IronFox Farm

05/26/2026

Last Week EFA kinders and 1st graders helped paint 12 birdhouses! IronFox participated in EFA’s “Multiple Intelligence Day”, where speakers from the community share about their field with students. We had local experts join us to help this activity be possible, including Don Fjellstad who first shared seeds with us for a specialty birdhouse gourd a few years ago. Students worked together across classes to complete their masterpieces. These birdhouses will be used for a future raffle fundraiser for the school.

05/08/2026

We couldn’t have asked for a better day for our spring field day with the students! ☀️ And we couldn’t have asked for a better volunteer crew to make it happen! Students planted potatoes, dry beans, green beans, radish, beets, and transplanted their watermelon, cucumbers, and marigolds. Humbled and grateful to get to share this experience with almost 150 students every year.
🥔🥒🫘🫛🫜🪱🌻

Special shout out to some folks that made today possible:
and more!

05/03/2026

The days are full of prep-work to get ready for our field day with students! The 3rd and 4th graders fill in the ground this coming Friday, and we are just about ready! Send out good vibes for good weather, because the plants they started last month are bursting!

A key part of our garden is using wood chips as mulch between garden beds, which make it clear for where kids are safe to walk. Throughout the summer the chips break down to become part of the soil. This year we could really see how this has helped build soil in the garden. We order our wood chips from - a wonderful connection we made our first year at IronFox when his son was part of our very first cohort of students! Electrical tree trimming in the neighborhood also got added to our pile, so we are fully stocked!

09/13/2025

IronFox Farm hosted EFA+ 4th & 5th graders yesterday, and are humbled to have had Dakota News Now capture these precious moments of hands-on learning in the garden!

Through our garden education, students get to see food production from seed to sale, learn about caring for soil, and work together to make it happen. We hope that our space can be a positive experience of connection to the land and each other as a counter to the screen-focused world we find ourselves in.

Our student days would not be possible without volunteers! Thanks to the folks that continue to give of their time to support this farm to school experience.

4th and 5th-grade students from Eugene Field Elementary harvested the crops they planted at IronFox Farms last spring to sell for charity.

09/13/2025

Posting photos to recap our summer, our fourth season of production and the best one we've had yet! Not pictured are the precious moments with the kids in our neighborhood, planting, pruning, and picking. Neither are the many bugs that are part of this ecosystem, from creepy crawly scary bugs to magnificent butterflies. IronFox Farm would not be what it is without the many hands and hours volunteered alongside us.

04/27/2025

Back at it again! The third and fourth graders did an outstanding job starting seeds together this week! Students were kind to each other and so respectful. Now they will care for their soil blocks at school (almost ~900 of them!) until they are ready to transplant at IronFox Farm later in May!

Thank you, thank you to the excellent team of volunteers that make this educational experience possible! Thanks as always to the supportive staff for your flexibility in your day to fit it in!

10/08/2024

Face it Together is a key resource for our community, providing peer-to-peer counseling for those impacted by addiction, including loved ones. Face it Together's work is grounded in evidence-based practice and people's lived experience. IronFox Farm is honored to support the upcoming fundraising event, "Face it in the Fire" on October 17! Please consider reserving your seat to support this great organization!

Get ready for a culinary showdown like no other! 🔥 Meet our live battle chefs: Ryan Tracy, Chef and Owner of Dakota Craft Links, and T.R. Fuentes-Mckenzie, Executive Chef of Morrie's Steakhouse. Ryan and T.R. will face off in an ingredient-specific battle during Face It in the Fire, our brand new culinary event. Show your excitement and don't forget to grab your tickets! https://lght.ly/i85e4c

09/17/2024

Another field day with our “Farmers in Training” in the books, and we can count it as a success! Our team of volunteers had students picking potatoes, planting cover crops, harvesting and packaging the produce for this weeks’s Fall Festival at Eugene Field! Almost every student tried kale and carrots right in the garden (but I wasn’t able to capture it on camera)!

Thanks to the Jeff Zimprich with the SD Gradslands Initiative for sharing your insights on soil health! 🪱🌱🌾

SoDak Compost & Minnehaha Master Gardeners - It is always so good to partner together on these field days!

08/20/2024

Get your veggies at Fair Market East or West!

08/19/2024

Filled with nostalgia today as the fall shines on the horizon! Eugene Field’s Back to School open house event is already tomorrow. Farmer Dan is back at Southeast Tech to prep for another year today.

IronFox Farm is bustling with bees, harvest, and excitement for students to come back soon!