper Valley Farm to School as we “rise” to the…
Winter squash is versatile, delicious, and healthy. This fruit makes a comforting soup, a sweet side, or a fabulous main…
One of Chelsea Public School’s goals for their farm-to-school program was to build a wood-fired oven. Despite not receiving a grant…
Did you know that apples are in the Rosaceae (rose) family and are related to strawberries? That interesting fact is…
We joyously welcome the Upper Valley Farm to School Network to Vital Communities. UVFTS has joined our Valley Food &…
Move over, wrapping paper and candy bars: Here comes FarmRaiser. Vital Communities is currently seeking schools to participate in…
Some of the best Farm to School activities emerge naturally from a teacher’s own creativity. While studying the Industrial Revolution,…
Here we are, in the dead of winter, yet the animals are responding to the increased day length. Chickens have begun laying eggs…
All four schools in the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union are keeping busy this winterwith farm to school. Some of the schools…
December was a busy month for taste tests at Sharon! The fourth graders started us off with awonderful Tuscan Smoked Turkey…
We finished up our farm-to-school planning grant, and in the December request for news already reported on our grand finale, the Harvest…
In recent years, Marion Cross sixth graders read the inspiring little book, “Seedfolks.” Thisbook is a story of the creation of a…
The Harvest Lessons Program on Whole Grains was led by Woodstock High School students that are taking the course, Locally Grown. The students…
As our Farm-to-School Planning Grant winds down here at Newbury Elementary School, one of our culminating initiatives was to host a Farm-to-School…
Barnard Feast and Field Market willhost a holiday market and fundraiserfor Barnard’s Farm-to-School Program December 18 at the Barnard Town Hall from 4:30-7:30…
Grades 3, 4 and 5 launched their Colonial Studies unit with an authentic Colonial Thanksgiving. Families prepared dishes at home to contribute to the…
Randolph Elementary hosted a Harvest Festival in October to help fund local foods for our cafeteria. Art students made chili bowls to…
In addition to the normal late fall activities of taste-testing blue Hubbard squash and putting gardens to bed, we have also…
Marion Cross Elementary students in Norwich dedicated their fall harvest to soup ingredients for the “Giving Bowls” fundraising event that was held in…
Hanover Street School held its annual Open House in October. The after-school Garden Club saw it as an opportunity to showcase their efforts.…
Four needy families in Plainfield will benefit form our PES school garden for their holiday meal this year. Twenty pounds of…
The cool weather is starting to settle in and for the most part, the Sharon gardens are put to bed, except…
Fall gardens are being put to bed. The carrots that our 1/2 class grew last year are BIG and ready to harvest for…
Friday, October 10, sixth graders Josh Ducharme and Hunter Davenport loaded up the wheelbarrow with fresh carrots and potatoes from the…
Woodstock’s Farm to School program had great success running a pie-raffle during parent-teacher conferences this year! Tons of faculty members offered their time…
TCS grades 3 and 4 helped dig an enormous pile of potatoes at Chapman Family Farm in early October. A portion of…
All the schools in the Windsor South East Supervisory Union are busy! In Hartland the kitchen continues the tradition of offering taste tests twice…
“One of Chelsea’s goals for our farm-to-school program was to build a wood fired oven. Despite not receiving a grant to support the project,…
“Our new HSS garden has been very active this past month. During mini garden tours for all our classrooms the second week…
“Woodstock Union Middle High School has had an exciting fall! Our fourth annual Zucchinator contest brought in zucchinis and squashes of all shapes…
“The Taste of Tunbridge community potluck dinner featuring local foods highlights the beginning of October for Tunbridge Central School. Each grade cooked and contributed dishes…
“All our students have been busy with farm-to-school activities. The K’s visited Wellwood Orchard to learn about apples and are now drying…
“All of our gardens are in full bloom and we have been harvesting daily. Currently all classroom-based gardens have been harvested…
“All of the students and staff in grades K-5 enjoyed the beautiful weather as Mr. Woodie read and portrayed a rendition…
We have been planting our gardens and working on a planting guide for next year so we can maximize our…
“This summer, dozens of kids from the Windsor Central Supervisory Union descended upon the gardens at Woodstock Union Middle High School and Woodstock…
I had the pleasure of visiting Marjie Bish and her group of dedicated volunteers in their school garden at Hanover Street School in Lebanon, NH. This…
“Here in Newbury we’ve had a successful growing summer. We procured a small grant to pay a staff member to tend the…
“Wow, what a summer it has been forgardening! As we start our new school year, the harvesting will begin. During…
“Thanks to a big load of manure donated by our neighbors, the Vermont Alpaca Company, our Abenaki flint corn is over 6′…
We joyously welcome the Upper Valley Farm to School Network to Vital Communities. UVFTS has joined our Valley Food &…
“The Windsor Central Supervisory Union is running anew program called Summer SOAK and a part of that is a gardening program…
“A team of five staff from The Newton School attended the Farm-to-School Institute in Shelburne for an inspiring 3 days of great…
“Local photographers have been busy this spring and summer capturing images of Tunbridge farmers to showcase in a farmer portrait project we plan…
“We made pizza with yellow peppers, basil, 2 cherry tomatoes, and some fresh grated zucchini. Last week we started picking Japanese beetles…
On May 1st, UVFTS led a school compost tour! Nine FTS practitioners from all over the Upper Valley and beyond…
Project Manager, Place-Based Education (he/him)
Andrew joined Vital Communities in July of 2022 as a Project Manager in Place-Based Education, including heading the Farm to…