See what's happening at Tollgate this month!

MSU Tollgate Farm July 2020

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Save the Date! Upcoming Events

Tollgate programming andevents during CoronavirusCOVID-19

As you may already know,Michigan State University hasmade the decision to cancel orpostpone all in person activities

until September 1st. This means the farm will be closed to thepublic until September 1st, but select volunteers have beengiven permission to begin work in the gardens on the farm.Although this may make it appear that Tollgate is now open tothe public we remain closed. If you are interested involunteering at Tollgate, see the article below on instructionsfor steps to volunteer. We appreciate your help in keepingour staff and volunteers healthy and safe by not entering thefarm during this time.

Evenings in the Garden presents: Race, Food, & Land

in Detroit.

Across the United States Blackfarmers and Black communitiesface major barriers related tofarmland acquisition and foodsovereignty. These issues oftengo unseen. MSU Extension and MSU Tollgate Farm will befacilitating a three-part lecture series to investigate the past,present, and future of race relations in Detroit and how it hasimpacted land acquisition and food sovereignty. During eachsession, a team of MSU Extension facilitators, will be joinedby panelists from across the Detroit food systems landscapeto share their lived and learned experiences. Registrationfees, minus the cost of stipends for the panelists, will gotoward initiatives that support the needs of Black/African-American farmers in Detroit. Individual sessions are $10 eachor $25 for all three.

Pre-register for these Zoom sessions here. Each session is eligible for 2 hours of continuing education forExtension Master Gardeners.

If you would like to attend but are unable to contributefinancially, scholarships are available for qualifyingparticipants on a first come first served basis.

Registration is now LIVETollgate's Virtual InteractiveOutdoor Adventure Camp July 27-31 Ages 11-14 Daily virtual interactivewilderness skill-building

sessions accompany self-directed blog activities andchallenges to try in the great outdoors. Topics include Team-building and the Ten Essentials, Knot-Tying and FishingSkills, Kayaking and Paddling Basics, Shelter-building andFire-building, and Survival Skills Showcase. Those whoregister for Tuesday's session will receive supplies in the mailfor knot-tying and fishing skills with special guest MarkStephens of Project FISH.

Register here!

MSU Tollgate Virtual SummerStewards Series Continues!

The Tollgate Summer VirtualStewards Series continues withmore sessions designed for past, present, and potential stewards andstewards-in-training ages 13-19. Join us July23rd at 4 pm for a session on Friendships, Boundaries, and Communication with LisaTams, a Master's level licensed and accreditedclinical social worker with MSU Extension. Lisahas an open inviting way of allowing participantsto explore ideas of healthy relationships. Youth-led and staff moderated, this series is designed for teen togain resiliency and leadership skills. Remaining sessionsinclude Fun Money: Money Management and YOU on August6th and Stress Reduction and Self Care on August 20th.

Register here!

Summer Adventures fromHome

COVID-19 presented us with achallenge on how we cancontinue to fulfill our mission ofproviding hands-on, screen free,and experiential learningopportunities to our community.We are now on week 4 of our 10week long free summer "virtual"programming. You can visit ourblog Experience Tollgate toaccess a camp themed page

filled with educational videos, excursion ideas, recipes, andeasy to do activities that are perfect to keep your at-home-campers busy, learning and exploring! Although this won't beable replace our summer camp on the farm we hope that the

community can use it as a tool to inspire the youth to getoutside and discover all the magic that nature has to offer!

Farm and SchoolLearning Collaborationfor the 2020/2021 SchoolYear

Using research-basedcurriculum and methods,school and communitygroups explore the farmand the natural worldthrough inquiry and place-based learning. Remotelearning series areavailable which includevideo segments, journalpages, and interactivevirtual classroom visits from the farm. Tollgate Farmeducation staff is able to tailor a program or series to alignwith your teaching goals, standards, and science kits.

Interested in a farm-school virtual collaboration for thiscoming school year? For more information, email EllenKoehler.

Tollgate strives to provide opportunities for youth andadults of all income levels and welcomes a broad cross-section of participants to experience farm-based experientiallearning. The goal of the financial aid process at Tollgate is toprovide as many youth and adults as possible with theopportunity to enrich learning and broaden their experiences.Funding is limited and applications are reviewed based on theneeds of the participants, potential impact on their learning,cost of the program, and potential for meaningfulcollaboration.

Reserve School-to-Farm Visit for 2020/2021 School YearHere

MSU Tollgate Farm Camp-in-a-

Box!

