Playing with Your Food: How Vaughn’s Teaching Farm Turns Zucchinis into Race Cars and Sunflowers into Smiles
At Vaughn’s Teaching Farm and Kitchen, sunflowers bloom, zucchinis roll, and families laugh together while discovering the joy of food and farming—one race at a time.
When summer bursts into full bloom at Vaughn’s Teaching Farm and Kitchen in Bremerton, Washington, it’s not just the sunflowers that shine—it’s the zucchinis that steal the show. What started as a playful nod to a hometown county fair has become one of the farm’s most anticipated summer traditions: The Sunflower & Zucchini Festival.
This same spirit of creativity and connection earned Vaughn’s Teaching Farm and Kitchen national recognition, when Rachel Vaughn received the
Agritourism Innovation Award at
NAFDMA’s 2022 Convention & Expo in Georgia. Her imaginative approach to hands-on education continues to inspire farms across the country.
Beauty and Bounty
For farm owner Rachel Vaughn, the idea was simple: celebrate the bounty of summer in a way that’s both beautiful and hands-on.
“There’s so much bounty in the summer to choose from,” Rachel shared. “We landed on both visual beauty and a hands-on play experience—something for everyone!”
The festival’s dual focus on sunflowers and zucchinis perfectly captures what Vaughn’s Teaching Farm stands for—fun, learning, and connection with food.
Zucchini Races: Let the Games Begin!
Rachel’s inspiration came from her childhood on a small island where a zucchini decorating contest evolved into full-blown races. That spark of creativity—and a love for learning through play—found new life on her farm.
Kids begin by heading to the field to harvest their own zucchini, then transform their veggies into personalized racecars with axles, wheels, and decorations. Cupcake toppers are a crowd favorite—flames, flags, and everything in between.
“They can even carve into their zucchini for a more personal touch,” Rachel said. “Then they test, tweak, and race!”
The excitement builds on a custom-built plywood track with four lanes and a suspense-filled starting gate. Each heat narrows the field until a final winner zooms down the ramp—though half the fun is watching racers fall apart mid-race.
“It happens all the time,” Rachel laughed. “Once they eliminate drag, they hit the barricade, do a hop, and flip on their side. The crowd groans every time!”
Medals are awarded to top racers, but most participants are just thrilled to take their racecar home—sometimes keeping it a little too long.
Farm Family & Community Connection
As an urban teaching farm, Vaughn’s Teaching Farm thrives on connection and creativity.
“We’ve found the best way to learn is through play,” Rachel said. “Using a bumper crop makes it easy and fun.”
Parents join in enthusiastically—offering tips, cheering loudly, or building right alongside their kids. The teamwork and laughter create a family memory rooted in joy and discovery.
“Our farm exists to connect people with their food,” she explained. “When they’re hands-on, it creates a positive connection. It even makes introducing things like kale much easier!”
The event’s popularity has grown beyond the summer festival. Families now request zucchini races for birthday parties and corporate events—proof that the joy of playing with your food never goes out of style.
Behind the Scenes
For Rachel, the most rewarding part of hosting the festival is when it feels authentically “farm-born.”
“When an event feels true to who your farm is—and represents the joy and discovery you want to share—it hits the mark.”
Of course, every event has its challenges—like finding enough zucchinis of the right size at the right time.
“I’ve been known to ‘plant’ store-bought zucchinis among my plants,” Rachel confessed. “Only the grandmas notice—and they just give me a sly look and carry on!”
Preparation begins in May, when leftover plant starts fill the fields. Sunflower planting is carefully timed (“we do the sunflower math,” she said), while any overgrown zucchinis get repurposed for the pounding station, where kids use wooden hammers and golf tees to pound into them. The farm even sells zucchini pounding kits so families can continue the fun at home.
One of Rachel’s favorite stories comes from their
farm-to-table dinners, where adults race zucchinis between dinner and dessert.
“They take slow-motion videos, review the footage to see who actually won, and brag about it the next time they visit,” Rachel said. “It’s the best.”
Her advice for other farms looking to start something similar?
“Have your goofiest, most outgoing staff man it. It’s so much more fun with a hype squad. Make it authentic to your farm, and have fun!”
Memories That Stick
For Rachel, the magic moment comes when she sees guests get it—when they dive in with joy and curiosity.
“When they take their fun seriously and jump in enthusiastically, it makes it fun for everyone.”
Her closing thought sums up the festival’s heart: “Don’t be afraid to do something outside the box. If it reflects your farm’s values, you’re on the right track.”
