Project GROWS

06/19/2026

This week, we got to teach a brief lesson on food miles to the Waynesboro Family YMCA summer campers!

Farmer Pickles (a puppet!) talked with our education manager, Laura, about how far our food travels to get to the grocery store! Campers got to guess how far different foods (such as bananas, oranges, blueberries, milk, and carrots) travel to get from where they are grown to the grocery store before learning how close local food is grown by neighborhood farms, and how quick a trip it is from farm to farmers markets and the Mobile Market!

Next, campers were asked to think about what questions they might want to ask a farmer next time they see them at the market. Two of the most popular questions were:

1. How long does it take a blueberry to grow?
2. Why are vegetables so big?

As a tasty way to finish up the lesson, campers were allowed to shop at the Mobile Market with kids' bucks to pick their own produce!

What a fun way to learn a little about your carbon footprint, the importance of local foods, and the value of farmers (and mobile) markets! Thanks for hosting us, Waynesboro Family YMCA!

06/17/2026

The Waynesboro Farmers Market- VA is celebrating the official start of summer with the Central Shenandoah Valley Office on Youth this Saturday from 9am-1pm, and it's sure to be fun for the whole family!

Bring the kids and join our Summer Kick-Off Event for:

🫧Bubbles: The Office on Youth is bringing the fun with a bubble machine!

🎯Games: It's National Pollinator Month! Stop by the Project GROWS tent to play a pollinator game and to learn about the importance of pollinators.

🕵🏽‍♂️Activities: Bring your binoculars kids - we're going on safari on Saturday! Complete our activity path along the greenway and learn about animals that live on every continent. Bring your completed activity sheet back to the INFO tent for a small prize.

🥕POP! Club is back - Kids under 18 can earn $5 to spend on fruits and veggies at the market when they taste our fruit or vegetable of the week! What will it be this weekend?!?

🍰 Plenty of food for the whole family! Grab breakfast while you're there - we'll have juice, coffee, baked treats, hot breakfast sandwiches, soft pretzels, fresh fruits and veggies, and so much more.

And, as always, we offer SNAP matching (double your SNAP dollars at the farmers market *and* get fresher, more nutrient dense produce) and fresh food donations for Embrace Waynesboro - A Center for Community!

We hope to see you there this Saturday!

06/15/2026

Thank you PCB and JMU Valley Scholars for the opportunity to host our amazing intern, Mya! With your help, we are able to provide her with opportunities to develop skills in leadership, public relations, and community engagement this summer - and she's doing a great job!

We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Valley Scholars and Project GROWS in support of this year's summer internship program. 🤝 🌱

Through this collaborative initiative, students gain valuable hands-on experience, professional development opportunities, and meaningful connections that help prepare them for future success.

We are proud to invest in programs that empower young people while strengthening our communities.

06/12/2026

Did you know? We're hosting a workshop series at the farm for the first time ever! These workshops are a great opportunity to hone your skills and meet people with similar interests!

Today, we're highlighting the third of our workshops: 🍎Canning Apple Pie Filling🍏!

Join Betty Clifton, a life-long canner and teacher, to learn how to make delicious apple pie filling and preserve it using a water bath canner. You will take home one jar of apple pie filling (which will be great for holiday cooking) and the skills to make your own next year!

To give everyone a chance to attend, we have TWO sessions for this class:
October 17th from 9:00am-11:00am
October 17th from 11:30am-1:30pm

Ready to sign up?! Use the QR code, or sign up here:

06/10/2026

We have partnered with the Education Farm and Waynesboro Public Schools to host students for a three week summer camp, and boy are we having FUN!

We believe that STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) is the best way to learn about the world around you, so we're going full STEAM ahead at our summer camp this year!

Over three weeks of camp, students get to:
1. Practice leadership: meet with a school principal to discuss the needs for a garden, asking questions and assessing the future garden site.

