Integrating work and play, people and land, heart and mind.

Matfield Green is a small town in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

The town’s high school closed in 1968 (and was later demolished) while the adjacent grade school building remained open until 1975 and was most recently privately owned and in decline. In April 2019, with the support of Third Coast Activist Resource Center (an organization that works closely with the Land Institute), we acquired this building and incorporated as a non-profit in the following year.

Renovations since then include: new electrical panels, masonry work, septic system and plumbing, exterior door replacement, new gymnasium windows and frames, roofing, HVAC, refinished wood floors, track lighting, playground upgrades, native landscaping, and much more. We are currently completing the installation of an exterior wood-burning furnace to heat the majority of the building with local, renewable fuel.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

A maintained playground and open green with native landscaping.
Gymnasium for recreation, exercise and community gathering and performances.
Community library, specializing in books related to ecology, grassland ecosystems, agriculture, regional history, sustainable economics, art, literature, philosophy and more.
Exhibition space in The School’s hallway.
Kids playroom and reading area.
Native landscaping of tallgrass prairie species, many of which have been propagated from locally collected seed.
Studio of Incidental Wildland, custom Wildland Fire Gear by Bria Fleming.
Compass Gallery and Press, a printmaking studio and retail gallery by Matthew Regier.
Grass-finished beef from Homestead ranch available for purchase in the kitchen. Proceeds directly support The School.
Community Coffee Hour every Saturday morning with coffee roasted right here in our kitchen.
Community Demonstration Gardens modeling techniques for small agriculture including cover crops, rainwater collection, drip irrigation, companion planting, and season extension through low and high tunnels.
A small orchard of apple and pear trees with an eye towards cider pressing.

FUTURE PROJECTS:

Community Demonstration Gardens modeling techniques for small agriculture including cover crops, rainwater collection, drip irrigation, companion planting, and season extension through low and high tunnels.
A small orchard of apple and pear trees with an eye towards cider pressing.