Field School: Site Development & Field Prep

Join us to learn about what it takes to develop an urban farm site from the ground up. We will share best practices for site assessment and field layout, then walk through techniques for bed preparation, including tarping, tilling, and soil amendment.
Come ready to get your hands dirty!

About the Field School

The Farm Alliance of Baltimore (FAB) is proud to launch Black Butterfly Urban Farmer Academy (BBUFA) Field School. Running from March to December, this series of hands-on workshops is intended to serve as an accessible point of entry for anyone interested in learning the seasonal fundamentals of urban agriculture. No previous farming experience is required to participate!
The BBUFA Field School's schedule is split up into three sessions: spring, summer, and fall. The majority of instruction will take place on site at FAB's teaching farm in South Baltimore, with occasional classroom sessions depending on content.

About the Facilitator

Kristin Carbone is the Farm Manager at FAB's Black Butterfly Teaching Farm and brings two decades of farming knowledge and a lifelong love of learning to the position.
After an early career in community organizing, she began her farming journey at Clagett Farm, learning the ins and outs of farming while focusing on cover cropping and agriculture's impacts on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2009, she started her own farm business, Radix Farm, in Upper Marlboro MD. At Radix, she converted three acres of conventionally farmed land into a thriving and bountiful market farm, selling to CSA customers, restaurants, and farmers markets in the DC area. In 2010 she participated in Future Harvest’s Beginning Farmer Training Program and went on to become a trainer for the program.
After growing her first human baby, Kristin moved to Baltimore and leaned into carpentry, spending a decade renovating and repairing homes. Kristin’s passion for growing healthy food remained strong, as she continued to grow vegetables at her home garden, occasionally worked for farmer friends like Two Boots Farm and Moon Valley Farm, and now stewards land at a collectively owned land project in PA.

About the Farm

FAB's Black Butterfly Teaching Farm is our hub for food production, farmer training, and community connection in South Baltimore. With support from the City of Baltimore, we signed a 15-year lease in 2021 and planted our first crops in Curtis Bay that fall. In 2025, a generous grant allowed us to continue construction and expansion of the farm site, which now includes a greenhouse, a high tunnel, and an apiary, with more to come, including more space for workshops and community gatherings, new facilities to train the next generation of urban growers, and more growing areas to support a wider variety of crops year-round.
We envision the Black Butterfly Teaching Farm as a place where we can grow food for Baltimore and cultivate a space where neighbors, FAB members, and aspiring growers can come together to exchange knowledge, build skills, and strengthen community.
Learn more about the Black Butterfly Teaching Farm and the history of the Black Butterfly Urban Farmer Academy program on our website.

Additional Information

This workshop will be held outdoors. Please wear close-toed shoes, sun protection, and weather-appropriate clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. Be sure to bring a water bottle! Extra water, masks, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and bug spray will be provided.

• Parking: Street parking available in the neighborhood.
• Restrooms: There is a port-a-potty on site.
• Accessibility: Paths at the farm are grass and woodchips. There is limited shade and seating on site, please bring a chair if you need one!
• Illness: Please do not attend this event if you are sick or experiencing symptoms of illness including but not limited to fever, coughing, and/or vomiting.
• Cancellation Policy: In the event that we need to cancel due to weather or unforeseen circumstances, attendees will receive an email notification.

Questions? Please contact [email protected]

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Host or Publisher Farm Alliance of Baltimore