The Farm at Halley Rise is gearing up for a busy summer of gardening, yoga and more.
The urban farm run by Up Top Acres at 2025 Fulton Place in Reston announced its schedule of summer events yesterday (Wednesday), starting with a “Growing in Small Spaces” gardening workshop on June 17. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., an Up Top Acres farmer will offer tips on how to grow food when space is limited.
“Each guest will leave with their own seedlings, pot, gloves and trowels to get their home garden started,” the event description says.
Registration is also now open for a “Painting in the Garden” event on June 26 that will be led by Pinot’s Palette, a paint-and-sip art studio that has a franchise in Woodland Park Crossing (12976 Highland Crossing Drive).
Other events planned for this summer include:
- Intro to flowers for drying and pressing (July 15)
- Yoga (July 24)
- Bees and pollinators class (Aug. 12)
- Decorative beeswax candles painting (Aug. 21)
All events take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Admission is free, but the Farm encourages attendees to donate to its nonprofit partner Cornerstones, which operates the Embry Rucker Community Shelter and provides food, housing and other assistance to the community.
This summer, the Farm at Halley Rise will also host Reston Community Center’s “Take a Break” concert series every Thursday. Previously held at Lake Anne Plaza, which is bringing back its “Sunset Concerts,” the free musical performances will kick off at 7 p.m. tonight with the R&B singer Jarreau Williams.
Meanwhile, construction on The Arbor at Halley Rise will continue. The 480-unit apartment building is still expected to open in the first quarter of 2025, according to a spokesperson for Akridge, a commercial real estate company that partnered with The Meridian Group, another developer, on the project.
The building will have 8,660 square feet of ground-floor retail space, part of which will be devoted to a Panera Bread, the spokesperson confirmed. The cafe doesn’t have an opening date yet.
“The project team is actively engaging with several potential retailers, but we don’t have any details we can share at this time,” Akridge Vice President of Marketing and Communications Meaghan Treanor said.
The construction has temporarily closed off the Reston Parkway Trail between Hopper Street and Sunrise Valley Drive, requiring pedestrians and cyclists to detour around the development via Fulton Place and Hopper Street. The closure, which is necessary for related utility and road work, is expected to last about four months, according to a May 15 newsletter from Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.
