Farming with Friends

Today was our final day of operations at Farming with Friends, and we went out the best way we know how: together. 💚

We celebrated two birthdays, partied with our buddies from Teammates Center L.L.C, enjoyed the farm, and even hung out with a very cool garden spider.

As we close this chapter, we're incredibly grateful for every staff member, participant, family member, volunteer, donor, funder, partner, and friend who made Farming with Friends what it was. You believed in what we were doing, showed up, got your hands dirty, and helped us create a place where people of all abilities could work, learn, connect, and belong.

A special thank you to Old Trail School for giving us a beautiful place to grow and truly making us part of their community, and to Crown Point Ecology Center for being such a wonderful partner and friend, and for helping the spirit of Farming with Friends live on.

And while Farming with Friends is closing, the work at the farm isn't ending. Heads Up Flowers will carry it forward at Old Trail, and many familiar faces will still be there growing flowers, working together, and creating meaningful opportunities for people of all abilities. We're really excited about what's ahead.

And we’re not quite done celebrating! Join us for the All Abilities Fall Fest this Saturday, October 3, from 10 AM–4 PM at Crown Point Ecology Center. We hope to see lots of familiar faces there. (Info and registration: https://www.crownpointecology.org/all-abilities-fall-fest)

Thank you, friends! 🤟

Mindy Bartholomae, Heads Up Flowers, Rittman Orchards and Farm Market, Luther's Farm Market, Orange Porch, thank you so much for your support!

A big thank you to our Pollinator Partners for helping make Fun on the Farm: All Abilities Fall Fest possible.

Support like this is what keeps events like this one free, accessible, and open to every family who wants to come out and play.

Join us Saturday, October 3 · 10 AM–4 PM 🍂 Open to all!

Farming with Friends

A week from tomorrow! We can't wait to celebrate the season with you. 💚

A huge thank you to Buckeye Corrugated, Inc. for once again stepping up as a Harvest Champion Sponsor of the All Abilities Fall Fest!

Buckeye Corrugated has been an incredible supporter of Farming with Friends, and we are so grateful to have them standing behind this celebration again this year. Their generous sponsorship helps make it possible to bring our community together for a day centered on inclusion, connection, and FUN!

🍂 All Abilities Fall Fest: https://www.crownpointecology.org/all-abilities-fall-fest
📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 10 AM–4 PM
📍 Crown Point Ecology Center

Join us for a free, inclusive fall celebration for people of all ages and abilities, with accessible activities, hayrides, music, food, games, pumpkins, raffles, a sensory-friendly space, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the farm and celebrate together.

This year’s festival is especially meaningful as we celebrate Farming with Friends, the community that has grown around us, and all that comes next.

Thank you, Buckeye Corrugated, for believing in this work and showing up for our community year after year. We are incredibly grateful to have you as our Harvest Champion!

Learn more about Buckeye Corrugated: https://www.bcipkg.com/

🍂 LAST CALL: Sponsors, Info Tables & Basket Donations Due Thursday!

The All Abilities Fall Fest is Saturday, October 3, from 10 AM–4 PM at Crown Point Ecology Center, and we’re getting ready for a BIG day of community, inclusion, and celebration!

This Thursday is the deadline to:
• Become an event sponsor
• Reserve an information table
• Donate a raffle basket, gift card, or experience

Find all the details and sign-up forms here:
https://www.crownpointecology.org/all-abilities-fall-fest

And mostly, we want you to come celebrate with us!

This year’s Fall Fest will be especially meaningful as we gather one more time to celebrate Farming with Friends, the people who made it possible, and the friendships and opportunities that will continue beyond us.

The festival is FREE and open to everyone. Please RSVP through the event page if you plan to attend so we can get a good head count.

🙌 Want to volunteer? We need plenty of helping hands throughout the day!
https://forms.gle/rsPkD9qohPZS6k3Q8

Saturday, October 3 | 10 AM–4 PM
Crown Point Ecology Center

Come celebrate with us. We’d love to see you there!

LET’S CELEBRATE TOGETHER AT THE ALL ABILITIES FALL FEST!

This year’s All Abilities Fall Fest will be especially meaningful as we celebrate everything Farming with Friends has grown over the years and look ahead to what comes next.

While Farming with Friends will conclude operations as a nonprofit on September 30, the farm, the friendships, and the commitment to creating opportunities for people of all abilities will continue in new ways. We can’t think of a better way to mark this transition than by gathering our community for one more BIG celebration!

🌻 All Abilities Fall Fest
Saturday, October 3 at Crown Point Ecology Center

We’re still looking for community partners to help make the day a success, including sponsors, basket donors, vendors, and community organizations.

If you’ve supported Farming with Friends over the years, this is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what we built together and help us carry that spirit forward.

Event information and opportunities to participate can be found here:
https://www.crownpointecology.org/all-abilities-fall-fest

Interested in volunteering? Sign up here: https://forms.gle/rsPkD9qohPZS6k3Q8 Or contact Ginnette at Farming with Friends ([email protected]) or Zale at Crown Point ([email protected]).

