Eventually, the bus stops coming. And then what?

As parents of children with developmental disabilities, we spend years preparing for that day when the school system no longer provides programming and services for our children--usually around the age of 22. What will our children do all day? Who will care for them while we are at work? Can they get a job? How will they be treated? Will they be happy?

Our Mission

A Farm Less Ordinary provides employment and a welcoming community to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Our History

Maya Wechsler, Greg Masucci, and their children, were self-proclaimed "city people", struggling to find balance in their lives in Washington, DC. Their son, Max, is autistic and non-verbal, and has serious sensory and attention challenges that require him to be with a caretaker at all times. Eventually Maya and Greg decided to stop moving against the current, and took a giant leap, moving out to Bluemont, VA in the fall of 2014 in an attempt to create a simpler, safer, and happier home for their children.

Somewhere along the way, Maya and Greg decided that they were creating their son's "forever home", which would be a farm where he and other adults with developmental disabilities could find paid work, acceptance, and meaning. They launched A Farm Less Ordinary (a 501(c)3 non-profit organization) in the spring of 2016.

A Farm Less Ordinary produces vegetables grown using organic and sustainable methods, including the use of organic compost, cover crops, minimum tillage, companion cropping, and a focus on attracting pollinators and "good pests".  We also enjoy growing varieties of vegetables (have you ever tried a purple carrot or a foot long green bean?) that are a little less familiar, but just as tasty, to the average grocery store shopper.

In 2015, Maya managed to grow more vegetables than she could possibly give away. That was the year she learned to farm.

Upworthy.com Story About Our Family

2016

Became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and began accepting donations.

• First growing season when we worked with employees - adults with developmental disabilities from the surrounding area. These employees - or "Growers" - will always be our primary "customers". We hired five young adults with various intellectual disabilities.

• Launched a small CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program with delivery on Capitol Hill in DC.

• Built our own packing/cooling shed from scratch so that we could keep our veggies fresh before distributing them.

WUSA9 News Feature on A Farm Less Ordinary

2017

• Hired a part-time Job Coach to support our Growers in the field.

• Recruited a group of volunteers—in the dead of January—to help us build a “hoop house” that allowed us to start a huge amount of seedlings earlier in the season.

• Partnered with Loudoun Hunger Relief (LHR) and Healthworks of Northern Virginia to provide CSA boxes with fresh, nutritious produce to 25 low-income families in Loudoun County, who struggle with obesity. Continued delivering CSA shares to Capitol Hill.

• Attended a farmers market for the first time so that our Growers could--

1. Practice the “art” of setting up and breaking down a table and keep our produce fresh and attractive at market

2. Publicize our mission, and the importance of disability employment, with the general public

3. Give our Growers a chance to practice their social and change-making skills with strangers. We have discovered that our employees absolutely love the chance to participate in the market. They work on their math and communication skills and get a change of scenery and pace from their time spent on the farm.

• Built a chicken coop, with the help of volunteers from American Woodmark company in Winchester, and started offering organic eggs for sale.

• Began work on a goat and alpaca shelter with significant support from the Leesburg Presbyterian Church. Goats and alpacas to follow!

2018

We are now growing on a second field and experimenting with the production and sale of “value-added” products, including pickles, jams, pesto sauce, and even goat milk-based soap. We have introduced our employees to food safety concepts and skills, and are beginning to think about how we might scale up this side of our organization, in order to be able to sell products year round, and not just during warmer weather. We now have a few dairy goats as well as a flock of chickens. We have also started a small collection of bee hives, with plans to sell honey from them in the near future. We have also recently completed construction on a greenhouse, which will allow us to start crops earlier in the year, and grow during cold months - which means employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities year round! 

NBC4: Farm Nonprofit Makes Opportunities for All

2019

After our biggest employment season ever at our original location in Bluemont, VA, we have launched a second location in Leesburg. We are very excited about this opportunity to serve Loudoun County citizens (both volunteers and Growers with disabilities). We will run the farm at this location for at least three years, while we search for a permanent home in Loudoun County. (Know anyone with land in Loudoun that might be interested in allowing AFLO to operate there? Email us at info@afarmlessordinary.org and let us know.)

Voice of America did a really nice job of allowing us to explain exactly what we do here. Click the video below to check it out!

2020

This was a year of changes for AFLO (as well as everyone in the entire world). Despite having to cancel our big fundraising events, being able to carry out our mission outdoors was actually an unexpected benefit at AFLO, despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Our day-to-day operations carried on fairly normally. By the end of the year, we secured a new farm location in Lovettsville, VA, transitioning our equipment, fencing, and greenhouse from our original Bluemont, VA location to our newest home. We will continue to operate out of Leesburg, VA as well.

Oh, and Greg won a Good Neighbor Award from the National Association of Realtors, and they created a pretty fantastic video. Check it out!

Of course, we have a long list of medium and long-term goals to work toward (buildings to construct, staff to hire, tools and equipment to buy, consumers to reach). In the meantime, we are focused on realistic and slow growth, as we figure out who we are and how we can build a tight-knit community and right-sized employment solution for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

2021

Having survived 2020, A Farm Less Ordinary has focused on building out our new home in Lovettsville, VA. With all volunteer help, we built a new barn that includes our first covered wash station, as well as a professional scale (for weighing our harvest), equipment storage area, and walk-in cooler. We also have a proper break room, lunch area, and indoor plumbing once again—exciting stuff! We are lucky to operate on this land, thanks to our generous and experienced hosts. We feel a bit more settled at this point, which finally gives us the chance to turn our attention toward professionalizing our processes, staff, and planning. While we have always been a scrappy organization, the time has come to mature and sit still for a bit, especially now that we have such a large Grower and volunteer community that we are committed to welcoming at both our Leesburg and Lovettsville locations.