Fredericksburg Parent

26 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • February 2025 Rappahannock Education Farm A Family Volunteer Opportunity Providing Fresh Produce and Farming Education to the Fredericksburg Region Volunteer Barb Pishock harvests kale at the Rappahannock Education Farm in Stafford. Photos by Adele Uphaus. The Rappahannock Education Farm is a great place to volunteer as a family in 2025. The nonprofit community farm will grow and donate fruits and veg- etables to the Food Bank. According to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, there is an annual shortage of about 200,000 pounds of fresh produce. "That is the most in-demand commodity," said Rich Larochelle, Chair of the Board of the Rappahannock Education Farm (REF), a nonprofit, volunteer- based farm. "We think we can grow about 100,000 pounds here." REF completed the purchase of nine acres of land off White Oak Road in south Stafford in June and wasted no time getting zucchini, collard greens, and multiple types of kale in the ground. This summer, the nonprofit has donated 2,700 pounds of produce—the combined yield from the Stafford farm and a small plot near the Food Bank off Lee Hill Drive in Spotsylvania. "We plan to scale up to 100,000 pounds in three to five years," Larochelle said. On a recent Friday, volunteers were at work harvesting shiny green zucchini and watering the latest plantings of spinach seeds. "Whether it will come up, only time will tell," Larochelle said. A second large plot has been sown with winter rye—a cover crop that will control weeds and enrich the soil for next summer's plantings—and 10,000 spring onions. WRITTEN BY ADELE UPHAUS Honeybees from two beehives recently installed on the farm last week by a local apiarist were at work on the fall wildflowers growing in adjacent unmowed pasture. Another recent installation is 7,500 pounds of horse manure donated from a nearby horse farm—the start of REF's composting operation, led by volunteer Jonathan Stevens. This will be mixed with the results of the City of Fredericksburg's curbside fall leaf collection to create a carbon- and nitrogen-rich food for next summer's plant- ings, Stevens said.

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