Earth Arts Farm & Nature School Proposal
Earth Arts is a New York based non-profit organization providing environmental education to students K-12 and the public, since 2016. We create and implement agriculture and nature-based curriculum which is centered around sustainability, regenerative agricultural practices, climate awareness, and conservation. We provide environmental education for people & planet, and we believe in ecological solutions to climate change through food justice education, environmental stewardship, and community building.
Earth Arts proposes a 5 year lease to steward the historic property of Sprout Creek Farm as a permanent farm & nature education center, with options to renew in 2026. Earth Arts will also consider alternative partnership arrangements with Sprout Creek Farm.
Executive Summary
In an effort to expand and advance the programming we currently provide, Earth Arts is proposing to steward the historic Sprout Creek Farm, in order to implement a fully functional 200-acre educational farm and nature preserve.
We plan to operate an organic agricultural business, while offering full spectrum environmental education for all ages. As a team of trained organic farmers & teachers from the Hudson Valley, Earth Arts is uniquely qualified to steward Sprout Creek Farm as a regional leader in agro-ecology.
Not only would we be able to offer ongoing environmental programming, fresh produce, Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSA) and edible landscapes for our neighbors, but we would also be able to grow our network of support for organic agricultural businesses, and non profit organizations we have worked with over the last five years. Sprout Creek’s heritage and mixed landscape, in addition to its proximity to New York City’s (NYC) waterways, make it an ideal site to illustrate habitat conservation, climate change adaptations, and organic waste management solutions alongside regenerative agricultural techniques. We also plan to document the entirety of the project in order to showcase the growth of our programs on platforms such as youtube and patreon, while also creating free & accessible and educational content for our community through streaming services.
The Earth Arts Farm and Nature School would be a permanent educational facility devoted to creating and implementing STEAM style environmental science education, focusing on sustainable agriculture and ecology. This space would serve as an educational facility, summer campgrounds, and training center for future environmental educators, while also operating as a functional agricultural business.
By stewarding this property, we will be able to:
1) Expand our programming and offer more robust educational experiences.
2) Increase the number of students we engage with annually.
3) Provide direct access to wild spaces and agricultural experiences, to which students from NYC would otherwise not have access.
4) Steward a historically, biologically, and agriculturally unique property as a functional farm & environmental education facility into perpetuity.
The impact of this investment would allow Earth Arts to become a regional steward for agricultural and ecological heritage, building on the legacy of Sprout Creek Farm.
Earth Arts Farm & Nature School Detailed Proposal Overview
Earth Arts is proposing to steward Sprout Creek Farm as a permanent educational facility for year round farm and nature programming for the public. This space would serve as a viable organic farm business for the local community and support fellow agriculturalists, while also providing safe environmental education for students of all ages.
Climate change is caused by numerous factors, such as our reliance on fossil fuels, the mismanagement of resources, and industrial agricultural systems. These are just some elements that contribute to the accelerating decline of climate stability, biodiversity, and ecosystems at an alarming rate. We believe that a key solution to these issues is public awareness and education, encouraging individuals to realize how their daily choices contribute or remedy climate change globally.
As a solution, Earth Arts was created in 2016 to offer environmental education focused on sustainability, climate change, stewardship, and food systems. We believe in offering the public an opportunity to engage with climate activism as a daily practice, by contextualizing their choices from a sustainability & food justice perspective. At this point in our development as an organization, we have cultivated a community large enough to realize that there is a real need and demand for a permanent farm and nature education center which would serve our students throughout the New York Metropolitan Area & beyond. We have served over 750 individual students grades k-12 in all five boroughs and Ulster & Rockland counties, held over 265 public events at our flagship locations & online, and created a community of over 3,500 followers on instagram, and a growing newsletter of 2,000 patrons since 2017. We have partnered with over a dozen other educational institutions in the NY area, and have ongoing partnerships across the tri-state area which could benefit from access to Sprout Creek Farm.
