19 - Sunflower Farm
[00:00:00] Hey there. Welcome to the Farm Educators Roadmap. I'm Christa Hein, former nonprofit girl turned farm education entrepreneur. I've spent the last 30 years creating hands-on programs that connect people to the land animals, and the traditions that nourish our daily lives. If you're listening, you probably believe what I do, that farm education is needed now more than ever, not just on rural farms, but in suburbs, cities, and everywhere in-between.
In this podcast, you'll hear real stories and practical advice from farm educators all across the country, people who are creating change through their programs in creative and inspiring ways. Whether you're dreaming about starting your first program, are already knee-deep in your own farm education work, or are just curious about how others are impacting their communities through farm education, you're in the right place. [00:01:00] Let's dig in.
Christa Hein: Welcome back to the Farm Educators Roadmap. Today I'm joined by Liz Napp, Executive Director of Sunflower Farm in Longmont, Colorado. Sunflower Farm is a one-of-a-kind place. It has a licensed farm-based preschool and afterschool program, summer camps, and a demonstration farm that also hosts farm fests, music evenings, flower workshops, and farm dinners.
Their mission is to create mindful education and memories through farming, play, family time, and stillness. Liz has helped shape the farm into both a learning environment and a community gathering place, and I can't wait to dive into all that they're doing. Liz, thanks so much for being here today.
Liz Napp: Thanks for having me.
Christa Hein: Absolutely. So, I want to start by hearing a little bit about the farm itself. Can you share how Sunflower Farm began and how it [00:02:00] grew into this multifaceted place that blends farming, education and community?
Liz Napp: Sure. In 1998, the owners, John Roberts and Bren Frisch, at the time they were married, they had four kids. They bought a piece of property. It was originally 300 acres here in Boulder County. And they actually sold off a big parcel to Boulder County. And then the rest they made into their home. It was a former homestead owned by one of the four, the original homesteaders in Longmont, the Swanson family.
And as they had their kiddos and they had friends over, their friends had often said - if you had a school here, we would send our kids here. So, it grew out of that. They became a single skilled farm where they had small camps and classes for young kids, preschool mostly. And then it grew into a bigger school.
And then in [00:03:00] 2015 they became licensed to have preschool, summer camps and school age programs. All along the way though, because unfortunately early childhood education doesn't make a lot of money, they also had to obviously have multiple sources of revenue. So, they added in Farm Fest, which is to open the public up to come and experience a rural lifestyle.
And they then grew from there. And then in 2018, I kind of showed up and took over as farm manager and the owners got divorced. And I took over for the wife. It was an amicable divorce, and I took over from Bren, who was the other owner of the farm at that time.
Christa Hein: So how did you end up getting involved in becoming the Executive Director?
Liz Napp: So, all three of my kiddos were here. I have [00:04:00] three daughters. They all came to preschool here. So, I've been here since I guess 2009 as a parent. And it's funny 'cause I always would drive up and say - I wish I worked here, as I think a lot of other parents do. I stayed close with the family for many years and then whenever they reorganized and became licensed in 2018, they had asked me to kind of come and talk at one of their open houses about my experiences with my children because they were here pre-licensed and then post licensed.
And I was a stay-at-home mom for a long time but did a lot of outdoor things at home and was an avid gardener and nature person. And I asked the owner, would you want any help? I'm ready to kind of get back in the workforce. And I've taught, I've been in communications, I've done marketing, and the owner who at that point I think was really tired from everything just said, yes, I would love your help, Liz.
And so I came on board and [00:05:00] I was the farm manager at first and I helped to grow the preschool program because it was really small. It was like nine kiddos at first after they were licensed. And now we have over 80 a day. We have over 200 families currently. So that's how I got here.
Christa Hein: What a great place to be, a family of the preschoolers and then be able to take your own experience and build from that. It's wonderful. So in 2018, you were designated as an educational demonstration farm. Can you explain what that meant for the farm and the families that you serve?
