CAC Beardsley Community Farm
1741 Reynolds St
Knoxville TN 37921
Contact Information:
865-546-8448
Mission:
CAC Beardsley Community Farm towards a healthier community in Knoxville by providing culturally important produce, accessible education, and land & resources for gardening.
Education Programs:
Student Education - After school programs, Class time programs during school, Field Trips / Day trips, Community classes centered around food, gardening, and natural crafts.
Program Details:
Field trips: A great opportunity for students to see urban farming and sustainable agriculture in action, Beardsley Farm field trips are for k-12 students. We primarily offer two types of trips:
1. Service-learning field trips include a tour of Beardsley Community Farm and light garden work such as planting, harvesting, or weeding. These trips are free to all students.
2. All-inclusive field trips consist of an interactive tour, lessons in the garden with an activity or game, and a healthy snack made with produce from our farm (season permitting). We can tailor their time at the farm to the specific interests, lesson plans, or standards of your class. These trips are $5 per child or free for non-profit organizations and schools with a title one status.
Farm Tours: Tours are available by reservation during visiting hours (Monday through Friday from 9:30am-3:00pm) and are open to students and growers of all ages. All tours are FREE and usually last 30-45 minutes. A friendly member of the Beardsley Farm team will show you around and answer any questions you may have.
Farm Camp: Our summer farm camp is all about food! Each year, we partner with the City’s Parks & Recreation Department to host local summer campers at one of their recreation centers. We explore a variety of topics with our farm team members, including urban and sustainable agriculture, food justice, food waste, cooking, and more!
High School Apprenticeship Program: The Apprenticeship program is an annual program that is offered from June- July to teach high school youth about food systems and soft skills. Apprentices spend six weeks at the farm learning about organic farming, nutrition and cooking, volunteer management, leadership skills, and more. This program is made possible through our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs Youth Force program.
School Gardens Program: The goal of Beardsley Community Farm's School Garden Program is to make eating fresh, healthy foods more accessible and familiar to our community. It achieves this through after school garden clubs, cooking lessons, garden recess time, taste tests, maintaining school gardens, supporting teachers who use the gardens for lessons, and fresh produce distributions with recipe cards. Sites that we serve include: South Knox Elementary, Beaumont Magnet Academy, Western Heights Boys and Girls Club, Sarah Moore Green Elementary School, West View Elementary School, West High School, Lonsdale Elementary, Dogwood Elementary, Norwood Elementary, Maynard Elementary.
Other Programming and Outreach: If you are an organization, school, or community center interested in receiving educational programming or outreach from Beardsley, please reach out to us! We would love to work with you. We are able to facilitate programming and workshops on the farm or at your location. We can cover topics related to gardening, cooking, and natural crafts. We can also table for community events or talk to your group about the work Beardsley does.
Placemaking:
Vegetable gardens, alternative recess spaces, outdoor classroom, pollinator gardens
Educator Programs:
Workshops, Symposia (single day)
Grow, Teach, Knox: Each year we partner with Knoxville Botanical Gardens, Knoxville's Health Department, Tremont, at UT Gardens to provide a symposium to support our local educators. This symposium is designed specifically to show teachers, home school educators, and others different ways in which environmental education can support the needs of their students. Educators will leave empowered to grow a culture of stewardship for the mind, body, and ecosystem in their classrooms.
Website and Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/beardsleyfarm/
https://www.facebook.com/beardsleyfarm/