The TUF Hay Stack isn’t quite complete yet.
We still need your help to reach the 2010 End
Of Summer Hay Challenge. Can you help us get
to the top? We have secured about $1300
toward the $3000 challenge. We have until the
week to make the challenge.

A $100 donation buys 20 bales of hay–enough
to feed all the TUF animals for one day. Join the
hay challenge today. Send a check or make a
donation through Paypal by going to our website-
www.theurbanfarm.org and clicking on the
donate button, or click below to donate now:

A big thank you to those who have already
donated.

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4-H@TUF — Kids from the Urban Farm just finished Adams County Fair last week.  As in past years, we will take a break from 4H meetings for the remainder of the month of August.  The next 4H meeting will be September 9 from 5:45 – 7:00 pm.  This will be an end of the year meeting mostly focused on wrapping up Fair.  The first meeting of the new 4H year will be October 7 from 5:45 – 7:00 pm. :: Click here to view the 4-H Meeting Calendar

• Perennials (herbs, ornamental, fruit, vines) and spring bulbs.
• 1 ton or ¾ ton newer model, road-worthy pick-up truck with no more than 150,000 miles on it (must have a towing package and class 4 hitch).  Children and animals will be passengers in this vehicle.
• Larger tractor with implements (eg. bucket, snow plow, rototiller, mower, harrow, etc).
• Sheets of plywood to repair animal shelters.  Need 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch plywood.  No particle board please.

The hay challenge works this way: someone or some entity contributes a sum of money to be used for hay for the animals and challenges others to match some portion of the challenge.  A $3,000 challenge has been committed and so the fun begins.  The challenge is to match this sum within two weeks.

For the better part of 2010 we were paying $10.50 per bale of hay.  We have been working with a farmer in the Longmont area who has agreed to sell us an entire hay field to us for $5.00 per bale.  Do the math–this is less than half of what we paid last year.  The bales weigh about 75 pounds each and are high quality organically-grown hay.  A $100 donation buys 20 bales of hay – enough to feed all the TUF animals for one day.

Hope you will help us meet the challenge.  As always you can send checks or donate via Paypal:

And, of course, you can always designate your donation be used a different way.

Thank you very much for your support!

RESCHEDULED OPEN HOUSE AT TUF –  Saturday, June 26  10 – noon (free tours).  $5.00 horse rides for the kids (4H Fundraiser); bouncing castle; Feed Denver farm market, magical worm juice, compost for sale.

RESCHEDULED 4H Club Fundraiser – Saturday, July 3  5:00 – 8:00 pm  Hazel Miller Band Concert at Stapleton Founders Green – The 4H kids will be selling concessions.  All concession proceeds will help with 4H expenses at county Fair in August.

GARDEN VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – If you enjoy gardening, feel satisfied endlessly pulling weeds, enjoy planting seedlings and transplants, don’t mind getting wet from watering veggies, then we have the perfect volunteer job for you this summer.  Call Donna at 720-810-5475 or send email to dmgdenver@yahoo,ocm.

4H Monthly Meeting — Thursday, June 17 — 5:45 – 7:00 pm.

4H Fair Meeting – Tuesday, June 29 -  5:30 – 6:30  All Fair participants  must attend to finalize Fair forms.

Kitten and Baby Bunnies need good homes!  We have 5 show quality meat rabbits for sale (you don’t have to eat them they also make exceptional pets.  They need to be re-homed immediately (re-homing fee = $25).  Ten week old grey male kitten – well socialized and litter box trained – needs loving family.  Re-homing fee is $20.  Call Donna today at 720-810-5475.

4H Project Meetings  — Day                                 Project                                Time                                    Leader
3rd Tuesday                        Goats and Sheep               4:30 – 6:00                         Meri
3rd Thursday                       Goats and Sheep               4:30 –6:00                          Meri

GENERAL MEETING 5:45 – 7:00                         All 4H Members
4th Tuesday                        Goats and Sheep               4:30 – 6:00                         Meri
Poultry                                4:30 – 5:30                         Donna
4th Thursday                       Goats and Sheep               4:30 – 6:00                         Meri
Swine                                  5:30 – 6:30                         Khadija and Stephan
Breeding Goats                 4:30 – 5:30                         Leda
Growing Good Food        5:00 – 6:00                         Kim
Cloverbuds                         4:30 – 5:30                         Lisa
4th Saturday                       Poultry                                10:15 – 11:30                    Donna
5th Tuesday                        Fair Meeting                      5:30 – 6:30                        All Fair Participants

