Morales Farm Partnership
Making Locally Grown History with Edible Education
June 2010
Bainbridge Island, WA
Whats New at Morales Farm!
 
Wilkes students and parents and the EduCulture Project staff at the July 15th work party
Fourth Graders, teachers and the EduCulture Project staff at the sugar pumpkin plot
Karen Selvar of Bainbridge Island Farms with Wilkes Students
A plot of edible sunflowers grown by Second Graders from Wilkes Elementary
This spring, through a new pilot project in edible education, a group of Bainbridge Island farmers, educators and students will be seeding some locally grown history. For the first time on Bainbridge Island, publicly owned farmland is being used in service to public education to create public produce. What is grown through this edible education program will be served in the Bainbridge Island School District lunch program, studied and consumed through classroom projects, donated to the community, and used to “farmraise” to keep the program going.
A view looking south onto Morales Farm
Betsey Wittick of Laughing Crow Farms instructing First Graders from Wilkes Elementary
During the last weeks of the school year, first-fourth graders at Wilkes Elementary School have been engaged in a ground breaking pilot project in edible education. Students have been planting potatoes, corn, edible sunflowers and sugar pumpkins at the Morales Farm. They will be involved in growing this food from seed through harvest, and will have a hand in the processing, distribution and consumption of this fresh and local produce.
 
Seed potatoes from Laughing Crow Farms (left); an apprentice helps Wilkes students plant potatoes (right)
Through educational interest and generosity, local farmers and Friends of The Farms, who manages the city-owned farmland, have set aside a parcel of community landscape at Morales Farm for a dedicated farm-school program. Brian MacWhorter of Butler Green Farms, Betsey Wittick of Laughing Crow Farm, and Karen Selvar of Bainbridge Island Farms, are serving as master farmers to oversee the agricultural integrity and authenticity of this edible education program. Brian MacWhorter prepared the plot for planting, and Betsey Wittick donated 400 seed potatoes to get the program started. Apprentice farmers and educators are being trained to help manage the farmland and lead learning experiences. The EduCulture Project has been developing locally grown farm-school programs on Bainbridge Island for the past four years, and is overseeing the design and development of the Morales Farm program.
 
Brian MacWhorter of Butler Green Farms instructing Third and Fourth Graders (left); Third and Fourth graders planting corn (right)
Wilkes Elementary School was the ideal partner school for this pilot project at Morales Farm for several reasons. The farm is in walking distance from the school, and it is a natural extension of the teaching and learning already begun with neighboring Suyematsu-Bentryn Farms and farmers. These farms are part of the school’s backyard, and over the last few years they have become integral outdoor classrooms for students to learn lessons in math, science, social studies and more. Wilkes Elementary is approaching the vanguard of local food and farm education, and has become a model for the rest of the district.
Students walking back to Wilkes Elementary School after planting at Morales Farm.
This exciting new project will take place on Morales Farm, located on the corner of Highway 305 and Lovgreen Road and one of Bainbridge Island’s oldest working farms. Teddy Morales moved to the region in 1929 at age 16, where he joined relatives in doing seasonal farming up and down the west coast. After serving in WWII, Teddy and his first wife Gloria Paul settled on the island to raise four children and to help farm his cousin’s Lovgreen property. Teddy traded his expertise and help on the farm for 5 acres of the land, which makes up what we know today as the Morales Farm. During the height of the season, the farm produced an average of 800 ears of sweet corn each day. Teddy and his second wife Tita grew “berries and a variety of vegetables sown in perfectly straight rows over the sunny rise of their property. Their neatly trimmed farm is one of the cornerstones of our rich agricultural heritage”. The Morales Family retired the farm and moved back to the Philippines in the 1990’s. Through an open space levy, the Morales Farm was purchased by the City of Bainbridge Island to keep in perpetuity as community agricultural landscape. Friends of the Farms has contracted with the City to manage this farmland, and has spent the past few years bringing it back to working status.
First Graders from Wilkes Elementary plant rows of seed potatoes at Morales Farm
We hope this outdoor classroom will be a seedbed for:
• Locally grown food production that will contribute to a more sustainable school and community food system.
• Enriching and enlivening curricula, nurturing school and home gardens, informing farm stewardship and food citizenship, and modeling education for sustainability.
• Building an apprenticeship program that trains the next generation of farmers and educators to expand farm-school projects and grow more local food for our schools and community.
• Conserving a taste of Bainbridge Island by making local sustainable agriculture more sustainable.
• Identifying best practices for cultivating and maintaining farm stewardship and food citizenship.
• Nurturing the next generation of farmers, scientists, doctors, nutritionists, chefs, ecologists, economists, grocery, food industry leaders, land trust lawyers, citizens and stewards humanitarians.
This edible education program at Morales Farm is made possible through partnerships with:
- Brian MacWhorter, Butler Green Farms
- Betsey Wittick, Laughing Crow Farm
- Karen Selvar, Bainbridge Island Farms
- The EduCulture Project at Global Source Education
- Wilkes Elementary School & Families
- Bainbridge Island School District Food & Nutrition Program
- Friends of the Farms
- City of Bainbridge Island
- Bainbridge One Call for All Campaign
- And through the generous support and contributions of many individuals in our community
The seed funding for the first phase of this pilot project has come from Wilkes PTO class enrichment funds, Bainbridge Schools Foundation grants, and other school sources already allocated to Wilkes farm-school programs, along with generous pro-bono and financial contributions from local individuals and organizations. We are looking for funding sources that can enable this program to continue and grow in a more sustainable direction. If you have any ideas or suggestions for capacity building with this edible education program, we would like to hear from you.
For more information please contact
The EduCulture Project at Global Source, or call 206-780-5797
Read recent news about Suyematsu/Bentryn and Morales Farms and farm programs
Press Release for the Morales Farm Program
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