Digging In: How Urban Farm Day Helps Cultivate A Healthy Community
Digging In: How Urban Farm Day Helps Cultivate A Healthy Community
By Jessica Marinelli | Buffalo Rising, August 12, 2025
The 5th annual Urban Farm Day will celebrate 21 farms across Buffalo, Grand Island, and Tonawanda, inviting the community to experience everything from tomato tasting and rabbit petting to talks on soil health, food insecurity, and even home beer brewing. It’s a family-friendly day rooted in urban agriculture, community, and education—served with a generous helping of fun.
Gardens Buffalo Niagara, the team behind Garden Walk Buffalo, East Side Garden Walk, Open Gardens, and more, produces Urban Farm Day, which began in 2021 as a direct response to the food insecurity so many people experienced during the pandemic.
“The hard work of urban farming was already being done by many individuals and organizations,” says Mary Van Vorst, Chair of Urban Farm Day. “We simply understood the value of highlighting the work.”
For Mary, the value of urban farms is clear: “Their focus on and proximity to neighborhoods makes food access less of an issue for many people. For people who rely on public transportation, neighborhood farmers markets, community gardens, and mobile markets provide easier access to fresh produce at reasonable prices. There are also urban farms which donate a portion of their food to food pantries and community groups.”
The day offers plenty for all ages—whether you’ve got a green thumb or not. “Even if visitors never plan to put a single tomato plant in the ground, we want them to have fun,” says Mary. The event’s tagline sums it up: “It’s not what you think it is.”
Highlights this year include:
· Tomato tasting and rabbit petting
· Groundwork Market Garden hosts a community bake—outdoor oven-fired pizza where you can bring, bake, and share your creations.
· Architect Joyce Hwang will share the story behind the Pollinator Lounge, commissioned by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and relocated this spring to UB’s South Campus. The installation features 43 habitat boxes and an arrangement of wooden seats for both humans and pollinators.
· Tribo Garden invites visitors to learn about the adventures and misadventures of home beer brewing and winemaking.
Plan your route with the downloadable map & reserve your spots for ticketed events: UrbanFarmDay.com
Some sites offer fresh produce for sale, while others focus on demonstration gardens or talks. In Tonawanda and Grand Island, visitors can meet growers like Bflo Worm Works, which produces “super soil,” and a retired CPA who now teaches people how much food they can grow on a suburban lot. One couple has turned their entire front and back yard into a productive garden and will be leading sessions on food forest gardening and soil health.
Last year, one small site on Grand Island saw the magic of hands-on learning. “I happened to have a bed of potatoes ready to dig,” the grower recalled. “The kids loved it. Two little boys, 5 and 3, preferred taking home a potato to having a cookie. Even the adults were digging in. It was well worth my time to educate about growing food.”
Urban Farm Day also tackles the bigger picture. This year, the committee will host a private, policy-focused tour for local leaders, visiting four sites to highlight challenges urban farms face—such as water access, land acquisition, and food security. “It’s our hope to deepen their understanding of and interest in those issues,” says Mary.
For those who want to explore more broadly, Explore Buffalo is offering a ticketed bus tour of five sites. At the same time, Slow Roll Buffalo will partner with UFD for their Annual Harvest Roll fundraiser—biking between farms and supporting food systems across WNY.
Urban Farm Day — Highlights at a Glance
Saturday, August 16, 2025 | 10 am–3 pm, Full map & details:UrbanFarmDay.com »
10:00 AM
· Big Big Table & Lugar Hermoso de Pedro (Hudson & West Ave, Buffalo) — Talk: Addressing Food Insecurity with Dignity
· Massachusetts Ave Project (387 Massachusetts Ave) — Tomato Tasting with Good Farmer’s Guild (10–3)
· Rader Garden (1547 Love Rd, Grand Island) — Rabbit Petting – All Day
10:15 AM
· BFLO Worm Works (317 Ensminger Rd, Tonawanda) — Composting Tour
11:00 AM
· BFLO Worm Works (317 Ensminger Rd, Tonawanda) — Composting Tour
· Brewster St. Farm (36 Brewster St, Buffalo) — Tour
· Wilson St. Farm (360 Wilson St, Buffalo) — Talk: The Soil Beneath Your Feet
· Bolyard Garden (223 Broad St, Tonawanda) — Workshop: Food Forest Gardening
· Urban Fruits & Veggies (117 Zenner St, Buffalo) — Workshop: Seeding Change
12:00 PM
· Deeply Rooted Garden (98 Luksin Dr, Tonawanda) — Tours until 1:30 PM
· Flat 12 Mushrooms (37 Chandler St, Buffalo) — RSVP Tour: Indoor Mushroom Farming
· Groundwork Market Garden (1698 Genesee St, Buffalo) — Community Bake (12–4 PM)
· Bolyard Garden — Talk: Building Soil
1:00 PM
· BFLO Worm Works (317 Ensminger Rd, Tonawanda) — Composting Tour
· Brewster St. Farm (36 Brewster St, Buffalo) — Tour
· Pollinator Lounge (55 Diefendorf Loop, Buffalo) — Talk: UB Architecture’s Joyce Hwang
2:00 PM
· Tribo Garden (14 Claremont Ave, Town of Tonawanda) — Talk: From the Garden to the Glass
· Massachusetts Ave Project — Workshop: Seeding Change
Slow Roll Buffalo’s annual Harvest Roll (12–3 PM) explores and supports urban farms. SlowRollBuffalo.org
Explore Buffalo offers both a bus tour and a bike tour of farms. ExploreBuffalo.org
Tip: Farms are open 10 am–3 pm unless otherwise noted—mix and match your stops for a day of fresh food, friendly faces, and photo-worthy moments.