Earth Art’s work at Sprout Creek would focus entirely on sustainability from a farm and nature perspective, offering day & after school programs, summer camp experiences, and professional development training, in order to illustrate best management practices that can be applied on a community scale, and give people an opportunity to try them first hand. Our top priority is to facilitate increased environmental stewardship by creating replicable models for future programs and organizations. We also expect the farm to be sustainable financially by implementing tried & true agricultural business models such as CSAs for our grown herbs, vegetables, mushrooms & livestock, in addition to bulk produce & wholesale contracts.
We also hope to spotlight the needs of many of our NYC students, who have never left their borough or neighborhood. This lack of connection to the living planet makes it increasingly difficult to illustrate climate change related earth science concepts. Urban environments limit our ability to offer the highest quality environmental science education, and hinder our student's understanding of ecosystems and how they are affected by climate change.
Sprout Creek Farm would be the perfect solution to empower young people to steward the planet through regenerative practices and experiential learning based on social justice & sustainability. The long term sustainability of this project lies at the interface of agriculture, ecology, education, and agricultural production, and in reality, teaching others how to create agro-ecological balance in their own lives. Fortunately, there are several replicable models for multi-purpose agro-ecology centers within NY, some of which we have already cultivated partnerships with and could receive ongoing mentorship from, in addition to mutual aid. We hope to serve the local community through environmental education & food access, while also prioritizing urban and under-served populations of students, with whom we have also already fostered long-term community partnerships. We aim to create a farm & nature education center which prioritizes healthy human-earth relations, while also being accessible, welcoming & sustainable long term.
Operational Approach : Earth Arts Detailed Proposal Overview
Agricultural Business Models :
To date, the Earth Arts team has collectively stewarded 200 + acres of land across the continental US in various capacities, from herding to gardening, to intensive organic cultivation. The combination of our expertise in a variety of fields, is ideal for showcasing the range of possibilities which organic methods can yield. Additionally, all of our staff are experienced educators, so we propose to seamlessly integrate afterschool & educational programs with the real day to day needs of the farm, inviting students in our programs to offer feedback in ongoing business elements, such as branding, marketing, and management, and even creating their own products! As a collective we have studied botany, mycology, horticulture, agro-ecology, permaculture, biodynamics, and regenerative farming methods -- ancestrally, for work, and at academic institutions such as Rutgers, Columbia, Stone Barns, Pfieffer Center for Biodynamic Agriculture, the Grange, and even Sprout Creek Farm. To date, Earth Arts is still affiliated with the Pfieffer Center through a Biodynamics Certification, and has also offered educational support on their campuses. The Pfieffer Center is an excellent model for a multi purpose farm & nature education center within NY state, having been open for 100 + years offering environmental experiences, a farm store, after school programs & CSAs. Earth Arts has developed an ongoing working relationship with the Pfieffer Center, and would consider them an excellent ally in building regenerative land stewardship cooperative models.
Independently, we each offer a unique background of specialized skills ranging from organic farming, to urban horticulture to mushroom genomics, but as a collective we would be capable of conducting multiple successful agricultural operations to sustain the long term viability of the farm outside of educational programs and their fees. Educational programs would also be tailored to fit the actual agricultural functions of the farm, so students who visit the property would have a hands-on understanding of the farm and its inner workings. For the first five years, we intend to build out the agricultural businesses & programs through the use of the farm store, CSAs, and combining farm & garden management with educational programs.
High Priority Agricultural Programs 5 Year Plan
We propose the establishment of five main agricultural business programs to be organized through the farm store, by order of expected financial returns :
Wholesale Contract for Bulk Dried Herb with Flower Power Herbs & Roots
CSA’s
Eggs & Dairy
Mushrooms
Vegetables & Fruit
Added Value Products
Dried Herbs & Speciality Botanical Products
Plant Nursery
Compost Public Drop Off & Sale through Farm Store
Agrotourism
Wholesale Contracts
Wholesale Contracts
Contract for Bulk Dried Herb with Flower Power Herbs & Roots
Flower Power Herbs & Roots is one of the oldest herb & tea shops in NYC, now with two locations in NY state. For over two decades, Lata Kennedy has been offering organic & wildcrafted herbs, roots & mushrooms. Earth Arts has been working closely with Flower Power, offering educational programs to the public & administrative assistance since 2016. Since March 2020 alone, the new online POS platform, designed by Earth Arts, sold $45,000 in organic herbs & value added products.
