29 - Snipes Farm
Christa Hein: 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: Hello, welcome back to the Farm Educators Roadmap. Today I'm joined by Melanie Douty-Snipes, Director of Education and Camp Director at Snipes Farm and Education Center in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
Snipes Farm is a multi-generational family farm turned nonprofit education center with a powerful mission to model and teach sustainable farming, feed those in need, and build community through farm and nature education.
Melanie has spent more than 30 years as an experiential educator, and over the last 20 years, she's helped shape everything from farm to school programs and field trips to farm camps. I'm really excited to explore how education, food production, and place all intersect here.
Melanie, thanks so much for being here.
Melanie Douty-Snipes: So grateful to be asked, and it's an honor to be with you today.
Christa Hein: Awesome. Well, I want to dive into your past. So, you've been [00:02:00] an experiential educator for over 30 years, working in outdoor education, ropes courses, retreats, and environmental programs. Can you walk us through what first pulled you into this kind of learning and how those early experiences shaped the educator that you are today?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, I got my start at Warren Wilson College. And my degree was in environmental studies with a concentration in environmental education. And I think that the field studies that I did at Warren Wilson connected me to what I would know most deeply in my life as the real world. And so to have geology and plant morphology and ornithology, you know, just really connect me in a visceral, deep, almost spiritual way to the natural world.
It left me inspired and wanting to share that with others.
Christa Hein: [00:03:00] Nice. Now, before Snipes Farm, you coordinated a middle school friends program and worked deeply with Quaker values like peace, simplicity, integrity, sustainability, community.
How do those values still show up in the way you design programs and hold space for kids and families on the farm?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, one of the greatest invitations that we can make to children and the families that we work with, is to really be present in the moment. And I think that my Quaker life where we really sink down in our Quaker meditation on Sundays has reminded me every day of my work life that our senses can be awakened when we are truly present.
And so, we're trying to have keen vision, keen hearing, put things in children's hands that they can really touch and also find meaning behind what they're seeing and hearing and touching and [00:04:00] tasting and doing. In terms of other Quaker values of sustainability is very key to be good stewards.
In this world, we've been given the garden and we have to do the best by it that we possibly can. And I would say that our kind of education has a bit of a spareness to it because we just go out in nature and we make our lessons simple so that we can take a deep dive into something small. And have a big experience whether we're trying to make connections in the woods to who lives there or whether we're smelling herbs in the garden and just thinking about the different kinds of leaves there are in the world.
And that some are really fragrant and delicious.
Christa Hein: Awesome. So Snipes Farm has this extraordinary history. 11 generations of the same family farming in Bucks County. Going all the [00:05:00] way back to the Quaker refugees fleeing religious persecution in England. How does that deep sense of place and legacy influence how you teach there?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, there isn't a day that goes by that we're not thinking about the ancestors who first came to Snipes Farm around 1848. And in fact, there's one tree that's very iconic. It's a Mossy Cup oak tree. It's about 150 years old. And I take as many groups as I can to stand underneath it's grandeur and we finish every camp day underneath it.
But we also recognize Samuel Moon, who planted that tree. And just to realize what a legacy can look like, you plant a very small tree and all of these years later, it's been a home. It's made oxygen, it gives us shade. It's so many amazing things. It's been a habitat.
So, [00:06:00] we do see through the family's history, just the amount of work, tenacity, creativity, just perseverance. And also, just the sense of community.
So tying back to that Quaker value, I would say that the farm has really been extremely important to the wider community for all these generations. First, as a tree nursery, with the garden center. For 50 years through the garden center, there were also workshops and seasonal events.
And then even after we closed the garden center, we were able to build on the field trip community that had been built over many years and to continue seasonal field trips.
So I see the land as kind of where everything springs from, but that our programs and our events and, you know, the trees and the shrubs, [00:07:00] all of that knowledge and experience has built bridges to the community that are very strong and very heartfelt in both directions.
And, you know, just really truly a blessing to have the farm be that for all of us.
Christa Hein: So as an educator and a program leader, how do you navigate honoring that tradition while also evolving programs to meet today's needs that you see in the community?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, I would say over these 20 years we've tried many different kinds of programs and for instance, we did lots of afterschool cooking for a run of years. And there was sort of a vogue, you know, sort of a new concept. And, then we also kind of realized that like when we did afterschool cooking, it was on top of whatever we had done earlier in the day.
And when we bring this kind of program offsite, it's also quite taxing on us. [00:08:00] So, you know, we had a good run and then we just put our energy other places. Our field trip business was quite a bit bigger in the past and what we're finding is, especially currently, that it's very hard for schools to afford busing.
