ABCs of Farm-Based Education Workshop Returns for 2022

Program to help farmers engage and inspire school groups and visitors returns October 23–25 at Shelburne Farms

You hear it over and over: “People are so disconnected from farming and where their food comes from.” It’s true, and farmers can help, but how do they become effective teachers? How do they communicate their stories and safely open up their farms?

From Sunday to Tuesday, October 23-25 at Shelburne Farms, the ABCs of Farm-Based Education Workshop 2022 will help farmers and farm-based educators answer these questions. Participants gather to explore Shelburne Farms’ dairy, farmyard, garden, and forest classrooms as they learn kid-tested activities and ideas on how to engage school groups and visitors of all ages. 

ABCs is a long-running program of Shelburne Farms, and is being offered for the first time since 2019. “With our learning campus safely back open, we’re thrilled to offer ABCs once again,” shares workshop facilitator Vera Simon-Nobes. “This program is so special because we know hundreds of farms have taken what they’ve learned in ABCs over the years back to their own communities, and helped visitors connect to agriculture and nature. There’s a real ripple effect.” Moving forward, ABCs will be offered twice a year at Shelburne Farms, once in October and once in spring.

Activities are based on Shelburne Farms’ publications Project Seasons and Cultivating Joy and Wonder. The workshop is led by instructors Susie Marchand and Vera Simon-Nobes, who are passionate farm-based educators. “The farm has years of experience to share,” says Vera. “But attendees are also experts in their fields. That’s what’s so valuable about ABCs. We give these educators the space and time to ask questions and seek answers, from us and from each other.”

This workshop is designed for farmers, farm-based educators, and non-formal educators looking to build a farm-based education program, or inspire existing programming. The fee is $275 (scholarships available), and includes lunch, dinner and tax; optional accommodations are available for an additional fee. It is co-presented with the Farm-Based Education Network, a project of Shelburne Farms. Find out more and register.