Boise Urban Garden School

What Boise Urban Garden School does

Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) is an Idaho-based 501(c)-style nonprofit founded in 2003 by Amy Hutchinson and Wendy Young with the mission of teaching youth and adults the fundamentals of gardening and nutrition through science and environmental-based lesson plans. The organization is headquartered at a 3/4-acre organic garden and kitchen facility located in Comba Park at 2995 N Five Mile Rd, Boise, and serves approximately 10,000 youth annually through a portfolio of education programs that includes an outdoor preschool, on-site field trips, in-school outreach lessons delivered via a mobile gardening kit, and seasonal culinary and garden camps and classes for youth and adults.

BUGS does not operate a software platform in the conventional sense; its "technology" is a purpose-built physical education site (organic garden plus commercial kitchen) combined with a developed curriculum library and a portable mobile gardening kit that extends programming into partner schools. The organization also runs community events, plant sale fundraisers, custom culinary experiences for groups, and volunteer programs, all centered on hands-on engagement with soil, plants, and cooking. The website is built on Squarespace and serves as the primary registration and donation surface.

The revenue model is a hybrid of programmatic fees (class registrations, field trip fees, summer camps, custom culinary programs) and nonprofit fundraising (donations, Idaho Gives campaign, foundation grants). Major financial supporters include the Gladys E. Langroise Advised Fund administered through the Idaho Community Foundation and Ada County Soil and Water Conservation District. Distribution is purely local, reaching Boise-area families, K-12 schools, and community organizations, with no geographic expansion or digital product channel evident in the source data.

Name

Boise Urban Garden School

Legal name

Boise Urban Garden School

Website

https://boiseurbangardenschool.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Boise Urban Garden School is a Boise, Idaho nonprofit founded in 2003 that provides hands-on garden, culinary, and environmental education programs serving approximately 10,000 youth annually through outdoor preschool, field trips, in-school outreach, and seasonal camps.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Garden and Nutrition Education Services

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620)

akta.pro primary industry

Outdoor / Nature-Based Nursery & Forest Playgroups (EDACACAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Life Skills & SEL Camps (Confidence, Executive Function, Social Skills) (EDAMALAO), Outdoor & Wilderness Education Schools (Field-Based Learning) (THAAAOAA)

Keywords

• Garden education programs
• Youth nutrition education
• Outdoor preschool
• Culinary education classes
• Environmental education

Headquarters

HQ city

Boise

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Educational Program Fees: Revenue generated from registration fees for classes, field trips, summer camps, culinary programs, and in-school outreach lessons.
2. Donations and Fundraising: The nonprofit relies on community donations to maintain the organic garden and kitchen facility. Fundraising efforts include Idaho Gives campaign for kitchen remodel projects and general operating support.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches youth and adults the fundamentals of gardening, nutrition, and environmental stewardship through hands-on programs. It operates a 3/4 acre organic garden and kitchen facility in Comba Park, Boise, delivering outdoor preschool, on-site field trips, in-school outreach lessons, culinary and garden camps, and custom culinary programs that let participants dig in the soil, plant seeds, and cook the produce they grow.

Product overview

Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) is a nonprofit educational organization offering a portfolio of programs centered on gardening and nutrition education. The organization operates a ¾ acre organic garden and kitchen facility in Compba Park. Its core offerings include outdoor preschool, field trips and in-school outreach, culinary and garden camps/classes, custom culinary programs, and community events. The programs are designed to provide hands-on, real-life experiences where participants can engage with soil, plants, and cooking to learn about food systems and healthy eating.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Field Trips and Outreach On-site field trips at the 3/4 acre garden and kitchen facility and in-school outreach lessons that teach youth about growing local foods, gardening fundamentals, and nutrition. Designed for school groups, community programs, and youth organizations.
• Garden and Culinary Camps and Classes Seasonal camps and classes covering garden education and culinary skills for youth and adults, including multi-day summer camps focused on cooking with garden produce and gardening fundamentals.
• Outdoor Preschool Outdoor preschool program that integrates gardening, nutrition education, and play-based learning for young children, using the BUGS garden and kitchen facility as the classroom.
• Custom Culinary Programs Customized culinary education experiences for groups that teach cooking skills using fresh garden produce, delivered by BUGS chefs and educators.
• Volunteer Programs Opportunities for community members to volunteer at the BUGS garden and support educational programming through hands-on work in the garden and kitchen.
• Community Events Community events hosted at the garden, including plant sale fundraisers, workshops, and seasonal celebrations that engage the broader Boise community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately 10,000 youth served annually through multiple education programs

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Ada County Soil and Water Conservation District (Ada SWCD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBUGS partners with Ada SWCD's Treasure Valley Pollinator Project to offer pollinator plants alongside vegetable starts at their plant sale fundraiser. This collaboration enhances the variety of plants available to the community and supports broader environmental education goals.
• Boise City ForestryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the Joplin Road Compost Giveback site. City Forestry provides free compost to Boise residents at the site, complementing BUGS's education about soil health and sustainable gardening practices.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Cultivate Kansas City: Kansas City nonprofit supporting urban agriculture and farm-based education; comparable community-garden and youth-education programming, though not in BUGS's geography.
• Real Food Farm: Baltimore-based urban farm operated by Civic Works that provides farm-based education, summer camps, and community programming — same hybrid model of production agriculture plus youth education as BUGS.

Direct peers

• Edible Schoolyard Project: Founded by Alice Waters, the Edible Schoolyard Project integrates organic gardening and culinary education into school curricula — directly comparable to BUGS's combination of school-based outreach, garden instruction, and kitchen programming.
• Life Lab: Santa Cruz-based nonprofit providing garden-based science and nutrition education to K-12 students through on-site school gardens and curriculum — same audience (youth, schools), same hands-on garden pedagogy as BUGS.
• Common Ground: New Haven, CT nonprofit operating an urban farm and environmental education center for youth and families — closest analog to BUGS by structure: small urban site, organic garden, kitchen, school and community programming.
• Big Green: National nonprofit that builds outdoor garden learning centers and delivers garden-based education to schools and youth — closely mirrors BUGS's physical-garden-plus-curriculum model, with a much larger geographic footprint.
• CitySprouts: Nonprofit that partners with public schools to build and sustain school gardens and provide science-based garden curricula — directly overlaps BUGS's in-school outreach and field-trip offerings.
• Green Our Planet: Las Vegas-based nonprofit running school garden programs and hydroponics education; comparable mission of bringing hands-on garden and conservation education to K-12 students via partnerships with schools.

Emerging players

• Tinkergarten: Outdoor, nature-based learning program for young children delivered via facilitated classes in local parks — comparable to BUGS's outdoor preschool in audience (parents of young children) and outdoor pedagogy, though without the garden-agriculture focus.

Broad incumbents

• The Food Trust: National nonprofit working on food access, nutrition education, and healthy retail — overlaps BUGS's nutrition mission at a much broader scale and could be a partner or competitor for school-district nutrition-education contracts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/boiseurbangardenschool
• Instagraminstagram.com/boiseurbangardenschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boise-urban-garden-school

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boise Urban Garden School