Rappahannock County Farm Tour Sept 24th & 25th - join us at the Farm School!

Join us for the third annual 

Rappahannock County Farm Tour!  

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School will be open and ready for your visit both Saturday and Sunday from 9-4.

• Farm School students will be waiting to give you a tour, introduce you to the animals, and tell you about their school.
• You'll be able to pet the sheep, hold a chicken, gather eggs, and feed the pigs! 
• We'll be serving a delicious lunch made by our students using our home-grown meats and vegetables.  
• You'll also have the opportunity to hand-dye wool yarn and try your hand at spinning wool into yarn.
• There will be games, face painting, and more for children of all ages.
• Our Farm Market Stand will be open both days.

Tickets are $5 and may be purchased in advance on line:  farmtour.visitrappahannockva.com or at Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School on the day of the tour. 

Children under 16 get in free! 

At the Farm Tour website you are also able to get directions, check out the other 17 venues, look for special tracks (family friendly, horticulture, crafts, etc), and learn about the "All Things Rappahannock Market" at The Link in Sperryville.

Community Plant Sale

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students sell homemade food at the Waterpenny Farm Plant Sale

Farm School student spins wool into yarn

Alisa Gravitz, Green America Director, visits Farm School

Alisa Gravitz, Green America (Co-op America) Executive Director, visited the Farm School during the Rappahannock County Farm Tour 2009! Here she is purchasing produce from Allie, Farm School Market Manager and 9th year student.

The mission of Green America is "to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society"

Buy Fresh Buy Local Market in Warrenton

The Farm School participated in the First Friday Buy Fresh Buy Local event in Warrenton on a Friday night in August. The bus and chicken were big attractions for children of all ages (and a few adults as well!). Here's a photo of Mona Nixon, Mountain Laurel Montessori's Head of School, getting to know the barred rock hen.

Local 9th grade student sells her photography at the Front Royal Farmer’s Market

Source: Warren County Sentinel
Thursday, July 30, 2009


Allie Mingo, 14 year old and rising 9th grade student at Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School, smiles as she sells her hand made photo cards at the Front Royal Farmer’s Market on Thursday, July 23rd. Sales from the card and from the meat and vegetables, go back into the Farm School’s microeconomy to pay for plants for the garden and food for the animals.

At the Farm School, students run both the farm and school alongside their teachers.

The Farm School is one of the vendors at the new Farmer’s Market, held each Thursday 4 to 8 and Saturday 9 to 1 behind the gazebo in downtown Front Royal. At Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School, students in grades 7-9 run the farm alongside their teachers.

The curriculum is project-based and hands-on, based on the needs of the farm. The students study biology, for example, by learning about the sheep as they also learn about how to care for them. Studying topics such as cell structure and the nitrogen cycle take on new excitement when they are applied to a real life situation.

The students at the Montessori Farm School raise pigs, sheep, chickens, and bees and have a large market garden. They sell their pork, eggs, and produce at the market, and put the proceeds back into the Farm School’s microeconomy to pay for feed, hay, and tools. The students manage the microeconomy and cooperatively make decisions about how to spend the money. And, there is room for invention.

Allie has an interest in photography. She decided this year to make her photos of the farm: pigs, chickens, landscapes, into photo cards to be sold as part of the microeconomy. First she sold them at school functions. Then, Herb Melrath, owner of Front Royal’s Daily Grind, offered to sell them at his store. The cards have been so popular that Allie now sells the cards at 3 local businesses: The Daily Grind, Hands to Create, and Delilah’s. All of the proceeds from the cards still go back into the Farm School’s microconomy.

By acting on her idea, this local youth is gaining experience in running a small business: from inspiration and design, to production, marketing, and accounting. You can also see Allie’s cards, along with the produce from the Farm School garden, pork sausage from their pigs, and eggs from their chickens every Thursday at the Front Royal Farmer’s Market.

http://www.thewarrensentinel.com/editions/view/EC.mont.school.html/2009-07-30