Smile Farmers led a tour of their garden, offering tastings of nasturtium flowers, roselle, oregano, basil, and some of the season’s final cherry tomatoes. The garden’s herbs are dried and featured in a signature tea blend, while hot peppers are transformed into Smile Farms’ famous “Burn Ability” hot sauce.

Brianna guided the tour with her impressive expertise in edible flowers and herbs, even pointing out which weeds were safe to eat.

Andrew showed off the greenhouse and demonstrated how they creatively plant carrots and lettuce along the outer edges of the tomato beds, maximizing both the greenhouse and bed space.

Andrew summed up the visit by sharing some Burnability Hot Sauce and his slogan, that Smile farms garden is “where goodness burns bright.” We couldn’t agree more.

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Care Farming Network is doing a research project to explore the benefits of care farming and employing people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the Northeast U.S.

Employees’ and farmers’ insights are crucial to understanding the impact and benefits of care farming.  We appreciate your consideration and participation in this research study!

Participation is completely voluntary and confidential and involves a 30-minute virtual interview with our researcher, Dr. Paige Jackson.

 To schedule your interview before November 3:

• Use this Calendly link: https://calendly.com/paige-jacksonotd/30min, or
• Email Dr. Paige Jackson directly: paige.jacksonOTD@gmail.com

About the Study:

• Conducted by Care Farming Network through a USDA Northeast SARE research grant.
• Includes interviews with 25 employees with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities from care farms across the Northeast. Must be employed in Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, or District of Columbia.
• Includes 25 additional interviews with a support person (like a family member or job coach), and a community member from the farm.
• Each interview will last about 30 minutes.  View Interview questions here!
• Findings will be published to highlight the impact and benefits of care farming.
• Participants may give verbal consent if they choose to be interviewed. View consent form here.

All information will remain confidential, and participants may withdraw at any time.

If you have any questions, please email Andrea, andrea@carefarmingnetwork.org.

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Through a federally-funded partnership with New Mexico State University, the New Mexico Technology Assistance Program, and the University of New Mexico, Mandy’s Farm offers programming designed specifically for people with disabilities who wish to access education and vocational support designed to cultivate a career in farming. Apprentices complete a two-year long program designed to prepare them to work on an existing farm or start a micro-business of their own and receive hands-on and classroom-based training in growing vegetables, cultivating fruit, caring for small livestock, and more. Following the completion of their apprenticeship, disabled farmers have the opportunity to incubate their own farming business within Mandy’s Farm. Their approach blends residential support, agriculture, and vocational training into a thriving ecosystem of care.

Growing Food in the desert

Mandy’s Farm grows everything from garlic and walking onions to quinoa—and garbanzo beans!—all on Zone 7b land that thrives from mid-April through October. They’re experimenting with diverse crops, including native species, while also growing food for a local restaurant with the goal of providing nutritious food to residents who live in their group homes. Future plans include a farm stand and community-centered meals for local residents.

They’ve planted native shrubs as a windbreak along the edge of the property, reinforcing their commitment to sustainability, and have been working hard to remediate their soil. A greenhouse, flock of ducks, and some very friendly goats greeted us upon our arrival, and are cared for the apprentices at the farm.

Empowerment in Action

What stood out was how choice is embedded into every aspect of daily life. There’s a task board with names and Velcro-backed picture icons that represent farm jobs. Apprentices choose their tasks each day, placing icons by their names and shifting them once completed. Visual tools like the “traffic light” clock help signal transitions between tasks, meals, and rest—simple systems that make a big impact in supporting autonomy.

Innovation Through Apprenticeship and Occupational Therapy

The AgrAbility Apprentice Program is one of Mandy’s Farm’s most exciting innovations. This two-year, paid program provides adults with disabilities the opportunity to gain farming and business skills through a mix of education and hands-on work. Apprentices receive a stipend each month, with additional support from Vocational Rehabilitation and USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher program.

In their final year, apprentices can grow crops on their own plot of land and launch a small business. The program ends with a three-month job placement period, and the goal is for each graduate to be employed in agriculture.

Mandy’s Farm also has a close partnership with the University of New Mexico’s Occupational Therapy department. OT students complete practicum placements on the farm, where they support assessments and adaptive tool development—like a 3D-printed one-handed toolbox.

To learn more about Mandy’s Farm, visit their website at mandysfarm.org.

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Care Farming Network hit the road to New Jersey to present and exhibit at NOFA New Jersey’s 35th Annual Winter Conference, Living Roots, Resilience, & Food Security, on January 25, 2025.