Are your campers at homebored and missing summercamp? Have no fear, MSUTollgate has a solution! Thissummer we are offering twodifferent camp themed boxes,

the Survival Box and Garden Box. Each of these boxes arefilled with camp activities, materials, camp favorite GardenKitchen recipes, camp swag, and much more! From startingyour own compost pile to dissecting an owl pellet, theseboxes will provide experiential learning opportunities that thatpromote curiosity and discovery! These boxes are perfect foreveryone and are only available for a limited amount of time!Don't delay and visit our Farm Store to buy your "Camp-in-a-Box" today!

Get your Tollgate swag fromour new Farm Store!

We still have limited T-shirt sizesavailable. Check out our newFarm Store for two t-shirtoptions, the one seen here andthe 2020 camp t-shirt.

Visit the Farm Store here.

Virtual Mornings on the Farm

Mornings on the Farm withsustainable agriculture educatorWill Jaquinde will continue to bevirtual for the rest of the summerwith a $15 cost for attendees.The next workshop on August

16th on Season Extension and Putting the Garden toBed. Will is in his 5th season managing the vegetable

production at MSU Tollgate, which grows more than 150varieties across 50 crops and three acres using organicgrowing practices for a community supported agriculture(CSA) program. In this series, Will shares his decades ofplant experience to help you grow a low maintenance,productive vegetable garden! If you have any questions aboutthe series, please email Will Jaquinde.

For more information or to register, visit the event page.

The Tollgate Pollinator Project

What are pollinators, and whyare they important to us? Howcan we help pollinators?The Tollgate Farm PollinatorProject is a new remote learning series for formal and non-formal educators including videos, journal pages, andresources for place-based learning about plants, pollinators,and pollination. For more information, visit the website.

Fall CSA Registration ComingSoon!

Are you interested in a weeklysupply of seasonal, sustainablygrown produce? Join us for ourFall CSA, which starts October21st and runs for 10 weeks.Registration will open inSeptember, keep your eyes onthe newsletter for registrationinformation when it opens!

This Month's 4-H Newsletter isHere!

Oakland County 4-HConnections is a monthlynewsletter for 4-H members,

families, and the generalcommunity with news andinformation about 4-H youthdevelopment activities inOakland County.

July Newsletter

Tollgate News & Announcements

Interested in Volunteering atTollgate?

We are grateful and appreciateour volunteers at MSU TollgateFarm. We are now able to allowExtension Master Gardenersand Non-Extension Master

Gardener volunteers to return to the farm once they havecompleted our new volunteer selection process. If you wouldlike to begin the steps to volunteer, please visit our blog forthe full instructions. Please remember that we cannot allowvolunteers to enter the farm until they are completed thisprocess and have permission from our Farm Manager, RoyPrentice, or Education Coordinator, Ellen Koehler.

Update on SustainableAgriculture at Tollgate Farm

Our Sustainable Agricultureteam has been sweating andworking hard in the fields andalthough we might not like theheat, the hot crops are loving it.Want to hear more about how the crops are doing in the fieldand how squash pollination happens? Click here to read

more.

Meet Our Staff & Volunteers!

Curious about everyone whoworks at MSU Tollgate Farm?Every Monday on our Facebookand Instagram we feature a staffmember or volunteer. The lastmonth we have featuredRachael Moran, our Place-Based Livestock Instructor,

Wayne Watson, a long time Maple Sugaring volunteer, WillJaquinde, our Sustainable Agriculture Instructor, and MaryHutka, Tollgate Farm 4-H Club Leader. Sadly, Rachael willbe leaving Tollgate this week but we were glad to feature herand highlight all her hard work and improvements. Read moreabout these staff and volunteers here.

Tollgate Opportunities

Rent the TollgateConference Center StartingSeptember 1st, 2020 with a20% discount in 2021

Because of the COVID-19pandemic, MSU Tollgate hascancelled all weddings,business meetings, festivals and educational events throughSeptember 1st, 2020. With all the disappointment COVID-19has brought to our lives, we would like to offer a 20%discount to any group that was unable to have their event in2020, whether it was scheduled at MSU Tollgate or not. Thediscount will apply to the rental rate for any event scheduledin 2021.

To learn more about hosting your event at Tollgate, visitthe Conference Center Website and see more photos of ourhistoric barn and conference center on our blog.Questions? Email our Events Coordinator Kari Heughens.

MSU Tollgate Farm and Education Center offers programsthroughout the year designed to allow adults and children to

experience learning hands-on, explore the joys of gardening andthe natural world, appreciate and promote locally grown food, and

build community.

MSU Tollgate Farm and Education Center28115 Meadowbrook Rd.

Novi, MI 48377248-347-0269

tollgateprograms@msu.eduhttp://tollgate.msu.edu/

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan StateUniversity Programs and materials are open to all, without regard to race,

color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, height, weight,disability,political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital, family or veteran status.

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