Come to an Open House at The Urban Farm at Stapleton

Saturday, May 8, 2010  10:00 a.m. – noon

10200 Smith Road, Denver, CO 80239
(1/4 mile west of intersection of Havana and Smith Road)

Free Farm Tours (Meet the animals and learn about Feed Denver)

Farm Market (Fresh eggs, organic salad greens, goat’s milk and cheese)

Pony/Horse Rides (Suggested donation of $5 per ride to benefit

The Urban Farm 4H club)

Information on Summer Programs for Kids and Adults

Contact info@theurbanfarm.org for more information

TUF Kids, Parents, Friends of The Farm:

This Saturday, May 1st the TUF 4H club will be having their annual bake sale during Mulch Pickup.  The kids have asked that everyone provide homemade baked goods.  Last year they made almost $400 in about 3 hours. They could have made more but they ran out of baked goods.  All the funds are used to help pay the costs of participating in county fair in August.

The kids are requesting your help in preparing homemade goodies.  All items must be individually wrapped in plastic wrap or in a ziplock type baggie.

Please drop off your goodies by 6:00 pm tomorrow (Friday) or at the latest — 7:00 am on Saturday morning.  The Bake Sale starts at 7:30.

Kids and parents are needed to help with this event. Donations of coffee are appreciated as well.

Thank you on the kids behalf.

This summer at TUF:

Embracing Horses – Horsemanship Education classes for children 5 – 18 years. Beginner thru Advanced Levels, weekly evening classes or one week morning riding camps.

Storybook Farm — A farm experience designed especially for young children between the ages of 4 and 6 years.

I Want To Be A Farmer — This workshop is for the 7 – 10 year old who relishes wearing overalls and getting dirty, loves animals and growing things and goes gaga for tractors.

Agriculture in The City classes for grownups on Culinary Herbs as Healing Herbs, Keeping Chickens in the City, Introduction to Permaculture, Fiber Arts, and others.

Farm Tours – On most Saturday mornings, visitors can come by for a Farm Tour. A $5.00 donation per person over the age of 2 years is greatly appreciated.

Sleepover At The Farm – Kids 8 – 11 years old will enjoy this sunset to sunrise experience at TUF. Campers will listen to the coyotes, roast marshmallows around a campfire, tell “scary stories”, sleep out under the stars and have an early morning riding experience.

The Urban Farm gets a facelift. TUF held a spring cleanup weekend on April 10 and 11^th.  More than 130 volunteers showed up to clean, reorganize, and spruce up The Farm.  Rocky Mountain Excavation donated a full day of road grading and crowning to address water runoff and pot hole issues.  The new look from Sand Creek Trail is astonishing!  Thank you to all those who helped make a difference.

Chipoltle holds fundraiser for TUF and Feed Denver. April 11^th, friends and neighbors converged on Chipoltle in Stapleton for a delicious time of good food and lively conversation.  The restaurant donated half of the receipts from the evening to TUF and Feed Denver.  Well over a hundred people enjoyed the concept – eat dinner and help The Farm at the same time. Thanks Chipoltle.

28 school days till summer break! It’s not too late to sign up for summer workshops at The Urban Farm. TUF still has some morning workshop and evening class availability for children and youth ages 4 – 18 years. Offerings include Embracing Horses classes, Storybook Farm and I Want To Be A Farmer workshops.  Contact info@theurbanfarm.org or 303-307-9332 for more information.

Adults can take classes too! Adult riding classes are available.  Feed Denver is launching a series of classes on Urban Agriculture – class offerings include Culinary Herbs as Healing Herbs, Keeping Chickens in the City, Introduction to Permaculture, Fiber Arts, and others.  Online registration can be completed at www.FeedDenver.com.

Youth Corps teaches sustainable food production. — Recently, four youth were selected by Feed Denver at The Urban Farm to participate as part of a national Youth Corps to teach other kids about sustainable food production.  The kids have spent several months learning the Growing Power model being replicated at TUF (ie growing soil, vermicomposting, year round food production, aquaponics, etc) and are now going to other cities around the country helping schools and youth groups establish their own projects.  Over spring break the kids and TUF staff travelled to New Orleans to help establish an aquaponics project in the 9th ward.