Since 1985, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA NJ) has been a champion for organic farming and local food systems across the Garden State. We were honored to take part in this year’s conference, sharing the mission of Care Farming Network and highlighting how care farming uses therapeutic farming to promote health, well-being and belonging.

We were excited to host a panel of care farms in New Jersey that showcased the diversity of care farming: from growing vegetables, animal-assisted interventions, seed saving, raising livestock to flower production.  Each of the panelists talked about their organization’s unique and innovative approach that combines agriculture and therapeutic practices to benefit individuals with diverse needs, including those facing mental health challenges, developmental disabilities or recovery from life-alternating circumstances.  

Kristin Hock, founder of Fostering Farmers, shared the organization’s mission to provide housing and employment on a nonprofit farm, offering vital support to young adults aging out of the foster care system in New Jersey. Through meaningful work and a stable living environment, Fostering Farmers helps these young adults transition toward self-sufficiency and independence.

Ian Sullivan, Lead Farmer at OASIS tlc shared how OASIS tlc promotes the inclusion and acceptance of adults with autism in their local communities by establishing environmentally exemplary farm centers that provide meaningful work, healthy and peaceful residences, and community interaction. Oasis tlc has developed a farmstead model that provides lifelong opportunities for individuals with autism, offering continuing education, vocational training, employment, and housing in a supportive farm environment. Designed as agri-tourism sites, OASIS tlc farms create jobs, produce goods for sale, and foster meaningful community inclusion and engagement.

Melanie Reed, Program Director of A Meaningful Purpose at Reed’s Farm highlighted how A Meaningful Purpose has addressed the needs of food insecurity, soil regeneration, and community inclusiveness in Atlantic County, NJ since 2020.  Reed’s farm operates year-round utilizing organic and regenerative practices, hosts a sanctuary for farm animals, and provides educational and vocational programming to local schools and organizations with a focus on individuals with cognitive disabilities.  A Meaningful Purpose, Inc provides a community hub that inspires all who gather here to engage with nature and celebrate its healing capabilities.

Care Farming Network’s mission is to raise awareness about care farming, its therapeutic benefits and highlight the incredible diversity of care farming. If you would like to highlight your care farm and be a part of a care farming panel at your regional/local farming conference, please let us know!

Thanks to USDA’s Northeast SARE for providing support for this care farming panel and helping increase employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on production farms in the Northeast.

The post Care Farming Network attends NOFA NJ Winter Conference! appeared first on Care Farming Network.

21 Roots Farm was our gracious host for Care Farming Network’s first Midwest Care Farm Tour and Meet-Up, an opportunity for both aspiring and established care farmers to network, exchange ideas, and gather in person at a host farm. 21 Roots offers high-quality nature and agriculture-based programming that helps people with developmental disabilities cultivate a sense of purpose and community. By fostering inclusive connections that are rooted in real life, they provide opportunities, resources, and support that encourage all people to tend to their gifts and harvest their full potential.

Amy, Brittany, and Mariana provided a tour of their gardens, orchard, barn, and an incredibly friendly assortment of goats, sheep, Highland cows, a pig named Little Bean, donkeys, and vocal kitties. Amy and Brittany shared how shortly after college, they began dreaming of nature-based programming for adults with developmental disabilities. In 2017, they visited a farm in Ontario, Canada. That trip nurtured the seeds and ultimately blossomed into 21 Roots Farm.

We talked about how 21 Roots Farm has grown since 2018, and discussed the challenges of starting one’s own care farm. Some participants were in the early stages of developing their own farms and were curious to hear how 21 Roots Farm has developed into a 26-acre working care farm. We ate a delicious lunch, perused the goat milk soap for sale, and headed back out to the barn to hang out in the goat pasture.

We learned about the youth and adult programming offered at the farm. Farmers can choose the weekly frequency and number of sessions they spend at the farm, providing optimal scheduling flexibility. They participate in sustainable farming practices both in the garden and with the animals, maintaining the garden, harvesting, and helping with animal care. And while it was after harvest, we toured the gardens where vegetables are grown which provide 20 CSA shares to members.

We ended our day watching an apple cider press demonstration, saying a “slow, Minnesota goodbye.” We look forward to meeting again after the snow flies and a new season emerges, making connections, and continuing to build a caring farming community here in the Midwest.

Products of the Farm

21 Roots Farm is always working and experimenting with products produced, grown and developed at the farm. Some of our experimenting is done with different natural dyes that can be used on fabrics and in our soaps. They have been working hard to develop various soaps, balms, and other skin care products. They extract honey, tap maple trees, and grow veggies on a sustainable scale. Their products are available for purchase on a seasonal basis.

