Bridging Education and Farming at the Big Red Farm

          Picture the juicy tomatoes and crispy lettuce on your paninis and the sweet maple syrup drizzling your french toast at the dining hall—these are only a few examples of the produce that Lawrentians enjoy from the Big Red Farm,a multi-purpose  farm supplying food to the School while also serving as a space for students to engage in Experiential Learning. With four acres of tilled land, three greenhouses, 20 acres of pasture, and a demonstration garden overseen by operations managers Ian Macdonald and Benjamin Bois, the Big Red Farm is an essential part of the Lawrenceville community. This is especially true for hands-on learners interested in sustainable food production. 

          While the space at the Big Red Farm already implements farm-based education, its accessibility is limited by its distance from campus. Currently, Lawrentians need to take at least a  15-minute walk from the academic buildings to reach the farm. In response, several faculty and staff members have collaborated with the design firms Farmer D and Kitchen Table Consultants to propose an expansion of the farm, extending plots along the new ring road. 

          Bois, Crop and Education Manager of the Big Red Farm, believes this change will “bring the farm closer to the school campus for more possibilities to tie in different academic curriculums.” 

          Bois’ goal is to find ways to increase student involvement and “draw academics closer” to the farm. As such, part of the expansion involves a potential new building featuring a small library, greenhouse, classroom space, a demonstration kitchen, and food storage. The space around the building would be used for a demonstration garden with new plots for seed planting.  “We can [display] different methods of growing plants while students conduct field experiments on the test plots,” Bois explained. He would also “love for there to be a space for the community to grow crops” and envisions multiple departments offering classes that incorporate visiting the farm. The new schedule being implemented next year has 80-minute class periods that will give enough time for students to explore the fields.

          Additionally, the expansion would increase the amount of organic produce supplied to the dining hall. To achieve this goal, the health of the soil in the new ring road area and throughout the current farm areas must be tested. While searching for nutrients and determining pH levels in the soil is relatively easy, assessing substances such as metals or herbicides requires complicated processes. Therefore, the School decided to partner with Princeton Hydro for soil testing and allowed Lawrentians to participate in the process on Tuesday, April 16. 

          “I enjoyed the event because I learned how to identify various soil samples,” said Gloria Yu ’26, a member of the Sustainability Council and participant in the soil testing. Yu is interested in sustainability because “everyone should know how to save energy and be aware of their impact on the environment.” At the soil testing, Yu recalled learning how to “recognize the nutrient content within samples through its color,” a skill useful for identifying the needs of the soil in the new ring road area. 

          Nick Voultos ’25 believed that “the best part of the event was how hands-on it was.” The “step by step” guidance he received from the staff from Princeton Hydro throughout the soil testing was an opportunity “people don’t often get.” As a student in Stephen Laubach H’03 P’23 P’27’s Environmental Science course, Voultos believes that the class has “opened [his] eyes to what it means to be sustainable.” After this experience, Voultos is interested in how students can be more involved with the farm through the expansion. 

          Sustainability and wellness are integral to the school community. The expansion of the Big Red Farm, along with its existing educational and production benefits, will convey a message of hope and positivity for the environment. 

          “When driving along the ring road—a new initiative to prevent cars from traversing the core of campus—you are going to see a combination of fields lying above geo-exchange wells for heating the Tsai Commons, the Big Red Park, and an educational farm,” explained Director of Experiential Education John Hughes. Everything raised on campus is one less thing to truck and purchase from a potential industrial farm. “The world needs farmers,” Hughes added, “if we can demonstrate the importance of locally-grown healthy food, we might be producing potential farmers.” 

          As Lawrentians engage with the land, they will embrace their roles as ambassadors for environmental conservation and progress. In the fields and plots of the Big Red Farm, they will expand, in Aldo Leopold, Class of 1905’s words, “the boundaries of the community…to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively, the land.” In doing so, Lawrentians can embody the ethos of the noted Lawrenceville alumnus and environmentalist, Aldo Leopold.