Blog #4: Youth Farm Now

For two summers in a row I volunteered at a working farm in the Ottawa region.  An interesting component of this farm’s mission is that they also worked with youth in the correctional system as a part of their rehabilitation and also worked with large animal therapeutic interventions for individuals recovering from trauma.

The Youth Farm Now element of the farm grew and sold roadside a lot of fresh veggies and some home-made items.  The participants took care of the veggies from seed to harvest.

Working on a farm can be labour intensive, never mind the heat, never mind the smells!  Strangely, it was also a lot of fun too.  But you definitely need a sense of humour to get on.

We shovelled lots of manure!  We took care of all sizes of animals, including big horses, goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys and one peculiar donkey who really enjoyed following me wherever I went.  He was very sweet.

Though I wouldn’t want to work on a farm full time, I really appreciate what they do to grow our food.  Visiting a local Farmer’s Market is a great way to support an individual farmer, and to get really delicious food!

Happy Travels!