Liz Napp: Sure, it meant that we could have programming here for educational purposes, for the community, for maybe newer young farmers, we could have workshops of sorts. And then we could also offer educational programming for children. And it was a designation they fought hard to get as well as the licensed preschool.
We [00:06:00] are one of the only licensed preschools in Colorado on a farm. There's a few others, but they're not quite as rural as ours is - we have over a hundred animals on the property. And so that, that was a big deal for them. And then of course the licensing came after that and how we work it.
Because it's interesting, you can't really license a farm, is that all the parents sign field trip waivers. So, we have licensed classroom spaces and license playgrounds, and then when you step off the playground and go onto the farm, you are on a field trip.
Christa Hein: Wow, what a great way around it.
Liz Napp: Yeah, it is a great way and the state of Colorado is fine with it. They know that we do that and it works out great. Of course, obviously the property, we've child proofed in many ways and it's a very safe space. But of course, it has over a hundred animals. So there, you know, with that comes some risk of course.
[00:07:00] But, we keep things pretty safe.
Christa Hein: Uh huh. So, your mission includes not only farming and education, but also stillness. Why is that an important part of your philosophy?
Liz Napp: Well, we follow the book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louve. I'm sure you've read it and probably have it on your bookshelf. And with that, you know, we feel children are not outside in nature anymore, and especially once they get to the classroom, especially in public schools. They're immediately given an iPad and technology and a lot of kids stay at home and game all day.
We know that society is missing an area for families and children just to be. And oftentimes when children will come onto the farm, young children for the first time, they will sit on a rock for 10, 15 minutes and just take it all in. It's so much, it's so stimulating to be outside in nature and I think that we've lost that in our society. And so that's really what we were trying to bring back to the public.
Christa Hein: Beautiful. So, you offer a licensed preschool, you have pre-K and school age farm programs. How do those programs weave farming and daily chores into children's learning.
Liz Napp: So, we have a nature-based, farm-based outdoor program, which means that the kids will integrate a lot of the daily farm chores into their day. So, for example, our school age program or homeschooled kiddos mostly, and this is a supplementary [00:09:00] program to what they're doing. And they will do all of the daily animal waterings and feeding of the animals on the farm.
And so they have a list of all the pens they have to hit. In the winter, they have to break the ice in the water pens, and also hang up the hoses to drain them from being frozen. And then the younger kiddos, we have two tortoises on the property too that live outdoors and indoors. In the winter, the kids will make some salads for them, weed salads for them to eat in the younger programs, and they'll take on a one piece of many of the different things we have going on with the animal care on the farm.
So we also have our pre-kindergarten curriculum is very much farm-based. The pre-K curriculum, it meets the standards of any other pre-K kindergarten program in Colorado. In fact, when kids go to kindergarten, they've come back and said that they're totally prepared. But we do a project-based [00:10:00] learning.
So, my best example is that for Valentine's Day, for example, the kids will draw. They'll look at pictures of hearts, then they'll draw them, and then they'll talk about the phonetic spelling. They'll talk about h and then they'll go out in the farm, and they'll listen to real live hearts with some of our baby sheep or baby goats.
So, it's just a very hands-on approach to learning. It's same thing you would get in any pre-K classroom, but the kids get it more in person than sitting in a chair all day in a classroom.
Christa Hein: Yeah, that real world experience.
Liz Napp: Yeah
Christa Hein: So the school age program is described as self-directed, letting kids explore the farm at their own pace. What kind of learning moments come out of that freedom?
Liz Napp: So, what's interesting is that some kids are super into it and ready to explore. They're ready to build tree forts or you know, collect bugs. [00:11:00] And then other kids will sometimes look at the teacher and go, well, now what? Or I'm bored. And it's interesting because they have lost that connection to creative play and you know, finding their own way.
