Fall 2023
Through the dedicated work of many friends and partners Partridge Creek Farm is Growing. We are building new programs, community gardens, and an intergenerational farm, and we are at the beginning of creating structures that will help other communities do the same.

Farm to School Programming
We have expanded our Farm to School programming from weekly classes with the Ishpeming fifth grade to weekly classes with both the fifth and sixth grade, including a six-week healthy cooking class which culminates in a “Local Food Cook-off”. The winning team’s recipe will be added to the cafeteria menu for the whole school to enjoy. We are also creating the curriculum and staffing for K-8 farm-to-school curriculum and a Career Technical Education program in Regenerative Farming at the Ishpeming High School.

New Gardens
Last year we built a garden at Birchview Elementary School to accommodate our farm to school programming there. This will add another food producing garden to our inventory of six other downtown gardens in Ishpeming and will increase hands-on classroom opportunities for our younger Ishpeming residents

Ishpeming Intergenerational Farm
We broke ground last Spring on the construction of a 3.5-acre intergenerational farm next to the High School/ Middle School at the Jasperlite Senior Housing Campus this spring. Through planning and proactive grants provided by Michigan Health Endowment Fund and Superior Health Foundation we have created deep community investment for this project. In February, Partridge Creek Farm, in partnership with Ishpeming School District #1 received a $100K MDARD Rural Development Grant to install water and add topsoil to the site. A generous contribution from Lindberg & Sons has provided the 30% match. We are improving the soil with a cover crop this year making beds with the help of our supporters on farm volunteer days.

Although we’ve come a long way, we still have a lot of work to go until this farm space is everything the community deserves. Please reach out if you are interested in becoming a founding partner or donor for this innovative community space.

Please consider helping us with your time or donations as we teach our children, seniors, and community as a whole how to grow, prepare and eat healthy local food, and educate the next generation of farmers and value-added food processors to create a local food system in the Upper Peninsula.