The Children's Garden

The Children’s Garden is open year-round for children & families at Suffolk Farm.

Join campers at GREEN THUMBS Summer Camp in 2025.

Located at The Children’s Garden, Suffolk County Farm, Yaphank

Wednesdays ONLY, 10am-noon, July 9-August 20, 2025

Cultivate a connection to nature and plants in 7 weeks of discovery.

Play in the soil by growing seeds and planting vegetables in square foot beds and tepee gardens. Hunt for butterflies in the pollinator garden while finding the flowers they treasure. Find the Fairy Garden and the strawberry patch. Identify tasty herbs in the Herb Garden.Make compost, find worms, check out the bugs and see the rain barrels in action. Watch the birds nibbling on shrubs and at the feeders.Create art from nature. Enjoy a hayride around the farm and a celebratory harvest “feast.”

Campers are children ages 5-12. (Five-year old children should be entering kindergarten in the fall.) Green Thumbs Summer Camp is limited to the first twenty children to register. Early registration is suggested.

Exploration and instruction are provided by Suffolk Master Gardeners.

Fee:$80 for one child, $60 for each sibling

             Registration is Closed for 2025

Requests for accommodations should be made by June 1, 2025. Requests after that date will be met as best as possible.

For additional information, please contact Roxanne Zimmer at rz378@cornell.edu.

Flowering plants, including native and pollinator collections, line the paths that meander through the garden. In the spring, you’ll find an assortment of colorful bulbs and the fragrant scent of the Korean spicebush. The best show is in the summer when an array of monarda, coreopsis and black eyed susans join the butterfly bushes attracting butterflies.  Asters brighten the fall landscape.

When summer camp is in session, children plant vegetables in garden beds and on totem poles.The composting station and whimsical Fairy Garden can be enjoyed in any season. The Children’s Garden gazebo provides a relaxing, shady spot to have a snack or enjoy a view of the garden.

 If you see one of the Master Gardeners, please feel free to ask any horticultural questions about plant material found in the Children’s Garden.

Please contact Roxanne Zimmer about the GREEN THUMBS Summer Camp in 2025.

Last updated June 18, 2025