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School is officially back in session. Backpacks are broken in, pencils are already disappearing, classroom routines are starting to settle in, and teachers are finding their rhythm for the year. At the same time, farms across the country are getting ready for another familiar sight: school buses pulling through the gates for fall field trips. And don’t get me wrong—I LOVE a field trip to the pumpkin patch. There is something magical about watching a child step onto a farm, pick a pumpkin, meet an animal, taste something fresh, or suddenly realize that food does not magically appear on a grocery store shelf. But now that the school year is underway, this feels like the perfect time to ask a bigger question: What if agricultural education did not begin when the bus pulled onto the farm and end when it drove away? As agritourism operators, we have such an incredible opportunity to keep that curiosity going long after the field trip is over. We can help bring agriculture into classrooms all year long, connecting students with the farms, food, science, careers, and people behind agriculture—and the really good news is that we do not have to dream up every lesson or activity ourselves. You Do Not Have to Create It All from Scratch Here is the really good news: we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Agriculture in the Classroom programs across the country have already done a whole lot of the work for us. There are lessons, activities, professional development opportunities, and resources ready for teachers to use—and so many of them are FREE . There is also a free National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix filled with K–12 lessons that connect agriculture with science, social studies, career and technical education, nutrition, and more. That is the part I really love. Agriculture does not have to become one more subject teachers have to squeeze into an already-full day. It can simply become the real-world example that helps teach what is already on the lesson plan. Now think about your own farm for a minute. What are you growing, raising, baking, making, or doing every single day that could become a classroom connection? A pumpkin can teach plant science, measurement, weather, pollination, nutrition, and economics. Apples can open conversations about seasons, bees, food production, and geography. Livestock can lead into biology, animal care, veterinary science, food systems, and careers. There is probably more education happening on your farm than you even realize. The resources are already there. Sometimes our job is simply helping teachers find them and then showing them how those lessons connect to the real thing happening on our farms. Put the Resources Where Teachers Can Actually Find Them Now that teachers are settling into the school year, it is a great time to explore the Agriculture in the Classroom resources available in your state. Then ask yourself a simple question: How can I make this easier for the teachers in my community to find? Maybe that means adding a Teacher Resources section to your website with links to free agriculture lessons, activities that connect to your farm, and information about your school tours. Maybe it means sharing a resource on social media and saying, “Teachers, did you know this is FREE?” Or maybe you include a few links in your field trip confirmation emails so educators have something they can use before and after their visit. If you grow pumpkins, share a lesson about seeds, plant life cycles, pollination, soil, or weather. If you have an orchard, look for resources involving apples, bees, seasons, nutrition, or food production. If livestock are part of your operation, help teachers find lessons about animal science, animal care, food systems, and agricultural careers. You are not asking teachers to add one more thing to their plates. You are handing them something useful that they may not even know is available—and helping make their connection to agriculture a little easier. Sometimes It Starts with a Glove One of my favorite agricultural education activities—both on the farm and in the classroom—has always been Garden in a Glove . It is inexpensive, simple, a little messy, and one of those activities that just works. A few seeds, a clear glove, a little moisture, and some patience give students a front-row seat to germination. They get to watch roots and shoots appear, compare what is happening from day to day, and start asking questions about what plants need to grow. Sometimes agricultural education really can be that simple. I also loved showcasing scrap gardening because it helped teach something I think is incredibly important: you do not need acres of land—or even a backyard—to grow something. Regrowing green onions, celery, lettuce, or other foods from kitchen scraps can show students that agriculture is not something that only happens somewhere else on a giant farm. A child may have a backyard, a porch, a windowsill, or just enough room for a recycled container, and that can still be enough to plant something, watch it grow, get curious, and feel a little ownership over where food comes from. That is the shift I want students to make. Instead of agriculture feeling like something that belongs to someone else, somewhere else, I want a child thinking, “Wait...I could try that.” Now Let’s Make It a Little Competitive Here is where I think this could get really fun. What if your farm sent a few local classrooms seeds from something you actually grow and challenged them to see what they could do with them? Maybe it is pumpkins, sunflowers, beans, tomatoes, sweet corn, or another crop that makes sense for your operation. Students could grow the crop throughout the season while measuring plants, keeping journals, taking pictures, graphing growth, making predictions, and troubleshooting why one plant is thriving while another is struggling. Then add a little friendly competition! Maybe the classroom that grows the largest pumpkin wins a pizza party sponsored by your farm. Maybe you recognize the tallest sunflower, biggest tomato, longest vine, most creative growing container, or best overall classroom garden. You could even create several categories so