|
Hello Farm Friends,
And here we are in June already! It happens every year and still somehow surprises us! The farm goes from tentative spring green and slower days to full, lush, loud, almost-summer busy-ness almost overnight. The garlic scapes are popping, the bindweed is back, and the kids are out of school and ready for farm adventures. We're moving plants out of the greenhouse and into fields and gardens across Wyandotte County through Let's Grow Wyandotte!, welcomed a new cohort of Farmers on the Rise apprentices, and have Jr. Growers and volunteers on the land and learning with us every single day.
The farm is full of life and full of people, and that's exactly how we like it.
There's a lot growing, and a lot to share with you this month. We're so glad you're here. There are always weeds to pull, and if you'd like to support the work in other ways, a donation goes a long way this time of year. We deeply appreciate your support of this mission.
| | | Land and Soil, Food, Community, and Opportunity | |
Back by popular demand- It's a JUMBLE SWAP!
It's a great reason to clean out your closets, shed, or attic to see what may need a new home, while finding something that needs your home!
When? The Jumble Swap will be held at our Farm Stop on Wed. June 10th from 3-6 pm.
Where? Common Ground: 2443 S. 42nd St. KCKS, 66106
What? A Jumble Swap is an opportunity to share what you don't need anymore with your neighbors, take what you may need, and to keep items useful, without exchanging money. It's free!
How? You can drop off items on Tues. June 9 from 3-5 pm at Common Ground, or bring items with you on Wed. June 10. You'll see a designated Jumble Swap drop booth hosted by Eva and Charlotte. You do not have to bring items to take items. We ask that you only bring what you can carry and avoid large, bulky items like furniture or electronics. Please only bring items that are clean enough and useful to others. We also ask that you do not bring food items. At the conclusion of the swap, we will donate all remaining items within the Wyandotte County community. If you have an idea of a place that could use them, let us know at info@kcfarmschool.org
We hope you find exactly the things you need, while getting your groceries too!
| | | | |
From the greenhouse to the field to your plate,
every Wednesday evening in June!
| | |
Each Wednesday through June from 3-7 pm, more of the seasonal harvest is making its way from field to Farm Stop - late Spring veggies, fresh herbs, local eggs from The Kansas City Food Hub, sourdough bread from Au Contraire, mushrooms, teas, soaps, plants and flowers, and all kinds of goodness grown and made by people we know and love. Farm Share members - we'll see you there!
It's so fulfilling seeing our food, tended and cared for by so many hands, move just a few hundred feet from the farm into the hands of neighbors. There's something even more special about knowing that the food we grow and aggregate at our Farm Stop is nourishing our community and building healthier people, ecosystems, and tomorrows!
This month, we also get to celebrate the longest day of the year together! Our June Monthly Market will be a Solstice Celebration filled with the joy that comes with summer finally settling in. We’ll gather in the evening on Wednesday, June 17th, from 3-7 pm to celebrate abundance and the magic of the farm. Bring a friend, stay awhile, and welcome summer with us.
Park at Common Ground - 2443 S. 42nd St. KC, KS. 66106, and we'll be right there to greet you!
Our veggies are always Pay What You're Able, and we proudly accept Sr. Farmers Market Nutrition Vouchers, SNAP benefits on eligible items, and double the impact with Double Up Food Bucks.
We are soft-opening our Farm Stop on Thursday and Saturday mornings this month as well. If you can't make it on Wednesday, and need local food, stop by the blue house at 4223 Gibbs Road between 9 am and Noon.
| |
| |
Got Cardboard? We use cardboard in all the ways on farm! It mulches our paths, moves things around, acts as a screenprinting backdrop, and more. We appreciate your support! Tape-free, reduced-ink, broken-down cardboard is preferred. If you have a lot of cardboard to share, please reach out to us at volunteer@kcfarmschool.org. Otherwise, feel free to place it in a neat pile on the front porch of the blue house.
Pictured is Gabe, Common Ground Crew, (who just graduated high school, is headed off to boot camp this summer, and has been on our team since middle school!) who uses it in the community garden! Learn more about our community garden here.
| | | | June on the Farm and Around Town | | | | |
It sure feels like summer is HERE, and the farm is alive! And we invite your 4-8 year old Ag Explorers right into the middle of it all!
Ag Explorers is our hands-on Saturday morning program for 4-8 year olds, and June is one of the best times to be on the farm.
