The MSU Tollgate Conference Center, historic barn, and Americana boardroom are available for your next business meeting, bridal or baby shower, or private luncheon. Our event catering staff are available to meet all of your needs.

To learn more about hosting your event at Tollgate, please visit:

  MSU Tollgate Conference Center

Registration is still open for the 2017 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season! CSA members receive a share of the farm's bounty during the growing season, spanning twenty weeks. This is a great way to eat local, organically-grown produce affordably while supporting your local farm. New this year, we are offering a half share, which is well suited to couples or small families.

To find out more and register, please visit:

More Information and Registration for CSA Shares

For novice and seasoned gardeners, homeowners, landscapers, and outdoor enthusiasts, this educational series is an opportunity to get out of the house, meet others who are suffering from winter cabin fever, and start planning for spring gardening. We will be turning the winter blues to green!

Join us for our next two classes:
Dr. Tony Reznicek on March 2 and
Dr. Norm Lownds on March 30.

The cost of each class is $20 and supports more adult education programming at MSU Tollgate.

Register for Evenings in the Garden - Winter 2017 Series

Celebrate the maple tapping season with a pancake breakfast or lunch at Tollgate!
Identify and tap a maple tree, tour the sugar shack and watch sap turn to syrup, take a wagon ride, taste maple syrup, and tackle historical tools. Prior to the 2-hour program, enjoy a pancake celebration in the historic, 19th-century barn. Pancakes, coffee, cocoa, sausages, hash browns and of course, real maple syrup will be provided. Join us this year for Maple Tapping and Pancake Feast on March 11th and 12th! To find out more and register, click on the link below:

We welcome back our second season of Farm Sprouts this year!
We will have much to do with the birth of lambs and goat kids, the arrival of the calves, and the hatching of many fuzzy chicks. Farm Sprouts will explore plant and animal life cycles, vermicomposting, pollinators, and all the farm has to offer as it comes to life after the chilly winter. Early literacy, mathematics, engineering, and the arts are incorporated into our program, along with Spanish as Foreign Language. Children develop social and emotional skills as they collaborate on meaningful and purposeful projects as a part of our farm community.

Our program has been developed utilizing research-based strategies for how young children learn. It is taught by educators trained through Michigan State University's College of Education, the top program for education in the country. We also invite in our resident experts to assist with the program, such as Tim McGee (in photo), a Master Beekeeper. We love working outdoors with young children and look forward to an exciting spring season of discovery and learning!

Visit our website for more information and to register your child for Farm Sprouts:  Tollgate Early Childhood Programs

Come join us for the Tollgate Farmers Market every Wednesday from 4:30 - 6:30pm starting May 31st!
You'll find seasonal produce grown on site by our sustainable agriculture apprentices as well as by the Tollgate 4-H club! Honey, baked goods and more can be found on your way home from work, or bring the kids after school.

For more information, or if you or someone you know is interested in becoming a vendor, please visit: Tollgate Farmers Market

Tollgate currently owns a hay mower, rake, and round baler. With this equipment we harvest hay each summer from some of the fifty acres of hay fields on the farm.  The challenge with the bales produced by the round baler is that they are large and can only be handled with a tractor. With the addition of many new farm animals involved in the youth education program on the farm, acquiring a square baler - capable of making smaller, lighter bales - is now highly desirable. Although new balers are pricey, good quality used balers can be had for about $5000. (Thank you New Holland for making good quality, long-lasting products!). I have already received donations toward this purchase.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this project.  A new baler will not only aid our animal care staff by providing better feed for the Tollgate livestock, sale of small hay bales will allow additional operating funds for future farm activities.
I would greatly appreciate your support for this project.  Please contact me directly for more information.

Thank you!
Roy Prentice
MSU Tollgate Farm Manager
248-330-3623
prentic1@msu.edu

Winter can seem especially long and cold to plant enthusiasts who revel in spending time creating and enjoying their garden and landscape. To beat the winter doldrums and get energized for spring, join nationally renowned horticulturists and fellow "plant geeks" at the daylong Michigan State University Extension Plants of Distinction seminar.

Date: February 21, 2017
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel, 21111 Haggerty Rd, Novi, MI, 48375
Contact: For more information contact ANR Event Services at 517-353-3175 or events@anr.msu.edu

Register for Plants of Distinction

http://www.tollgatefarm4h.com/

Oakland County 4-H Connections
is a monthly newsletter for 4-H members, families, and the general community with news and information about 4-H Youth Development activities in Oakland County.

January Oakland County 4-H Connections