Discovery Day

From the scent of fresh herbs to the “ah-ha!” moments of new connections and the laughter of families sharing time outdoors together, Oxbow Discovery Days (formerly known as Pilot Programs) invite you into a living, evolving learning experience.

Across farm fields and forest trails, moments of curiosity unfold into skills through lessons like parenting outdoors, fermenting vegetables, fostering biodiversity at home, and more.

These hands-on investigations and experiences are designed for learners of all ages. You can drop in for one or stay all day. Mix and match from eight unique workshops, each 30–45 minutes.

Come try something new. We’ll ask for your thoughts after, and your input helps shape what’s next. Here’s what to expect:

• Hands-on Learning: You won’t just hear about nature, you’ll touch, taste, smell, and engage with it. From cooking with invasive plants to investigating a worm bin, each session offers memorable sensory experiences and tangible skills you can use at home.
• Community Feedback: Share your voice and help shape what’s next. Your insights helps shape future programming, ensuring it reflects what our community values.
• Welcoming Environment: Whether you’re a seasoned nature lover or a total beginner, these sessions are welcoming, low-commitment, and completely free.
• Topic Variety: Move between sessions that spark your curiosity, from food preservation and ecological gardening to nature play and outdoor education tools.

Oxbow's Discovery Days are supported, in part, by 4Culture.We’re deeply grateful for their partnership, which allows us to offer accessible ticket pricing and connect more people with outdoor learning experiences.

Please register in advance—spaces are limited, and your RSVP helps us prepare materials thoughtfully to minimize waste.

Info: Reimagine time outdoors with your family through a conversation-based, interactive workshop designed for parents, caregivers, and curious learners. Instead of focusing on specialized skills or perfect conditions, this session explores simple, everyday ways to make outdoor time more possible and enjoyable for a wide range of families. Through discussion, short activities, and shared examples, you’ll discover how time outside can support children’s confidence, independence, and ability to navigate challenges. Drawing from child development, outdoor education, and family practice, you’ll leave with practical strategies, inspiration, and flexible starting points to explore both on the farm and at home.

Info: Understand how to read the signs of pest pressure in your growing spaces and respond with a holistic approach that minimizes environmental impact. Explore Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in action at Oxbow, identify signs of pest presence, and discover resources to guide thoughtful, evidence-based responses.

Info: Explore the benefits of environmental education and how it helps bridge gaps in environmental literacy. While science is often taught in classrooms, there are many opportunities to more deeply connect ecological concepts to lived experience and our interwoven relationships with the world around us. In this session, you’ll learn the “why” behind environmental education and discover practical ways to apply its core principles in your classroom or daily life, building stronger, more meaningful connections to place.

Info: Discover how to preserve vegetables and create probiotic foods through fermentation. Learn the basic techniques, which foods ferment best, and how to do it safely, then create your own sample to take home. Ideal for curious beginners!

Info: Bring nature closer by learning simple, affordable ways to support wildlife and boost biodiversity wherever you grow (in a backyard, on a balcony, in a pea patch, or in community spaces). Perfect for parents, caregivers, and educators, you’ll gain easy, actionable steps to help local wildlife while sparking curiosity and creating spaces where people and ecosystems can thrive.

Info: Learn to identify, prepare, and cook with invasive plants while gaining practical, hands-on experience. Discover how to access free, abundant foods while making space for native plants to thrive. After preparing a shared recipe, you’ll leave with resources to help you harvest and cook invasive plants throughout the seasons.

Info: Investigate the hidden world beneath your feet as you meet one of the farm’s hardest workers—the worm! Dig in to soil life up close and discover how these small creatures help grow healthy food and thriving ecosystems.

Info: Understand how to read the signs of pest pressure in your growing spaces and respond with a holistic approach that minimizes environmental impact. Explore Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in action at Oxbow, identify signs of pest presence, and discover resources to guide thoughtful, evidence-based responses.

Info: Bring nature closer by learning simple, affordable ways to support wildlife and boost biodiversity wherever you grow (in a backyard, on a balcony, in a pea patch, or in community spaces). Perfect for parents, caregivers, and educators, you’ll gain easy, actionable steps to help local wildlife while sparking curiosity and creating spaces where people and ecosystems can thrive.

Info: Learn to identify, prepare, and cook with invasive plants while gaining practical, hands-on experience. Discover how to access free, abundant foods while making space for native plants to thrive. After preparing a shared recipe, you’ll leave with resources to help you harvest and cook invasive plants throughout the seasons.

Info: Explore the benefits of environmental education and how it helps bridge gaps in environmental literacy. While science is often taught in classrooms, there are many opportunities to more deeply connect ecological concepts to lived experience and our interwoven relationships with the world around us. In this session, you’ll learn the “why” behind environmental education and discover practical ways to apply its core principles in your classroom or daily life, building stronger, more meaningful connections to place.

Info: Discover how to preserve vegetables and create probiotic foods through fermentation. Learn the basic techniques, which foods ferment best, and how to do it safely, then create your own sample to take home. Ideal for curious beginners!

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Host or Publisher Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center