Flower Power has agreed to contract Earth Arts for ongoing wholesale orders of bulk herbs, which could be grown organically in the Hudson Valley, to create fresher, more eco-friendly products at a fraction of the cost. A direct wholesale relationship with Flower Power can guarantee a low cost & low input initial agricultural project, with guaranteed increasing returns. By implementing low maintenance annual herb gardens, and planning perennial landscapes within the first year, it will be possible to generate increasing yields annually thereafter. This contract ensures that Earth Arts would hit the ground running with a sustainable business model, and be able to supply local & organically grown herbs to Flower Power, as its first local & organic wholesale provider-- all while increasing pollinator friendly plant populations on the farm!
Farm Store Agricultural Opportunities & CSAs
Eggs & Dairy CSA
In the first year we will establish our animal product CSAs with chickens and goats, producing eggs and goat milk products, with the intention to integrate cows for dairy and pasture grazing in our second season. Chickens are relatively low maintenance, produce high yields, will help process compost, and can be integrated easily into farm & nature education, particularly for children. Goats are more readily managed than cows, and could provide some value added products during the transitional period of our first year on the land, while assessing the budget and staff needed for a full scale dairy production. Oliver Bolotin is our livestock manager, and he has 10 + years of experience in animal stewardship, rotational grazing and pasture management, in addition to 5 + years of environmental education experience.
Mushroom CSA
There is an increasing demand for culinary, medicinal & niche organic mushrooms. Craig Treistor, our resident mycologist, has been farming mushrooms and teaching as NYC.MYC for the last four years. Our mushroom cultivation would focus on high value varieties such as Reishi, Oysters, and Maitake, while also offering foraging & educational experiences to the public. Value added mushroom products such as tinctures, and teas also have the potential to be sold at wholesale to institutions like Flower Power, in addition to being offered through our CSA. Craig Treistor, would be the manager of our Mushroom CSA and growing operations, in addition to lead mycologist in all educational programs.
Vegetables & Fruit CSA
Vegetable and fruit CSAs can be a foundational element of a farm organism’s long term financial viability. By offering a selection of local, organic, and in season produce to customers, we are able to support our communities while producing ecologically sustainable food products. In our first year we would focus on providing a wide array of annual crop varieties, while establishing perennial systems for vegetables and fruit trees. This CSA would offer staple agricultural products such as carrots, potatoes, and greens regularly, while also spotlighting niche or heirloom varieties at seasonally appropriate intervals. Kathryn Barr is our CSA manager, and she has spent the last three years in Ohio, creating and managing a 50 family organic fruit & vegetable CSA.
Added Value Product CSA
Value added food products such as jams, breads, pickles, vinegars, etc. can create more shelf stable products for year round retail & distribution, as compared to fresh fruits and vegetables. Sprout Creek’s commercial kitchen makes it the perfect location to manufacture a wide variety of value added products which can be sold through the farm store on site and at markets around New York, while also providing the opportunity for custom orders and private catering.
Dried Herbs & Speciality Botanical Products
Botanical preparations such as tinctures, syrups & vinegars have high commercial value and could be produced in bulk for wholesale to Flower Power Herbs & Roots.
Community Supported Agricultural initiatives have proven to be a necessary life line for organic farmers across the United States. In addition to being able to offer CSA pick up on site for our local community, we also intend to eventually be able to offer multiple CSA drop off and pick up locations in NYC, Westchester and Rockland counties, in order to increase awareness around local food systems and food justice.
Earth Arts has long standing community relationships with groups such as Brooklyn Packers, and Brooklyn Supported Agriculture, two black & brown led CSA initiatives bringing fresh fruits & vegetables to families in Brooklyn. We also have cultivated relationships with non profit advocacy groups such as Educated Little Monsters, Public Assistants, and MINKA, all of which offer viable connections for CSA and food access related projects.
Our goal is to offer the complete suite of CSA programs by June 2021.
Additional Alternative Revenue Streams
Establish Native Plant Nursery
Grow & maintain a selection of native, annual, and perennial plant species for resale & use on the farm. Conduct an annual plant sale/ seedling sale in May, in addition to selling potted herbs & perennials year round through the farm store.
