Tamworth Piglets Arrive!

Eagerly welcoming the new piglets

Cute but with a very loud squeal

Three Tamworth weanlings have joined us at the Farm School this winter.

A True Community

This morning at Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm school 15 children and youth (current students, incoming students, graduates, and siblings), 2 parents, and 2 staff members gathered for community work.  Community work is a weekly event - students, siblings, parents, staff members, and neighbors gather voluntarily, taking time out of their summer vacations, to work together at the Farm School.

While we worked very hard moving our chickens to fresh pasture, weeding the garden, mowing paths, turning the compost, and cleaning the beekeeping equipment, it was truly joyful work because we worked together as a community.

Building community is hard work and a long term process.  It takes dedication by all included.  Joyful days like today remind us what good work it is.

Food, Inc. Makes an Impression

Farm School students, faculty, and parents attended a showing of the film Food, Inc. in Warrenton, VA with a follow-up Question and Answer session with Joel Salatin. The film made quite an impression.

At breakfast and lunch the next day, there was a lot of talk about food choices and analysis of where the ingredients for our meals were grown.

While the movie painted some pretty dire problems in the US food system, the students noted that they were proud to be a part of the solution - raising our own pigs for pork, chickens for eggs, and garden for fresh and healthy vegetables and herbs using sustainable farming practices.

Rappahannock County Farm Tour

Come visit the Farm School during the 1st annual Rappahannock County Farm Tour Weekend: September 26th-27th.
Students will be giving tours, you can join us in planting garlic in the garden, or learn to spin wool into yarn or felt it. We'll be serving up pork BBQ from our own school-grown pigs and many yummy side dishes, all cooked by the students and teachers. And, you can pet the sheep, hold a chicken, gather eggs, and generally spend a nice day on the farm.
For more info: http://farmtour.visitrappahannockva.com/index.html