Heartvines Discovery Farm
Donation protected
Who we are
Hi! We are Dawn Folsom and Josh Wiley of Heartvines Educational Farm. Our goal is to create beautiful spaces that are useful for natural food and herb growing, hands-on early ed and youth programming, and as forums for community engagement and civic cooperation. We are an extension of The Village, ECP., a nonprofit focusing on advocating for and equipping at risk youth as they seek to transition into functioning, purposeful adults.
Heartvines’ mission for 2018 was to establish community partnerships with local businesses that will encourage urban garden spaces and create integrative programs that allow youth to build, manage, and harvest produce onsite. Since March of this year, we have successful launched the Village Farm in collaboration with the Garrett Public Library and the City of Garrett, Indiana while serving 75 families through our heirloom seed library, and developing a children’s sensory garden serving the needs of children 2-11. Many individuals and businesses in our community volunteered time, donated plants and materials, and shared creative initiative. Through this generosity and willingness to execute, we were able to provide all classes and programming without cost to the participants.
We have also partnered with ProFed Credit Union and are currently working on curriculum to encourage fiscal responsibility and equip young entrepreneurs.
What’s next
The next phase of development for Heartvines is to kick off phase one of our Discovery Farm. This project will enable us to better support the initiatives we are already partnered in while also allowing us to expand educational opportunities for our youth. Some of the things included in this phase:
• Completion of hoop houses, high tunnels and hot boxes to allow overwintering of unique varieties and to show ways to extend the growing season
• Establishment of ‘test spaces’ to model less known growing methods such as aquaponics, hydroponics, and drip irrigation
• Root view box- an observation space where kids can witness the living root systems of plants growing at the Discovery Farm
• Garden kitchen- a space designated to clean, prepare, and cook goods grown on the farm using a solar oven, industrial sink, rinse station, and prep table
• Contouring and conditioning of terraced 2 acre growing space. Only a small portion of our nine acres is flat, plus, terraced gardens are lovely!
• A honey bee observation table with plexiglass sides that allows children to see the activity of the hive. It also helps ensure a protected space for an important pollinator.
• Designing and building a wheelchair accessible kitchen garden with workspace that will showcase many of the varieties grown on the farm and allow more members of our community to get into the dirt.
• Development of trails and camping space. Nature walks and stargazing!
• Establishment of seed bank and plant stock. The goal for spring 2019 is 60 plus varieties of herbs and succulents for our kids to create spice blends, natural cosmetics, and healing oils for personal use and to take to market.
The objective of this project is to open up a productive, interactive space where nurturing and knowledge can find harmony. We believe that learning can be an adventure and that sometimes, we all need a breath of fresh air!
Our Funding Goal
The budget for our spring debut of the Discovery Farm includes mainly building materials and equipment. One of our desires when teaching youth is that they see work being done (including by us) and ingenuity being used. We build boxes together out of recycled pallets. We use drills and shovels. We sweat. If we can build it instead of buy it, we will.
And support given will go directly to development of Heartvines Discovery Farm and sustainable programming for children and young adults. We appreciate your interest and consideration.
• Our foremost need, and a majority of our goal, is a utility tractor with implements for trenching, contouring, material loading and snow removal and general farm work/property maintenance. Cost: $30-35,000
• 60 plus varieties of plants. Cost: $2,375
• Materials to properly support hoop houses and purchase skin for our third hoop house. Cost: $1,700
• Utility trailer for general use, preferably with dump. Cost: $1,000-1,500
• Medium garden tiller. Cost: $750
• 100 strawbales. Cost: $300-400
• Root View Box materials. Cost: $165
• Smaller projects such as benches and the bee observation station, etc.
• Many smaller items such as pitchforks, trellises, hoses, boxes of screws, etc.
For a more detailed budget and materials/plant list please follow the link below or email us at [email redacted] for a pdf version. We will be updating progress often here and on Facebook with pictures and video.
With your help, we can move forward in creating beautiful, useful spaces for our communities and children. Thank you for your support.
To further encourage Heartvines Discovery Farm, share us on Facebook, tell a friend, or plant a flower.
