Visit the animals, explore the garden, or stop by the barn, to learn about sustainable food systems at Burgess Farm – our own working educational farm.

Burgess Farm is used by both summer campers and participants in outdoor education programs. It is a small-scale vegetable and animal operation aiming to teach and practice sustainable farming. Food scraps from the dining hall and manure from our animals are composted on site. The finished compost is spread in the garden to improve soil health, help our vegetables grow, and increase microscopic biodiversity. Campers and students participate in this cycle every step of the way, whether it’s participating in day to day care of our animals, sorting food scraps at the end of meals, or sifting finished compost to be added to our garden.

Produce from the garden is used by our kitchen staff for meals eaten by campers and program participants and tasted right off the plant during farm programming. What is not consumed on site is distributed to camp families, local food pantries, and organizations working with the people experiencing food insecurity.

The barn is home to a variety of farm animals that serve our farm by adding to our compost operation and as honorary members of our teaching staff. Whether it’s observing the rectangular pupils in our goats, the movement of wild bees, or how our actions impact the animal’s comfort and safety, our animals make it easy to learn traditional educational content and invaluable life lessons like mindfulness and respect.