Spring and fall

Farm Field Trips

About

Garden City Harvest offers educational field trips at the Garden City Harvest/EVST PEAS Farm for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school classes during the school year, as well as summer field trips to anyone interested in getting to know the PEAS Farm. We offer free guided tours of the PEAS Farm for groups of 10 or more people.

Seeing how food is grown first-hand entices students to explore connections between agriculture and their everyday lives, and gets them excited about healthy, nutritious food.

When

  • Spring field trips begin in mid-May and scheduling begins in late March.

  • Summer field trips begin in mid-June and scheduling begins in late March.

  • Fall field trips begin in mid-September and scheduling begins in late August. 

Scheduling your Field trip

Click HERE to submit a request for a Field Trip, and Jason will get back to you!

DETAILS

Field Trips last: 1.25-1.5 hours 

Choose from two sessions: 

Morning session (anytime between 9:00am-12:00pm) 

Afternoon session (anytime between 12:00pm-3:00pm)

Students will tour the farm with one of our Farm Educators, broken up into small groups of 10-12 students to learn about farming, food systems, nutrition, life cycles, seasonality, farm animals, and a variety of other farm-related topics. They will get a chance to interact with the farm directly through sensory activities including eating food straight from the fields!

Subject Matter

Visits to the PEAS Farm provide enriching experiences for students through experiential educational lessons and participation in everyday farm activities. Using the PEAS Farm as an outdoor classroom allows teachers and students to integrate concepts of science, math, art, history, and health in a real life context. Students can learn about many topics firsthand like life cycles, farm animal biology, ecology, local agricultural techniques and local history.

GROUP SIZE

Generally, our maximum is ~40 students at a time, but this could be a bit higher depending on farm educator availability. The minimum group size is 10 for guided field trips. If your group is smaller than 10 you are welcome to come visit the farm for a self-guided field trip.

COST

We are happy to offer farm field trips at no charge to any group over 10 individuals that would like to learn more about the farm. We also happily accept donations to help keep these field trips free for all Missoula schools!

LOCATION

All of our tours happen at the PEAS Farm. 

The PEAS Farm is located at 3010 Duncan Drive in the Rattlesnake Valley. Follow Greenough Drive (it turns into Duncan Drive) on the west side of Rattlesnake Creek approximately 1.5 miles north from the I-90 underpass. The farm is on the right just past Mountain View Drive.

BUS FUNDING

We do have limited funding available for busing for MCPS classes. Please ask about funding when you schedule your field trips.

CLOTHING

We will be outdoors for the duration of the field trip. Please have students and chaperones arrive prepared for the weather – waterproof boots, long pants, warm jacket, and dress in layers! Please have all students bring water bottles and wear sunscreen if it’s sunny!

WEATHER

We will expect to have the field trip rain or shine. Please contact the Farm to School Director by 8:00 am the day of the trip if you will be unable to attend. Rescheduling due to weather cancellation is possible, but unlikely due to limited availability.

Will students eat food at the farm?

We will be eating as many fresh fruits and veggies from the farm as we can during the field trip, more so in the fall than the spring due to produce availability.

TEACHER AND CHAPERONE EXPECTATIONS

Teachers and chaperones are encouraged to participate throughout the field trip and enjoy the visit. We ask that teachers/chaperones help facilitate appropriate student behavior and allow students to make discoveries on their own. Ideally, when we break up into smaller groups each group would have a teacher or chaperone along with the provided Farm Educator.

PARKING

There is ample parking inside and just outside the farm’s main gate on Duncan Drive for cars, trucks and a school bus.

OTHER FAQ’s 

Can a farm field trip tie into what we are studying in the classroom?

Yes! We would love to link your farm field trip to your class’s curriculum needs. Any specific curriculum linkage requests can be made when scheduling your field trip. 

Will we be working?

Because of the great education and service learning potential, we encourage student participation in farm work if you are interested. Please inquire about service learning opportunities when scheduling your field trip. Students can help with lots of farm activities including planting or harvesting vegetables, weeding, feeding animals, turning compost, etc.

How many times can we visit?

We encourage multiple visits as the farm is always changing throughout the growing season, but field trips are subject to availability.

Is there a self-guided tour option?

Yes! You are always welcome to visit the PEAS Farm with your group anytime during the hours of 8am - 8pm to walk around and check out the farm, but unfortunately you can’t pick any food to eat on self-guided tours.

Is the farm wheelchair accessible? 

Unfortunately, the farm is not officially wheelchair accessible, but we have hosted many students in wheelchairs on field trips over the years without too much trouble.

Is the farm safe?

We have taken all necessary precautions to ensure safety during field trip visits, however the PEAS Farm is a working farm. This means there may be tools, irrigation equipment and other hazards present, and the ground is often uneven. The farm is certainly not a dangerous place, but keeping a careful eye on students is important.