Come celebrate with us. Let’s fill Crown Point with old friends, new friends, and all the joy that comes from growing together!

Farming with Friends Will Close September 30, But Our Work Will Continue 🌱

After much thought and careful planning, the Board of Farming with Friends has made the difficult decision to dissolve our nonprofit organization. Our final day of operations will be September 30, 2026.

While Farming with Friends as an organization is coming to an end, the work we built together is not!

We have spent the past several months thinking carefully about what comes next and how we can preserve the things that matter most: meaningful opportunities for people with disabilities, the farm community we have built, and the partnerships that have made this work possible.

Beginning October 1, Rhythm and Reach, an Ohio-certified developmental disability service provider, will carry much of this work forward. Heads Up Flowers, a business enterprise of Rhythm and Reach, will take over agricultural programming at the Old Trail School Farm, creating opportunities for meaningful work, skill-building, and connection. Most of our current participants will move forward with us into this new chapter, through farm employment and programming, as well as community wellness experiences.

Our partnership with Crown Point Ecology Center will also help preserve important parts of Farming with Friends, including inclusive volunteer opportunities and our annual All Abilities Fall Fest (10/3 - save the date!).

We are carrying the mission forward financially, too. As part of our dissolution, our remaining assets will be dedicated to continued farm operations at Old Trail School and to establishing the Farming with Friends Legacy Fund at Crown Point Ecology Center. The resources our community entrusted to us will continue doing what they were intended to do: creating opportunities for people of all abilities to grow, contribute, and belong.

This decision was not made because we stopped believing in our mission. Quite the opposite. We chose to make this transition while Farming with Friends still had the resources, relationships, and community support to ensure that what we created could live beyond our organization.

And what a community we created together!

You planted and harvested. You hauled compost and pulled weeds. You learned new skills and taught them to someone else. You welcomed people who needed a place to belong. You donated, volunteered, partnered, cheered us on, bought our produce and flowers, attended our events, and believed that people of all abilities should have meaningful opportunities to work and grow together.

Because of you, Farming with Friends became much more than a farm.

Want to stay involved? There will still be plenty of ways to be part of what comes next. You can support Heads Up Flowers and the continued work at the Old Trail School Farm, volunteer through Crown Point Ecology Center, participate in and support the All Abilities Fall Fest, and contribute to the Farming with Friends Legacy Fund as it grows. Stay tuned!

There is a lot to celebrate, and even more to carry forward. The organization may be coming to an end, but the community and the work are not. We will keep growing, keep building community, and keep farming with friends, old and new.

Thank you for growing with us, believing in us, and helping us build something worth carrying forward.

Empowering All Abilities to Grow Together. Always. 🌱

Cantaloupe Talk 🍈

We get kitchen scraps from the Old Trail School dining hall to compost, and there are always plenty of cantaloupe rinds and seeds in the mix. This year, we had so many cantaloupe seedlings popping up in our beds that they were practically weeds.

Just for fun, we let a few grow. And they did!

Yesterday was a rough one at the farm. Nothing in particular, just one of those days when something seems to be in the air and everyone is feeling it.

Then we realized one of our surprise cantaloupes was ripe.

So we decided it was time for a Cantaloupe Talk.

Everyone gathered around as Garrett cut into it, revealing a beautiful, fragrant melon. We each grabbed a slice, sat together, and talked about life, work, friendship, and whatever else needed talking about.

Sometimes the best thing you can grow on a farm isn't something you planned to plant.

Every team needs an occasional Cantaloupe Talk! 🍈💚

(Pictured: Andrew, Alex, Karla, and Dennis)

Today was one of those days where you could practically wear the air. Hot, muggy, sticky, and generally disrespectful. And yet, Karla and Krista showed up, as they always do, ready to work.

By the end of the day, they were absolutely filthy. Not a little dirt under the fingernails. Full-on, “Did you two roll around in the field?” dirty. 😂

And we love this picture because it captures so much of what we love about these two. They work hard. They laugh a lot. They never seem bothered by the mess. And week after week, they show up for us and do whatever needs to be done.

Regular volunteers like Karla and Krista are such a huge part of Farming with Friends. Somewhere along the way, they stopped feeling like volunteers and just became part of the farm family.

We are so incredibly grateful for both of you. And also, please go take a shower. ❤️

🍉 Surprise watermelon harvest! 🍉

In farming, you can make all the plans you want, but ultimately Mother Nature calls the shots.

Harvesting watermelons wasn't on today's agenda, but during our morning rounds we noticed that two of them had split. With more rain in the forecast, we knew we couldn't wait. When ripe watermelons absorb too much water, they're likely to split, so it was time to harvest the entire crop.

It was all hands on deck! Thankfully, our friends from Teammates Center L.L.C and CRU were on site and jumped right in alongside our staff and volunteers. Together, we harvested more than 35 beautiful watermelons!

We shared them with our crew and friends, then sold many of the rest to fellow farmers to take to market. It wasn't the day we planned, but it turned into one we'll remember for a long time.

That's farming. Flexible, unpredictable, and always full of surprises. 🍉💚