IAITC 2025-26 Ag Literacy Grants
Learn more about the 2025-26 ag literacy grants from Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom and the IAA Foundation.
March at the Market: Gardening and Farmers Market Resources
Spring has officially sprung and farmers all over Illinois are gearing up for the 2024 gardening and farmers market season! This month on the blog, we will help your students warm up with our favorite farmers market, gardening, and specialty crop resources.
Check out these fun Farmers Market facts:
- Illinois ranks 3rd in the U.S. in number of farmers markets in the state.
- There are over 300 farmers markets across the state and over 8,000 across the country!
- Aurora is home to Illinois' oldest farmers market, founded in 1912.
- National Farmers Market week is celebrated the first week of August.
- Saturday is the most popular day of the week for farmers markets.
- The average distance a farmer travels to get to a farmers market is 61 miles.
Read more about Farmers Markets
Read more about Farmers Markets in Illinois with our non-fiction text resources. Check out our Ag Mag (4-8 grade), new interactive online version of the Ag Mag, Facts for Little Readers (K-1) and Ag-Venture Worksheet!
Lessons about Farmers Markets
Farmers markets are a fun way for all of us to meet and thank the people who grow our food! Check out a few of our favorite farmers market lessons to get students excited about visiting their local market.
Find a Farmers Market Near You
Use this link from the Illinois Farmers Market Association to find a market near you!
Lessons about Specialty Crops
Even if you don't have a market near you, spring is a great time to learn more about garden crops! We have a variety of great specialty crop lessons, from germination to plant parts.
These are a few of our favorite... books!
Need More Spring?
Looking for more spring-themed lessons from IL Ag in the Classroom? Check them out on our blog post!
Rows of Resources: Corn and Soybean Activities
Thanks to April showers aplenty this year, most Illinois farmers will spend the first part of this month planting rows and rows of Illinois' top agriculture commodities: corn and soybeans, and we will follow suit by sharing rows and rows of our favorite corn and soybean resources!
STEM and Inquiry in Agriculture
Fun, hands-on activities to get students thinking and problem solving by carrying out STEM and inquiry challenges with connections to agriculture.