Growing More Than Food: What a School Farm Teaches Children

What if some of the most powerful lessons children learn happen outside the classroom walls?

In this episode, Biff and Nicole sit down with Montessori educator and school farmer Elise Washburn to explore how farming can become a living classroom — one that nurtures independence, observation, responsibility, and a deeper connection to the natural world.

Together, they discuss:

• Elise’s unconventional journey into Montessori, from California’s redwood forests to Rwanda and ultimately to the school farm
• How farming creates meaningful learning experiences for children from toddlers through middle school
• Why hands-on work in nature strengthens confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving
• How food tasting, planting, composting, and harvest lessons bring Montessori principles to life
• What schools can do to start small and build meaningful outdoor learning programs

Warm, practical, and deeply inspiring, this conversation offers a powerful reminder that when children are given the chance to work with the earth, they often grow far more than vegetables.

Whether you’re an educator, parent, or Montessori advocate, this episode will leave you rethinking what a classroom can be.