Brickyard Road Farm Prevails Over Soccer Fields

This story originally appeared in The Churchill Observer, the student newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

County Executive Ike Leggett announced in a Feb. 19 letter to MCPS that the county has terminated its lease on the Brickyard Road site, eliminating the possibility of bulldozing the 20 acres of farmland for the construction of soccer fields.

Hundreds of anxious residents, farm supporters and local activist groups had teamed up to battle the county’s decision to use the property for recreational uses and ball fields. The estate now presides with the Montgomery County Board of Education, and it will remain as an organic farm and educational site.

Maria Fusco is affiliated with"Brickyard Coalition," one of three different groups that fought to protect the Brickyard Road school site. The organization is comprised of at least 4,000 or more people from the Citizen’s Association of River Falls, the West Montgomery County Citizen’s Association and hundreds of other people.

"The Brickyard Coalition was formed for those concerned specifically with the circumvention of process and lack of transparency regarding this public land," Fusco said.

Leggett’s Feb. 19 statement addresses the county’s interest in building more soccer fields, especially in the down county area. The county is determined to find suitable areas where kids can develop themselves mentally and physically.

"I will continue my support for finding other options to expand ballfields in the county and to uphold the public interest of Montgomery families," Leggett said.

Nick Maravell, original landlord and the owner of the Potomac organic farm for 32 years, received a letter following the decision to lease the land to the county for soccer fields. The property was leased to the County on March 8, 2011, after which Maravell informed the community that the farm was at risk.

According to Fusco, Nick Maravell made calls and sent emails to community leaders to protect his farm, one of the first "certified" organic farms on the East Coast.

Carissa Lovelace is the campaign director for Save This Soil, an organization that is fighting to ensure that Brickyard’s soil is being used for educational purposes. Lovelace feels an open and public proposal process should have been held in which alternatives could have been discussed.

After the county’s original ruling, the community challenged the decision by organizing an effort to establish the property as an educational farm.

In a Feb. 8 letter addressed to MCPS Superintendent, Joshua Starr and Montgomery County board of Education member, Christopher Barclay, the school board would have a legitimate reason to conserve the land if it gave back to the community in a way that benefitted the health and education of Montgomery County students.

Sophia Maravell, founder of Brickyard Educational Farm and daughter of Nick Maravell, recently finished farm educator training in Vermont. She began the program on the property to help the local community learn about farming by taking part in hands-on experiences.

"Six hundred children of all ages visited the farm and helped build it, plant seeds and young plants, pull weeds, harvest crops, learn how compost is made, hold chickens and create farm-inspired art," Lovelace said.

According to Lovelace, the Governor of Maryland believes the program is an inspiration, and the Board of Education complied with his request to let the farm be used for educational endeavors. The County court ruled in favor of allowing the farmer, as well as the education farm, to remain on the property while the Board considered what should be done.

Brickyard Educational Farm was granted access to the land until Feb. 27, when all the parties were removed from the land for what the Brickyard Educational Farm hopes to be the policy proposal process.

According to a statement from Save This Soil, school security personnel began "securing" the property, "cutting through fencing" on the site and making advances to "lock" up the farm.

The school board is planning on examining the proposal to make the Brickyard Educational Farm a reality, but until then, Maravell is spending her time preparing this year’s crops by planting seeds in a greenhouse near the farm and venturing out to schools to teach. She is also a member of the Edible School Garden Committee, which is striving to implement school gardens into the curriculum. Lovelace allocates time toward fundraising, answering emails, canvassing, attending meetings and keeping people informed of future preparations.

According to an Aug. 12 letter written to President Brandman Leggett, the farm has a vision of offering school field trips, supplying school lunches with their organic produce, starting a Beginning Farmer Program and presenting opportunities of apprenticeships and internships to those of the local community.

"This was a tremendous victory for the organic soil on this land," Lovelace said. "The worst thing that could have happened to the living, breathing, biologically diverse ecosystem in the soil here would have been to be bulldozed."