And so we find though, as classes go on, the kids, obviously they do less and less of that because they're starting to understand that, oh, I'm bored, but there's so much to do here. And they can be so creative in nature by directing their own terms of learning. They tell the teacher every day. What do you want to do today?
And they go, well, I want to visit the horse, or I want to visit the llama. And so, they're able to really make their own decisions too, and learn about that in a classroom setting that's outside and on in nature. So, it's a cool thing to watch the kids transition from saying, oh, I'm kind of bored and there's not enough structure to really loving it.
And then, you know, oftentimes they don't want to leave whenever their parents pick them up.
Christa Hein: Yeah, [00:12:00] so I imagine in that kind of learning as well, some kids are pulled in one direction and others in another direction, and they can, you can really kind of specialize it to their own interests in learning.
Liz Napp: Yes, yes, absolutely. And so kids get, and kids get to do many different things. We can also do art, art and crafts, of course, all nature based. Or they can be with the animals, or we also have a bike and ball area. We have everything that you would ever you could ever imagine being outside on a farm to do, and you get to decide what you want to do that day, and everybody gets a turn.
Christa Hein: Yeah, and I think a lot of people don't think about how relevant things like math or science are in the outside. When you mentioned Richard Louve's book, I was at a conference last week in Ohio. We have a Leave No Child Inside Collaborative and there was a math teacher who was talking about how they will do things in nature to learn their math lessons.
And so yeah, it can be so applicable for all of the [00:13:00] subjects outside.
Liz Napp: Yes, totally. And you know, for another example is they'll be counting to 10 in the young preschool classes and then, you know, instead of using worksheets to do it. And counting whatever drawings are on the page, they're going to go out in the pen, we're going to count sheep, we're going to count the goats, and then we're going to watch one or two or in the shelter, and then we'll talk about how do we subtract.
And kids really eat up that type of learning. It's, I mean, it's really the best way to understand math in the natural world, using natural objects, of course.
Christa Hein: Yeah. So, what does a typical day look like in your preschool?
Liz Napp: So the preschool kids come in, we have really great buildings where most of the garage doors open up. So it's very indoor/outdoor feel. It was amazing during the pandemic to have to have this type of classroom because everybody wanted to be here 'cause it felt safer. And now, [00:14:00] I mean, it's still this same way.
And so, the parents will bring them in, they'll have some sort of a nature-based or art-based project going on or some kind of a sensory table. And then they'll slowly make their way out onto the farm and have story time and circle time and sing our farm song. And then they'll have their snack and then they're out on the farm for the rest of the time.
They come back to the classroom to eat lunch, which is all we really have to do for licensing in that situation. And then the afternoon, they might take a nap and the afternoon looks very similar, so we want them outside on the land as much as possible.
Christa Hein: Then you also have your school program. What do the students do who come in the afterschool group?
Liz Napp: So that's for kids ages second to fifth grade. And that's been really popular and that's interesting to watch 'cause a lot of these kids are coming from the public school, right? They're coming right from school. So, they've sat a lot all day. So, the [00:15:00] interestingness thing is you don't have to plan a lot for the afterschool program.
They're only here for two hours because they are so in need of being outside, running around. So, there's not many activities - we will plan stuff, but we rarely get to it. Because first they're going to take on the animal chores, the evening chores, they’re going to give all of the animals a little snack, and they'll help bring all the chickens to their coop.
And then they just have really free play self-directed learning on the property. And that program's been amazing to watch it grow and watch those kids come out of school every day and have so much excitement for being outside of the farm.
Christa Hein: Oh, I bet that sounds so ideal to wrap up your school day on the farm.
Liz Napp: Yeah. It, it really is. It really is.
Christa Hein: So, you also offer summer farm camps, and those programs let kids feed the animals garden or just play farm. What do you see as the lasting impact of those experiences on children?
