Elementary and Middle School students visited Fairgrown Farm, our new Farm to School partner. Fairgrown Farm is an 8-acre organic practice vegetable farm in Hopewell, NJ that grows seasonal produce for the community. The farm is run by two brothers, James and Alex Klett, who attended pre-school at PMonts, and whose mother, Kim Kletts, taught at the school as well! Our former partner, Andrew Marchese, was no longer able to host our program, but we wish him all the best in his continuing farming endeavors.
Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary had a tour of the farm with Logan Staton, who showed them around, introducing the students to the greenhouse, compost piles, and the fields, explaining how they avoided pesticides and herbicides and instead worked hard to protect seedlings from encroaching weeds and pests. We were able to help by weeding around the onions, which the students enjoyed!
Middle School had the opportunity to undertake some real farm work, planting lettuce seedlings. Twenty minutes of farm labor was enough to help them understand what it takes to bring good food to their tables!
