PORTLAND — Zenger Farm helps aspiring farmers, teaches about food and health and sells its bounty through a unique community supported agriculture program.

Zenger Farm is on a 24-acre combined farm and wetland, and has been a nonprofit since 1999.

The farm also works with school districts and has created programs such as the apprenticeship program for beginning farmers  and a community chef program.

The nonprofit originally started as a relationship between Marc Boucher-Colbert and the City of Portland.

To make farming more accessible, a farmer apprenticeship program was created. With many of these programs traditionally available on rural farms, Rob Cato, co-executive director of the farm, said it’s “really important” to have one in an urban space.

“We wanted to create a community for people who are under supported in farming,” he said. “Another was creating that kind of community so the next generation of farmers are way more diverse than current farmers.”

With the pandemic, Zenger Farm had to pivot much of its education program because majority of the work was with school districts and youth. An added challenge, Cato said, was when parents expressed their frustration with virtual learning.

“We started to go out to food pantries at the schools we worked with, particularly David Douglas School District elementaries, and we were handing out activity packets,” he said. The packets were adapted from the farmer’s  in-person programming.

Another change in education came from recipients of the food boxes and CSA members who wanted recipes for meal ideas.

“It was very up our alley because of our cooking workshops and community chef program,” he said. “We adapted our recipes to use more of the produce people were getting in their boxes.”

With the pandemic subsiding, the farm is now working on its strategic plan for the upcoming year. The core mission will stay the same, with the continued partnership to the school district, but Cato said there’s opportunity to adapt the program for sixth-graders and expand to an after-school program.

The farm is also working with “micro-enterprises” by building out its community chef program. The farm received a two-year grant that will give women of color more business development skills when they partner with the farm to sell food to their CSA.

“I think for me, it feels super rewarding to be a place that has so many models for adjusting systems,” he said.

In mid-March, Zenger farm will again start Open Farm Saturday workshops about such topics as herbs.