Liz Napp: I think again, it comes [00:16:00] back to that we don't have any technology on the property other than our cell phone communication we need to use just for safety for the adults. And so, the kids are here all day from nine to three, and they are just outside running around. And oftentimes parents will tell us that that's their favorite, their kid's favorite camp, and it's very competitive to get in.
It's just because we have a very small program. It's also very popular, but we just don't have a lot of kids here. And so, parents are kind of fighting to get spots. It's
Christa Hein: How many do you allow in a week?
Liz Napp: We only have 24 kids
Christa Hein: Oh wow. Nice.
Liz Napp: We have 10 weeks of it. So, it's very, very tiny classes of, we have very small class sizes, eight kids to one teacher during summer camp and it's turns out to be the highlight of all of the kids summers being here on the farm.
We also limit kids to only three weeks per family just to try and, you know, [00:17:00] fit some other families in. A lot of families would take the whole summer though, if they could.
Christa Hein: So, it sounds like your programs really go up through the ages. Do you have a lot of families that start in preschool and then do the afterschool, maybe the school age, and then come back for camp as well?
Liz Napp: Yes, we do. And you know, kids will start in preschool, they go all the way and then they go to public school. They come back for summer camp. Some kids will stay for the school age program if they're being homeschooled or some parents pull them out one day a week from school if they can and bring them here.
And then what's really interesting is then we have a teen volunteer program in the summer, and we have teen farm helpers as well who work and get paid to work on the farm. And most of those kids were here for preschool.
Christa Hein: Wow.
Liz Napp: So, when you watch them full circle, come all the way through. And you know, the reality is that teenagers want to be outside too.
And they need, they need it probably more than anybody else. [00:18:00] They need to be outside in nature. And I think kids really crave it. So, they just keep coming back to. Do all the things volunteering and then possibly working on the farm. And those kids are really cool to see here because they're, you know, they're now, they're young adults, but they are farm kids in many ways.
So, it's a cool, cool thing to watch.
Christa Hein: I mean, you can't underestimate that impact you've had on these kids' lives. Like that's really helping develop who they are and who they're becoming.
Liz Napp: Absolutely. And I think they really hold that nature piece close to them. You know, we live in Colorado. Luckily, we have mostly amazing weather and many outdoor activities. So, it's also that we're feeding into, you know, what their families are doing. They're skiing, they're hiking, they're biking, they're rafting on the weekends, and this kind of gets them jazzed about it too, at a young age.
So, we're just kind of feeding into what we, where we live here, and the beauty of Colorado and, you know, all the outdoor things that you can do here.
Christa Hein: Nice. So [00:19:00] Sunflower Farm has also become known for their farm fests and music evenings. How do those types of events bring the community together in a different way?
Liz Napp: So yeah, they are awesome community events. They're some of my, the music is definitely something I brought to the farm and I'm super excited and jazzed about it. And so, what it does is, it allows the families then to stay and play on the property and not just their kids. And oftentimes parents will say, do you have classes for adults that we could come to summer camp?
And I get asked that every day, probably. And I'm like, no, but you can come back for music tonight. We've got a food truck and a cool bluegrass band, or a cool reggae band, and hang out with your kids and enjoy this very beautiful setting out on the farm and listen to some cool local musicians.
And so, from a business perspective though, they are very community about community building. However, they provide those multiple sources of revenue to allow us to [00:20:00] operate and do what we do. We’re also a production farm as well on the side. It's a separate business, but it's all under the same umbrella.
And, you know, farming is really hard. There is no money in farming. And, you know, we farm organically. It's very hard to pay payroll. And so, all of these different aspects allow this farm to run and pay everybody's paycheck as well as bring the community together in this vibrant atmosphere.
Christa Hein: So are your farm days, your music and farm fest, are those open to the general public, or do you have to be a family of one of the students?
Liz Napp: Nope, they're open to everybody in the community. We have people come as far as south Denver, Wyoming, north Denver, Northern Colorado to be here. You don't have to be a part of the community, but a lot of our families that come are obviously our families that go to school [00:21:00] here too. But no, it's open to everybody.