Compost Program
Organize a public compost drop off location & process compost on site to create bagged product for sale at the farm store year round, and also offer a wholesale pick up date at the annual plant sale
Agro-Tourism & Space Rentals
Providing short hosted experiences for outside parties in agro-tourism, including tours, demonstrations, space rental for conferences & potentially weddings & celebrations
We are confident that this model for agricultural products, agro-tourism, compost & native plant cultivation is possible, as it is inspired by the Pfieffer Center’s annual production model. The Pfieffer Center is a biodynamic agricultural center in Rockland County which has been operating since 1913. In addition to offering a year round CSA for its on site community, they also conduct a 30 person CSA in the summer, while also selling compost, native plants & conducting educational programs such as a year long professional training & farm summer day camp.
It is also integral to emphasize that all agricultural businesses would be presented to our students through the lens of a farm to table curriculum, in order to illustrate the complex relationships between farm, business & ecology. Younger students would be invited to observe and participate in activities related to food production, and animal stewardship, while older students would be invited to participate in ongoing projects and challenges to innovate more sustainable systems on the farm & beyond.
Educational Programs Summary
Earth Arts proposes four main educational programs to be offered at Sprout Creek for the 2021-2022 year.
Programs for Students K-12
Programs for Young Adults & College Students
Programs for the General Public
Specialized Trainings & Certifications
Kinder Gardens : Nursery School program
Day program for students age 3 - 5, from 9 am - 12 pm, M - F. Parents are welcome to join, but not required.
Earth Arts Garden to Table Afterschool
Afterschool Programs for grades 1 - 12 from 3 pm - 5 pm, M- F.
Earth Arts Service Projects & College Internships
Offering programs in environmental education focused on food justice & youth advocacy for young adults & college students. Creating internship & work trade opportunities for older students to gain college credit and hands-on experience in agro-ecology education.
Programs for the General Public
Offering monthly public educational gatherings in a variety of topics, in addition to opening the farm to visitors for farm dinners, open houses, open mics, conferences, and community organizing.
Specialized Trainings & Certifications
Offering ongoing trainings and certifications in permaculture, biodynamics, beekeeping, nature therapy, herbalism, ecology, either by hosting programs in house or bringing in a third party for more specialized topics.
To date, Earth Arts has hosted over 275 public events since opening in 2017. Though our flagship location is no longer open due to COVID, we have been conducting online enrichment and are currently hosting two year long training programs in agro-ecology via zoom. Access to Sprout Creek Farm as an educational landscape would provide the space necessary to safely host in person experiences while also social distancing.
More in depth descriptions of specific curriculum can be requested, however all curriculum materials are property of Earth Arts.
History & Programs
Since 2016, Earth Arts has been offering environmental education to communities across New York. Our work began by supporting the legal defense of Standing Rock protestors. We organized a day of learning-- curating educational workshops, art exhibitions, and musical performances to raise awareness and donations. This day marked the beginning of Earth Arts as an accessible and educational resource for sustainability and the environment. We continued to offer environmental education events in community gardens and public parks until 2017, when our programming outgrew this model. We incorporated as a 501c3 and opened our flagship location at 936 Madison St, Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, New York.
The Earth Arts Center was created to be a permanent environmental education space for the public, which would facilitate discussions around climate, sustainability, agriculture, and social justice, and the space continues to serve NYC. To date, we have held over 260 educational events, gatherings, and workshops at our flagship location in Brooklyn. We have also served over 800 members of our local community, amassing a following of over 1,000 local residents through our newsletter, and nearly 3,000 engagements from around the world on social media.
In addition to programs hosted at our flagship location, we also write and implement environmental education curriculum across NYC and New York state, in schools, public parks, private farms, and school gardens. Programs include environmental education, nature skills, organic gardening and plant based projects for students K-12 and beyond. All of these collaborative programs benefit youth and families across New York and the tri-state area, and are designed to heal the earth-human relationship. Earth Arts provides a direct pathway to understanding environmentalism, land stewardship and food justice through the context of sustainability and climate change mitigation.