And so now, you know, even talking to the board recently we have been wondering about developing a bus fund. Really just doing some fundraising to at least subsidize schools to enable them to come to us because we know they would love it. And we know that the schools that do manage to come year after year love it and have for so long.
And so basically, just kind of what waxes and wanes is partly connected to economic forces. Even just priorities of schools, priorities of families, and also you know, what our capacity is. And so, it's a bit [00:09:00] cyclical and we really have tried lots of different programs and it's been - all of it has been really fun.
But you know, it does have to be financially sustainable as well.
Christa Hein: Yeah. And so, when you see a need in the community and you're wanting to design a program to meet that need, where do you usually start?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, the sort of the array of programs that we offer include school nutrition education, and that has primarily been funded through grants. So, we've had two farm to school grants through the state. We get EITC funds, which is education improvement tax credit funding through several generous businesses in the community that enables us to do school gardening as well as nutrition education. So, that's been amazing. And then we have two primary other schools that we have very long partnerships with, and a contract to [00:10:00] provide garden education. And then at one of those schools, additionally, nutrition education - a special needs school.
So, we do summer camp that has a combination of fee for service and scholarship. We scholarship about 60 children to camp.
Christa Hein: Nice.
Melanie Douty-Snipes: every year, so that's a pretty major effort that we start around now, you know, all the way until camp starts, and even into camp, we're still raising money.
And those campers include children from our local homeless shelter, other low income families who apply. And, you know, sometimes some agencies will reach out with some very special situations and circumstances of kids going through really challenging times.
Christa Hein: What an amazing experience to give kids who wouldn't otherwise have it that you're making possible. And I've also read that your farm camp has grown into this multi-age [00:11:00] experience from young campers all the way through leadership and counselor in training roles. What was your vision behind creating that full progression?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, we just were so grateful and excited when kids were aging out of camp and wanted to stay involved. And so, what the camp leadership program became over time was sort of by trial and error and sort of what best met the needs of the young people and the camp. And so, camp leadership program is really a combination.
You've got one foot in camp programming. So you get to do archery and you get to do art and your science projects and cooking class. But you also are being of service in a particular way, like big brothers and big sisters to the younger campers. And especially this year, there'll be even more ties with farm projects and workshops and special guests that are [00:12:00] coming just to be with the Camp Leadership kids.
It's a small program, but it's a powerful one. In fact, I just had an interview yesterday with a young man who had been in the CLP program for four years. And now he wants to be a CIT and every, in fact, last year every CIT except for one, had come through the CLP program and CIT, being counselor in training.
And so, it really is absolutely wonderful to see kids start at age five and then for instance, decide to do their Eagle Scout project at the farm. These, you know, I'm thinking of this one young man towering above me, you know, who did this beautiful project at the farm, and it's just that he stayed involved and his sister stayed involved since the age of five.
So, I would say that especially the camp community is just like a real entity. It's a very beautiful, it's almost like a garden and there's [00:13:00] always little sprouts coming up. And then there's the mature, the more mature trees or perennials.
Christa Hein: What a great analogy of what camp is! And that knowledge that these kids started young and you know, every time you get to interact with a kid that's impactful. But when they come year after year and then say, I want to stay, make something new for me so I can stay - like that really speaks to the impact that you're making, like deep in their lives.
It's so beautiful. So, for other farm educators who want to build programs that grow with kids over time like that, what's something that you think would be helpful for them to understand about that process?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Gosh, that's a great question. It just, it happens so organically for us. I guess we, we do put an emphasis on community building so every age group has its own space called a bunk. Even though it's a [00:14:00] day camp. And through something called the full value contract, which I'm trying to rename for this summer - that's kind of the nomenclature that you would find online through Project Adventure and other organizations.
But, that for instance, taking good care of oneself and others being present, being safe, being responsible, but also when there are bumps in the road that we listen to each other, we work through those bumps, and then we move on together. So I think because we really do take the time to help campers to be known and supported through all kinds of circumstances, it just builds goodwill,
Because I think there are quite a few camps that are very busy. From the minute, you know, you get there all the way through the day, it's like incredible amount of programming and you can [00:15:00] hardly catch your breath. But we really do try to create space not only for each other and for sharing, but I do think that time in nature, time with animals, time in the garden, you know, just really time with these green spaces that, that we're blessed to have and to share with others, just helps kids to be more grounded, to absorb some of the stress or distress they might be carrying.
So I would say just making sure to leave time to build friendships as well as a deep connection to nature and the farm.
