On a sun-filled day at the Nevada Legislature grounds, Carson City got a front-row seat to what happens when students grow, build, and sell something real.
Green Our Planet’s Northern Nevada Student Farmers Market brought together young Farmpreneurs from across the region who had spent months tending plants, developing products, and preparing to share what they’d grown with their community. Together, they found incredible success as they sold their school garden and hydroponics produce.
By the numbers:
- $5,106 generated for school garden and hydroponics programs
- 14 schools represented
- 115 student Farmpreneurs participating
- 30 teachers proudly in attendance
Every dollar earned goes directly back into the school’s garden and hydroponics programs.
The Schools That Stood Out
Every school that participated deserves recognition. But this year marked something new: the first-ever student market contests at Carson City, and the energy it brought was unmistakable.
Contest winners received a Green Our Planet tote bag filled with Green Our Planet swag, gardening kits, a $100 Home Depot gift card, and a fancy certificate.
- Most Garden Team Spirit: Empire Elementary School
- Best Booth Decor: Eagle Valley Middle School
- Most Unique Item Sold: Riverview Elementary School with homemade paper and fruit-scented soaps
- Heaviest Vegetable: Jacks Valley Elementary School with a 6.2lb potato plant
A huge thank you to judges Mary Thomas, Dickson Realty, and Chef Jose Bermudez for taking on the hardest job of the day.
The Partners Who Made It Possible
A market like this does not grow on its own. It takes a community of believers, partners who understand that school gardens are not just places where students learn about plants. They are places where students learn leadership, responsibility, entrepreneurship, and hope.
To our sponsors and partners: thank you for investing in more than a single event. You are investing in curiosity, confidence, and a generation of young people who now know they can grow something extraordinary.
Presenting Sponsor
Kaiser Permanente
Partners and Sponsors
Carson Tahoe Health
Carson Valley Health
United Federal Credit Union
Carson Valley Accounting
Nevada Department of Education
Western Alliance Bank
Sotera Global Management
Sawmill Storage
University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension
What Comes Next
The Carson City Student Farmers Market is one day. The learning it represents is a whole year of work and a foundation that keeps building.
Thanks to a recent $500,000 USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant, Green Our Planet is expanding this model beyond Nevada, giving thousands more students across the country the chance to become Farmpreneurs in their own communities.
The harvest is just beginning.
