Visit and Volunteer
Volunteer at the Yale Farm
As of September 7, 2012 we are holding open volunteer Farm workdays on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 1:00-5:00 pm. The last workday of 2012 will be held on Friday, December 14; workdays will resume when school begins again in January. Every Friday in the fall we close the workday with pizzas made in our wood fired oven and topped with Farm-fresh ingredients, as a thank you to our volunteers; our last pizza workday for this semester was held on Friday, November 9. You can always get the most up-to-date information on the workday schedule via our newsletter or by following our Twitter.
What Happens at a Yale Farm Workday?
Show Up
Everyone, including non-Yale affiliates, is welcome; no gardening experience is necessary. Just bring a water bottle and wear weather- and work-appropriate clothing. If you are a group of more than five people, please give us a week's notice of your planned visit: call us at 203.432.2084 or email sustainablefoodproject@yale.edu. If you are coming with fewer than five people, no advance notice is necessary. You don't have to arrive at 1:00 pm or stay until 5:00-- drop by when you can!
Sign In
Once you've arrived, find a student intern wearing a YSFP wheelbarrow tee shirt. These interns are in charge of the workday, and will sign you in and explain the day's work before assigning you a task.
Help Out
What you'll do depends on the day and the season. On a fall Friday you might be helping to harvest tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli and kale; an early winter Sunday might find you planting garlic and tulips for spring. Feel free to ask questions of the interns in charge-- we want you to learn as well as work!
Chow Down
On Fridays from September through late November, and starting again after spring break, we serve pizza to our visitors and volunteers as a thank you for a job well done. The dough is made from scratch on the Farm that morning, and it's topped with Farm ingredients before being cooked in our wood fired oven. Gluten free and vegan options are always available. New Haven is famous for its pizza-- and we're pretty confident that ours is the best in the city.
Please note: We regret that we cannot rent the Farm's facilities for parties or other events. We do not hold work hours other than those regularly scheduled.
Group/School Tours of the Yale Farm
For more information, please contact Jacqueline Lewin at jacqueline.lewin@yale.edu.
Getting to the Farm
The Yale Farm is about a fifteen-minute walk from central campus: walk up College Street, and continue north as it crosses Grove to become Prospect Street. From Prospect Street, turn right on Edwards just past Science Hill. The Farm will be on your left at 345 Edwards Street; look for the sign at the gate. Yale’s Blue Line Shuttle (northbound) and Red Line Shuttle (southbound) both serve the Yale Farm at the stop at Chemistry/225 Whitney. Click here to see the Shuttle locations in real-time and get the most up-to-date shuttle route and stop information. If you are driving, parking is available at the Leitner Observatory, at 355 Prospect Street.
