www.FredericksburgParent.NET 27
REF Board members Els van Wingerden (left) and Januari
Coates with freshly harvested kale.
Shiny green zucchini. All produce grown at REF is
donated to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank.
Board Chair Rich Larochelle on the farm.
Along with providing fresh produce, facilitating these
kinds of community partnerships—with local govern-
ments, farms, residents with specialized knowledge,
and volunteers—is one of the ways REF hopes to
benefit the Fredericksburg area.
A third arm of the mission is to provide education on
best practices in sustainable gardening and farming
through school field trips and classes offered by the
local cooperative extension.
REF hopes to duplicate the success of Shalom Farms, a Richmond-
based community farm that started in 2009 with a half-acre garden
and now harvests more than 200,000 pounds of produce per year
(according to its 2022 annual report) from two locations.
The Fauquier Education Farm in Warrenton also served as a model
and inspiration for the REF board.
The farm received its articles of incorporation in March of 2023 and
spent the following year looking for the right parcel of land, which it
found in the nine acres at First Street and White Oak Road in Stafford.
The previous owner, Price Jett, wanted the parcel to be used for agri-
cultural purposes in honor of his father, another Price Jett, who loved
gardening and giving away homegrown produce, Larochelle said.
Eventually, REF plans to cover six or seven of the nine acres with
gardens.
The farm welcomes volunteers of all ages. Visit the website to sign
up for volunteer opportunities and follow the farm on Facebook.
