Atkins' Acres Educational Farm

Atkins' Acres Educational Farm “Experiences” are our superpower! We are ready to host events this year (2022) so keep an eye out for events. Come grow with us!

We cannot wait to share our gardens with this great community.

Atkins’ Acres 4-H was an adventure, an Eco Adventure in our woodland area. We gave an update on the Symbolic Monarch Mi...
04/08/2026

Atkins’ Acres 4-H was an adventure, an Eco Adventure in our woodland area. We gave an update on the Symbolic Monarch Migration, the onions we planted and then we talk about how to dress for hiking, Leave no Trace and many other good practices for walking on trails.

Busy day for the Atkins’ Acres gardeners, but not at the farm. We have three satellite locations which we tend. Millstad...
03/08/2026

Busy day for the Atkins’ Acres gardeners, but not at the farm. We have three satellite locations which we tend.

Millstadt Hellstrip Gardeners
The Rocketship Park in Millstadt
Roots in O’Fallon

It’s a beautiful day to lightly tend to the gardens. We don’t want to disturb all the insects who are burrowed in the ground or plant stems. This year we will plant lots of red, white and blue in recognition of Illinois America 250.

We had a great visit yesterday by Cub Scout Pack 586. The rain made things muddy but that didn’t stop us from walking t...
03/08/2026

We had a great visit yesterday by Cub Scout Pack 586. The rain made things muddy but that didn’t stop us from walking the farm. It was fun to examine the budding plants as well as share the plans for what will be growing this summer.

Between the snow, rain and wind, our National Service Weather station was a good topic of discussion.

Our two Eagle Scout Projects (Tiny Free Library and Marimba) opened the discussion for future scout goals.

The apiary bees were active but we kept our distance so they could enjoy the warm air after being safe in their boxes all winter.

As we examined the corn stubble we talked about agriculture, crop rotation and careers in farming.

With all the rain last week the ponds are full and look great. Soon we will have visitors reserving the pond through IRAP. 🐟🎣

The guests worked their way back to the shop for sack lunches and Outdoor Bingo. As we walked the farm, the Merlin app was running so we shared the type of birds and how we can use this information to grow plants that will support their habitat and provide food.

Our final task was to plant onion sets which will be ready to harvest in June. 🧅

We had lots of great questions and hope to see the pack back next year. Some families might come back to fish or when we open our giving garden.

Our giving garden is made possible by visitors and their generous donations. Stay tuned for more activities as the warm weather arrives.

Do you remember when our 4-H Cloverbuds and STEM group made life size Monach butterflies which were mailed all over the ...
03/05/2026

Do you remember when our 4-H Cloverbuds and STEM group made life size Monach butterflies which were mailed all over the United States, Canada and Mexico? We received 30 from different locations.

Atkins’ Acres 4-H welcomed a celebrity guest to the meeting. Sifu Niko of 5 Elements Fitness gave some pointers on heal...
02/03/2026

Atkins’ Acres 4-H welcomed a celebrity guest to the meeting. Sifu Niko of 5 Elements Fitness gave some pointers on health and fitness while sharing his experience on Survivor and MrBeast. Afterwards the kids traveled around the shop to do activity stations, eat Survivor Torch pretzels and the infamous popcorn. A great night was had by all.

12/30/2025

If anyone has a live Christmas tree to dispose of you may leave it somewhere around the oval part of the driveway. We will move the trees back to our bird sanctuary as a perch. Please no lights, tinsel or ornaments. 🌲Thank you!

Merry Christmas from the farm! Wishing you good health and happiness.
12/25/2025

Merry Christmas from the farm! Wishing you good health and happiness.

Atkins’ Acres 4-H had a great meeting last week as we discussed weather and station equipment. In Illinois we have many...
11/10/2025

Atkins’ Acres 4-H had a great meeting last week as we discussed weather and station equipment. In Illinois we have many opportunities to experience different types of weather. The following topics were examined: wind sock, thermometer, snow board and measuring stick, rain gauge, wind, anemometer, and weather vane. We did experiments where they formed a cloud and a tornado in jars.

Snack was orange slices (sun) and marshmallows (clouds). Of course we made our traditional snack of popcorn.

We also made thank you posters for the St Clair County Farm Bureau and Mascoutah Livestock Boosters. We appreciate their generosity with paying the registration fee for our 4-H’ers.

We had a group of Girl Scout Brownies visit the farm for the Numbers in Nature 2 lesson. We explored temperature and di...
10/15/2025

We had a group of Girl Scout Brownies visit the farm for the Numbers in Nature 2 lesson. We explored temperature and discussed our weather station which is used to send temperature, precipitation and snow accumulation to the National Weather Service in St Louis.

We visited an orb weaver who built a web on the greenhouse door. He’s big and colorful but everyone was brave and interested. The goal is to learn respect and reduce fear of creatures who mean no harm.

The brownies learned about growing in a square foot garden and planted our garlic. Maybe they will visit again in the summer when it’s time to harvest.

They collected many different types of leaves to measure and plot on a line chart.

We finished up with cookies from a parent and the traditional popcorn from the farm. It was a fast and fun night. This troop made a very generous donation to the farm which is how we sustain our youth programs. Thank you!

Atkins’ Acres 4-H’ers are registered to participate in the Symbolic Monarch Migration. Kids decorated Monarch folders w...
10/13/2025

Atkins’ Acres 4-H’ers are registered to participate in the Symbolic Monarch Migration. Kids decorated Monarch folders which are being mailed to Monarchs Across Georgia who will facilitate the folders delivery to students near Monarch Sanctuaries in Mexico.

One interesting fact is that we experience the entire Monarch lifecycle while kids in Mexico don’t.

We also planted milkweed seeds in a new raised bed dedicated to the monarch’s.

In the Spring we will receive a letter from a class in Mexico sharing their experience with Monarchs.

The new Atkins’ Acres 4-H year started last week. We welcomed returning and new families to the farm. Our field corn and...
09/13/2025

The new Atkins’ Acres 4-H year started last week. We welcomed returning and new families to the farm.

Our field corn and soybeans have not been harvested yet so that was the primary theme. We walked to the fields to examine the row crops, talk about industrial uses and careers in farming, agronomy, operating the equipment and selling seed to farmers.

As we walked around we looked for Orb Weavers as this is their most active time of year. At first some of the kids were alarmed at their size but soon realized they are harmless and quite beautiful. By the time we got to the soybeans the kids were picking up grasshoppers and looking for other insects.

On the way back to the shop we finally harvested the Yukon potatoes that 4-H’ers planted in food grade buckets months ago. It was very exciting to see what actually grew. The kids also found worms in the potato soil so this was another opportunity to see creature who performs an important function in soil.

We had three stations of activities:
- peel dragon tongue bean pods and examine dry sweet corn in the husk
- discuss beans in a clear bag which had germinated and make one to take home
- plant a bean in a pot to take home.

Snack was popcorn and edamame. Overall its was a great night.

Mark AtkinsKim Atkins
09/10/2025

Mark Atkins
Kim Atkins

Address

7101 State Route 158
Millstadt, IL
62260

Telephone

+17577515965

Website

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