TROY — Some lessons are for the classroom; others are best learned in less conventional ways.

At the Produce Project, a year-round organic urban farm on Eighth Street just south of Hoosick Street, Troy High School students till the earth and tend crops. They take their bounty to market and learn to sensibly plan future harvests — what, exactly, might they grow that also makes the most business sense?

Through all this, students learn the best methods for planting carrots, cabbage and kale. They also learn the value of healthy eating, business skills and how to behave appropriately in a work environment.

"It's about much more than gardening," said Amy Klein, executive director of Capital District Community Gardens, which founded the program in 2009.

The Produce Project was one of seven organizations in the Capital Region this fall to receive funding from the Time Union's Hope Fund, which raises money to help pay for after-school and summer camp programs for at-risk and poor children in the Capital Region. This season, the fund awarded $32,000 that in most cases allowed children to attend programs free of charge; the Produce Project received $5,000.

At any given time, the Produce Project has on staff about a dozen Troy High School students. During the school year, they work after school and on the weekends for about 10 hours a week, earning a weekly $50 stipend and a food share. In the harvest-heavy summer, students can work up to 30 hours a week.

The farm sits on land that was donated by the state after the 1970s demolition of a strip of houses to make way for an I-787 on-ramp — and then decided to build the ramp somewhere else. It sits on a slope — ideal for growing – overlooking Troy, the highway and beyond.

The Produce Project operates year-round from the main site on Eighth Street, which will encompass a total of two acres once an expansion is completed next year. In the winter, the farm grows greens from two "high-tunnels" – or unheated greenhouses. In the warmer months, they also farm satellite locations in Troy and Albany.

Students also prep their harvest for the Delmar greenmarket, and some of them work the market as well.

Klein said past participants have found the work prepared them for job interviews and the realities of the working world. It even inspired one former student to study the culinary arts.

"They walk away with great skills," said Klein. "But they're also walking away really appreciating nature and good food."

kbrown@timesunion.com • 518-454-5035 • @kristenvbrown