|
 Our
roots can be traced back to the 1960’s. We were a loosely affiliated
network of “back-to-the-land” enthusiasts busily mastering the skills of
organic farming, family homesteading and small-scale dairy farming in the
rolling foothills of West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle.
Our common thread was—and continues to be—a lifetime commitment to
simple living. One of the valuable lessons we’ve learned over the years is
that the best way to learn is to teach. A farmer down the road said it like
this: “Nobody cares about what you know….until they know that you care.” No,
we don’t loaf around all day flapping our jaws and waiting for city folk to
come by for some education. Our main activity is the noble task of sun-up
to sundown farming and gardening.
But, what makes all that hard work worthwhile is the joy of hosting numerous
visitors to The Teaching Garden and the Garden of Seven Gates. We welcome
the opportunity to create a shared learning experience for our honored
guests. In fact, we place more value on nurturing long lasting
relationships with our guests than we do on perfecting the growing of
vegetables.
 Agriculture
is about people and community, not profits earned at the expense of the
environment and your personal health. Agriculture is about creating a
culture of personal empowerment, humbled and tempered by a keen sense of
interdependence on others, including the animals.
Agriculture is education for your children. The current model of
urban-centered education is focused on turning your children into efficient
corporate units, rather than curious and open minded adults capable of
protecting the delicate web of life. Children need to know where their food
comes from; they need to see how it is grown; they need to walk alongside
the people who till the soil and care for the animals.
But who will show them? Who amongst us has the time? The answer is all
of us, pulling together as a team. We need each other’s gifts.
Our gift to you is the Small Farm Training Center, a living link to the
sights, smells, sounds and tastes of people oriented agriculture. But, our
best-laid plans—however meritorious and purely motivated—will lie dormant
unless embraced and watered by your financial support—your gift to us.
Your help allows us to expand our boundaries of activity and influence.
Our promise to you is that we will
never give out your mailing or emailing address, nor conduct telemarketing,
nor pester you with tote bags and key chains. What we will do is conduct
our operation as frugally as possible and turn your donation into something
valuable to visit and proud to support.
Click
Here for the Donation Page
|
