Urban Agriculture Outreach and Education Programs At the University of Wisconsin-Madison West Madsion Agricultural Research Station.

During the last decade, the University of Wisconsin’s West Madison Agricultural Research Station has developed an award-winning community educational and outreach program.  Centered at the station’s eight-acre University Display Gardens, offerings have expanded from one (1999) to five field days, seven evening  “walks” and innumerable tours and training programs.  Two field days are aimed at the general public, and one each at the state’s organic growers, Commercial Flower Growers and Grape Growers Associations.  Also, hundreds of visitors now “sign-in” to take self-guided garden tours.  Another sign of success is a 2,000 percent increase in attendance from our first annual  “Urban Horticulture Day” (1999) to our last (2011).  The event draws from three border-states and nearly half of Wisconsin’s counties.  The Urban Horticulture Day focuses on showcasing the vegetable, flower and fruit trials established over the garden’s 11-year history.   Extension, research station staff, student interns, and volunteers, conduct an array of interactive educational programs.   Family Horticulture Day, a spring program, was created to provide in-garden education for small children.  Science-based field stations offer hands-on horticulture activities, plus take-home tomato, potato, and other vegetables for planting. Our display garden also functions as a training center for Wisconsin National Guard members about to be deployed to Afghanistan as agricultural advisors to assist in rebuilding Afghan rural communities. During each of the last six years, over $75,000 has been secured to fund the operations through various grants, out-of-pocket donations, and plant-trial user-fees.  Hundreds of community volunteers have provided not only hundreds of service-hours but also money and supplies.  The garden also serves as an outdoor classroom for plant science students enrolled in the UW’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.  Five student internships are offered each summer.  Many of our students have gone on to secure advanced degrees in Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture.