Welcome to the Buchanan School Farm
Buchanan Community Schools is one of just a handful of public K-12 districts in the state of Michigan that has its own farm! The 32-acre school farm currently hosts hands-on learning opportunities for Buchanan Community School students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. From planting seeds, harvesting pumpkins, tapping maple trees, building scarecrows, and composting, students use real-world applications to not only master Michigan Science Standards but also to learn life skills that can be tapped into during their future years.
Plow Day 2026
Farm Activities for Buchanan Students
The Buchanan School Farm is available to be explored by individuals or groups. The farm offers an experience of easy access and opportunity to explore the farm buildings and barn, prairie grasses, prairie flowers, deciduous trees, coniferous trees, a sugar shack, a centennial one room school, and seasonally cultivated farmland.
Outdoor education involves over 600 elementary students participating in hands-on learning about the past, present, and future of agriculture and environmental science.
Pumpkin Patch……Preschool/Kindergarten
Recycling/Reusing…….. 1st grade
Cider Making……………… 2nd grade
Garden Planting………….2nd grade
Corn Harvest…………… 3rd grade
Buchanan History………. 3rd grade
Maple Syrup Making……… 4th grade
Maple Syrup Camp
Maple Syrup Camp is an educational activity hosted by Buchanan Community Schools that has been a tradition for over 30 years. Our fourth graders, at Moccasin Elementary School, participate in an enriching maple syrup camp, which includes three hands-on field trips: identifying and tapping sugar maple trees, collecting and cooking maple syrup, and savoring a pancake breakfast with their homemade syrup.
This year, thanks to the initiative taken by Britney Martin and the support of our school farm advisory committee, we are excited to utilize the sugar maple trees in one of our local neighborhoods in Buchanan.
Key Events:
Tree Tapping: Five fourth-grade classrooms, along with their chaperones, will be tapping the trees in mid-February
Sap Collection: Our Outdoor Educator, Jared Huttenstine, along with the School Farm Caretakers, Ira and Marie Fox, will be collecting sap daily from the middle of February to the middle of March
Cooking Syrup: In addition to daily collection, the outdoor educator, school farm caretakers, and school farm advisory council members will be available to cook syrup at the farm during the month-long process, then the students will go to the school farm to work on the finished product: Maple Syrup!!!
Pancake Breakfast: This year, students will be invited to our Old Fashioned Pancake Breakfast and Plow Day on Saturday, April 18th, to celebrate their hard work.
We believe this activity provides a valuable learning experience for our students from Moccasin Elementary School, and we would be delighted to have your organization cover these engaging events. Your presence would help highlight the educational and community spirit that makes Buchanan Community Schools special.
Second Annual Fall Fest
We celebrated Fall Fest with corn hole, apple cider, donuts, a bonfire, hayride, and spooky stories!
Iconic MI Student Projects 2024
During the 2023-2024 school year, Buchanan Middle School teachers Erin Kratky and Monica Luke were selected as part of a fellowship with PBS & the Michigan Learning Channel’s Iconic Michigan Teachers. As part of the fellowship, forty of Kratky & Luke’s 7th grade Advisory students learned media literacy and media making from November-May. The final project of the fellowship was to create a short documentary on an “iconic” aspect of the local area. It was a unanimous decision to focus on the Buchanan school farm, as it held many iconic memories for many in the Buchanan community. Please enjoy their finished projects.
School Farm Contact Information
Outdoor Education Coordinator
School Staff Liaison
Use this contact form for questions or comments related to the School Farm
3588 Andrews Rd, Buchanan, MI 49107
Farm Caretakers
Farm Council
Alouch Whitfield
Jeff Bailey
Ben Davison
Kelly Laesch
Melissa Frost
Monica Luke Ryan Masten
Melanie Byrdak
Tour of the Farm
HISTORY
The Buchanan School Farm was purchased in 1972-73 to provide a site for a new middle school. The farm site and land not dedicated to the middle school was developed to house the school system’s outdoor education program and the district’s FFA program.
After the FFA program was discontinued by the school system the farm program concentrated on serving the needs of the elementary outdoor education and Buchanan history programs. Currently, the farm continues to meet the needs of the Outdoor Education Program. 4-H is actively involved with a tree plantation and our portable classroom is open for interested groups to use. There is also a prairie area under development.
RED BARN
The farm’s vintage two story, red barn faces Andrews Road to the north. This sturdy building provides our school district with many different projects throughout the school year. Elementary students collect, shuck, grind, bag, and store field corn inside the barn’s corn crib. In the spring, scarecrows are designed and assembled inside the barn. The completed scarecrows are placed “on duty” in the pumpkin patch planted by 2nd grade students.
The red barn becomes a pancake house for our annual Plow Day Pancake Breakfast. It also houses farm equipment and occasionally livestock.
After the FFA program was discontinued by the school system the farm program concentrated on serving the needs of the elementary outdoor education and Buchanan history programs. Currently, the farm continues to meet the needs of the Outdoor Education Program. 4-H is actively involved with a tree plantation and our portable classroom is open for interested groups to use. There is also a prairie area under development.
SCHOOL HOUSE
The school house is located west of the caretaker’s residence. It was built in 1861 and sat on the corner of Wagner Road & Gardner Road. In 1982, Gardner School was donated and subsequently moved to the farm. After much renovation, it became a focal point of the farm site. It is open to the public on special occasions. Its original furnishings include furniture, lamps, wood burning stove, instructional materials, and a piano. The out-building was donated to the farm by a neighbor.
SUGAR SHACK
Just a few steps behind the school house takes you to our upgraded Sugar Shack. Thanks to our local Boy Scout Troop and volunteers, it has been renovated on several occasions. Each spring our elementary students collect maple sap and boil off the maple syrup. This structure also serves as a “snack” shack for our annual Plow Day, selling hot dogs and snacks to visitors as they enjoy the farm and day’s activities.
LEARNING CENTER
Walk across the footpath to visit our on-site learning center/portable classroom and our restroom facilities. This structure is utilized throughout the school year by our district teachers, students, and local service and volunteer organizations.
Exit the learning center, turn left, and walk down the path where you will observe an array of seasonal flowers and grasses native to the fens of Michigan
ARBORETUM & NURSERY
As you continue down the path, you will observe our detached forest edge plantings of native hardwoods and conifers. Just before the walking path makes a turn to the left, you will find our white pine nursery. Our local 4H club planted 100 white pines in honor of 4H’s 100th Anniversary. 4H members are responsible for the protection and maintenance of these Michigan State trees.
FENCE ROW
As you continue down the path; you will come upon what remains of an abandoned “fence row.” The fence row once separated cultivated farm land from pastures. Now it is an undisturbed natural habitat for plants and animals. Look for multiflora rose, raspberries, Butternut trees, and Osage orange trees, to name a few. Animals and wildlife you might encounter include birds, chipmunks, fox squirrels, frogs, rabbits, and the occasional barn cat and others.
CULTIVATED FARMLAND
The path now turns back toward the Learning Center. To the left you will see a major portion of the farm’s cultivated land. This land is rented out to private farmers to raise corn and/or soybeans each year. At our annual Plow Day, visitors are entertained by a tractor plowing completion.
LOCAL TREES
Near the Sugar Shack you will find alternated plantings of Crab Apple and Hazelnut trees. If you look closely you will see prairie flowers and prairie grasses sown between the trees.
