Agriculture Education

Growing food, community and resilience.

At The Learning Council, growing food and growing community go hand in hand. Our agricultural education work weaves together sustainable farming practices, environmental stewardship, and food equity which connects people of all ages to the soil, the seasons, and each other. Through hands-on workshops, farm partnerships, and community meals, we are cultivating a local food system that nourishes both people and place.

Agriculture Education logo with colorful circular brushstroke and plant illustration
Vintage tractor pulling wagon of seated passengers on a rural dirt road, with a man standing nearby
Green Valley Organic Growers Association logo with stylized green vine and circles

Strengthening Agriculture Education Through Partnership

TLC & VOGA

Since 2016, The Learning Council and Valley Organic Growers Association have partnered to expand sustainable agriculture education across the North Fork Valley. By combining resources and expertise, we reach more students and support more farmers than either organization could alone.


As independent nonprofits with aligned missions, TLC and VOGA collaborate to offer workshops, farm education programs, and community events that strengthen our local food system and deepen agricultural knowledge throughout our region.


TLC & VIVA LA VIDA

The Learning Council is proud to partner with Viva La Vida, a Paonia-based nonprofit whose mission is the cultivation of conscious spiritual capacities. Together, we host seminars with Enzo Nastati, a teacher from Italy whose work bridges spiritual practice and agriculture. Our collaboration also supports the ongoing development of Lucas Farm as an agricultural sanctuary, a living space for regenerative practices, deep land stewardship, and community connection. Through this partnership, we offer workshops and classes that invite our community into a richer, more soulful relationship with the land.

Viva la Vida Foundation logo with a multicolored flower emblem and purple text
Groundwork logo: black plant sprout growing from a circular tree-ring cross section with a hand icon below.

TLC & Groundwork

TLC supports GroundWork's fellowship program, which offers young people a structured space to envision and build a more sustainable future through the lens of food systems.


Food connects us to everything: water, climate, land stewardship, economics, culture, and our collective histories. Through their relationship with a single seed, fellows explore these interconnections and discover what it means to live in reciprocity with the land that sustains us.


This fellowship is for those seeking an alternative to endless consumption, a path toward regenerative living and genuine connection with the Earth.

Community Spaces for Agricultural Learning & Connection

Outdoor craft market with white and blue tents, clothes racks, and people browsing along a tree-lined path

Arbol Market

Founded in 2020, this year-round market is more than a place to shop, it's where our local food system comes alive. Community members connect directly with farmers, educators, and artisans in a vibrant gathering space where relationships flourish alongside the harvest. The market strengthens both community health and our agricultural economy while serving as a hub for sustainable living education.

Hearth Sanctuary Gardens

Emerging at the intersection of The Learning Council and the Vision Train, the Hearth Sanctuary Garden is a community space for healing, remembrance, and cultural regeneration. This living garden serves as both a physical and symbolic hearth, a place of warmth, gathering, and creative transformation where people can cultivate belonging, rootedness, and possibility. We intend for the Hearth Sanctuary Garden to serve as a replicable model, inspiring other sanctuary spaces to take root and blossom in communities everywhere.