An on-campus farm at the Lawrenceville School gives hands-on experience with food production — and a whole lot of fun.

It was the second day at my new school and new home, Lawrenceville, a private boarding and day school in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. Part of our new student orientation experience, we learned, included a grade-wide dinner at the Big Red Farm. We didn’t know what to expect, but a few of my new friends and I began walking to the farm, along with the rest of the grade and a few faculty members at the front. 

We set out towards the farm and continued on along a narrow path through the woods. The sounds of crickets chirping at dusk filled our ears, and chatter among the students making small talk and getting to know each other rang through the trees. We crunched through fallen leaves on the path as we walked under towering oak and hickory trees above, a cool fall breeze brushing across our arms. 

First impressions, first tastes

The farm covers up to 30 acres of land, and while it is a part of the school grounds, the walk takes about ten minutes from the central area of campus. As we approached the farm, the smell of barbecue smoke grew closer, and I saw a large white tent filled with tables and chairs.

On one side of the tent was a large grassy area, surrounded by a fence to protect the sheep and chickens inside while miles of what seemed like endless trees lay on the other side. We wandered around and socialized until the last students arrived. Then we filed into lines to get our food and sat down to eat dinner, most of which was prepared with food grown or raised on the farm.

From the first forkful, I could taste the freshness of the produce and vegetables as I took each bite of the salad. The flavors from the pulled pork and potatoes filled my mouth, and, after going back for seconds, filled my stomach too. As we ate and talked, the sounds of chickens, sheep, and dogs surrounded us, while chirps from small birds and insects echoed from the woods.

Why a farm at a school?

The Big Red Farm is a vital part of the Lawrenceville School’s community, and has been for the past 12 years since it was established. It is an educational space that enriches the community through hands-on learning experiences and fosters opportunities for unique ways of growing and learning about the environment. 

The Big Red Farm main goals are to “connect the students with the soil, teach composting, organic farming, and general principles of where our food come[s] from,” explains Dr. Laubach, one of the school’s environmental science and biology teachers. He is also the co-director of sustainability for the school, and has been a dedicated member of the Big Red Farm for seven out of his ten years at the school. 

The farm mainly focuses on crop production, where student leaders and staff members have initiated scientific experiments to find new ways to improve techniques and processes on the farm. Dr. Laubach also explains the importance of kinesthetic experiential learning, and the benefits for students in “putting their hands in the dirt, because we’re using our brains so much.” Furthermore, he notes that “a lot of students have no idea how to grow a vegetable.” Dr. Laubach celebrates the experiences that come from working on the farm, and connecting with others and nature, as well as learning the entire process of growing crops. 

Lawrenceville’s farm supports the overall goal of sustainability through its two greenhouses, apple orchard, and vegetable patches that produce a variety of crops like tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peppers, and more. Additionally, the farm works hand in hand with Lawrenceville’s kitchen, supplying the majority of fresh produce in the salad bar, such as fruits and vegetables when they are in season, and clearly labeling if food is from the farm, to help students and staff consider where their food comes from. 

Aldo Leopold graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1905, and became a known philosopher, scientist, author, and educator. He based his studies and most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, on wildlife ecology and wilderness preservation. His lasting legacy at Lawrenceville significantly influences the school’s environmental and sustainability objectives, keeping his teachings as a central focus for research. Students committed to sustainable, environmental, and leadership practices are recognized under the Leopold Scholars Program, continuing to honor and uphold his legacy. 

Students at work

The Big Red Farm is a central part of many student’s experiences at Lawrenceville, allowing internships over the summer, during the school year, or through clubs and extracurricular opportunities, where students work and learn on the farm. “The people I get to work with are very nice, and also the environment is very peaceful and calm because of its nature,” says Valentina Garcia, a sophomore at the Lawrenceville School, who interned on the farm last summer for two months. “ It’s just a really good environment to be in.” 

During her time there she fed the chickens, collected their eggs, and helped to plant and take care of crops. Valentina describes the positive environmental impacts the farm has on Lawrenceville’s community and how she learned sustainable practices to do at home without needing high-end materials or technology. For example, she explained “the lasagna method”, a form of planting seeds where newspaper is put on the soil to cover up unwanted seeds. Then, new soil is put on top of the newspaper and new plants can be planted and grown, instead of ripping out weeds and causing damage to the soil.

And the farm is not just for students in the farm club. The Big Red Farm invites the entire school community to its regular Thursday night bonfires. One rainy night, about a year and a half after my first trip to the farm, some friends and I decided to go to one of the bonfires, for a special wellness event with s’mores and hotdogs provided. It started at about 6 pm, but by that time, the sun had already set and it was dark outside.

To get there, we took the same paths we had taken our very first time, during freshman orientation. This time however, no adults were leading us, and we got somewhat lost along the way until we stumbled across a few other students also making their way to the farm. After a few wrong turns we made it there as a somewhat muddy and laughing group. A year and a half later, the trip to the farm was still helping us connect with our peers and have fun in nature.

Read about a student who upcycles broken tents.