Rooted

We're excited to announce our second annual A Summer Night’s Dream fundraising dinner for Troy Farm! This magical evening is a beautiful way to get together and collectively fund the work being done on Troy Farm season after season, year after year. This year we gather to celebrate a major milestone: 25 years of growing at Troy Farm! Learn more about the chefs, the program, the impact, tickets, and more: https://rootedwi.org/summer-nights-dream/

The end of the school year is almost here, and we're celebrating at our June CommUNITY Dinner tomorrow! This event is FREE and open the public--join us for BBQ and picnic fare from Chef Kipp Thomas, MSCR Play on the Move, face painting with MetamorFaces, Badger "Rock" Painting, photo booth, and an unveiling of our new Badger Rock class of 2026 mural. A special thanks to MG&E for sponsoring the mural, and to artist Paola Mayorga. Last but not least, our classes have been busy in the garden harvesting for the Badger Rock Farm Stand--we'll have spinach, bok choy, mustard greens, Asian cabbage, carrots, eggs, tomato sauce, hot sauce, and more!

Thank you to Working Draft Beer Company for hosting Run for Rooted! The fun 5k through Tenney Park helped support Rooted's Farm to School programs, because any school that wants a school garden should have a school garden. Thanks to all who joined us running, walking or celebrating in the beer garden!

Besides all the veggies we grow at the Badger Rock, you may also be acquainted with two other members of our urban farm community: our honey bees and our chickens!

This spring the Badger Rock Middle School garden classes suited up to learn about the bee hives, see the nectar the bees collected in the comb both before and after becoming honey, and observe both adult and baby bees. 1/3 of the crops we grow depend on pollination, and our bees help!

Students also got the chance to hold all eight hens in our Badger Rock flock, and collected dozens of eggs from them to use in their cooking classes and sell at our farm stand. The hens were all raised from chicks by our students, who also named them: Cruella Deville, Ginger, Big Bertha, the Lorax, the Onceler, Basil, Tw***ie and Midnight.

We've wrapped up our Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebrations, and our AAPI virtual workshop series is available on our YouTube channel! Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4nayYFOnRsNCFT2eqHk3EuQZpEwqMB_u

On National Compost Day today, we're shouting out one of our Troy Farm Collaborative members: Troy Composting! This group of dedicated volunteers collect food waste from a number of local restaurants (by bicycle!) to turn into nutrient-filled compost through their composting operation at Troy Farm. They composted 57,805.9 lbs of organic material last year in 2025! We're glad to partner at Troy with this group that's doing such good work in our local food system.

The Run for Rooted 5k with Working Draft Beer Company is in 2 DAYS! There's still time to sign up: bring your friends and family and run or walk to support Rooted's Farm to School programs. Plus, free goodies and a drink token! See you this Saturday, May 30: https://rootedwi.org/event/run-for-rooted-5k-fun-run/

The gardening season is underway at the Badger Rock Community Garden, with our garden kickoff last month and our annual plant giveaway this weekend! Thousands of plants grown with love by our Rooted farm teams went out into the community that will grow into thousands of pounds of fresh produce for families this season. As always, it was a beautiful scene of community, plants, and joy!

A big thank you to Klein's Floral & Greenhouses and Keene Garlic for your plant donations to the Badger Rock Community Garden Plant Give Away! These plants are already making their way to the gardens of many of our neighbors!

Rooted volunteers are essential for maintaining the the health and diversity of the 11 acres of food forests and natural areas we maintain around Madison, controlling invasive species, caring for spring ephemerals, and planting new food trees. Our next volunteer work day is this Saturday, May 30th in Fitchburg from 1:00-4:00pm-- to sign up for an upcoming volunteer shift, go here! https://www.voltagevolunteering.com/organization/222/opportunities/721