“To study, promote, encourage and foster knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the interrelationships which exist in the physical and social sciences…“

In 1956, Dr. and Mrs. Murdock Head purchased a large farm in the Piedmont foothills near Warrenton, Virginia. Thus began Dr. Head’s plan to create a place where individuals and organizations could meet without distraction to discuss and exchange ideas in a natural setting. By 1960 this vision had become a reality and the rural farm estate called Airlie had become Airlie Foundation, an international center for communication, referred to as an “island of thought” by Life Magazine.

As one of the original centers of its kind in the country, Airlie was considered a model of innovation when it hosted its first group in 1960. Dr. Head converted old farm buildings into useful conference facilities to create a relaxed but up-to-date atmosphere for would-be guests. Airlie’s inimitable character hasn’t changed since the early sixties when Martin Luther King Jr. came to stay and plan his March on Washington. The campus remains a secluded retreat set amid 2500 rural acres. The facilities have been updated to provide guests with access to the latest conference support technology, but the atmosphere is the same: a natural place to meet.

The Founder – Murdock Head

Dr. Murdock Head was 34 years old when he purchased the 1200 acre Airlie Farm in Virginia’s Piedmont foothills and took up residence with his wife Jane and three children. A man of powerful energy and renaissance interests, Head possessed advanced degrees in medicine, dentistry and law. His thirst for knowledge and an unending supply of ideas fueled his enthusiasm for a multitude of projects over his lifetime.

Dr. Head had a special way of looking at things. He saw the opportunity to create a place where people from many countries and professions would meet and plan for the increasingly complex world he saw developing. This ability led him to establish Airlie Foundation and Conference Center.

Dr. Head’s interests, as varied as the Center’s guests, included world health issues, conservation, civil rights and public policy. These are benchmark themes in Airlie’s development. Today Airlie Foundation continues to build upon its 43 year history of nonpartisan support of a diverse range of organizations and activities.

Visit Airlie Center

Address:
Airlie Foundation and
Conference Center
6809 Airlie Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187
Phone: 540-347-1300
Fax: 540-341-3207

From Washington/National Airport
Take I-66 West to exit 43A (Gainesville/ Warrenton) and proceed South on Rt. 29 for approximately 10 miles. Take a right at the traffic light onto Colonial Road, proceed for two miles. Colonial Road will turn into Airlie Road. Cross a one-lane stone bridge, an immediate left will place you on the drive to Airlie House.

From Dulles International
Exit Dulles Airport and take Exit 9 to Rt. 28 South, follow to I-66 West. Follow above directions.

From Richmond and Points South
I-95 North to Rt. 17 North toward Warrenton. Right on Rt. 29 North. Pass all 3 Warrenton Exits. Left at Light , Rt. 605 (Colonial Road which turns into Airlie Road). Go approximately 2 miles, cross a single-lane stone bridge. Take an immediate left into main entrance.

Airlie Foundation honored Virginia and Roger Tory Peterson’s pioneering efforts on behalf of environmental education with the creation and dedication of The Peterson Butterfly Garden at Airlie’s 1995 Earth Day Celebration. It is a fitting tribute, because both of the Petersons have written and lectured on the joys of butterfly gardens, and have been in large measure responsible for the growing interest in creating butterfly gardens in the United States. The decline of butterflies, due to pesticide use and habitat loss, is a cause for concern among conservationists and scientists. The Peterson Butterfly Garden provides a pesticide-free, carefully structured habitat of native woodland, meadow and wetland species of nectar and host plants that encourage a myriad of caterpillars, butterflies and moths. Airlie Conferees are encouraged to learn more about native flora and the diverse butterflies and moths they attract, through informational brochures and occasional workshops and events in the garden.

Selected Foundation sponsored events and links:

• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War 20th Anniversary Meeting
  www.ippnw.org
• Bluemont Concert Series Board Retreat and Panmasters
  www.bluemont.org
• People to People International Meeting
  www.ptpi.org
• March of Dimes Walk America
  www.modimesncac.org
• International Swan Symposium
  www.trumpeterswans.org
• Tide Center / Rockwood Leadership Training
  www.njtide.org
• Fauquier Family Shelter Mother’s Day Benefit Concert
  www.fauquierfamilyshelter.org
• UVA Curry School Strategic Planning Meeting
  http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/
• John Marshall Soil & Water Conservation Potomac Roundtable Meeting
  www.fauquiercounty.gov/government/departments/jmswcd/
• National Air and Space Museum Docent’s Council Picnic
  www.nasm.si.edu
• Environmental Issues Roundtable Discussion – Gov. Tim Kane
  www.ltgov.state.va.us/
• USFWS Executive Retreat
  www.fws.gov