The real mission of the owners back in the day when they started this was to bring the community into understanding the rural lifestyle and farming. And they've done a great job of it, and everyone can enjoy it in the community.
Christa Hein: So, I imagine that those events are also marketing for you and the farm, for the school and the program. So, you probably don't have to do much outreach, do you?
Liz Napp: No, so the school programming is full and sold out. Like I mentioned, registration is a crazy time for us and we're very small administrative staff. So, it's a tough time, but everybody wants to come in, which is good. And then we obviously have Farm Fest and music, and so the parents come.
So marketing is, we don't need that much of it for the school, but, you know, in the economy right now – it’s not like it used to be. And especially the pandemic [00:22:00] was great for us. And now we do need to market some things though, because I think now, we're in a point where we have so much going on that I think people are overwhelmed by, well, what do I want to do?
Because we have the production farm and then we have the school, and the production farm has flower workshops and farm dinners, and we have a CSA. So we're bringing a lot. It might be that we need to right-size the business too at some point. The school will always be here, but the farming, we need to look at how we kind of reign it in a little bit that we don't have too much going on, that people are overwhelmed by our options.
Christa Hein: So, you mentioned the CSA. With the CSA, the vegetables, flowers, how do you integrate the production farming with the educational and community programs? How do you balance that?
Liz Napp: So, our school programs, we have a farm educator and an animal educator and a garden educator, and he actually grows just [00:23:00] educational beds for the kids. So, every day the kids are taking care of the animals. And then they're also harvesting and every day they bring home vegetables, so they have their own little gardens that mimic what we're growing on a bigger scale on the fields for the families.
And I'm pretty flexible with CSA membership, so if you're a farm family, you can kind of pick up your share, which is just, I just had somebody come and do that, anytime, you know, on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, because I know that they're not here every day, but they want to pick up their kids and their vegetables.
So, I make it easy for them. And then we do have outside community members as well as a part of our CSA, but it's been nice to have the families participate in it. And that's what we had hoped for.
Christa Hein: So how does the team keep animals, gardens, and the spaces all running smoothly together? That sounds like a pretty complicated puzzle.
Liz Napp: It is, it is very complicated. I am really grateful [00:24:00] for the owner, John Roberts, who owns the property. I run the business for him, but he's still very integral in taking care of the land here. And, you know, he'll be out there raking up wood chips. And we have a pretty hefty animal care staff.
We have an equine caretaker. We have a couple of farm hands. We have an animal caretaker. So, and these people work actually around the clock taking care of the property. It is, it's a lot, but because we provide it for childcare and animals, there has to be a certain standard that we have that we have to keep up here on the farm.
So, it's just a lot of people working. We have a lot of volunteers too because people want to see this stay in the community, I believe.
Christa Hein: Yeah. So, what challenges have you faced in blending a licensed childcare with farm education and how have you overcome those?
Liz Napp: So, [00:25:00] like I said, the one was how to have a licensed preschool on a farm, which we do field trip waivers which works great. And other schools have actually adapted that as well. I don't think we were the first, but definitely schools we've talked to use that now as well. And then, you know, it's also, we do walk a fine line.
I will say that between what, you know, what you would expect on a preschool and what you expect on a farm. So, you know, there's certain rules in place. So we did get a variance, for example, to have a chickens on the farm and a chicken coop. But kids under the age of five cannot go in the chicken coop.
And so that's fine. We can make that happen. They also can't touch the chickens or eggs, so we totally abide by that. The kids over five can, so we just kind of walk that line. We also have a hand sanitizer variance. We have hand washing stations all over the farm that kids are constantly, constantly washing their hands, especially after they touch the animals.
