At Backyard Farms, they not only want their employees to be happy in the jobs they have, but also want to help them achieve their future career goals. It’s not an easy thing to do when you have 32 football fields’ worth of tomato plants to care for, but throughout the year, Backyard Farms provide its employees with training programs, group discussions, and “Lunch and Learn” sessions with guest speakers from outside the greenhouse.
Earlier this fall, their friends at Kennebec Valley Community College asked Backyard Farms if they’d be interested in having one of their associate professors lead a 7-week, after work education program for free. They jumped at the chance and so did their employees!
On November 9, Backyard Farms University welcomed its first 25 students for a pizza dinner followed by 2 hours of classroom instruction on photosynthesis. Over the course of the 7-week program, the Backyard Farms University students learned about the fundamentals of plant biology, different types of plant diseases and pest management.