In the News

Funding Shortfall Hurts Educational Farm
Missouri Farmer Today
Oct. 8, 2009
Link to Article

By Mindy Ward

COLUMBIA -- By now, Jefferson Farm & Gardens should be bustling with visitors looking for an interactive agriculture experience. However, rough economic times are causing the farm to open only on a part-time basis.

“Right now, we are open to the public on a scheduled basis,” says Rob Myers, executive director of the Jefferson Institute. “If a group wants to come out to the farm, we will make the arrangements.”

The institute is a nonprofit agriculture education and research center. It started the Jefferson Farm & Gardens project in 2007. The 67-acre farm was scheduled to open to the public in 2009.

With a tight economy, funding declined, the competition for federal and state grants stiffened, and local business and individual giving dropped off.

“We just need to raise more funds in order to open to the public,” Myers says. “Right now, we don’t have the resources to do (open full-time).”

Still, he is not discouraged.

Over the past year, the farm provided more than 5,000 visitors an up-close look at Missouri agriculture. The bulk of the visitors were school-age children, roughly 2,000.

“Our mission is to educate the public on farming, gardening and conservation practices,” Myers explains. To accomplish this, the farm offers many hands-on activities.

The gable-style red barn is imposing. Visitors come here first to meet their guide, Catherine Bohnert.

Bohnert starts most tours in the barn.

She not only allows visitors to see the animals through the specially designed wire and wooden panels, but also brings the animals outside the stall so visitors can touch them. She wants them to feel the wool of the sheep and touch the goats.

But, the experience does not stop there. During the summer, groups of school-age kids take their turn in the garden picking vegetables and fruit.

“This generation is so far removed from agriculture,” Bohnert says. “But, when they pick their own vegetables they can know where it comes from. We can also help them to learn to make healthier choices in their diet.”

Cultivating interest in agriculture and horticulture with young people is a primary goal of Jefferson Farm & Gardens.

The farm’s garden is 1,000 feet long with every variety labeled. It is home to more than 200 varieties of vegetables and herbs. Often times, Bohnert gives the children a keepsake from the garden by allowing them to pick a carrot and take it home.

“That brings the message of the farm back to their parents as well,” she says.

Bohnert designates six rows of the garden for strawberries. During harvest, she offers visitors a taste test of the different varieties. She says it is interesting to see which one they like the best.

Tours also take visitors through traditional and specialty row crops found on many Missouri farms. There are plots of corn, soybeans and sorghum, as well as, sunflowers and giant miscanthus.

“We encourage people to grab a soybean off the plant or touch the corn ears,” Myers adds. “For many, this is their first experience with row crops and seeing where their food comes from.”

Jefferson Farm & Gardens is about educating people of all ages.

Myers finds many older visitors enjoy walking through the orchard. It offers a variety of apples, cherries, pears, peach trees along with a pawpaw tree. Each has a different variety. The diversity allows homeowners and growers to find out what type of variety works best in Missouri.

Adjacent to the orchard is a demonstration area for grapes, blue, blackberries and raspberries.

Gardeners are drawn to the daffodil and day lily area of the farm. There, they can walk through over 230 plant varieties. And, the Wildflower Meadow showcases Missouri’s native plants.

The farm even boasts a 7-acre lake where landowners can see how to incorporate native plants into their design to promote aquatic life.

“It is all about giving visitors information they can use at their own home place,” Myers adds.

Jefferson Farm & Gardens is not quite complete. With more funding, Myers hopes to build a new visitor center with exhibits, classrooms and a teaching greenhouse.