Free Farm tours for Stapleton friends and neighbors. May 8^th between 9:00 and noon, Stapleton residents are invited to come over to The Farm for a free tour.  TUF Kids and adult volunteers will show people around the Farm – introducing them to the animals (we may have new lambs by then) and showing them around the gardens.

Summer Farm Market.  On May 8^th we will also launch a summer “farm market” which will be held each Saturday morning from 9:00 am till noon.  Fresh greens, fresh eggs, and other delectables will be available for purchase.  Pony rides for $5.00 will be available during the market.

Summer Program for Young Children at The Urban Farm

Wondering what your kids can do all summer at The Urban Farm?   Children and youth can ride horses and learn how to care for them.  They can enjoy the experience of feeling freshly tilled earth or sitting on a log watching a couple of baby goats suckle from their momma then bounce away chasing imaginary butterflies.  They can sit under the shade of a tree and learn how to knit from a ball of yarn that they spun themselves.  Or, they can wander through the garden picking their own vegetables to eat for snack.  There is sleeping out under the stars after cooking hotdogs over a fire and experiencing that quivery feeling in the pit of their tummies from telling slightly scary stories and then hearing coyotes howl in the distance. They might give a miniature horse a bubble bath and learn how to make old-fashioned strawberry jam.

Sound like fun?  Then open the attachments and register your child in one or more summer activities today.  Space is very limited and registrations with payments are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

:: Click here to download form

A Good Deed Deserves a Good Feed.

Make dinner a selfless act by joining us for a fundraiser.

Chipotle on E. 29th Ave & Quebec
Sunday, April 11th, 5-8 pm

Show us this flyer and 50% of proceeds benefit:
The Urban Farm at Stapleton and Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Gourmet Burritos and Tacos

On April 10th and/or 11th

For the annual

TUF SPRING CLEANUP!

Bring the whole family for a few hours or for the weekend and help spruce up The Farm.
The work will be outside with projects to fit everyone’s interests and abilities.

• Where: The Urban Farm at Stapleton, 10200 Smith Road
• Date: April 10 and 11
• Times: 9:00 – 4:00 on Saturday

• 10:00 – 4:00 on Saturday

• What: Cleaning, repairing, building

(Bring shovels, hammers, wheelbarrows, work gloves, etc)
Sunscreen and water bottles are recommended
Lunch and Farm Tours will be provided

For Information: Contact Donna at 303-307-9332

RSVP by sending an email to donna@theurbanfarm.org letting us know how many people you will be
bringing and which of the two days you will attend.

In the event of significant snow, Spring Cleanup will be postponed until April 17 and 18.

TUF’s signature program, Embracing Horses is an extremely popular program in which children ages 5 through 18 learn to care for and ride horses. A skills-based program, children progress through a variety of levels of riding and horsemanship. The program includes opportunities for kids to ride once a week as well as opportunities for youngsters who are interested in becoming accomplished equestriennes and in competing at local, regional, or even national levels. Embracing Horses has a great track record for launching girls, especially, into science-related fields of study. Yearly, about 360 kids participate in the program.

:: To Register for Classes AND to Pay through PayPal, click here

“From the Ground Up” Workshop Weekend

FEATURING

MacArthur Fellow, Will Allen &
The Growing Power Regional Outreach Training Team
November 14-15, 2009
Saturday: 8am-5pm + Sunday: 9am-3pm

This 2-day intensive, hands-on workshop will show how sustainable, healthy local food production can e developed in an urban setting with urban farming pioneer and winner of the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Will Allen.

This training offers diverse groups the opportunity to learn, plan develop, operate and sustain community food projects. Participants leave the workshop with improved skills that they can take back into their communities and pass onto others. These workshops are for both rural and urban projects.

Workshop Breakout Sessions May Include:

Compost & Vermicompost • Aquaponics • Hoophouse Construction
Year-Round Greenhouse Production • Urban Animal Husbandry
Planning for Urban Agriculture • Community Project Design

For more info, contact Feed Denver, at info@feeddenver.com

Click here to watch video about Will Allen.

THIS 2009 WORKSHOP IS FULL — REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Sunday, October 25th, 2009 • 1 pm – 3 pm

The following activities are free with gate admission:

Hay Rides

Fun with Farm Animals

Farm and Harvest Games

Paint the Farm Truck

and many more….

Activities are aimed at children 10 and under.

Gate Admission:

Children Under 2: Free

Adults and Children over 2: $5.00

Horse/Pony Rides: $5.00 / Per ride

Snacks and drinks available for purchase

Come enjoy the fun!

