Naturally Managed Educational Micro Farm

In today’s society we have gotten incredibly removed from the natural way. We no longer know where or food comes and how it gets to our plate. Due to this, companies have been allowed to run wild pouring chemicals on our food, into our animals resulting in numerous health problems and the killing off of our bees.

Many people feel that they cannot farm because they do not have a lot of land. Methods such as the sustainable permaculture can transform even a small back yard into a thriving ecosystem.

Another problem is that with the popularity of television and video games fewer and fewer youth are getting involved. Due to this, our future is literally slipping away. Currently, our farm hosts a local 4-H group, teaches classes to local veterinary students, and does youth agricultural education at many local venues. It is our desire to expand this so that we can reach more youth and open our farm up to more local organizations and groups. In order to achieve this goal we need support to be able to purchase some larger facilities to accommodate more students and some miscellaneous items that would be used in teaching. (youth bee suits, additional bee keeping equipment, milking machines, etc)

Currently our farm is home to dairy goats, a small apiary (bees), poultry (chickens, guineas and turkey) and horses. We would like to expand this to include additional bee hives for more teaching tools and a larger environmental impact, a dairy cow, and sheep for fleece.

The ability to add these animals would enable us to cover numerous aspects of farming as well as old trades and skills that are long forgotten. By having all of these projects maintained in one area youth will be able to identify any certain areas that they have a passion for. This will also give us the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to manage a small farm successfully and neatly by using natural permaculture methods.

Our Goals:

-          To provide FREE education for youth through various groups like 4-H, FFA, etc.

-          To provide “Farmer for the week” summer and spring break camps for youth

-          To offer educational classes for adults in things like permaculture, goats, beekeeping, etc.

-          To manage a sustainably run dairy and offer raw milk (in accordance to all Florida laws) to the public

-          To offer products made from our sustainable farm to the public and also to use them as an education tool. (fiber, soaps, cheeses, candles etc)

Items Needed:

-          Milking “shed” with room for educational classes

-          Honey extractor

-          Storage area for beekeeping equipment

-          Beekeeping equipment for the expansion of our apiary

-          Youth supplies for teaching- beekeeping suits, beekeeping tools, buckets, pails, etc

-          Livestock- Dairy cow, sheep, dairy goats

-          Materials for soapmaking

-          Fiber equipment – Looms, spinning wheel, drum carder etc.