Growing the future in Reno-Tahoe

FARMily empowers children in the Reno-Tahoe area to learn and practice social-emotional skills as they plant, tend to, harvest, and prepare a wide variety of nutrient-rich fruits and veggies in our organic gardens. Our curriculum is designed to connect children to nature while fostering a reverent curiosity that encourages healthy habits. This environment is fertile ground for kids to acquire the knowledge skills and attitude necessary to recognize and regulate their behaviors and emotions. In the garden we establish and grow positive relationships, learn responsibility, solve challenging situations, and set and achieve positive goals.
We teach kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows in six locations. At the William N. Pennington, Donald W. Reynolds, and Donald L. Carano locations we have lush gardens where we teach kids organic gardening skills based in social-emotional learning. At the LDJ Community Center, Traner Middle School, and Dilworth Middle School sites we teach cooking classes and healthy life style skills. We also have nine large hydroponics systems throughout these sites where we teach year round gardening.

Our largest garden is called Katie's Garden (a collaboration between the Katie Grace Foundation, Bridge Church, FARMily, and Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows) Click on the "More" tab above for details!

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Lush organic garden plants at the garden managed by FARMily

History of FARMily

Since the spring of 2017 we've experienced exponential growth in our organic urban gardens. During that time, we've expanded from what started out as a small growing area at the Carano Boys & Girls Club on Bresson Avenue, to now include a greenhouse, fruit trees, row crops, herb garden, raised beds, a pollinator garden, herbal remedy garden, worm farm and compost area. We are actively reducing food and garden waste by composting and turning it back into dirt for our gardens!

How we are growing!

Farmily is thriving and continues to expand thanks to the assistance and contributions of many generous sponsors in our community, especially the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows! In 2019 Farmily's one garden multiplied into three as the Boys and Girls Club requested that we establish two additional gardens at their Pennington and Reynolds locations! Today we are six sites strong where we teach over 2,000 kids a year and six one hour lessons per week!

We are so thankful for partners like The Bridge Church and The Katie Grace Foundation who have shared their land and resources to enable us to grow our gardens, touching the lives of hundreds of new kids!

Grateful for Your Support

Community support is always welcome, as we're constantly looking for new and exciting ways to advance and expand our program! Whether it's volunteering, making a donation, or simply referencing someone who can help - we want to hear from you! Contact and Donation options can be found on the menu above.

Learning is FUN!

Child smiling while showing fresh organic vegetables from the FARMily garden

Children watering plants in the garden greenhouse.

Boys and girls club students engaging in fall outdoor education at the FARMily community garden

Children working together at Katie's Community Garden in Reno

Plants and vegetables produced from the FARMily community garden

Child touching plants at FARMily's community garden

Educating through nature...

The knowledge gained through personal experience and interaction can lead to a deeper understanding of scientific disciplines and interconnections between humans and environmental systems that kids might not experience otherwise. We always make sure that the children's time in the garden is as educational as it is enjoyable. FARMily incorporates many subjects into our curriculum including social-emotional learning, science, technology, art, math, history, reading, nutrition and health.

Thank you to our generous sponsors!