HT & TH at Evanmorr Acres- Farm-Based Horticultural Therapy
This fall marked the close of my first year facilitating Horticultural Therapy (HT) and Therapeutic Horticulture (TH) programming with the Nanaimo Association for Community Living (NACL) at Evanmorr Acres. It has been both the fulfillment of a long-term goal and a beautiful learning curve that has brought me a lot of joy, learning, and a new experience with a new population!
For years, I had envisioned working with NACL, and I made sure to let colleagues within the organization know how eager I was to collaborate whenever the right funding or grant became available. Two years later, that vision became a reality!
Evanmorr Acres is a unique property recently purchased by NACL: a working farm with a home for persons served (NACL’s preferred language), four friendly goats, expanding food production fields, a quonset, a barn, acres of Native Land Trust forest, and a large wetland that can be viewed from most points on the property. It’s a place where agriculture, community, and nature intertwine. By next spring, we also hope to install a fully accessible community therapeutic garden, an exciting project that will bring new opportunities for wider community engagement, and for me!
Blending HT and TH in a Farm Setting
This summer, our goal was twofold:
- Explore how Horticultural Therapy and Recreation Therapy could blend to meet the needs of NACL participants.
- Offer drop-in TH programming at the farm on Wednesdays to build awareness of the farm’s therapeutic potential.
Because the Wednesday groups were drop-in style, the sessions leaned toward Therapeutic Horticulture rather than structured Horticultural Therapy, as I wasn’t always able to complete assessments or create individualized therapy goals. But each week held its own surprises and magic: spontaneous moments of therapy, curiosity about the changing seasons, playfulness, and a growing sense of belonging. We also learned so much about what the farm needs- greater accessibility, more supplies, a herb garden- to help us move forward with therapy programming.
Programs That Took Root
Over the season, we facilitated a wide variety of engaging and grounding programs, such as:
- Floral weaving using collaborative frames
- Herb seeding and transplanting
- Immersive forest walks through the trails
- Trailrider bike rides for inclusive access to nature
- Communal cooking projects such as making fridge pickles and fresh tomato salsa
- Mindful scavenger hunts to connect with the senses and the land
- Social bonfires
Reflections
Working in this space was an absolute highlight of my week. I’ve yet to find a better office than the picnic table at Evanmorr Acres, with its wide vista views and the hum of life all around. The farm has reminded me that therapy can happen in so many forms, sometimes structured, sometimes spontaneous, but always deeply human.
If you’ve been involved in similar farm-based or community-based work and would like to connect, I’d love to hear from you. And if you’re curious to learn more about the assessment tools we used, the grants that supported this work, or other components of building farm-based HT/TH programming, I welcome an email or consultation call.