2. Learn basic ecology: which plants grow well together and why? Which plants will work best for the school garden? How will vermicompost help the garden grow?

3. Collaboration and Creativity: Students work together in small groups to design a garden space that includes paths and water features.

4. Presentation: Students will share their final designs at the end of camp in a science fair-meets-art show presentation!

We can't wait to see their amazing designs!

06/09/2026

"My mom gave me a choice to either go straight home or come here to the market. I chose to come here because I wanted some strawberries!"

🥰We can't get enough of stories like this! When kids come to our mobile market to choose fresh fruits and veggies, everyone wins! The mobile market offers a selection of seasonal produce from local farms, working with specialty farmers to provide everything from meat, eggs, and cheese to seasonal produce!

💥Did you know?💥 Our Kids' Bucks program gives children under 18 a $5 coupon to shop for their own produce, encouraging healthy eating habits and giving children a sense of ownership over their food choices!

You can also enjoy free food samples, recipes, and kids activities when you shop at our markets, so make sure you stop by and see what we're all about this week (schedule included in photos)!

What's your favorite mobile market story?

06/05/2026

We're thrilled to celebrate a major milestone for our Director of Programs and Strategic Impact, Megan Marshall, who this week earned her Master of Public Health in Nutrition from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health.

Over the past few years, Megan has brought the knowledge, curiosity, and systems-thinking approach from her studies into every aspect of her work at Project GROWS, helping strengthen our food education and food access programs and deepen our impact across the community.

We couldn't be prouder of Megan's accomplishment or more grateful for all that she brings to our team. Please join us in celebrating this exciting milestone!

06/04/2026

This year we're starting a new workshop series at the farm for every age! These workshops are a great opportunity to hone your skills and meet people with similar interests!

Today, we're highlighting the second of our workshops: 🎨Plein Air Painting🖌!

Break out your easels and brushes to enjoy natural beauty in the peak of growing season on the Project GROWS farm!

The farm will be open for painters to visit at their leisure between 12:30-5pm.
Artists will then have the opportunity to display and sell their art at an art show on Friday, September 18, 5:00-6:30.

Ready to sign up? Use the QR code or the link: https://projectgrows.regfox.com/pg-workshops-26

We can't wait to see what you'll create!

06/01/2026

That's a wrap on our field trips for the 2025-2026 school year! Today, we want to take a look back at the great times we've had, the lessons we've learned, and the importance of the work we came together to complete this year!

🥗"That's some GOOD spinach!" was a common refrain at the farm this spring! Our spinach over-wintered, making it extra sweet and a fan-favorite of visitors from pre-K through middle school (and even teachers and chaperones agreed)!

🥘Creative Cooking! One of the most-enjoyed activities was creating food with the produce harvested by students! From smoothies to quesadillas, kids not only learned HOW to prepare fresh produce in everyday meals, but also how tasty eating fresh food truly is!

🐾 Getting Dirty - We totally still play in the dirt - doesn't everyone? Kids helped plant seeds and harvest veggies while they were with us, making important connections with the life cycle of the plants they eat and learning basic gardening techniques along the way.

❓Why it matters: teaching kids to grow their own food and eat it is a vital piece of building life-long healthy eating habits. Giving children hands-on experience makes them more likely to try (and enjoy) fresh produce. Moreover, when kids make real-world connections with the lessons learned in the classroom, it deepens their understanding of those topics.

We had a blast this year! If we're seeing you for camp this summer, we can't wait! If not, then we're looking forward to seeing you for another field trip soon!

05/29/2026

📢 There is less than ONE WEEK left to register for our Junior GROWers camp!

🐛Calling all nature lovers between the ages of 9 and 13! Join us as we play in the creek, make natural-dye playdough, cook, and observe the cool plants and wildlife that call our farm home!

Only THREE spots remaining! Sign up today using the QR code or on our website: https://projectgrows.regfox.com/junior-growers

We can't wait for you to join us this summer!