A Look Back at Cooking Classes in The Learning Kitchen at Chocolates and Tomatoes Farm

Purple aprons welcome participants behind the purple door to The Learning Kitchen

Why did we start the cooking classes at Chocolates and Tomatoes Farm?

We had three primary reasons for starting The Learning Kitchen in 2023:

1. Farmer Mark is also a chef and an instructor at the local community college.

   1. He has always loved helping people become inspired by food.

2. It could extend and expand the farm revenue (our primary selling period for the fruit and veggies is May-September).

3. We thought it could help people learn how to cook what we sell at the market.

How well has The Learning Kitchen performance aligned with our original reasons for starting it?

Chef/Instructor Mark giving some history on the ingredients and dishes

Has Farmer Mark enjoyed also being Chef/Instructor Mark on the Farm?

• Yes, absolutely!

• He has enjoyed collaborating with his wife, Teresa, and others from the community on coming up with an assortment of classes.

  • Across the 3 years, we have offered 54 different class titles

    • Year 1: 20 class types

    • Year 2: 10 new, 8 dropped

    • Year 3: 24 new, 11 dropped i

    • We are starting year 4 with classes that had waiting lists in year 3, or that we didn't get a chance to offer much last year

  • Each year we reflect on the performance of the classes. There are three primary reasons we drop classes: we couldn't get full enrollment, costs were too high and prices didn't line up well, or it didn't work out quite the way we expected during class time and we couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Have participants been inspired by food?

• Yes, we think so.

• Across the three years, 569 different people purchased at least one seat

  • 157 people placed multiple orders

  • 47 people placed orders in 2 of the 3 years

  • 16 people have placed orders all 3 years!

• Our top participant has ordered a seat to 15 classes!

  • We also have 1 person each who ordered a seat in 14, 13, and 12 classes.

  • Two people ordered a seat in 9 classes, three people in 8 classes, five people in 7 classes, seven people in 6 classes, nine people in 5 classes, fifteen people in 4 classes, and thirty-three people in 3 classes.

• We think these repeat-customers are the best endorsement we can have that we are contributing positively to the community and inspiring folks with food!

5 women finishing up Winter Soups class

A man and a woman making spaghetti noodles

Two men making entremets

Have The Learning Kitchen Classes expanded and extended the farm revenue?

• Yes, absolutely!

• The Learning Kitchen Classes create a consistent revenue stream throughout the year. It isn't the same every month, but it does bring in some revenue each month. Our other two streams don't do that.

• The Learning Kitchen Classes have also expanded the revenue. More people are interacting with us at the farm in more ways. Some people only come to the on-farm market, some people only come to the classes, and some people come to both. In 2025, we really saw a surge of interest.

• Over the three years, we sold 1,394 class seats in 186 class sessions.

  • About half of those were in 2025 -- a real growth year!

A bowl with cauliflower florets

A mix of red and green frying peppers

Bins of red and white onions

Purple garlic bulbs

Fresh peaches and blackberries

Tomatoes of different shapes and colors

A market table with herbs and mushrooms

Eggplant and bell peppers

Are people learning how to cook what we grow in the field and sell at the on-farm market?

• Yes, in some of the classes.

  • 31% of our class titles and 27% of our seats sold (358) have focused on veggies and health

  • Our three most popular classes are: Making Rolled Chocolate Truffles, Making Pasta from Scratch, and Making Pizza from Scratch.

  • We tried to offer more class sessions with a veggie/health focus, but we had to cancel them due to low or no enrollment.

  • When folks talk to us about it, some say they won't take a class that focuses on a vegetable that they have not liked since childhood (although the folks who do take the chance often find out they do like the vegetable with a new way of cooking it).

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  • We have also been challenged with what to call the veggie-focused or more health-focused classes.

    • In the first two years, we mostly did classes that focused a single vegetable or type of vegetable (for example, root vegetables, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, or winter squash).

    • In 2025, more people signed up for the classes (and we had a couple of groups request private, healthy classes) by calling it a "seasonal market basket surprise" (see some featured ingredients above).

Which of these strategies would help you try out a new vegetable or one you thought you didn't like?

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• Provide free recipes at the market
• Provide a free sample along with a recipe
• Offer a free class on cooking it
• Offer a paid class on cooking it

You can vote for more than one answer.

If you have other ideas you would like to share or classes you would like to see, please send them through the Contact Us page. We appreciate your help!