An Assortment of Local & Garden Hors d’oeuvres served with Fresh Baked Breads and Assorted Spreads

~~~~~

Free Range Chicken Confit Ravioli, Local Organic Tomato Sauce with Airlie Garden Rosemary, Grilled Crostini with Garden Basil Pesto

Local Shiitake Mushroom Terrine accompanied by Garden Greens and Local Heirloom Pepper Coulis, Nutmeg Infused Almond Oil

American Buffalo Short Rib with Local Corn & Garden Leek ‘Pudding’, Garden Oregano Demi Glace and Braised Garden Greens

Airlie Largemouth Bass Ceviché, Local Apple Pico de Gallo & Caramelized Garden Beets, Garden Pico de Gallo & Garden Blue Potatoes

Free Range Pulled Goose BBQ Sandwich with Garden Tomato, Local Habanero and Airlie Honey BBQ Sauce, Garden Rainbow Chard ‘Slaw’

Garden Honeydew Melon and Local Cantaloupe & Watermelon served on Local Arugula Gelée, 100 year aged Balsamic Vinegar

Garden Leek Wrapped Local Pork ‘Filet Mignon’ served on Local Bacon Wrapped Garden Green Beans and Virginia White Wine Poached Garden Tomatoes

Local Peach & Broiche Bread Pudding with Garden Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Fall Journal Entry
by Pablo Elliott, Director and Sustainable Gardener for the Local Food Project at Airlie

Fall is something like sailing in the Local Food Project garden. With a late swell of warm weather into October, we continued to harvest from our last planting of tomatoes, all the while keeping an eye on the forecast. The moment we hear the phrase “lows in the high thirties”, we pluck all the tomato fruits, whether light pink or still completely green, and then set them on indoor racks. This gives us another couple weeks of tomatoes, as they slowly ripen in the warm indoor environment. Want to hasten the ripening process? Just place a few green tomatoes in a paper bag with a couple banana peels. The gasses released from the peels speed along red beauties.

As the threat of frost approaches, we unroll “floating row cover”, a light woven fabric sheet material that can be draped over plants to offer them a little more protection from the first light frosts of the Fall. Here in Northern Virginia, if you can sneak your vegetable garden past the first couple frosts, where the thermometer just reaches freezing before the sun begins to rise, the crystal dew will stick to the fabric blanket over the plants, not the plants themselves. This makes all the difference for lettuce heads and herbs like dill, which can handle cooler temps, but not frozen leaves, especially when the wind picks up. The key to successful use of “floating row cover” is to have the fabric weighted down with rocks or bricks on both sides of a vegetable bed, so you don’t end up with what looks like giant toilet paper draped in the trees.

We also use hoops made out of steel wire to keep the fabric above the garden plants and create a sheltered mini-climate that can breathe and allow moisture to evaporate during the day. Keeping leaves dry is the key to cool-weather gardening.

If we want to take our cool weather garden adventure a step further, we need something more than vegetable blankets, something sturdy that can handle blasts of winter, and even snow. For a small garden, we might be talking about a cold-frame, but for a larger garden project or a small farm, we are talking about a greenhouse.

This Fall we are in the process of constructing a 2100 square foot hoop-house, which is essentially a larger and stronger version of the little hoops over our garden beds. In this case, the thick steel arches form a gothic greenhouse, and when covered with a couple sheets of plastic form the perfect environment for year-round food production.

In late October, the Local Food Project hosted master farmer Steve Moore for a two-day workshop on unheated, passive-solar greenhouses. Steve Moore has spent over twenty years working on systems of food production in the ground, under the cover of a gothic shaped shelter that captures as much sunlight and heat as possible, without any additional fossil fuel heat. By combining good design with the proper vegetable varieties, such a greenhouse can crank out healthy vegetables in January. Plants that are already cool-hardy like greens and salad mixes can grow in the dead of winter, and as the sun rises and the greenhouse begins to warm rapidly, it can provide a two-month head start to summer crops like tomatoes and peppers. During the workshop, participants learned the principles behind Steve’s passive solar design, but actually got out to the garden and started putting up the structure.

So just when we thought the season was coming to an end, here at the Local Food Project, we find ourselves at a beginning. The year-round garden has arrived at Airlie Center.

