Learning en plein air

Paula Reyna Small uses a pitchfork to turn the soil in a garden bed as Adorie Anika Howard covers some seeds at the O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero) At Stanford University, gardens beckon visitors to learn en plein air - about small-scale sustainable farming, about sun-loving desert plants, and about sculpture, ranging from works carved in wood and stone by village artists from Papua New Guinea to bronzes created by the renowned French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The gardens are open to the people who live, work and study at Stanford, people who live nearby, and visitors who come to campus from across the nation and around the world. While most of the gardens were designed for contemplative strolls, the new O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm invites visitors to "have a great time getting dirty" while helping its gardens grow - gloves and tools provided. Students water small plants they propagated from clippings at the Stanford Educational Farm. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero) - "We grow food, flowers and a new generation of leaders in sustainability". If the gates are open, visitors are invited to walk into the O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm, which produces more than 200 varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs, field crops and fruit on 6 acres on the southwest side of campus.