Age group

Handicap accessible

Playground

Internet Access

The Talking Farm is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 with a goal of connecting communities to the benefits of a healthy local food system. Today, they are achieving this goal in a variety of ways, from producing, distributing, and selling locally grown, nutritious food to teaching communities about sustainability, urban agriculture, horticulture, and biodiversity. The Howard Street Farm in Skokie, Illinois is the site for their 2.5-acre urban farm project. 

In the past decade, The Talking Farm has provided over 12 comprehensive, hands-on educational programs and over 3,000 learning hours at the Howard Street Farm. In addition, they have distributed over 21,000 pounds of locally grown produce to the community and have plans to distribute over 60,000 pounds by 2022. With the help of generous donations, The Talking Farm hopes to continue to expand the Howard Street Farm to include 2.5-acres of growing fields, edible woodlands, fruit and nut trees, a Greenhouse, and a Welcome Center that doubles as an indoor learning space.

Nature

Cooking

Fishing

Farming

Gardening

Affordable

The Talking Farm also partners with Y.O.U. to provide enrichment opportunities at multiple elementary schools for their elementary summer & after-school programs at on-site school gardens. TTF educational staff visit local schools in Evanston & Skokie weekly to work with students and provide activities such as planting, harvesting, garden maintenance, cultivation, plant care, soil testing, and food tastings. 

Y.O.U. Elementary Programs

The Talking Farm has naturally partnered with the Tot Learning Center, our next-door neighbors, to develop a curriculum that teaches their pre-school students the basics about growing food. All year long, the students maintain their own raised-bed garden and tour the farm to discover different vegetables and how they grow, as well as engage in classroom activities related to urban farming and agriculture. The students are introduced to caring for the environment and eating a variety of locally grown vegetables while having a blast digging through the soil and learning how food grows.

Tot Learning Center

Yachad is an international organization dedicated to enriching the lives of Jewish individuals with disabilities and their families by enhancing their communal participation and their connection to Judaism through social and educational programs and support services. In 2021, Yachad (Chicago) and The Talking Farm developed a program in which Yachad participants work alongside TTF staff to volunteer at the farm and learn about urban farming. Through these enriching visits, Yachad members experience the physical aspects of farming, socialize with farm staff, and harvest & taste vegetables. 

Yachad Chicago

Physical abnormalities

On the spectrum

Jewish

Coed

Preschool

Kids

Tweens

The Talking Farm

A stunning urban sanctuary! Outstanding individuals committed to community service and sustainable agriculture.

Nolan S

The farm itself, the people, the concept of establishing urban farms to help cities feed themselves, the encounter with nature as a teacher in the best sense.