The Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources invites you to visit the Willow Lake Student Farm (WLSF) for our Spring Field Day 2023 at 10:30am Saturday, April 29. During the field day, visitors will tour the farm and learn about its history, how K-State courses and researchers utilize the farm, and what the farm has to offer the campus and broader Manhattan communities. 

Gates will open at 10:00am, and the tour begins promptly at 10:30am. During the tour you'll see student projects, learn about recent and on-going research projects, see where the new Student Garden Program will reside, and meet a few of the farm's supporting/partner organizations. There will be time for Q&A and burgers will be served at 12:00 pm. 

The Student Garden Program is re-opening this year to give students their own garden space, in a traditional, community-garden format. Students who want a more production-oriented garden experience can also commit to producing one or more crops for sale to the farm's campus customers—Derby and Kramer Dining Halls, JP's Sports Bar and Grill (both locations), and a new 25-member CSA subscription box program. Those students will share in the revenue generated from their crops while receiving invaluable production experience. 

We will have scale-appropriate farm equipment on display, and representatives from Kubota/Land Pride/Great Plains Mfg. will be on-hand to talk about the equipment they recently donated to the farm to support student success. Valor Honey will have a station to answer questions about the beehives on the farm and their programs that help transition retiring servicemembers to agricultural vocations. The Kansas Permaculture Institute will be there to talk about permaculture and our joint Permaculture Design Certification course. Finally, representatives of K-State Housing and Dining will be on-hand to talk about our new "By K-State, For K-State" initiative. 

We hope you will join us next Saturday at 10:30 am at the Willow Lake Student Farm for our Spring Field Day 2023. Get directions to the farm. For more information, please e-mail Dr. Jeremy Cowan.