Lexington Montessori School Farming

The Farming Program at LMS

The LMS farming program engages students in all aspects of running a successful farm. Student farmers participate in a cross-section of all farm activities including seed starting, potting up seedlings, planting, weeding and pest management, watering, composting and soil building, harvesting, and distributing and selling the produce to the wider community.

The farming program continues to provide a natural platform for practical life skills and global citizenship. Additionally, farming sales and fundraising efforts help to ensure students are connected with the real-world economics of running a farm while helping to support the program itself. During COVID, growing at LMS has not slowed down. However, the remote farming curriculum in spring 2020 switched gears from students participating in hands-on school-grown vegetable production to learning about at-home gardening. Online classes and educational videos focused on encouraging small scale home food production through simple gardening how-to’s.

Summer 2020 brought renovation to the farming infrastructure at LMS. New compost bins and beautiful raised beds were installed in the back gardens behind the Jane Mack Elementary building. The new “Market Garden” has produced a steady diversity of crops that the Lower Elementary students have helped grow and harvest for our Farm Shares this fall. A Home-to-School composting program has also been launched with the UE students in charge of pioneering and leading the effort. Every ounce of food waste that goes into the compost is another ounce that doesn’t go to the environmentally destructive landfills - plus all that good compost helps us grow more local and organic food!

The past year has brought many smiles and beautiful insights both from nature itself and from the farming students. Many thanks to all the invisible microbes that make farming and life possible, and to the countless insects that pollinate our crops and help produce clean soil. Blessings to the water and rainfall that sustains our gardens, to the bright sun that powers the plants, and all the invisible forces that make farming and life possible.

List of 5 items.

Toddler

Toddlers explore the vibrant colors of fruits and vegetables and begin to identify what different crops look like. Toddlers meet weekly with the farming teacher. They also experience different aspects of gardening, such as weeding, watering, harvesting and composting.
Children's House

Children's House Children gain an appreciation for farmers and the work they do during each season. They learn to pay attention to weather patterns and how they impact the farm and the farmer. They learn about the parts of a plant and which of the parts are eaten. Children meet each week on a seasonal rotation and participate in daily farm chores and garden maintenance.
Lower Elementary

Lower Elementary - Students have farming class weekly on a seasonal rotation. They plant, weed and water gardens in outdoor raised beds as well as those in the greenhouse. They taste foods from the garden and learn to eat nutritionally as they “eat the colors of the rainbow”. Meeting weekly with the farming teacher they come to understand where our food comes from while getting excited about eating fruits and vegetables and connecting with nature through the garden
Upper Elementary

Upper Elementary Meeting weekly with the farming teacher, they learn to plan and plant a garden and eat foods that are in-season. They are actively involved in the process, from seed starting, to watering and weeding the various beds, both outdoors and in the greenhouse throughout the growing season, as well as harvesting and processing. Select students water the crops and manage the compost heap. All students experience the daily hands-on tasks associated with growing food for backyard gardens as well as for market. UE Students also play a key role in running pop-up farm stands on harvest days.
Middle School

Middle School Students meet weekly with the farming teacher and do hands-on farming and cooking projects. They learn to compost, plant and maintain gardens in both the outdoor raised beds and in the greenhouse. Students also study the challenge of food insecurity in America, as well as looking into the environmental impacts and ethical implications of our daily food choices.