Eagle Farms and the Greenhouse

CHCA grows minds... and faith, fruit, work ethic, responsibility, and more

Using unique spaces for innovative learning located around the CHCA campus (like the state-of-the-art greenhouse and the organic garden) Eagle Farms engages all ages of students in hands-on learning year round while providing an avenue to develop the entrepreneurial mindset.

We feature a uniquely designed program that highlights the farm-to-school cycle: students plant and harvest a wide variety of food, herbs, and flowers in the many garden spaces and then oversee the marketplace where their harvest is directly sold to consumers.

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Students planting bushes outside of the greenhouse

PK-Gr 12 Innovative Education

The unique farming spaces that CHCA Eagle Farms encompasses are teaching centers where PK-Gr 12 students from all four campuses visit to witness the various states of growth as part of curricular extensions and learning opportunities.

Our youngest learners harvest seeds in the fall to start plants in the spring and fully understand the life cycle in a garden. They engage in projects ranging from measuring plant growth and digging for sweet potatoes to observing pollinators and planting snap peas.

Older students engage in studies around regenerative agriculture and use this knowledge to build compost beds and work through aeroponic, hydroponic, and soil-based growing systems both in the greenhouse and in the organic garden.

Academic Program

US 9-12 students can earn academic credit for courses specific to entrepreneurship, with the opportunity to be awarded a "CHCA Entrepreneurship Certificate" upon completion of a Capstone project. Eagle Farms is one of the many student businesses where students learn to track finances and sales, deal with customer service, build their team, and more.

Students interested in horticulture, agriculture, sustainability, or growing methods can earn academic credit with hands-on experiences through electives such as Greenhouse Growing Systems.

Service

Eagle Farms Spaces

Greenhouse

Our state of the art 4,000 square foot greenhouse is the center of the farm-to-school opportunities CHCA offers. Through the climate-controlled greenhouse atmosphere, students are able to grow produce year round, including Cincinnati's cold winter months. It serves as both a production center for the entrepreneurship program and as a teaching center for students PK through high school age.

With a focus on multiple growing methods, the greenhouse offers students the opportunity to work first-hand with soil-based growing, hydroponic deep-water culture growing, and aeroponic growing. Through these experiences, students will gain a better knowledge of where their food comes from. Additionally, the hands-on nature of this instruction helps illustrate sustainable solutions to problems like food deserts and nutrient-depleted soil.

Q: What if your plot of land is small?

A: You go up! Our tower gardens use aeroponics - the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment, without the use of soil. Students test pH and manage seedlings in 30 tower gardens that produce a variety of herbs and other crops.

Q: Are there options for growing if you don’t have decent soil?

A: Yes! This hydroponic gutter system allows for faster growth and higher yields. Students oversee 160 tomato plants whose yield is sold in Eagle Farms Marketplace, used in The Teaching Kitchen, or donated to non-profits like La Soupe.

Q: Why do students hand-pollinate all flowering vegetables in greenhouse space?

A: Pollination is what certain plants need to set fruit. Sometimes nature doesn’t work as well as we would like (especially since we can’t count on bees in our greenhouse) so we give plants a little help to have better yields come harvest time.

Q: How many types of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs are grown and harvested in our Eagle Farms and Greenhouse operations?

A: 92+! These come from many sources including 3,000 seedlings that students start in the course of a year.

Q: How do you use a greenhouse to teach students to be adaptable?

Greenhouse plants growing in raised beds

A: By broadening their perspective to experience how innovation is applied to obstacles. At CHCA, students learn about traditional soil-based growing in addition to hydroponics and aeroponics. (And if you have them build the raised beds they’ll plant in, they'll be able to further God's kingdom with either a hammer or a shovel.)

Q: Where does the lettuce sold in Eagle Farms Marketplace come from?

A: It’s grown just feet from where it’s sold! Our hydroponic lettuce pond can produce 500 heads of lettuce every month. The lettuce yield is either sold, used for recipes in The Teaching Kitchen, or donated to non-profits like La Soupe.

