“Here in the quiet countryside, we do wondrous things in cooperation with nature.”
~~ Paul Keene.
Dear Friends of Walnut Acres Foundation,
My father, Paul Keene, had a mission; to give back more than we take. The Walnut Acres Foundation has grown from that simple mission.
As 2023 comes to a close, we’ve made significant progress toward keeping that mission alive. You can read about just a few of our accomplishments below.
You have been so generous in the past, and we are eternally grateful. Your continued support has changed lives in our greater community. This season of giving, please consider a financial contribution to the Walnut Acres Foundation to help fund our continued work by using the Donate Today button below.
Sincerely,
Ruth Anderson
President, The Walnut Acres Foundation
The Walnut Acres Foundation is a 501c3 Operating Foundation
Walnut Acres Foundation Tax ID EIN
23 - 6298390
Providing Access to Nature
Earth Day Celebration
In partnership with Bucknell Environmental Studies 411 students, the farm hosted our inaugural Earth Day Celebration featuring live music from Billy Kelly, delicious tacos from Tomahawk, incredible face painters, and tons of kids' activities.
Fall Fire Pit Inauguration
We lit our inaugural fall bonfire in partnership with Bucknell Management 101 Company B. The students built picnic tables and created a firepit from field stones to create a perfect place to enjoy the sunset, especially while making smores.
Fighting Food Insecurity
Organic Harvests and Donations
Thanks to our incredible volunteers, the Keene Center Community Organic Gardens continued donating delicious, certified organic produce to needy community members.
We have big plans for 2024!
Education on Organics
Bees, Butterflies, and Recipes
Our beekeepers added two hives to the farm to increase pollinator populations on the farm.
Our new pollinator website page provides tons of information on bees and butterflies and the page quickly became a favorite destination for our visitors.
This year, we added family-favorite recipes to our newsletter and website to showcase seasonal produce and prove that healthy organic food can be easy and delicious.
FALL FESTIVAL 2023
Join us on the farm November 12th!
Bucknell Students from the Management 101 Class - Company B the Change have done a huge amount of work on the farm including building new picnic tables and creating a new fire pit area for the Keene Center at Walnut Acres Organic Farm.
Join us for our inaugural bonfire and enjoy live music, smores, cornhole and a beautiful day celebrating Fall!
Harvest Update #2
It may not feel like fall today as we endure this heat wave, but these beautiful, organic butternut squash have us thinking about cooler days ahead.
This weeks donation topped 30 pounds as we help fight food insecurity in our local community.
Please help us on the farm and with a donation of support.
2023 Harvest Update
Today our team of volunteers harvested and donated 30 pounds of delicious organic produce to help fight food insecurity in our community.
The tomato plants and the squash are looking great!
Expect lots of butternut squash in the weeks ahead!
How can you help? Join us on the farm to help maintain and harvest every week
Summer Squash with Chili Oil, Basil, and Burrata
By August we all need a new recipe for summer squash. Here is one we cannot stop eating!
Earth Day 2023 Festival
Thank you to everyone who joined our Earth Day Festival.
Walnut Acres Foundation and Bucknell Students Collaboration
We recently hosted a very successful volunteer clean-up event on the farm with over 20 volunteers. We are currently planning an Earth Day Celebration so please check it out over in the upcoming events tab!
2022 Year in Review
As 2022 comes to a close, it is important to look back and take stock of the significant progress the Foundation has made toward it’s mission.
Fighting Food Insecurity
• Despite battling a hot and dry summer filled with hungry groundhogs the Keene Center Community organic gardens expanded. We donated even more garden-fresh, certified organic produce to community members in need and even opened weekly on-farm organic produce stand to support food donations.
Education on Organics & the History of Walnut Acres
In partnership with Bucknell University, students accomplished the following:
• Published Paul Keene’s “Fear Not to Sow” online so that everyone, anywhere can be inspired by his writings and musings about life in the countryside. The Walnut Acres Virtual Museum exhibits celebrating Keene's legacy by showcasing farm and food processing artifacts, catalog images, recipes, and extensive independent research. Publishing of Historic Videos of Paul Keene and Walnut Acres including Oral Histories and remembrances of employee life.
Providing Access to Nature
The Keene Center hosted multiple student field trips and community outings. We re-established Original Farm Lane and roads as walking trails and reopened the shady picnic and camping grove.
What next?
These are some of the major items we are working on for the new year:
• Expanded partnership with Union/Snyder Hunger Coalition to donate even more certified organic produce and provide simple recipes to fight food insecurity in our community.
• Virtual and On-Farm gardening, farming, and cooking classes.
• Fall 2023 harvest celebration festival and music event.
• Continue to form and build partnerships with people and organizations with shared values to accelerate progress toward our vision and mission.
You have been so generous in the past, and we are eternally grateful. Your continued support has changed lives in our greater community.
Fall has always been a favorite time of year on the farm
From the final harvest, to the changing of the leaves, and the smell of holiday treats in the kitchen we want to share our delight in the season with you.
This year, Sam Novak, a Bucknell University Fellow and Walnut Acres Foundation intern has taken a deep dive into apples including her own research on apples and health. She also compiled some simple and tasty recipies from Walnut Acres catalogs and created fun activities for children and adults alike.
Don’t forget to read Paul Keene’s Fall essays published in his book “Fear Not to Sow.”
In case you can’t visit the farm, we are delighted to share some beautiful photos taken this fall
Fall on the Farm
Please Help Support the Walnut Acres Foundation
With your help and generous support, we are working hard to raise and donate 15,000 pounds of organic produce this year to fight food insecurity in our community.
We also provide access to nature and welcome you to visit America’s Original Organic Farm.
The Foundation continues to educate the world on the benefits of health, nutrition, and organic food!
The Keene Center Community Garden is now at rest for the Winter Season!
Special Thanks to Brett and Tanner, who battled historic drought and hungry groundhogs to grow a bumper crop of Certified Organic Produce donated to fight food insecurity in the local community
Each week, we harvest fresh, organic produce from the Keene Center Community Garden and donate it to fight local food insecurity. This year we are on track to raise and donate over 15,000 pounds of certified organic produce.
We invite you to visit, see our progress, help with the harvest, take home some tasty organic vegetables, and enjoy the season on the farm.
See this year’s progress below in the photos below. We are looking forward to seeing you on the farm soon
Walnut Acres Museum
The first phase of the Walnut Acres Museum is open for your viewing pleasure. Located in the historic Chalet windows, you can view some of the best artifacts from Walnut Acres’ early days.
Last year, we had the privilege of working with 4 incredible interns from Bucknell University. They created several amazing online exhibits that you just have to see to believe!
You can now read Paul Keene’s collection of seasonal essays. The button below will take you to his amazing book in a new interactive format. Here you can enjoy his remembrances and musings from all the Seasons.
Our Place in History
Our team has been dedicated to gathering and organizing our history In our ongoing quest to develop the Keene Center at Walnut Acres. We knew that to properly design the core values and purpose of our center, we needed to examine the roots of Walnut Acres. In this process, the stacks of papers, cartons of photographs, and collections of newspaper clippings are becoming less daunting as they evolve to cataloged archives.
Introducing Our Bucknell Interns
Walnut Acres has enjoyed a long-standing and fruitful relationship with Bucknell University. Back when Walnut Acres was an active organic production farm, we had the benefit of Bucknell faculty working with us on soil studies. Today, we have partnerships with and support from faculty, staff, and students through Bucknell’s Center for Sustainability and the Environment, the University Farm, and the department of Environmental Studies and Sciences.