more classrooms have something to celebrate. Can you imagine how excited those kids would be? And bonus—you just gave that teacher weeks of science, math, writing, observation, problem-solving, and critical thinking without handing them one more complicated program to figure out. A packet of seeds can become months of agricultural education. Now imagine those same students visiting your farm later in the season. They are no longer just walking past a pumpkin vine. They have tried to grow one themselves. They know it takes time, attention, good growing conditions, water, sunlight, weather cooperation, and sometimes a little luck. Suddenly, they arrive with questions. They have observations to share. They are looking at that field differently because now they understand, even in a very small way, what it takes to grow something. That is a very different field trip. Let the Classroom and the Farm Work Together The goal is not to choose between classroom education and farm visits. It is to make the two work together. A student can learn about pollination in class and then stand on your farm watching bees work among the flowers. They can study plant life cycles and later identify the blossom, vine, and fruit growing right in front of them. They can learn about weather and then hear a farmer explain what too much—or too little—rain meant for this year’s crop. That is where agritourism has such an incredible advantage. We can take something students saw on a worksheet or classroom screen and give them the opportunity to see it, touch it, smell it, ask questions about it, and remember it. We get to help take agriculture from something they have heard about to something they have actually experienced. Start Small None of this means you need to create a 30-page curriculum, hire a full-time education coordinator, or completely reinvent your field trip program. Start with one thing that makes sense for your farm. Share your state’s Agriculture in the Classroom resources while teachers are building out lessons, planning field trips, and looking for fresh ideas for the months ahead. Add a Teacher Resources section to your website. Include a lesson in your field trip confirmation email. Share a Garden in a Glove activity. Teach kids about scrap gardening. Send one classroom a packet of seeds and see what happens. The goal is not to replace the field trip to the pumpkin patch. It is to extend it. The education can begin weeks before the bus arrives and continue long after students leave the parking lot. Our farms can become resources for teachers, partners with local schools, and places where classroom lessons suddenly become real. Sometimes helping the next generation discover all of that can start with something as simple as sharing a free resource, sending a packet of seeds, or giving one child the chance to proudly say, “Look! I grew that.” And really, how cool is that? One tiny seed, one curious kid, one teacher willing to try something new, and one farm willing to make the connection can grow into something much bigger than any of us realize. Resources to Explore and Share National Agriculture in the Classroom - https://www.agclassroom.org Explore agricultural education resources and find the Agriculture in the Classroom program serving your state. National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix - https://agclassroom.org/matrix/ Search free K–12 agricultural lessons and resources by grade level, subject, and agricultural topic. Your State Agriculture in the Classroom Program - https://agclassroom.org/affiliates/contact/ Explore locally relevant lessons, teacher resources, workshops, and agricultural education opportunities in your state.
Sometimes the best ideas stop you mid-scroll.
We’ve all been to conferences where the speaker challenges you to have an “elevator” speech where you explain what you do to a stranger in around 15 seconds… or the time it takes to go one level in an elevator. To most of us this is a challenge as we either become dumb struck or want to provide a mini speech. In a rapidly changing world, we need to move on from the traditional elevator speck. These speeches are often forgettable and looked upon as a pleasant chat. In today's world you’ll only become memorable if you can explain what makes your business unique. The elevator conversations that a remembered today start with “Our farm is the only farm that…” This is a far easier sentence to complete and is more likely to be remembered by a stranger. The result is you may find that stranger visiting your farm a few weeks later and their conversation starts with… “Do you remember, we met the other week, and you told me…” The Challenge The challenge is not finishing the question, that is the easy part. The challenge is identifying what it is that only you do. The answer, obviously, will be different for everyone that can answer this question. It could be around: The way you farm the land that is unique to you. For example, you could be the only farmer in your region doing “wilding” farm techniques. The way you process your crop… A few weeks ago, I went to the only flour mill on a farm in the world that mills the ancient Bere wheat for break making. This was in the Orkney's, north of Scotland. It could be what you group. For example, a heritage tomato variety which an Albanian farmer is raising on his farm in that county. The unique agritourism play experience you have built for your customers. For example, you may have built a children’s play area based on the history and region that your farm is located. The product you sell… For example, you may have a unique product exclusive to you such as Thornberry Pie, which I discovered at a farm market in Ontario, Canada or the Honeyberry in Scotland. Once you have identified your uniqueness, your ‘elevator pitch’ becomes naturally easy. The real challenge is if you cannot find an “elevator pitch.” This says to that stranger, you are no different to anyone else doing what you do. In the receiver's mind you’re a carbon copy and not worth spending time to search out. Next time you’re in that elevator, what will you say? If you need help developing your uniqueness, contact the Agritourism Training Academy by emailing Lara H Johnson at lara.chrisjohnson@gmail.com