The post 21 Roots Farm Midwest Care Farming Meetup & Tour appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Set against the gently rolling Piedmont hills between Greensboro and Burlington, Peacehaven Community Farm is an active experiment in supporting the choices of people with disabilities to live an active and meaningful life where they choose.

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Uncomfortable Confrontation: Simple De-Escalating Tips That Work

Though most of us would prefer to totally avoid confrontation, or any negative emotions or dysregulation, it is simply impossible to do. As a human being, there are times when we will be challenged with someone who is becoming frustrated or angry, possibly a friend or family member, or even someone at work. This can also be true of farm programs, whether it’s employees, volunteers, or participants in your farm program. The focus of this discussion was to provide simple de-escalating tips that will allow you to successfully support someone else who is exhibiting emotions that may be difficult to address while also providing easily remembered techniques to help co-regulate with others. This webinar is best suited for professionals working with people with intellectual & developmental disabilities.

Guest Speaker: Anna Schankowski, LMSW, is a Clinically Licensed Social Worker in Michigan.  She has worked in public schools for almost 20 years, and also has experience with private therapy. Anna is a certified Trauma Informed Practices Trainer and Restorative Practices Train the Trainer.  Founder and President of Healing Hearts Therapeutic Farm in Michigan, Anna has utilized so many of these clinical skills within her farm care program that provides healing to those struggling with emotional concerns, combined with Animal Assisted Interventions (Therapy, Education and Activities). Learn more about Healing Hearts Therapeutic Farm on their website.

Building Healthy Relationships At Work

People with developmental disabilities are often left out of the conversation about sexuality and relationships, almost as if they are incapable of having thoughts, feelings, and needs. In reality, they, too, are sexual beings who need information and skills for making healthy decisions about sexuality. As someone who works in a competitive integrated employment setting or a worksite, you see the need to address relationships and sexuality on a one-on-one basis with people with I/DD who are employees. We explored the topics and main points to teach and examine techniques for helping people with I/DD to have healthy work relationships.

In this webinar participants:

• Gained knowledge about relationships and sexuality and specific issues for people with developmental disabilities.
• Explored knowledge and skills for building healthy relationships at work including types of relationships, public and private, and working with coworkers
• Explored ways to communicate about sexuality with people with developmental disabilities.

Guest Speaker: Katherine McLaughlin (M.Ed.)is certified as a sexuality educator by AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists) and is the Founder of Disability Workshops, now Elevatus Training, LLC. She is the CEO, Lead Trainer and delivers Elevatus’ live and online trainings. She is the author of Sexuality Education for People with Developmental Disabilities Curriculum and also develops educational materials for others to use in teaching and communicating. Learn more about Elevates Training on their website.

Adaptive Farming Strategies

In this webinar, member care farms discussed the adaptive farm tools and techniques they use to operate neurodiverse-inclusive farms. Neurodiverse participation was encouraged! Presenters (with and without disabilities) shared their top techniques and tools they use in a production farm setting:

Red Wiggler Community Farm (Maryland) is a sustainable Care Farm where people with and without developmental disabilities come together to work, learn, and grow healthy food. Founded in 1996, Red Wiggler now serves over 1,900 community members, has a 120-share CSA program, distributes 50% of organic produce to low-income households through our Farm to Group Home and Farm to Food Bank programs, employs 15 adults with developmental disabilities, and regularly hosts field trips and volunteers. Learn more here: https://redwiggler.org/

Little Otter Flower Farm (Virginia) is a small family farm started for son Max who has Autism. A flower farm fits with the family’s love of being outdoors, their desire to be part of a community, and tasks that match Max’s strengths. Little Otter sells their flowers online as well as at a local farmers market, and they offer a “Random Act of Kindness” option through which anyone anywhere can purchase flowers as a gift to be locally delivered. Learn more here: https://littleotterflowerfarm.com/

Vertical Harvest (Wyoming) energizes local food systems via hydroponic, vertical, controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) to deliver healthier food and futures. We work with communities to develop underutilized space in urban, underserved neighborhoods, grow “up” on a fraction of the land required by traditional agriculture, while using 85% less water to deliver our produce at peak flavor and nutrition, year-round. We use an inclusive employment model currently focused on individuals with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. Learn more here: https://verticalharvestfarms.com/

Care Farming Network is grateful to Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) for supporting this series!

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