Current Earth Arts Programs
Environmental Education, Ecosystems Studies & Ethnobotany
Knowledge of our environment is key for proper stewardship. We offer students immersive education experiences, based on local ecosystems in wild and urban landscapes. We host workshops on-site for schools, as well as offering tours within local parks, and day long field trips and retreats for families. We have offered over 100 guided nature walks and excursions for youth, families and members of our Brooklyn communities. These programs focus on biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability in the context of climate change. We also offer foraging and wild life skills excursions, which reconnect students to traditional methods of living within wild environments. We teach animal tracking and behavior, as well as introducing botany as a practical skill that can be applied to use plants for food, shelter, and survival. We offer nature and survival skills education to ensure the safety of our participants during our programs and beyond. This includes lessons around potential hazards, such as poisonous plants, venomous animals or injuries. We also discuss the care of wild spaces, and "leave no trace" practices.
Gardening for the Future
Earth Arts also currently offers year round garden-to-table education for students K - 12, their families, and adults. This curriculum covers the fundamentals of organic gardening, including soil health, compost building, botany, seed saving, animal stewardship, organic pest management and the importance of sustainable food systems within the context of climate change. In the winter months, we shift the focus to the kitchen, cooking and working with some of the plants and ingredients which we grew in our garden. These programs are designed to show students the origins of our food and the importance of just and sustainable food systems. We discuss the botany of common edible plants found in the grocery store, work with materials we grew in our gardens, and also make delicious treats in class! Ethnobotany programs are designed to show students the various traditional uses of plants outside of food, such as fiber, dye, shelter, and medicine. We teach students the art of basket weaving, natural tie dye, and even how to make their own bug spray and organic lip balm.
Creative Arts and Community Building
We believe that creative arts are vital to engaging a wider audience, making our programs more inviting and accessible. We also believe public arts initiatives strengthen community bonds and encourage team building and social skills amongst young people. For these reasons, we take a STEAM approach to our environmental science curriculum, and integrate nature inspired art projects into our workshops and public events.
Community Networks
Building community partnerships and serving diverse populations is vital to fulfilling our mission. All of these collaborative programs benefit youth and families across New York and the tri-state area, by providing a direct pathway to environmentalism, sustainability, land stewardship and food justice.
Educated Little Monsters (ELM)
Columbia University's Secondary School
Threefold Community
Nature Place Day Camp
Green Meadow Waldorf School
Pfeiffer Biodynamic Agricultural Center
Meta.DEN
Public Assistants
Illuminating Color
Earth Living Skills Nature Education
Grow Black Hudson
Herbal Mutual Aid Network
The YWHA's
SONYC,
COMPASS
BE ME
Nursery Programs
The flagship location at 936 Madison St, Brooklyn served as the Earth Arts & ELM headquarters for over a year. ELM had been offering their K-12 programming in visual arts, instrumentation, song writing, audio recording, dance, theatre, media production, and arts administration, while Earth Arts had been offering environmental education, nature and food based workshops to the public. Beyond ELM, Earth Arts has also established connections to Columbia University's Secondary School, The YWHA, SONYC, COMPASS, BE ME, the Nature Place, Earth Living Skills and the Pfeiffer Center Biodynamic Agricultural Center. We create and implement curriculum for these organizations, as well as supplementing their preexisting educational materials.
Additionally, we created a petition in 2019 to raise awareness for our efforts to acquire land, to date it has amassed over 140 signatures attesting to Earth Arts’ ability to steward for agro-ecological educational purposes land long term.
Staff Chart for 2021-2022
Claudia Nagy, Executive Director of Earth Arts & Garden Educator
Kathryn Barr, CSA Manager & Garden Educator
Emily Brenner, Youth Counselor, Child Specialist & Garden Educator
Oliver Bolotin, Livestock Manager, Farm & Garden Educator, Jewish Outreach
Angela Lombardo, Compost Coordinator, Farm & Garden Educator
Aminah Nieves, Ethno-botanist, Farm & Garden Educator
Craig Treistor, Mycologist, Mushroom CSA Manager, Farm & Garden Educator
Cesar Presa, Farm & Garden Educator, ESL Programs Coordinator
Samantha Schwartz, Farm & Garden Educator
Advisory Board Members
Lauren Harper
Jenna Lewein
Patrick Iler
Rachel Patterson