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Garden of Eatin’

The CHCA Garden of Eatin’ concept came from Wes Duren ‘97 who saw an opportunity to highlight plants referenced in the Bible while teaching students about edible and native plants. The garden functions as an outdoor learning space while also providing tranquility to parents, teachers, and students who visit.

In the fall of 2020, students transformed the landscaped area in front of the greenhouse at the Martha S. Lindner Campus to what became the CHCA Garden of Eatin’. Students spread over 15 yards of leaf mulch and compost to form massive beds, created a tamped gravel path, and planted over 500 plants in the space. The Garden of Eatin’ attracts pollinators through its diverse planting arrangement which includes a vast array of herbs, flowers, fruits, and more. It is a key part of the greenhouse tours for Gr K-8 students and Gr 9-12 entrepreneurship students harvest directly from the garden to create herb bundles, floral arrangements, and dried teas.

Organic Raised Bed Garden & Vineyard

Designed and built by Alex O’Brien ‘17, the CHCA Organic Garden and Vineyard is truly a special place for innovative learning. Nestled on the slope between the Founder’s and Edyth B. Lindner Lower E campuses, the garden features eight raised beds where students are able to not only witness the various stages of plant growth but also participate in the process themselves.

Each PK-Gr 8 class visits multiple times a year for outdoor learning in a serene environment. Students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Program maintain these spaces and work directly with the younger students to engage them in the learning.

Alex O'Brien '17 and Maria Pancioli '19

One began building the garden as a 7th grader then handed the project off to other. Both discuss the garden's impact on their education in and out of the classroom.

Alex O'Brien '17 and Maria Pancioli '19
impacted education through Gardens and Entrepreneurship

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Marketplace

Located in the back of the greenhouse, CHCA Eagle Farms Marketplace operates weekly to provide customers with fresh, locally grown produce and assorted products. What makes this marketplace concept unique is that it is offers “same day harvest” so that customers are ensured the freshest possible products from Eagle Farms.

Eagle Farms Marketplace is the pick-up location for eCommerce customers ordering through the Eagle Farms Website. With operating hours throughout the week (and a dedicated parking spot for pick up in the high school parking lot), the marketplace is a convenient way to avoid the hassle of the grocery store and support local food. With the end goal of creating a one-stop shopping experience, we are constantly expanding our offerings from Marketplace partners including Deeper Roots Coffee, Hartzler Dairy, Keever Creek Farms, and more.

First page of the PDF file: Article_SustainableAgricultureatCHCA

“I learned how to interact with different people and also the importance of conversation and socialization during the school day.”Jack Wilkowski '20

Want to Know More?

Andrew Ivanovics

Titles: Horticulture Program Manager

Email:

Biography:
Andrew is a graduate from the University of Cincinnati, with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies. He oversees CHCA Eagle Farms and teaches our hands-on Greenhouse Systems class. His passion for horticulture began as a hobby when he was an adolescent and then blossomed into a career path as he took a wide variety of sustainability, horticulture, and botany courses throughout his schooling. His prior experiences include working for both 80 Acres and Greenacres Foundations as a farm technician. Some hobbies he indulges in include hiking, biking, playing video games, and watching football.

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Eagle Farms and the Greenhouse

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Academic Program

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Eagle Farms Spaces

Greenhouse

Q: What if your plot of land is small?

Q: What if your plot of land is small?

Q: Are there options for growing if you don’t have decent soil?

Q: Are there options for growing if you don’t have decent soil?

Q: Why do students hand-pollinate all flowering vegetables in greenhouse space?

Q: Why do students hand-pollinate all flowering vegetables in greenhouse space?

Q: How many types of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs are grown and harvested in our Eagle Farms and Greenhouse operations?

Q: How many types of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs are grown and harvested in our Eagle Farms and Greenhouse operations?

Q: How do you use a greenhouse to teach students to be adaptable?

Q: How do you use a greenhouse to teach students to be adaptable?

Q: Where does the lettuce sold in Eagle Farms Marketplace come from?

Q: Where does the lettuce sold in Eagle Farms Marketplace come from?

Garden of Eatin’

Organic Raised Bed Garden & Vineyard

Alex O'Brien '17 and Maria Pancioli '19

Marketplace

Want to Know More?

Andrew Ivanovics