The Urban Farm is located at 10200 Smith Road,

just south of I-70 and west of Havana.

We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to teach agricultural and environmental education to urban youth and their families and your attendance helps support our program.

Don’t want an Art Lottery ticket?   We’re creating our own stimulus package!  Help us fight this recession by enjoying a fun, inexpensive night out.  Enjoy some great jazz, wine, good food and great company!  Ticket price now ****$20.00****!!

Tickets are available online at www.theurbanfarm.com or call Lisa at 303-501-9364
WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT 26TH, 2009
WHERE: 200 SANTA FE DRIVE, DENVER, CO, 80223
View Larger Map

ART FOR THE ANIMALS is a Fundraiser to be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 at Denver Urban Homesteading.  All proceeds will help feed the animals at The Urban Farm. 

The Urban Farm is a 16-year old 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization providing direct programming for approximately 3,000 children a year to teach agricultural and environmental education to urban and at-risk youth and their families.  We do this by helping to create a sense of positive self-regard and self-reliance, a strong work ethic, and hope.  The underling value of The Urban Farm is that urban children will be exposed to the positive values of farm life-respect for the environment, appreciation for animals and plants, team spirit and the satisfaction of hard work leading to a job well done.  A side effect of The Urban Farm is that kids find a sense of belonging and independence, in short, a sense of community.

Don’t want an Art Lottery ticket? We’re creating our own stimulus package! Help us fight this recession by enjoying a fun, inexpensive night out. Enjoy some great jazz, wine, good food and great company! Ticket price now ****$20.00****!!

Tickets are available online at www.theurbanfarm.com or call Lisa at 303-501-9364

ART FOR THE ANIMALS is a Fundraiser to be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 at Denver Urban Homesteading. All proceeds will help feed the animals at The Urban Farm.

The Urban Farm is a 16-year old 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization providing direct programming for approximately 3,000 children a year to teach agricultural and environmental education to urban and at-risk youth and their families. We do this by helping to create a sense of positive self-regard and self-reliance, a strong work ethic, and hope. The underling value of The Urban Farm is that urban children will be exposed to the positive values of farm life-respect for the environment, appreciation for animals and plants, team spirit and the satisfaction of hard work leading to a job well done. A side effect of The Urban Farm is that kids find a sense of belonging and independence, in short, a sense of community.

Hello Urban Farm Community!

Welcome to springtime at the Farm.  This is such a great time of year to visit the adorable new farm animals—have you seen those cute new baby goats? We have some baby miniature Pygmys and Nubians!

Miniature / Pygmy Goats at The Urban Farm

It’s also that time of year to jump in and help with the Children’s Garden!  We want to invite the entire Urban Farm Community to join us in preparing the beds and planting for this season’s delicious crop of veggies.  We are very excited to be able to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) with Sense of Colorado, run by Master Gardener Debbie Dalrymple.

If you are interested in knowing more about the CSA, please read below at the end of this letter.  It’s a great opportunity to get fresh, crisp veggies grown close to home.

We are working in our Gardens over two weekends; The Big Kick-Off will be this Saturday, May 23 at 9:30 a.m.  We will spend the day preparing the beds.  We will work on Sunday and Monday (Memorial Day) as needed. The next weekend, May 30 and 31, we will be planting the veggies. Those days we will begin at 9:30 as well. We will be working all weekend on both weekends until the job is done, so if you cannot make it out in the morning, don’t despair!  We will have experts on hand to tell you what to do.

This is a great way to meet other Urban Farm families, and give back to the Farm for all the amazing things they do for our children.  So if you give an hour or two, or spend the day with us, come join us!

Please bring:
Sunscreen
A shovel if you have it
Gloves

Please let me know if you plan to attend, and which weekend (I want to plan for refreshments!) You can respond to this email or call me at 303-753-8846. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

Click here to contact Kim Downing, The Urban Farm volunteer.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share and in return receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. The benefits of a CSA are:

• The weekly box of fresh just picked veggies bursting with flavor grown close to home.
• You connect with a community of people who celebrate eating well, living green, and reducing their carbon footprint.
• There is Peace of mind, knowing you support local, organic farming that’s good for you and good for the Earth.
• Your food dollar goes into the local economy.

If you are interested in receiving additional information about the Sense of Colorado CSA, please visit their website at http://senseofcolorado.com. There are a limited number of work-exchange shares available to Farm Families.