And so it hasn't been easy. [00:26:00] However we figured out ways to, you know, work through it. And what's great is that the Boulder County licensing early childhood works with us, and I think they're excited about the things we're doing here because we are outside of the box, but we are still following the rules of what, what is allowed for childcare.
Christa Hein: Nice. Yeah. It's awesome to have an organization or the government that's willing to work with you and find what works best and then they can possibly use that as a model for others.
Liz Napp: Absolutely. And in fact, in Colorado, it was just passed to license outdoor based childcare centers.
Christa Hein: Mm-hmm.
Liz Napp: and that is supposed to take effect in 2026. And what's interesting is that, you know, they're looking at what we do and how we do it, despite the fact we do, we are building-based. But you know, they can learn a lot from what we're doing, and it is possible to do it.
And it's an exciting aspect that they are [00:27:00] taking on. And we're excited about it too, because we could actually expand our programs as well outside of a building, which is, which is great for us.
Christa Hein: Yeah. So, for listeners who are dreaming of creating a farm school or a community farm space, what's one piece of advice you'd give?
Liz Napp: The advice I would start by saying it's, it is really hard and I think you need to really be dedicated to doing it. That would be the first thing. And then the second thing would be, I think, try to work with the organizations that are trying to protect you essentially, which would be licensing, the county.
I think that they're more willing than not to have places like this because I think everybody knows that we need more nature-based education. Kids need to be outside running around more. They need the exercise. And I also think since the pandemic, this has been really something that's blown up.
Because, you know what, if we have another pandemic and [00:28:00] kids can't go to school, how do we continue our daily school routines where children are still. You know, in other areas with other children during a pandemic, and we were able to do it. We were one of the first camps to open up in Boulder County on June 1st or second, whenever it was in 2020.
We figured it out. And so I think that everyone's realizing this is, there's such a need for this and there's not enough of it around here. So I think, you know, try to figure it out. It helps if you own the land that you're operating on. That'd be a piece of advice. I find people that are renting it, it's trickier, but, you know, try it. Go for it.
Christa Hein: So, Sunflower Farm has been around for a long time. What do you think has been a key to its longevity and impact?
Liz Napp: [00:29:00] I really think, first of all, I'll say the owners, even though Bren is not here anymore, they really were passionate about this and they really were steadfast in how they wanted to keep this in the community. And then I'll say the community members. The community loves this place and everybody wants to see it stay here for the, for, you know, for the longevity. And it's a legacy property. And so with that, I think just saying that in general, that's something that people want to keep in the community.
Christa Hein: Yeah. So before we wrap up, can you share how listeners can learn more, visit or connect with Sunflower Farm Online?
Liz Napp: Sure. So we have a webpage, we have two. We have SunflowerFarminfo.com is our main page. Then we have Sunflower Farm Acres, which is all about our farming processes and workshops, as well as follow us on social media. We have an Instagram page. It's also Sunflower Farm [00:30:00] Info and Facebook. And, yeah, come follow us, like us.
And if you're in the Boulder area, come out and check us out.
Christa Hein: Liz, thank you so much for giving us such a rich picture of life at Sunflower Farm.
Liz Napp: Thank you for having me. This was so fun and yeah, I wish anybody good luck out there doing the same thing. It's definitely an amazing experience.
Christa Hein: Awesome. Well, to our listeners, I hope this sparks ideas for how you might weave farming and stillness into your own work.
Don't forget to follow the Farm Educators Roadmap Podcast, leave a review and share this episode with a friend. Until next time, keep teaching, keep growing and keep inspiring your communities.
Hey farm educators. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Before you [00:31:00] go, I've got something special for you. If you're ready to build a farm education program that people are excited to book, grab my free guide, Five Simple Steps to Growing an In-Demand Farm Education Program. It's packed with the same steps I use to grow my own farm education business, and it'll help you get noticed, attract clients and make an impact.
Just head over to www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps to get your free copy. It's quick, easy, and will make your programs irresistible. I can't wait to see what you create. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode.
