Our primary outreach programs are:
Glade Road Growing is a real-life small working family farm in the town limits of Blacksburg, Va. We love working on our farm! We enjoy it because we ourselves are outside a lot, working with elements of nature, problem solving, working with each other as a team, and producing something delicious that we can directly benefit from (and eat!). We also enjoy the “people-side” of producing food that we can share with customers in our community through the face-to-face business inherent in direct-marketing.
We want to share both the fun and complexities of farming here with others because we think you will enjoy it and also gain a deeper understanding of agriculture, the natural world, and small business.
Children are especially fun to share agriculture with because they typically enjoy being outdoors, trying new things, and engaging all their senses. The lessons we learn from farming, specifically about environmental stewardship, healthy eating and physically working our bodies in fresh air, can carry over into our adult lifestyles.
Mission: The mission of our outreach programs at Glade Road Growing is to introduce and foster a relationship between people and local agriculture that is fun, exploratory, and engaging.
Click on the links above to learn about our specific programs.
Educational topics can include (among others)
- Organic crop production (plant physiology, soil-plant-biology relationships, plant propagation, greenhouse growing)
- Livestock production, small -scale and pasture-based (pasture rotations, poultry production, pork production, multi-species systems, non-lethal predator control, human-animal relationships)
- Environmental stewardship (organic growing techniques, clean water, soil carbon sequestration, climate change awareness and impacts, soil conservation, farm land habitat for wildlife)
- Nutrition and food preparation (whole foods, nutrient density, food preparation, probiotics)
- Small business (preparation for market of raw products, accounting, project management, marketing and merchandising, customer relationships and building trust)
Please read and understand Virginia’s agritourism liability disclaimer:
“Under Virginia law, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location if such injury or death results from the inherent risks of the agritourism activity. Inherent risks of agritourism activities include, among others, risks of injury inherent to land, equipment, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury or death. You are assuming the risk of participating in this agritourism activity.”
