More about the development of urban agriculture, which also may interest your son:
https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/urban-agriculture
Whether your son continues with this and this is his college focus or not, it’s great that he is interested in farming. It’s especially great that he has this interest despite being from the city and attending a school in the city.
PS. Outliers like your son tend to do really well in life.
Thank you @mwolf!
@momofsenior1 How incredibly uplifting to read all these comments and to think how random strangers are helping my little guy who wants to be a farmer. I am so grateful to know about Small Places on the East End of Houston and for all of you. I will definitely tour and research. My son is at a Boy Scout camp out this weekend and loves Scouts. There might be an opportunity for an Eagle Scout project down the road with Small Places. This is my first time positing and I am overwhelmed and touched beyond belief by the response. Thank you! P.S. I toured the Rice University Holistic Garden today. They had some neat “adaptive” features with raised garden beds for people in wheelchairs to garden and different types of beds with built-in benches for people who had limited mobility and features for people who had strokes or limited arm movement by using beds in creative spaces and walls with adaptive tools. I can see him interested in possibly developing a holistic garden for children with disabilities, veterans or at a nursing home.
@lookingforward I always forget about 4H. Thanks for the reminder!
@Lindagaf Thanks, Linda! I’ll research Stone Barn in NY for the future.
Pony Club! (USPC), if he likes horses.
@cinnamon1212 He doesn’t like ponies at the moment, but that could change.
In our area, there are gardens owned by a social service agency that then runs farmer’s markets for low-income folks, including seniors. I wonder if he could get involved with something like that, combining growing food and social service.
As others have said, and you realize, an 11 year old should not feel any pressure to think about college or career. Those career tests in middle school used to drive me crazy (actually my daughter was told she would be a clown or a conductor!). I don’t even think 18 year olds should have to think this way, but in this crazy world of high tuitions and loans, of course there are very real pressures to do so.
If this is what your 11 year old enjoys, great, but I would try to detach it from any discussion of future plans.
Does he grow anything at home?
The private school environment where he attends sounds potentially stressful- with 11 year olds apparently planning on becoming doctors and lawyers and Fortune 500 entrepreneurs. I would keep an eye on that because it creates unnatural, premature and competitive pressures on young people- and parents.
I hope he has a fun summer after an enjoyable year. Summer is quite a long way away unfortunately!
@compmom So important to be reminded of good-old fashion simple fun and to enjoy summer. Thank you!
For his birthday I bought him fruit trees and their thriving.
Literally a gift that keeps on giving!
Help him learn how to use and preserve the fruits. That is a good life’s lesson for someone interested in growing things.
And will give him and your family ongoing joy all year long.
Look at this list
https://knowwhereyourfoodcomesfrom.com/farm-to-table-dining/farm-camps-for-kidsteens/ which has some interesting things in it. It is fine for your son to be interested in more out-of-the box areas. My Houston area son got very interested in Polo and Polocrosse (a horse sport that is a mix of polo and lacrosse) and travelled all over to play these sports. He ended up deciding to become an equine vet and will be starting vet school in the fall. He is in the agriculture department (animal science) at Kansas State and has learned more about farming than he ever had a clue was out there!
Look into 4H, definitely, also FFA (Future Farmers of America ). I’m sure the colleges will have some camps. I’m in NC, and I know that NC State has a variety of summer programs ranging from Poultry Science to Ag Discovery (https://cals.ncsu.edu/students/my-path-to-cals/summer-programs/). I bet some colleges in TX (Texas A&M?) have similar programs. But I would start with 4H. He might be interested in Envirothon, too. Look it up and see if you can get his school on board. It’s not exactly farm-based, but they study forestry, wildlife, soil science, etc.