Hi! We are Dawn Folsom and Josh Wiley of Heartvines Educational Farm. Our goal is to create beautiful spaces that are useful for natural food and herb growing, hands-on early ed and youth programming, and as forums for community engagement and civic cooperation. We are an extension of The Village, ECP., a nonprofit focusing on advocating for and equipping at risk youth as they seek to transition into functioning, purposeful adults.
Heartvines’ mission for 2018 was to establish community partnerships with local businesses that will encourage urban garden spaces and create integrative programs that allow youth to build, manage, and harvest produce onsite. Since March of this year, we have successful launched the Village Farm in collaboration with the Garrett Public Library and the City of Garrett, Indiana while serving 75 families through our heirloom seed library, and developing a children’s sensory garden serving the needs of children 2-11. Many individuals and businesses in our community volunteered time, donated plants and materials, and shared creative initiative. Through this generosity and willingness to execute, we were able to provide all classes and programming without cost to the participants.
We have also partnered with ProFed Credit Union and are currently working on curriculum to encourage fiscal responsibility and equip young entrepreneurs.
What’s next
The next phase of development for Heartvines is to kick off phase one of our Discovery Farm. This project will enable us to better support the initiatives we are already partnered in while also allowing us to expand educational opportunities for our youth. Some of the things included in this phase:
• Completion of hoop houses, high tunnels and hot boxes to allow overwintering of unique varieties and to show ways to extend the growing season
• Establishment of ‘test spaces’ to model less known growing methods such as aquaponics, hydroponics, and drip irrigation
• Root view box- an observation space where kids can witness the living root systems of plants growing at the Discovery Farm
• Garden kitchen- a space designated to clean, prepare, and cook goods grown on the farm using a solar oven, industrial sink, rinse station, and prep table
• Contouring and conditioning of terraced 2 acre growing space. Only a small portion of our nine acres is flat, plus, terraced gardens are lovely!
• A honey bee observation table with plexiglass sides that allows children to see the activity of the hive. It also helps ensure a protected space for an important pollinator.
• Designing and building a wheelchair accessible kitchen garden with workspace that will showcase many of the varieties grown on the farm and allow more members of our community to get into the dirt.
• Development of trails and camping space. Nature walks and stargazing!
• Establishment of seed bank and plant stock. The goal for spring 2019 is 60 plus varieties of herbs and succulents for our kids to create spice blends, natural cosmetics, and healing oils for personal use and to take to market.
The objective of this project is to open up a productive, interactive space where nurturing and knowledge can find harmony. We believe that learning can be an adventure and that sometimes, we all need a breath of fresh air!
Our Funding Goal
The budget for our spring debut of the Discovery Farm includes mainly building materials and equipment. One of our desires when teaching youth is that they see work being done (including by us) and ingenuity being used. We build boxes together out of recycled pallets. We use drills and shovels. We sweat. If we can build it instead of buy it, we will.
And support given will go directly to development of Heartvines Discovery Farm and sustainable programming for children and young adults. We appreciate your interest and consideration.
• Our foremost need, and a majority of our goal, is a utility tractor with implements for trenching, contouring, material loading and snow removal and general farm work/property maintenance. Cost: $30-35,000
• 60 plus varieties of plants. Cost: $2,375
• Materials to properly support hoop houses and purchase skin for our third hoop house. Cost: $1,700
• Utility trailer for general use, preferably with dump. Cost: $1,000-1,500
• Medium garden tiller. Cost: $750
• 100 strawbales. Cost: $300-400
• Root View Box materials. Cost: $165
• Smaller projects such as benches and the bee observation station, etc.
• Many smaller items such as pitchforks, trellises, hoses, boxes of screws, etc.
For a more detailed budget and materials/plant list please follow the link below or email us at [email redacted] for a pdf version. We will be updating progress often here and on Facebook with pictures and video.
With your help, we can move forward in creating beautiful, useful spaces for our communities and children. Thank you for your support.
To further encourage Heartvines Discovery Farm, share us on Facebook, tell a friend, or plant a flower.
Organizer
Dawn Folsom
Organizer
Fort Wayne, IN
