A handful of young people stand at a fence, notebook in hand, making the occasional gesture to the four horses standing in the field before them. They’re learning from the animals, explains Tania Stearns-Smith, co-founder of Blossoming at the Farm Society.
“Horses teach us about boundaries (and) mutual respect,” she says, seated above the field looking out at the group and the animals themselves. The horses are among the dozens of teaching animals on Mary’s Farm, where Blossoming sprouted eight years ago.
The non-profit provides nature-based programs for neuro-diverse youth aged six to 18 in alternative learning, which involves things such as one-on-one counselling and therapy animal assisted therapy. They’ve grown over the years to include six staff trained in a variety of fields.
“Participants come here to do outdoor learning, they’re here instead of being in a bricks and mortar school,” Stearns-Smith said. “They’re engaging with the land, the animals, themselves in a community-focused way.”
The non-human teachers include two dogs, three cats, two rabbits, five dogs, three goats, and an undetermined number of chickens on the 30-acre farm. All contribute to the emotional literacy of the kids who learn there, Stearns-Smith said, noting there’s no hierarchy of importance among the living things.
“The therapeutic values of having a relationship with a chicken are as important as a dog or a horse,” she said.
The young people participate in caring for the animals and the land, particularly a garden perched on a hillside not far from the horses. It’s “meaningful work” that helps instill work ethic, plus they learn to plant, grow, cook and preserve through the seasons.
“We’re just trying to grow good humans together,” said Stearns-Smith, who has worked with some of the young people for a full decade.
Blossoming at the Farm currently serves about 40 families with 20 to 25 kids on the land at any given time, participating in individualized programs.
At the end of the month, the organization hosts its key fundraising event of the year, a family fair fundraiser that invites the community to enjoy the farm on Finlayson Road.
“We don’t like saying no, we don’t want finances to be a barrier,” Stearns-Smith said. “(The fundraiser) allows us to have a sliding scale for our participants, and it allows our animals, whom we consider co-teachers, to be well cared for.”
While the event is free, there are ways to support the organization through the activities. Those include a silent auction, market vendors, chicken bingo, face painting and balloon animals, guided animal visits, cocktail garden, concession, fire pit s’mores, raffles and more. This year, they added a story walk.
“It’s a fun day for the community to come explore the farm,” Stearns-Smith said.
The free fair-themed day of food, fun and festivities runs May 31 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1128 Finlayson Arm Rd.
