The O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm

Stanford has been called the Farm since the day it opened on Leland Stanford's horse ranch. Since 2014 it has had a real working farm again. The O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm grows more than 200 varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs, field crops and fruit on six acres near the historic Red Barn. Students take classes there, researchers test growing methods and the harvest ends up in campus dining halls.

It is also one of the few places at Stanford where anyone can roll up their sleeves. Twice a week the farm opens volunteer shifts to the public. This guide explains what the farm is, when you can visit, how volunteering works and how to find the gate.

A farm the founders asked for

The farm traces its purpose to the university's founding. According to the farm, Leland and Jane Stanford's founding grant called for "a farm for instruction in agriculture" to be kept on university lands forever. For most of the twentieth century that clause was easy to forget, as the stock farm gave way to labs, dorms and research parks. Our guide to Leland Stanford's Palo Alto Stock Farm tells that story.

Students and faculty pushed for a learning farm for nearly 20 years. In 2014 the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences established it on six acres near the Red Barn, with lead support from the O'Donohue family. That school is now part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, which runs the farm today. The farm has since celebrated its tenth anniversary.

What grows there

The farm describes itself as a living laboratory for sustainable agriculture. It uses agroecology, meaning it leans on natural diversity and relationships between plants and insects rather than heavy inputs. The site includes field crops, rotating pastures, an urban demonstration garden and perennial borders of orchards, grapes, berries, native plants and herbs. Flowering perennials feed pollinators and beneficial insects and the farm keeps beehives.

The farm's practices aim to:

• build resilience to drought and use water as efficiently as possible
• use biological diversity to buffer crops against pests and disease
• test more resource-efficient methods for small farms
• provide habitat for insects that attack crop pests

Over a year the farm says it harvests more than 15,000 pounds of produce. That food goes to R&DE Stanford Dining in the dining halls, to Stanford catering and to the Teaching Kitchen @ Stanford, a cooking program for the campus community. The farm also grows dozens of varieties of cut flowers, many in shades of Cardinal red, for campus events.

Visiting hours

The farm encourages visitors to come during its general operating hours. According to farm.stanford.edu, it is open year-round except during university closures:

A visit is informal. You can walk the paths, look at what is in season and watch the work. The one firm rule is to leave the crops alone. The farm asks visitors not to pick any fruit, vegetables or flowers unless staff say so, since everything grown there is part of the campus food system or a research project. The farm also says it cannot take in animals, so do not bring chickens or rabbits looking for a new home.

Tours

The farm offers tours by appointment and public tours are posted on its calendar when they run. They last 20 to 60 minutes and cover the farm's past, its facilities and its methods. Request one through the farm website. Summer is the season when regular tours are most likely to pause.

Volunteering: how it works

Volunteer hours are the best way to get to know the place. The farm says everyone is welcome. According to its volunteer page:

• Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to noon. Wednesday mornings are harvest days for the campus dining halls.
• Saturdays, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tasks vary week to week.
• Who: Individuals and groups of five or fewer. Larger groups book a separate session at least two weeks ahead. Private Thursday group sessions are for Stanford-affiliated groups.
• Age: Volunteers must be at least 10. Anyone aged 10 to 14 needs an adult guardian volunteering alongside them and both must register.
• Cost: Free.

Typical jobs include weeding and clearing rocks from beds, planting new crop rotations, deadheading flowers, irrigation, composting, mulching, harvesting and making bouquets. The farm provides gloves and tools.

Step by step

1. Pick a shift on the farm's upcoming volunteer events calendar.
2. Register for that specific shift. Registration is required for each shift.
3. Sign the waiver online before you arrive. Every volunteer must complete one.
4. Check for cancellations on the morning of your shift. Heavy rain, excessive heat or poor air quality cancels volunteer hours and the farm says it updates its calendar as late as an hour before each session.
5. Arrive on time in closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Dress for full sun, wind or morning dew.

The farm's calendar in late October 2026 listed Saturday shifts on October 31 and November 7, 14, 21 and 28, plus Wednesday shifts on November 4, 11 and 18 and December 2, 9 and 16. There was no Wednesday shift the week of Thanksgiving. For other ways to help around town, see our guide to volunteering in Palo Alto.

Workshops and events

Beyond volunteer shifts, the farm says it hosts public events open to all on most Wednesday evenings during the school year. Some require registration and have limited space. Recent listings on the Stanford events calendar included a build-your-own bouquet session with farm-grown flowers and an Autumn Farm Festival with music, activities and light bites to celebrate the fall harvest. Wellness classes on topics such as food preservation and mindfulness in the garden are run with Stanford's Healthy Living program.

Some offerings are only for Stanford groups. Team building workshops, academic field trips and space rentals require a Stanford affiliation. The farm does not run field trips for outside school classes and recommends Hidden Villa, the HEAL Project and Veggielution instead. Families can find more hands-on options in our guide to nature programs for kids.

Buying flowers or produce

There is no farm stand. Most of the food goes back to campus kitchens and is not regularly sold to individuals. The farm does take flower orders: arrangements come in small 16 ounce or large 64 ounce mason jars and are delivered Monday through Friday on the main Stanford campus for a small fee. Order through the form on the farm website. For local produce you can buy, head to one of the Palo Alto farmers markets, both of which run year-round.

Finding the gate and parking

This is the part that trips people up. The farm's listed address is 555 Fremont Road and some event listings use 175 Electioneer Road. Do not aim for either gate.

• Park in the Searsville Lot, also called L-22, on the north side of the farm. Visitor spaces using ParkMobile are at the lot's east end and there are also ParkMobile spaces along Electioneer Road.
• Pay: The farm says parking is paid on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless you hold an A, C or WE permit. Read the signs.
• Enter through the pedestrian gate about halfway down the path from the Searsville Lot.
• Avoid the Electioneer Road gate. The farm says it is often locked and Electioneer Road is no longer a through street.

The farm is on the west side of campus near the Red Barn, a long walk from Caltrain. Driving or biking is simplest. See our Stanford parking and transit guide for shuttle options.

Frequently asked questions