About — Nature Farm School

Rooted in Nature. Growing in Wholeness.

Education, nourishment, and holistic wellness — all blossoming from the same living soil.

How I arrived here:

Mission & Philosophy:

What We Offer at Nature Farm School

About the Founder

My name is Tammy, and I am the founder and director of Nature Farm School. This school is the culmination of decades of experience in education, nutrition, and holistic wellness, shaped by a life lived in deep relationship with the natural world.

I grew up in Southern California, but my soul always belonged to the wild. My family camped often, and my happiest memories are of being outside until the stars came out, barefoot, sun-kissed, and free. Long before I had language for it, nature was my first teacher.

As a lifelong athlete, I learned early that the body is a source of wisdom. Training at elite levels required discipline, resilience, and deep care. During my college years, balancing intense physical training, full-time study, and work, I became curious about nutrition not just for performance, but as a foundation for vitality and long-term health.

I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and after college I stepped into the classroom as a teacher. Shortly after, I became a mother, a role that profoundly reshaped everything I thought I understood about health, learning, and development.

I am the mother of five children, and each of them arrived with a completely different temperament, learning style, nervous system, and way of engaging with the world. What supported one child did not necessarily support another. Through firsthand experience, I came to see that no single, one-size-fits-all educational model can truly serve all children.

Like many parents seeking something better, I explored a wide range of educational environments, from public school to all the currently available holistic education approaches. Each offered valuable insights, yet none fully met the needs of all my children. What became clear was that children need space to move, to play, to explore, and to simply be, alongside learning strong core academics that allow them to thrive in the modern world.

I also saw that many educational systems struggle not because teachers lack care or skill, but because the structures themselves are misaligned with how children actually learn. Overcrowded classrooms, rigid expectations, and narrow definitions of success make it nearly impossible, even for the most gifted educator, to meet the diverse needs of their students. Low student-to-teacher ratios, relational learning, and freedom within thoughtful structure are not luxuries; they are essential.

At the same time, my path was deepening into holistic health. With limited resources but endless curiosity, I immersed myself in functional nutrition, herbalism, fitness, mental wellness, and mindfulness, and spent years leading fitness and nutrition programs that helped people reclaim strength, vitality, and connection through food and movement.

As my understanding grew, a larger truth became impossible to ignore: even people who were doing their best to eat well were often still nutrient-deficient. This wasn’t a failure of effort or care, it was a reflection of a much deeper issue. Our food system had become disconnected from the health of the soil itself. When soil is depleted of minerals and microbial life, plants can only absorb so much. Depleted soil produces depleted food, and depleted food leads to bodies that are quietly undernourished.

That realization changed everything. I turned toward the land as the ultimate teacher and that turning led me to buy a farm.

Working the land became a living education. Through regenerative, organic, and permaculture-based practices, I witnessed how soil could be restored and how that restoration mirrored healing in the body and spirit. What began as nourishment for my family grew into a vision for community education.

Nature Farm School was born from this integration.

Today, Nature Farm School is a living classroom where education, nourishment, movement, and connection to nature grow side by side. The school reflects my combined experience as an educator, nutritionist, herbalist, athlete, and mother. It is intentionally designed with small class sizes and low ratios so teachers can truly see their students and respond to who they are, not who a system expects them to be.

The farm is more than a place.
It is a philosophy.

A reminder that when we tend the soil, we tend the body.
When we tend the body, we tend the mind.
And when we tend the whole ecosystem, we raise children who are rooted, capable, and alive.

We believe that health, learning, and belonging begin with the land.

When soil is nourished, food becomes medicine.
When children are seen, learning becomes alive.
When communities reconnect to nature, wholeness follows.

Nature Farm School exists to offer education as an embodied experience, rooted in movement, curiosity, and relationship. The farm is our classroom, the earth is our curriculum, and nature herself is our greatest teacher.

Our philosophy integrates regenerative agriculture, holistic nutrition, herbalism, and conscious living, all working together as a living ecosystem that supports the whole child and the whole family.

Our mission is simple: to listen, to tend, and to grow what truly sustains life.

Our outdoor education programs nurture curiosity, creativity, and connection.

At Nature Farm School, children learn by doing. Planting seeds, exploring ecosystems, caring for animals, and tending to the rhythms of the land. Our programs combine regenerative agriculture, ecology, and emotional intelligence to help children grow not only in knowledge but in reverence for life.
Whether through our Farm School or our Nature Academy, each experience invites a deeper relationship with the land and with themselves.

Friday Farm School

A hands-on learning experience where children spend their days immersed in the rhythms of the farm. Students plant, harvest, tend animals, and explore the interconnected web of soil, water, and life. Every day is a living science lesson, guided by curiosity and collaboration.
Nature Academy
A holistic academic program that integrates traditional studies with nature-based learning. Students build foundational skills in literacy, math, and science while spending a large part of their day outdoors. Through multi-age learning, creative projects, and hands-on exploration, they develop not only intellect but emotional intelligence and ecological awareness.

