Over the April Spring Break, six Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School (HVS) high school students built the first stretch of the Biodiversity Trail at Hawthorne Valley in partnership with the Berkshires-based nonprofit Greenagers. The vision for the Biodiversity Trail emerged from a collaboration including farmers at Hawthorne Valley Farm (HVF), researchers at the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape
Thank you to Rural Intelligence for sharing our Net Positive mission through this great article highlighting the current projects we have in the works across the association and what we have planned at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School over the summer. Excerpt: “We have a wholesale decarbonization plan at the school,” says campus director Josh Wise.
Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) is pleased to receive an Ecological Restoration Grant from Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley. The funding will support the installation of deer exclosure fencing to protect a population of Leatherwood (Dirca palustris), a rare native shrub in the Hudson Valley that suffers from heavy deer browse in the
Hawthorne Valley is pleased to announce that Assemblymember Didi Barrett’s (D – Columbia, Dutchess) office has helped secure a $125,000 state grant for Hawthorne Valley Farm for the purpose of expanding their dairy production to include pasteurized milk that is local, organic, and Biodynamic® in order to meet the soaring demand and contribute to a
Hawthorne Valley is thrilled to announce an award of $1.2 million from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to support its efforts to decarbonize its campus. The funding will support the installation of geothermal systems and a solar array at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School, and a renewable energy dairy pasteurization system
In September, Hawthorne Valley Farm (HVF) hosted the Climate Farm School™ for a week of working and learning with our farmers. This was the fifth cohort to visit the farm since the collaboration began in 2022. Climate Farm School grew out of founder Laney Siegner’s desire to use her experience researching sustainable food systems and
Hawthorne Valley’s battery recycling box has gotten an upgrade! Those who have used the box to deposit your spent batteries may have noticed that it is no longer in its place near the Farm Store entrance. We have installed a more durable box at the corner of the Farm Store (just look for the bright green box!) to continue
This past spring, 11th grader Miriam Harbath organized the Bike and Walk to School Challenge for her fellow students and the faculty at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School to participate in for the month of May. Miriam, who was on exchange from Switzerland this year, says that at her home in Geneva, she likes to bike
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 School and the Visiting Students Program, and volunteers helped to plant over a dozen different varieties of
By Spencer Fenniman, Director of Farm Operations As spring comes on in force in the valley, it is a moment to reflect on the past six months of activity on the farm, and how it relates to some of the themes brought up in a film screened here in April, Regenerating Life. The climate crisis
