Inspiration
“All must have the knowledge required to retain their traditional relationship with the environment.”
— Ellen Swallow, 1873 (The woman who founded ecology)
“… As theology is the science of a religious life, and biology the science of [physical] life…so let Oekology be henceforth the science of [our] normal lives…the worthiest of all of the applied sciences which teaches the principles on which to found…healthy…and happy life.”
— Ellen Swallow, 1873 (The woman who founded ecology)
Reflection
“Our first semester working in the garden as volunteers brought about learning opportunities and memory making. Students from the university grew from the opportunity and reflected on their own experiences. One of the students created a journal of her involvement working in the garden over the course of the semester. Eventually, she invited another student to the garden, and they purchased their own plot to grow food. University students began to grow community on the campus through this experience. A guest was positively affected by his new garden and friends and talked about the garden with his high-school classmates and teachers. I began to hear feedback from other parents and teachers about all of the experiences. The garden was not only growing plants, it was growing relationships and was healing developmental obstacles; in effect, the garden was strengthening human and social capacity.” (Zias-Roe, 2018)
Emergence
Urban Earth Care Farm
Urban Earth Care Farm establishes its roots in meeting the needs of the uniquely abled. Our mission is to create a farm that connects nature and nurture to foster wellbeing for those who need it most. The care farm sows hope and sprouts dreams by providing an opportunity for life and career building skills for vulnerable people by integrating sustainable farming principles and permaculture methodologies on an urban plot of land. With a focus on one-on-one environmental education and resilience through agroecological practices, Urban Earth Care Farm creates a sense of place where vulnerable individuals can foster connections with others in a safe and caring setting.
What is a Care Farm?
According to Care Farming UK (n.d.),
“care farming is the therapeutic use of farming practices which utilizes the whole or part of a farm to provide health, social, or educational care services for one or a range of vulnerable groups of people, and provides a supervised, structured program of farming-related activities on a regularly scheduled basis”.
Another pertinent description states the following:
“Care farming provides a functional level of care and is a growing practice in Europe that intersects agricultural production with social services associated with healthcare” (Elings & Hassink, 2006; Hassink, Hulsink, & Grin, 2014; Sempik, Becker, & Bryman, 2007).
For More Information:
Zias-Roe, S. (2018). Equity and Inclusion in Planning: Engaging a Uniquely Abled Vulnerable Population in the Participatory Process.
References
Elsey, H., Bragg, R., Elings, M., Cade, J. E., Brennan, C., Farragher, T., Tubeuf, S., Gold, R., Shickle, D., Wickramasekera, N., Richardson, Z., & Murray, J. (2014). Understanding the impacts of care farms on health and well-being of disadvantaged populations: a protocol of the Evaluating Community Orders (ECO) pilot study. BMJ open, 4(10), e006536. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006536
Haubenhofer DK, Elings M, Hassink J, Hine RE. (2010) The development of green care in western European countries. Explore (NY),6(2), 106-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2009.12.002
Urban Earth Care Farm was founded on the University of Redlands “Sustainable University of Redlands Farm” affectionately known as the “SURF Garden” in 2014.
Update: We have purchased a dedicated lot for our urban care farm in Redlands.
Permissions have been granted to use photographs for the purpose of research associated with this project.