Farm School

Nature Academy

Meet the Team

Tammy Kattner

FARM & SCHOOL OWNER | EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR | RESIDENT HERBALIST
Tammy Kattner has always had a deep love and passion for the natural world. Growing up in Southern California, she would spend as much time outdoors as possible, often frequenting the beach, mountains, Yosemite National Park, while developing a strong desire to live off the land. Connection to the wild has always been her compass.
Tammy holds a B.A. in Social Science with an emphasis in environmentalism, a teaching degree and a Master's in Education. She was a member of San Diego State University's Division 1 NCAA Women’s Volleyball team. As a longtime athlete, Tammy has always been connected to her body’s wisdom and strength, which has carried over into her current passion of living in connection with oneself and the natural world around her.
She has over 20+ years working within the holistic health arena, including nutrition, fitness therapy, teaching, re-wilding, nature immersion, herbalism and regenerative & permaculture-based farming. She has found a beautiful way of encapsulating all of these elements of holism into methods of healing oneself through the lenses of their constitution and their natural rhythms in this world. One size does not fit all, and Tammy believes that the best way to make any change in this world is to look within oneself and acquire the education and tools to learn how to navigate life effectively so that change can happen. "Be the Change" has been her guiding light. All of these elements have brought her to building her dream at Hamilton Pool Farms - where she has co-created a regenerative, permaculture & biodynamic farm, with an outdoor education program that connects over a hundred students each semester with gardening, food sourcing, sustainability and nature skills.
Tammy is a mother of five children who have always been her inspiration for a more natural world. She enjoys beekeeping on her apiary at the farm, loving on her sweet Golden Doodles farm dogs, and connecting with nature as she develops the farm culture while teaching a more sustainable & natural way of living.
Denlin Doty

PROGRAM DIRECTOR & LEAD TEACHER FOR NATURE ACADEMY
Denlin has 25 years of experience working with children. Starting as a teen ranch camp counselor in Malibu California where she led children in animal care, hiking, games, crafts & campfire songs, along with their daily chores and games, she found her calling. She has completed child development & psychology coursework at UCSC, and pursued a lifelong career as a Kidpower instructor, training annually and teaching workshops all over the world for this lead international personal safety NGO. She specializes in social emotional education for children & families, and has brought that skill set into her work as preK-8 special education teacher, PE coach, and classroom teacher. Her passion is to weave confidence and competence building lessons into games, empowering children and their adults with lifelong skills in a way that both fun & impactful.
Braden Delonay

FARM SCHOOL TEACHER
Braden has been working with youth outdoors since 2009. His work began in educating youth about sustainability and has evolved over time to focus on social emotional learning, team building, and survival skills. Braden has worked with multiple Montessori Schools, the Whole Life Learning Center, the Amala Foundation, the Maine Primitive Skills School, Earth Native Wilderness School, Camp Ketcha, and others.
His love of all things outdoors began at a very young age with his Nana and Papa. He planted his first garden at home at age 5, and caught his first fish big enough to eat at a small campground named “Little Grassy” near Joliet, IL at age 6.
Braden studied permaculture and natural building while working as the education director for a sustainability non-profit called The New S.H.I.R.E. Institute in Manor, Tx and eventually made his way to the Maine Primitive Skills School to complete an extended apprenticeship about nature mentoring and living off the land in the most direct way possible.
Braden has been a volunteer associate director for the Amala Foundation’s Global Youth Peace Summits here in the states, as well as in Meru, Kenya.
He is trained in survival skills, nature connection, mentoring, team building, non-violent conflict resolution, restorative justice, rhythm facilitation, permaculture practices, and natural and conventional building practices.
Jen Allen

FARM SCHOOL TEACHER
Hi, my name is Jennifer Allen, my husband and I have been married for 25 years and we have two young adult sons and a mini Australian Shepard. I grew up in Iowa and our love of music brought us to south Austin 27 years ago.
My passions include spending time with family, children, animals, music, upcycled crafting, nature and camping.
I've worked in several Montessori preschools and holistic learning environments for all ages as well as being a stay at home mom, small business owner, nanny and photographer.
I'm thrilled to be part of the community at Hamilton Pool Vineyard and Farms!
Sonia Steen

LEAD TEACHER FOR NATURE ACADEMY
Sonia was born and raised in San Diego, California. She has been calling Austin home since 2022 and loves the vibrant alternative education community here. She earned her BA in Liberal Studies and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential in 2020 from the University of San Diego. She is passionate about creating positive social change by revolutionizing education and honoring the interdependent nature of life. Sonia wholeheartedly believes in holistic education and that fostering emotional and naturalistic intelligence is just as important as academic intelligence. Sonia is certified to teach in California and Texas. She began full-time teaching at a charter school in Oceanside, California with First and Fourth Grades, and then taught Third Grade for AISD before spending the past 2 years teaching Kindergarten and First Grade at Whole Life Learning Center in South Austin. Sonia has also taught in a variety of other settings including a school for at-risk girls in a rural village in India, a primary school in Oxford, England, and a Juvenile Detention Facility. Sonia completed a Permaculture Design/Herbalism Course with Austin Permaculture Guild and continues to deepen her knowledge by attending educational events with Festival Beach Food Forest, The Natural Gardener, TreeFolks, and more. She has even visited various fincas practicing permaculture on the Canary Islands. She values building heart-centered community and focusing on environmental stewardship and regeneration. Sonia loves animals, music, immersing in nature, finding new children’s books at the local library, creating wholesome recipes using food as medicine, and being a lifelong learner. She is honored and grateful to be joining the HPNA team and to be a mentor to such a wonderful group of children in such an inspiring setting. She is so excited to be a part of a school where “The farm is our classroom, the earth is our curriculum, and nature herself is the teacher.”