FIELD TRIPS & GROUP VISITS
BOOKINGS CURRENLTY CLOSED
We are not currently accepting new bookings for field trips, but please check back in November 2024 to book visits to the farm for Spring 2025.
If you would like to bring your school or organization to the farm, please read all of the details below and fill out our interest form when you are ready to book! You will then receive further information to schedule a meeting with a member of the Urban Adamah team to chat more about your hopes for the program and to finalize your booking.
Each of our experiential programs is designed to foster connections — to ourselves, to each other, to the food we eat, and to the natural world. Drawing on the practices of sustainable agriculture and the richness of Jewish tradition, our programs integrate hands-on farm activities together with story, ritual, and song to create truly memorable learning experiences. We offer both Jewish and secular programs for groups of all backgrounds.
Most of our programs include age-appropriate farm projects—planting, harvesting, building, and animal tending—all of which teach young people how to be responsible earth tenders.
We welcome groups of all cultural and religious backgrounds and adapt programs to meet the needs of each group we serve. Since we opened our gates in 2011, we’ve run programs for almost 100 Bay Area Jewish and secular organizations and schools.
Learn all the details about our group programs below.
GROUP PROGRAM DETAILS
Each program includes hands-on activities, tailored to the interests and learning of your students, related to sustainable farming practices, ecological systems, and a reflection on how we develop an overall responsibility to care for the earth. Programs can be adapted for Jewish or secular groups. Per request, programming can focus on the intersection of Jewish ritual and beliefs with land practices.
- We offer field trip programs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
- Programs range from 1.5 – 2 hours depending on your group’s age.
- Programs are staffed at approximately a 1:10 ratio with farm educators.
PROGRAM FEES
- $250 for 1 – 11 participants
- $450 for 12 – 22 participants
- $650 for 23 – 33 participants
SUBSIDIZED TRIPS
We are pleased to offer free programming for qualifying public schools in the area. If 70% or more of your student population is enrolled in the Free and Reduced Price Meal Program, your school is eligible for Urban Adamah’s field trip program at no cost, including transportation.
* Please indicate that you are eligible for a subsidized program in the booking form.
PROGRAM CONTeNt
SAMPLE PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Students will be divided into 3 groups and rotate through 3 different stations:
- Shomrei Adamah: Guardians of the Earth – sowing, planting, or harvesting
- Poop is Power: Chickens & Compost – compost cycle game & meet our chickens
- Egg Tempera Paint – using alternative natural materials for painting
10:00 – 10:15 AM Arrival & Opening Circle
10:15 – 10:45 AM Rotation #1
10:45 – 11:15 AM Rotation #2
11:15 – 11:45 AM Rotation #3
11:45 – 12:00 PM Closing Circle
12:00 – 12:30 PM Stay on Site for Lunch
PROGRAM MENU
Pre-K Program Duration: 1.5 hours
Field is a Work of Art
Students will participate in sensory observation activities – including the opportunity to utilize magnifying glasses to further examine the beauty all around us. Students will use natural materials from their surroundings to create a piece of art, representative of their observations.
Farm Helpers
Even small hands are powerful tools. Young children discover their ability to care for farm animals, grow plants, and build healthy soil. We cultivate curiosity, connection, and care by infusing our programs with songs, stories, and games that allow the farm to come to life in the best of ways.
Animal Friends
Meet the many animals who call Urban Adamah home—from chickens and goats to worms and insect pollinators. We will explore their habitats, tend to their needs, and find out how the health of our human community is connected to the health of the community of animals around us. For Grades K–5, this includes a further exploration of the compost cycle and the animals on our farm that contribute to that beautiful system. Often framed under the context of, “Poop is power,” students will celebrate animal poop as an important sustainer of life on our farm.
Grades K – 3 Program Duration: 2 hours
Shomrei Adamah: Sun, Soil, Water, Air
Students will learn about the basics of gardening while getting their hands dirty. Specific farm tasks will be dependent on the age of the group, the season, and the farm’s needs that month. Activities include sowing, planting, harvesting, seed-saving, compost sifting, and more. While working on garden projects, students will engage with and learn about the elements and the natural cycles that help our food grow.
Preserve the Harvest [Fall & Winter Program]
We will discover centuries-old traditions of preserving agricultural bounty for future seasons—and even future generations! Students will learn valuable homesteading skills such as canning, drying, pickling, and more. Depending on the season, participants may even be able to harvest the food they preserve.
Grades 4 – 6 Program Duration: 2 hours
Food Systems
Learn about the role Urban Adamah plays in the greater Berkeley community food ecosystem through a series of creative team-building games that support students’ understanding of loops as a means of sustainability.
Photosynthesis & Energy Systems
What is energy? How does it work? How does energy move within a food system and/or food web? Learn more about the science behind photosynthesis through hands-on, play-based simulations, including an investigation of energy systems, how energy is gained and lost, and sustainable modes of energy.
Art from the Earth
Become craftspeople and alchemists, creating beautiful works of art using natural elements found on the farm! Learn about natural pigments like turmeric as sustainable alternatives to acrylic paint which is made out of microplastics. Create your own artwork using an array of earth-based materials, honoring their ability to be both beautiful in color and to decompose gracefully back to the earth.
