“One Planting at a Time”

AgInnovation in Portsmouth is a student-driven, education-focused, community-centered farm.

By Morgan Rizzo - Newport Life Magazine

“A school bus filled with eager students pulls down a gravel road off Jepson Lane in Portsmouth. The passengers are middle schoolers, and their destination is AgInnovation Farm, where they have arrived for an afterschool program.

As the youths file off the bus, they are greeted with a smile and a wave from Ryan Brancato, the farm manager, who guides them into a large shed that doubles as the classroom. There they are assigned tasks for the day before venturing off in pairs and trios.

On a Thursday in late May, some students were hard at work digging long, narrow ditches for dozens of basil plants, while others were in the high tunnel, organizing supplies and watering seedlings. Another group was busy at the chicken coop, where a sign on the door reads “The Fluffy Butt Hut.” Students expertly put out fresh water and hay and raked the area clean of droppings (“It’s an easy job, it’s just picking up some poop,” said one youth). Two hens and 10 chicks were the center of attention, and students frequently pickedup the chicks and cuddled them like kittens.”

You can read the full story in the July/August 2024 issue of Newport Life Magazine.