Christa Hein: And I love that you, it sounds like you start with this - I don't remember what you called it with the contract, the values, and how this is a learning experience. We're growing, we're learning about ourselves, how to relate to each other. It sounds like not only a farm experience, but really a life experience as well for the [00:16:00] kids who are growing up through those camps.
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Yes. You know, the full value contract is a commitment that we make every day to each other.
Definitely camp, as well as our garden and nutrition programs, are really trying to instill life skills. There are so many kids who say, I never have a chance to cook, and they're just so excited to work with real food. Proud of what they've done. But we put real tools in their hands and we give them real responsibility. I mean, they've got to really do animal husbandry and they have to water the garden and they have to weed, and we rip out invasives and they dig holes, you know, these little kids with shovels, moving mulch.
And so, I do think that one of the best things that comes from our programs is that they are hands-on and really trying to empower kids to feel like they can solve problems, they can work as [00:17:00] teams to accomplish something and just really also have fun at the same time.
Christa Hein: Awesome. Well, since you mentioned the farm work, I want to ask about the farm. How does food production fit into the overall ecosystem at the farm today? And then how do you decide what to grow and how that food is used?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: So, we have a three-legged stool that holds up our nonprofit and one is farming, one is education, and then one is fundraising -so that we can do all these things, especially on behalf of those who need it the most. So, the farm team is busy growing food for hunger relief.
So this past season, in 2025, that was our first season using sort of a new area on the farm for production that we got deer fence that surrounds six acres. It was just incredible. And now we do permaculture and so we are committed to sustainable and [00:18:00] regenerative farming. We were certified organic for many years.
And regenerative agriculture goes beyond organic farming. It's also human scale farming. And so, the rows are quite short and narrow so that the farmers are much less overwhelmed than they used to be when we had thousand foot triple wide rows. And it was in the farthest corner of the farm. And so now, the whole operation has been brought much closer to where everything else happens.
And so they are growing food for Hunger Relief partnerships that grow shares of food for all the senior centers in Bucks County, the local homeless shelter, food pantries, and hospital wellness programs as well. And so, the farmers are busy, that's the thing about the farmers. They have a big job to do.
And I would say what's really cool about having [00:19:00] our education programs on a working farm is that we get to see farming in action, and we do have permission to interrupt farmers and to say, Hey farmers, how are you?
What are you up to today? What's that tool? What you doing, what’re you growing, you know? So we try not to do it too often, but often enough, especially during camp so that we can have a sense of the comings and goings and the work of the farmers, but the kids will see trucks piled high with food that has been grown.
And they can go into the distribution center and see volunteers, you know, dividing up all this beautiful food into the shares, and then the truck getting loaded in, and then being delivered. So, at least once a year, we have a little thank you for the farmers at camp. One of the camp groups usually bake them some cookies.
We do an interview with the farmers and ask them, you know, how did they become a farmer? What do they love about farming? [00:20:00] What's their favorite vegetable? You know, whatever the questions are that the kids have.
And so, I think the opportunities of education and farming intersection are still very great and we do have an intention to try to cross paths a bit more, especially with the older campers and the CLPs, you know, just wanting to be - fit in, to do farm projects a little more regularly. And we just have to be careful about the farmer's time and energy because they just have, it's all time sensitive. It's very pressured. And yet the whole thing is very exciting and inspiring, I will say.
Christa Hein: So, since a big part of Snipes Farm mission is hunger relief, how do you weave that reality into education and what impact do you see that makes beyond nutrition education?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, when we do nutrition education there, there is a value that we try to grow through an awareness of the hard work of the [00:21:00] farmers. And the gift of every meal. And that is gratitude. So, we make our recipe - we actually frame every lesson briefly with a PowerPoint so that we could really bring the world into the classroom.
Farmers growing an ingredient or a part of the world that's really different than ours that it's come from, any animals that are involved in our recipe and to be grateful. And really when we're done our class, you know, we really do all say together thanks to the farmers, thanks to the sun, thanks to the rain, thanks to the bees, thanks to the cows, you know, just we just have to say thanks.
So, that is a real intention of ours is just to be appreciative because there's just so much quick eating, there's a lot of fast food eating. There's eating from things passed into your car window. There's eating in front of screens.
And so when we can really just think about [00:22:00] what has helped this meal, this snack, this ingredient, to grow, that's now going to be a part of us that we've eaten it and all the benefits and the blessings, you know, that that's a starting point. We don't talk too much about the reality of hunger because so many of the kids are young and also low income themselves and may actually face that.
