Summer Field Trips

About

During the summer months, Garden City Harvest offers educational field trips at the Garden City Harvest/EVST PEAS Farm and our School Gardens.

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.

Note: this is for Summer field trips only. If you are interested in a field trip during the Spring or Fall, please click here.

When

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

Scheduling your Field trip

Click HERE to submit a request for a School Gardens Field Trip, or click HERE for a PEAS Farm Field Trip. One of our crew members will get back to you shortly!

DETAILS

Students will tour the farm or garden 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!

Choose from two field trip destinations: 

PEAS Farm: 1.5 hour field trip led by Garden City Harvest staff

School Gardens: 45 minutes of programming led by Garden City Harvest staff

summer program offerings

  • Seed starting

  • Pollinator scavenger hunt

  • Bug bingo 

  • Flower pressing 

  • Veggie tastings 

  • Garden work for older age groups

  • Nature writing 

  • Lunch in the garden

GROUP SIZE

Generally, our maximum is ~30 students at a time due to the size restrictions of our school gardens. The minimum group size is 10 for guided garden programming. If your group is smaller than 10 you are welcome to come visit the farm for a self-guided field trip.

COST

Cost fluctuates based on group size and location. This helps us staff appropriately and provide any needed supplies for your visit.

PEAS Farm:

  • Groups of 15 and less: $100

  • Groups of 16-25: $120

  • Groups of 26-40: $160

School Gardens:

  • Groups of 15 and less: $50

  • Groups of 16-25: $60

  • Groups of 26-30: $80

LOCATION

All of our tours happen at the PEAS Farm or one of our eight School Gardens.

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.

School Garden visits can be scheduled at any of the following school gardens around Missoula:

  • Chief Charlo 

  • Franklin Elementary 

  • Hawthorne

  • Jeanette Rankin Elementary

  • Lowell Elementary

  • Paxson Elementary 

  • Rattlesnake Elementary

  • Russell Elementary

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 Manager 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 and gardens?

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.

OTHER FAQ’s 

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.

Can we schedule a self-guided visit?

Interested in using a school garden for already existing programming or for a lunch break? Self guided visits can be scheduled with a Garden Manager who will make sure the garden is open and ready for your arrival.

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.