For about twenty years, Catharine Calder, daughter of William
Calder of Calder Dairy and mother of Ian Calder-Piedmonte of
Balsam Farms, has been managing an educational program at the
Meadow Montessori School in Monroe, Michigan that gives young
adolescent students a chance to get their hands dirty. Every
Friday, students (ages 12 to 15) spend the first half of their
school day engaging in agriculture, horticulture, or “house-i-
culture” whereby they learn by experience. Students rotate
through the three sections. When in the agriculture section,
they spend their time in the fields learning about farm
management and animal husbandry; in the horticulture section,
they focus on garden and greenhouse management; the “house-i-
culture” section gives students a chance to cook meals for their
classmates using the food from the garden and can what they
harvest. Depending on the time of year, the farm provides up to
60% of the food eaten at school by the students. Curricula is
detailed here. The Farm Program originate