THIS Saturday, June 7, 9–11 a.m. kicks off our next monthly session (and it's not too late to register), where we'll explore the farm in almost summer swing: buzzing with pollinators, bursting with harvests, and full of discovery down every path.
We hope your family will join us! Learn more and register here.
| | | | |
Have a farm or agritourism site and want to include education?
Join us on June 9th from 5-8 pm on our farm, for a workshop about how to engage community on-farm! Each farm has a unique feel and learning opportunities. Learn about local farms hosting education on their sites and the practical how to's.
Sacred Earth Arts, Manheim-Paseo Learning Garden, the Giving Grove, Growing Growers Kansas City, and KC Farm School will share how they do education on their farm, practical tips for success, and will give access to some general forms and templates. This is a workshop hosted by KC F.A.R.M.E.R.S Coalition. You can register for the workshop here!
| | | | |
If you know a 9-12 year old who's ready to do more than just visit a farm... Jr. Growers Summer Camp is where it's at this summer!
Jr. Growers spend their days working alongside real farmers and community educators, tending fields, caring for animals, harvesting and cooking their own food, and digging into STEAM activities that make learning feel like anything but school.
Registration is open! Camp runs Monday–Thursday, 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. across eight weekly sessions. We offer Pay What You're Able pricing because we never want financial resources to be a barrier.
We can't wait to meet your Jr. Grower on the farm this summer!
| | | | |
Cookalong with Kate!
Join Kate, Farm Crew + Cookalong Coordinator, at Heart of America Volleyball (548 S Coy St, Kansas City, KS 66105) on June 25th from 12:30-2:30 for a cookalong in partnership with our neighbors at the Armourdale Renewal Association (ARA).
What is a cookalong you ask? Check out our new webpage to learn more, request a cookalong at your event, or explore the cooking resources our team has put together!
| | | | |
Volunteer on-farm, hands-on this June
During the summer, we limit field trips and events as there's so much happening around Gibbs and 42nd Street, but we always make space for volunteers!
Bring the family, your friends, your colleagues, or yourself out to the farm to engage in community-centered agriculture with a mission. We need help of all varieties, all season-long, and simply can't grow a farm at the center of its community without you!
Learn more and sign up to volunteer here.
| |
| | |
We're still stoked to team up with Jack Johnson, as an All At Once Non-Profit Partner on his 2026 Summer Music Tour! He's playing on September 1 at the new Morton Ampitheater in Riverside! You should get tickets and come see us at the Village Green!
As part of this partnership, the Johnson Ohana Foundation is matching donations contributed to KC Farm School through October.
MAKE A DONATION HERE and DOUBLE the IMPACT!
If you were wondering, we drew the raffle winner of two tickets to the show at our May Plant Sale, and the winner is overjoyed!
| | | | |
Garlic scapes are having their moment, and it only lasts about two weeks, so pay attention!
Scapes are the curly, green shoots that hardneck garlic sends up in early June, and they taste a little garlicky, a little grassy, and totally delicious. Catch them while you can at the Farm Stop! Scapes are one of those brief window seasonal treats that make June on the farm so special.
Growing tips: Garlic is a fall-planted vegetable. While October used to be the time to plant, as the climate warms, many farms in KC plant in mid-to-late November. We plant as late into the season as we can before the ground freezes as we hope not to see any sprouting until late February. Bury individual cloves 4 inches deep and 9-12 inches apart, pointy end up and root end down. The greater the spacing you give them, the bigger head they’ll grow! Garlic doesn’t tend to need to be watered, but do mulch well, keep weeded, and by late May, you'll be rewarded with scapes. You can also harvest individual plants as green garlic to enjoy as you would a leek or green onion. Then, in late June or early July when 1/3 if the leaves have died back and the ground is dry; it’s time to dig- not pull as pulling can strip the bulb apart. You can use the garlic immediately or it can be cured to last all winter. Patience can taste so good!
What to do with them: Cook them in a pan or on the grill whole with some oil and salt. Blend them into pesto. Chop them into eggs, pasta, or stir fry. Really, use scapes anywhere you'd normally reach for clove garlic. You could even make a scape compound butter and feel very fancy about it.
Nutritional value: Scapes are a great source of vitamin C, manganese, and allicin, a compound that is immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory.
| | KC Farm School is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire people of all ages, ancestries and abilities on-farm, hands-on to connect to land and soil, food, community, and opportunity. | | | | |