And so, we really just try to emphasize like whole foods on a budget. Picking the recipes quite carefully so that, you know, none of the ingredients is kind of outrageously expensive or so unusual that you haven't really heard it. Although we do love to expose kids to new things, obviously new flavors and new parts of the world.
Christa Hein: So I'm curious, after so many years in education, what still surprises you or moves you about working with children on the farm?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Well, sharing the farm with others never gets [00:23:00] old. I mean, I've walked it so many times and there's still so much of the farm that I don't know as well. And of course every season it's always changing and so I can't get to every part of the farm in every season, and so I'm always delighted.
I mean, there's always surprises. Nothing is ever the same. I mean, a new tree has fallen, a migrating bird is passing through. And ephemeral flower is blooming. The ferns are just about finishing, but you know, we can go back to the dinosaurs, you know, just touching it. I mean, I don't know -there's just something so timeless and so awe inspiring every time we set foot on the land and I really, I can feel it through the bottoms of my feet, out my fingers, out the top of my head.
And so it's really fun to share that, you know, having the learning be [00:24:00] embodied. Just having fun. We do lots of singing, especially at camp, but we weave some songs into the nutrition and garden programs as well and field trips. Because singing is sort of a communion.
And I would say one of the most inspiring things that's happening at the farm is that the next generations are becoming so involved and so a part of who we are now and who we will be. In fact, it was our nephew who really got inspired by permaculture and then connected us to a certification training.
And then that involved, you know, a bunch of family members and the farmers and now we're doing permaculture. And so, you know, just these wonderful beautiful children are growing up at the farm. Our great nephews who are ages six and soon to be three, are just lovely - and extremely involved grandparents.
So, you know, I would, say that when we started the nonprofit, and even, [00:25:00] before then when the cousins who retired were moving on, my husband, Jonathan Snipes and his sister Susan Snipes Wells, just had a vision for the farm that it be available and open to the public.
And that when we founded the nonprofit, we allowed the community to get involved in new deep and beautiful ways. And so, it's pretty much all inspiring. We are us, you know, it's a family that is trying to steward the land responsibly and respectfully.
It's also a family that's growing and beautiful and then it's just all these community connections help us to feel not only held, but encouraged and, you know, we couldn't do it without the community.
And then, you know, we have programs and food and experiences available to the community and it's nourishing all around.
Christa Hein: What an amazing family [00:26:00] legacy that you've all created there. So as we wrap up, if people want to find more about you online, sign up for your programs, where would they go?
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Our website is snipesfarm.org. You can absolutely find us on Facebook and Instagram. And we are looking forward to our summer camp season and our field trip season.
Right now we're just busy in the schools doing nutrition education, but you could sign up for a newsletter on our website and also volunteering. We love volunteers. And we have an amazing group of volunteers called the Green Team, and they meet twice a month and do incredible projects that are just not only beautifying, but you know, really trying to address our invasives issue. And they have a community of friendship with each other, which is just amazing.
And then we have steady volunteers that come on a regular basis.
Yeah, so definitely making a [00:27:00] financial contribution, you know, sending a child to camp, for instance. Contributing to a bus fund or helping a nutrition program to reach a low income school. And obviously, our hunger relief partnerships are another great need and opportunity for contribution.
So we'd love to have you with us. And just any connections, community connections that anyone has, through businesses, foundations. Yeah. We're, we're really grateful to the foundations who have supported us for many years.
Christa Hein: That is so awesome. Well, Melanie, thank you so much for sharing your story, your heart, and your experience with us today. I really appreciate it.
Melanie Douty-Snipes: Thank you very much for the invitation and I'm inspired by your podcasts. I mean, just, you know, we doing the work, are just grateful for the opportunity to tell our stories.
And I do want to say that one of the mainstays for me personally as a farm-based educator is the Farm-based Education [00:28:00] Network based at Shelburne Farm. And you know, I've been to workshops there and there's just no end to the support that it gives educational farms like us through workshops and conferences and curricula and fellowship and everything.
Christa Hein: Yeah, absolutely. To listeners who want to know more about that, you'll find that in episode two, where we interviewed Vera from the Farm-Based Education Network. Awesome.
Thank you so much, Melanie. And to our listeners, whether you're dreaming of starting your first program or nurturing something that's already growing, I hope this conversation reminds you that farm education is about far more than lessons.
It's about land, relationships, care, and community. Be sure to follow the podcast, leave a review, and as always, keep teaching, keep growing and keep tending what matters.
Christa Hein: Hey farm educators. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Before you go, I've got something special for you. If you're [00:29:00] 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 used to grow my own farm education business.
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.
