Harvest of the Month Marketing Materials

Becky O'Connor, Farm to School Coordinator, WNY & Finger Lakes
Harvest New York

October 13, 2020
Harvest of the Month Marketing Materials

The Harvest of the Month posters, newsletters, and infographics were originally created for Buffalo Public Schools Farm to School program by a graphic designer to help highlight and promote the consumption of locally-grown, raised, and produced foods. Buffalo F2S team partner, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County, developed content for the newsletters and infographics. Buffalo Public Schools agreed to share the materials with any F2S program that would like to use them, and Harvest New York created generic versions of the materials which are available below for download. The materials can be edited and adapted for your district or program's use.  For questions, more information about editing and printing the materials, or for the Adobe InDesign files, please contact Becky O'Connor, Harvest New York's WNY Farm to Institution Coordinator.  

There are many ways to use the Harvest of the Month Materials to highlight and promote the consumption of local foods. In Buffalo Public Schools, posters are displayed inside cafeterias, or in the hallways leading to lunch rooms. Infographics are placed atop lunch tables, highlighting the Harvest of the Month menu item being served. Newsletters are shared with families and households via email or as printouts. The materials have been made available to teachers, who can use them in their classroom instruction. 

Special thanks to Buffalo Public Schools for sharing these resources; graphic designer Julian Montague for creating the materials; and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County's SNAP-Ed nutrition educators for developing newsletter and infographic content.





view calendar of events

Upcoming Events

2025 Agroforestry Field Day Series -- Agroforestry Implementation and Management

October 23, 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Highland, NY

Interested in incorporating agroforestry practices into your farm? Join us for a series of workshops co-hosted by CCE Ulster, Orange, and Harvest NY with Mastwood Farms, Black Creek Farm and Nursery and Scenic Hudson. 

On October 23, we'll return to Erik Schellenberg's farm, Black Creek Farm and Nursery, for a Fall tour of their agroforestry plantings. Erik will talk about harvesting and managing plantings while we see some seasonal crops and installations of different ages and types. There will be time for questions and discussion as we wrap up the series. covered.

Soil Health 101 for Community Gardens -- A Bilingual Workshop

October 24, 2025
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Staten Island, NY

Join Urban Agriculture Specialists, Karen Guzman and Yolanda Gonzalez, as they discuss the importance of soil health and testing your soil as you prepare for the incoming growing season. They will go into strategies for best practices when it comes to soil health management and highlight the current soil testing program through NYSDAM and CCE. This workshop will be in both Spanish and English.

Biochar 101 for Community Gardens (Upper Manhattan)

October 25, 2025
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Upper Manhattan, NY

Join Karen Guzman and Dr. Rebecca Nelson of Cornell University, Bill Hilgendorf of White Feather Farm, and the NYRP Urban Ag team for a deep dive into biochar as a tool for waste management, carbon storage, and soil health in a community garden context. During this hands-on workshop, participants will have the chance to make biochar using garden waste and learn about best practices when applying it to a garden bed. Workshop attendees will all receive a small amount of biochar to take back to their garden.

Space is limited. Pre-registration required.

Announcements

New Produce Auctions in NYS!

With the opening of the new Augusta Produce Auction on August 19th, New York State now has 11 produce auctions! See the new map of produce auction locations across the state and contact information.

New York Urban Farms Sustainable Pest Management Fact Sheet Series

Cornell Cooperative Extension has partnered with dozens of urban farms across New York State to demonstrate and evaluate sustainable pest management strategies. Together with farmers, we found success using control methods that prevent or reduce crop losses through exclusion strategies, crop timing, host resistance, the introduction of beneficial organisms, and more. Regardless of management strategy used, common requirements for success include a knowledge of the pest and disease complex, preventative deployment and commitment to the process. The New York Urban Farms Sustainable Pest Management Fact Sheet Series includes case studies highlighting pest management techniques that New York urban farms have found valuable.