MSU Tollgate Farm and Education Center

The MSU Tollgate Farm PAR (Plant A Row For the Hungry) Garden is celebrating 20 years of community service this year! The PAR Garden was founded in 2002 with a charter to provide fresh produce for those who are food-challenged locally. Since then, various teams of wonderful volunteers have toiled to produce an average of 2,600 pounds of fresh produce, with distribution support from Forgotten Harvest, Feed the Need Novi, and CARES of Farmington Hills. The garden, which consists of twenty-five 30 foot by 4 foot beds in an enclosed area at MSU Tollgate Farm in Novi, is maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers with the support of the MSU Tollgate Farm staff.

Over the years, the garden has grown, and many lessons learned have been incorporated into the maintenance of the garden based primarily on MSU Extension Master Gardener principles and gardening experience. Recently, we have concentrated on vegetables with a good shelf life — potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, cabbage, garlic, leeks, summer and winter squash, and turnips. In years past, apples, watermelons, and other vegetables contributed to the bountiful yields. Each year we plan in October, order what is needed in December / January, work with the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) team to grow seedlings in the greenhouse February through April, and really dig into the work effort starting in April with a few workdays per week until mid-October. Our labors include prepping the beds for planting, planting seed potatoes / seedlings / seeds, maintaining the irrigation, weeding, IPM (Integrated Pest Management), harvesting, preparing the produce for distribution and storage, and winterizing the garden.

All volunteers, whether Extension Master Gardeners, avid gardeners, or individuals interested in gardening and community service, regardless of experience level, are welcome to join the team once cleared through the MSU Volunteer Central. We have an enthusiastic, fun, hard-working team, and plenty of rewarding opportunities to help those in need. Come check us out.

If you would like to learn more about volunteering at MSU Tollgate, please visit our website or contact Roy Prentice (prentic1@msu.edu, 248-347-3860 x251) or Carmen Hamilton (hamil466@msu.edu, 248-347-3860 x239) for more information.

At Tollgate, you’ll often hear the question posed, “Do you know where your food comes from?” Utilizing the farm as the ‘place’ of place-based education, Tollgate programs promote understanding of the importance of agriculture in our daily lives as they increase learning outcomes, community connections, and appreciation of the natural world. With the farm as a living laboratory, Tollgate meets its mission through experiential place-based education about sustainable agriculture, community food systems, and natural resources.  

But what exactly does the term place-based education mean? David Sobel, author of Place- and Community-based Education describes place-based education as “an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local and addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United Sates: contact with the natural world and contact with the community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults.” 

Ellen Koehler, Tollgate Education Coordinator since 2016, is passionate about deepening the learning that takes place at Tollgate through placed-based agriculture and environmental education. Collaborating with staff, schools, and partner organizations, Ellen works to create positive change in our local communities and meet the needs of learners through research-based content and methods. When learners visit the farm, they not only explore science phenomena; they begin to investigate how they can make a positive difference in the world around them.

As part of a strong Tollgate team, Ellen designs, develops, and delivers meaningful educational programs for adults and youth; plans educational community-building events; and furthers diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the farm. In addition to spearheading the financial aid process at the farm, Ellen leads programs for school and community groups, leadership development and specialty camps for teens, an environmental leadership youth council, a series for home vegetable gardeners, and a professional development series for educators about culturally responsive place-based education.

Ellen has continued her educational leadership studies through a mix of coursework and field-based practicums at the University of Michigan and Antioch University of New England. She has had the opportunity to collaborate widely with educators across the globe who inspire learners through place-based education. Ellen serves on the Trainer Bureau for the North American Association of Environmental Education and is a Certified Environmental Educator. In 2021, Ellen earned her Master of Education with concentrations in place-based education, sustainability, and equity.  

At Tollgate, we help youth and adults understand where their food comes from and so much more. As Tollgate’s new MSU Place-Based Extension Educator and in her new role as Education Manager, Ellen plans to continue to collaborate with colleagues, schools, community partners, and learners themselves to build healthier communities through authentic meaningful place-based teaching and learning.

‘Our true destiny…is a world built from the bottom up by competent citizens living in solid communities, engaged in and by their places.’ – David W. Orr

Campers at the 2021 Outdoor Adventure Camp had a blast learning wilderness survival skills and testing their limits on the rock wall, kayaking the Huron River, and tubing down the Argo Cascades. 12-14 year old campers at our Outdoor Adventure Survival Camp not only learned important survival skills like how to build a fire and how to signal for help in an emergency, they also bonded with fellow campers through team-building activities and skill building challenges.

Each day at camp was packed full of hands on activities to keep campers engaged and active. Camp started on Monday with an introduction into Leave No Trace Principles, a chance to try out the slack line, and demonstrations on how to make fruit leather and GORP. Campers also started on their shelter building STEM activity in the forest and continued to add to it all week. Tuesday campers got to go fishing, learn about the 10 essentials for survival, and made a solar oven to roast s’mores. On Wednesday, campers had the chance to learn to kayak on the Huron River in Ann Arbor and tube down the Argo Cascades. Finally on Thursday night, campers set up tents and spent the night at Tollgate Farm, learning about astronomy and cooking their dinner over an open fire. On Friday, campers showed off their shelters, performed skits to teach each other Leave No Trace Principles, and had popsicles and said good bye to new friends.

We cannot wait to see returning and new campers in summer 2022 for Outdoor Adventure Camp. Keep checking the MSU Tollgate Farm summer camp website for updates on registration! Got questions? Email Ellen Koehler at koehle43@msu.edu.

As we wrap up a wonderful 2021 growing season for the Tollgate education garden, we want to recognize our edu-garden volunteers, each of whom tirelessly gave of their time and creativity to help create and care for a fun child-friendly garden space. The edu-garden beautifully bloomed in 2021 under the loving care of volunteers Kathy Begin, Dawn Snook, and Nancy Turner.

Tollgate educational programs incorporate plant science and practical aspects of growing food locally and sustainably. The gardens and grounds across the farm afford a living laboratory to discover, investigate, and explore the world of plants in hands-on ways.  The overarching goal for the education garden is for school children and campers to be actively engaged in the gardening process. Kids are allowed to investigate science phenomena; sow, weed, and water; and harvest and cook with the produce.  

The edu-garden cohort became fast friends as they helped provide new and ‘tried and true’ educational elements in the garden – plant scavenger hunts, student-made garden signs, experimental fall cover crop plots, investigation of good and bag bugs, a pizza garden, a tea garden, pollination, irrigation, and much more. During the pandemic, these dedicated volunteers. also known as the Bee Kind Crew, helped staff pivot our Plants and Their Partners program from an in-person to virtual program, incorporating themes of kindness to others, supporting pollinators, and growing food for others.  

The edu-garden continues to grow into a fun, inviting place for kids, where staff and volunteers sow, weed, water, and investigate alongside children. The edu-garden is an essential element of the overall education happening on the farm. Thank you does not begin to describe how grateful we are for all the hard work put in by our fabulous edu-garden volunteers. The small but mighty crew rolled up their sleeves to dig in the dirt and share their love of gardening with our young learners. 

We thank our edu-garden volunteers and are continually inspired by their generosity, commitment, and effort which have made this year in the edu-garden such a success. For more information or to join this amazing crew, email koehle43@msu.edu.