Farm to Fork: Bike Blender
Take a delicious journey through the food cycle on our farm. We’ll learn about the growing habits and cultural history of different vegetables and herbs. Depending on the season and farm-needs, students may harvest themselves or will cook with pre-harvested foods. Students will explore some earth-friendly technologies—a bicycle-powered blender and/or a wood-fired earthen stove—and use one or more of them to prepare a farm fresh snack.
Grades 7 – 12 Program Duration: 2 hours
Jewish Food Justice
Discover how the tradition of peah has its roots in biblical agricultural laws requiring farmers to share their harvest with those in need and tikkun olam, repairing the world, inform our organization’s values. We’ll investigate these laws and experience the justice traditions of Jewish agriculture through creative game-based learning and hands-on work projects.
Community Care
Did you know that 90% of the produce grown on our farm is donated to local food pantries? Students are welcome to complete hands-on farm chores (planting, harvesting, weeding, etc.) to support the growing and giving of food to those in need. This program is best served in early Fall and in later Spring. Please be aware that the farm needs in the Winter months are primarily compost-flipping and weeding, which may feel less awe-inspiring for your students. So long as they are prepared for work that may feel less tangible than direct harvesting, students are welcome to this program year-round.
The Wonders of Native & Medicinal Plants
Become immersed in the magic of Bay Area medicinal plants on our farm through plant identification, interactive games, and medicine making. We will harvest and dry our own herbs, and/or make tea, salve, dream pillows or other herbal treats. Discover the healing properties of plants hidden in plain sight all around us.
Pre-K Program Duration: 1.5 hours
Field is a Work of Art
Students will participate in sensory observation activities – including the opportunity to utilize magnifying glasses to further examine the beauty all around us. Students will use natural materials from their surroundings to create a piece of art, representative of their observations.
Farm Helpers
Even small hands are powerful tools. Young children discover their ability to care for farm animals, grow plants, and build healthy soil. We cultivate curiosity, connection, and care by infusing our programs with songs, stories, and games that allow the farm to come to life in the best of ways.
Animal Friends
Meet the many animals who call Urban Adamah home—from chickens and goats to worms and insect pollinators. We will explore their habitats, tend to their needs, and find out how the health of our human community is connected to the health of the community of animals around us. For Grades K–5, this includes a further exploration of the compost cycle and the animals on our farm that contribute to that beautiful system. Often framed under the context of, “Poop is power,” students will celebrate animal poop as an important sustainer of life on our farm.
Grades K – 3 Program Duration: 2 hours
Shomrei Adamah: Sun, Soil, Water, Air
Students will learn about the basics of gardening while getting their hands dirty. Specific farm tasks will be dependent on the age of the group, the season, and the farm’s needs that month. Activities include sowing, planting, harvesting, seed-saving, compost sifting, and more. While working on garden projects, students will engage with and learn about the elements and the natural cycles that help our food grow.
Preserve the Harvest [Fall & Winter Program]
We will discover centuries-old traditions of preserving agricultural bounty for future seasons—and even future generations! Students will learn valuable homesteading skills such as canning, drying, pickling, and more. Depending on the season, participants may even be able to harvest the food they preserve.
Grades 4 – 6 Program Duration: 2 hours
Food Systems
Learn about the role Urban Adamah plays in the greater Berkeley community food ecosystem through a series of creative team-building games that support students’ understanding of loops as a means of sustainability.
Photosynthesis & Energy Systems
What is energy? How does it work? How does energy move within a food system and/or food web? Learn more about the science behind photosynthesis through hands-on, play-based simulations, including an investigation of energy systems, how energy is gained and lost, and sustainable modes of energy.
Art from the Earth
Become craftspeople and alchemists, creating beautiful works of art using natural elements found on the farm! Learn about natural pigments like turmeric as sustainable alternatives to acrylic paint which is made out of microplastics. Create your own artwork using an array of earth-based materials, honoring their ability to be both beautiful in color and to decompose gracefully back to the earth.
Farm to Fork: Bike Blender
Take a delicious journey through the food cycle on our farm. We’ll learn about the growing habits and cultural history of different vegetables and herbs. Depending on the season and farm-needs, students may harvest themselves or will cook with pre-harvested foods. Students will explore some earth-friendly technologies—a bicycle-powered blender and/or a wood-fired earthen stove—and use one or more of them to prepare a farm fresh snack.
Grades 7 – 12 Program Duration: 2 hours
Jewish Food Justice
Discover how the tradition of peah has its roots in biblical agricultural laws requiring farmers to share their harvest with those in need and tikkun olam, repairing the world, inform our organization’s values. We’ll investigate these laws and experience the justice traditions of Jewish agriculture through creative game-based learning and hands-on work projects.
Community Care
Did you know that 90% of the produce grown on our farm is donated to local food pantries? Students are welcome to complete hands-on farm chores (planting, harvesting, weeding, etc.) to support the growing and giving of food to those in need. This program is best served in early Fall and in later Spring. Please be aware that the farm needs in the Winter months are primarily compost-flipping and weeding, which may feel less awe-inspiring for your students. So long as they are prepared for work that may feel less tangible than direct harvesting, students are welcome to this program year-round.
The Wonders of Native & Medicinal Plants
Become immersed in the magic of Bay Area medicinal plants on our farm through plant identification, interactive games, and medicine making. We will harvest and dry our own herbs, and/or make tea, salve, dream pillows or other herbal treats. Discover the healing properties of plants hidden in plain sight all around us.