The Local Food Project at Airlie was established in 1998 by the Airlie Foundation in association with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). An organic culinary garden was created on campus to supply fresh, sustainable herbs, vegetables and flowers to Airlie Center’s kitchen. Airlie Foundation and HSUS use the Local Food Project as a way to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable agriculture and local food systems.

The Local Food Project at Airlie sponsors seminars, tours and conferences to promote sustainable food production using natural methods designed to protect air and water quality while improving soil fertility with organic compost, mulching and green cover crops. Educational materials and sessions are offered to conferees and the general public to promote the advantages of local food systems for the well-being of communities.

Local food systems keep money spent on food closer to home to support local farmers. When consumers know where their food comes from, they can choose products that meet their expectations for health, quality, taste, environmental sensitivity and the treatment of farm animals. The Local Food Project at Airlie serves as a demonstration and an educational opportunity for the many guests that come to the Airlie Center.

For more information about the Local Food Project at Airlie contact:

Pablo Elliott
Director, Local Food Project at Airlie
Airlie Foundation and Conference Center
6809 Airlie Road , Warrenton, Virginia 20187
Phone: 540-347-1300, Fax: 540-341-3207
pelliott@airlie.org

February 3
Vegetable Variety Round Table
(Sunday, 3:00-6:00pm) Cost $15 per person, includes light refreshments. The afternoon begins with an introduction to crop planning for small scale diversified agriculture and practical seed starting for Mid-Atlantic farmers and gardeners. Then get out the seed catalogues; five local farmers and avid gardeners will share their three favorite varieties of twenty vegetable types, and explain the criteria behind each selection.

March 28-29
The Integrated Modern Homestead Workshop & Follow-Up Homestead Tour
The Workshop, March 28- (Friday 9:00 am -5:00pm) Cost $60.00 per person, includes lunch. This one-day seminar given by Harvey Ussery (Hume, VA) will provide participants a close-up view of the integrated, multi-functional system Harvey continues to evolve on his modern homestead. A frequent contributor to Mother Earth News and Backyard Poultry, Harvey will share a wealth of experience and innovation in holistic, synergistic, and energy-savvy backyard food production. Maximum 40 participants.

The Follow-Up Homestead Tour, March 29 (Saturday 9:30 am-12:00 pm) Cost $20.00 per person, transportation and lunch not provided (carpools to Harvey’s homestead can be coordinated during the workshop the day before). This optional follow-up tour of Harvey’s homestead site in Hume, VA will greatly enhance the Integrated Modern Homestead workshop experience as tour participants get an up-close look at Harvey’s synergistic food project in action. All proceeds from the March 29 tour will go towards the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Maximum 40 participants.

April 10-11
Tractor Safety, Use and Maintenance- A Two-Day Course
(Thursday and Friday 9:00-5:OOPM) Cost $150 per person, includes a box lunch both days. Shane LaBrake (Accokeek, MD), an agricultural consultant with over fifteen years of organic vegetable production experience, will work closely with participants in this hands-on workshop that will provide the knowledge and confidence for safe &effective tractor use on a small farm. Maximum 12 participants.

May 8
Organic Garden Primer Workshop
(Thursday 5:30-7:00 PM). Cost $5 per person. Local Food Project Director Pablo Elliott will cover the basics of effective organic gardening, from healthy soil building to natural pest management to the wonderful world of compost! Pablo will demonstrate his simple hand methods for preparing garden beds and improving clay soil.

June 4
Small Space, High Yield Gardens Workshop
(Wednesday, 5:30 -6:30PM) Cost $5 per person. In this workshop, Local Food Project Director Pablo Elliott will present his ongoing experimentation and experience with intensive organic food production, inspired by the work of John Jeavons, Director of Ecology Action and Author of How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine.

July 10
Local Food Project Garden Tour and Local Food Feast
(Thursday 6:30-9:30PM) MORE INFORMATION TO BE ANNOUNCED.

August 7
The Year-Round Organic Garden Workshop
(Thursday, 5:30-7:OOPM) Cost $5 per person. This workshop will feature an up-close look at the Passive Solar Greenhouse in the Local Food Project garden, plus low-cost strategies for season extension and winter vegetable harvest.

September 4
Local Food Project Annual Harvest Dinner & Dialogue (By Invitation)

January 9, 2009
3rd Annual Local Food Project Conference
MORE INFORMATION TO BE ANNOUNCED.