Named one of “7 BEST FARM CAMPS FOR KIDS” in the nation by Modern Farmer magazine

Each year, the Place Based Learning Center works with more than 500 students, parents and individuals from local schools and the surrounding community.

Since 1972 more than 24,000 children have spent a week or more living and working on the farm through our Visiting Students Program and summer camps.

Approximately 120 apprentices have trained as farmers at Hawthorne Valley, and nearly all remain in farming and food-related work.

Since 1972, more than 200 interns and 500 summer camp counselors have worked with children on the farm.

Bringing Biodiversity and Beauty to the Landscape

Bringing Biodiversity and Beauty to the Landscape

In May 2022, Hawthorne Valley Farm and Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) teamed up to honor Hawthorne Valley’s 50th anniversary by planting a 350-foot long hedgerow, featuring the valley’s namesake hawthorn trees. Farmers, staff, students from Hawthorne Valley Waldorf...

Before their minds have been marinated in the culture of television, consumerism, shopping malls, computers, and freeways, children can find the magic in trees, water, animals, landscapes and their own places. Properly cultivated and validated by caring and knowledgeable adults, fascination with nature can mature into ecological literacy and eventually into more purposeful lives.
David OrrA Sense of Wonder for Young Minds, Center for Ecoliteracy, published July 25, 2012