Our daily lives are shaped by multi-sensory experiences that help us to move our bodies, to organize our emotions and behaviors, to learn, and to interact with the world. Nature is the ultimate sensory experience. In fact, all eight of our sensory systems can be nourished through a thoughtful sensory gardening approach.

In this manual, the American Horticultural Society looks at what sets a sensory garden apart from other gardens, discusses sensation and the eight senses, and explores strategies to design an inclusive sensory garden for children.

While medical professionals who work with children will find this manual especially useful, the manual is accessible for anyone who works with children or is seeking a resource on sensory gardening.

Similarly, while adults with neurodivergent children in their lives will find this manual especially relevant, the manual provides material addressing children of all sensory experiences.

Click here to view the manual.

 

About the American Horticultural Society:

Founded in 1922, the American Horticultural Society is one of the oldest and most respected national horticultural nonprofit organizations in North America. Uniting more than 22,000 members, from budding beginners to horticultural professionals and partner organizations, the AHS fosters a diverse community committed to advancing gardening knowledge and practices.

Learn more about the American Horticultural Society by visiting their website.

 

 

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Get behind-the-scenes clips from their comprehensive courses, which showcase the hands-on techniques and expert strategies you can use to create thriving gardening programs. Plus, explore the features of The Growth Network – a go-to community for professional development, idea sharing, and connecting with like-minded professionals.

Subscribe for practical tutorials, insider insights, and creative ideas to elevate your practice and reignite your passion for helping others thrive through the healing power of nature.

About Root in Nature

At Root in Nature, we strengthen human health by connecting people with plants and nature through therapeutic horticulture, and we do it while empowering the professionals who make this work possible.

We know that many allied health professionals are seeking to integrate nature into their therapeutic practices, but we also recognize the real-world barriers. That’s why we’re building a different kind of path.

Root in Nature offers accessible, affordable, and practical training. Through our growing suite of online courses and our international community—the GrowTH Network (Grow Therapeutic Horticulture)—we help practitioners feel confident, supported, and equipped to create engaging, client-centered therapeutic gardening programs.

Visit the Root in Nature homepage to take a short quiz and find resources tailored to your needs on your therapeutic horticulture journey.

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At the 2025 Care Farming Network National Conference, experienced farmers from Red Wiggler Care Farm showcased the most effective tools they use at their farm. From soil preparation to planting, harvesting, and everything in between, these practical tools make work more efficient and enjoyable.

*Click to view the tool guide!

*Click here to view tool recommendations from OASIS tlc.

The post Practical Tools for Vegetable Farming: Insights from Red Wiggler Care Farm appeared first on Care Farming Network.

If you have experience with adaptive tools that are not included on this list, please share the name of the tool, a link to purchase, and what you love about it via email to info@carefarmingnetwork.org.

Seeding & Planting

Neversink Farms-72 cell Winstrip Seedling Trays  “We have standardized all of our seedling trays to these as they are extremely tough, great for growers who struggle with overwatering their plant starts, and will create consistency as opposed to having mixed number seedling trays of various styles and number counts.”

Seeding Squares 

Johnny’s Ergonomic Hand Trowels

Pelleted Seed  “Great for lettuce and carrots!”

Meadow Creature Broadfork

Watering

Dramm 5 Liter Watering Can “This heavy duty watering can has an oversized handle for ease of handling and has a 5 year warranty for hand water purposes.”

Harvesting

Flexible Handled Buckets

Kneeling Pads

Gardening Stools

Step Ladders

Shopping Baskets

Berrypickers “For blueberries and tea flowers.”

Needle Nose Pruners “Replaces scissors and pruners. Needs to have a spring!”

Carts & Wheelbarrrows

Gorilla Pro Steel 6 cu feet Wheelbarrow “These wheelbarrows have wider handles for better ergonomic control and ease of use, plastic lift handles for dumping, and they come with flat-free tires and are extremely tough.”

Landworks Electric Power Wagon Utility Cart “This battery powered electric cart is capable of carrying up to 500lbs, has a dumping feature, is fully rechargeable and will help mitigate the amount of energy utilized when moving heavy materials on site and field amendments.”

Groundworks Utility Carts “We have two that our farming interns utilize for various different tasks around the farm. They are extremely durable and useful pieces of equipment.”

Office

Laminator “Having access to a laminator has really helped with creating signage for hand tools and giving supplies a permanent home. This also allows our staff to be more aware of the locations of specific items that they may not be familiar with.”

P-Touch Label Maker “We utilize this label maker to label items in different work zones as well as our CSA packaging area for items like brown bags to scissors to better assist our farming interns and keep everything as stocked up as possible throughout the season.”

Face coverings with essential oils added “For people with smell sensitivity.”

Tool belts with water bottle holder that clips to the belt

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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.

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 its flowers online and at a local farmers market, and it offers a “Random Act of Kindness” option through which anyone anywhere can purchase flowers as a gift to be locally delivered. Learn more here.

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.

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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 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.

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