On a warm and sunny day in November, the recreation team at Barclay Friends arranged for a special visit to a farm in West Chester.
Pete’s Produce Farm is a local farm that works with volunteers and designates over five acres of land to grow for the less fortunate members of our community. In 2017, those acres yielded over 150,000 lbs of produce that went to the Chester County Food Bank.
A resident at Barclay Friends, also named Peter, is a former farmer and “not a very good house plant”, as he puts it. Like most people in senior nursing communities, he often gets a little cabin fever. While our community offers a wide array of engaging activities, our recreation team sometimes looks for activities that appeal to an individual’s particular interests. Because Pete’s Produce Farm is located only 7 miles from Barclay Friends’ community, it seemed like the perfect destination for a resident day-trip.
Upon arrival, our resident was very engaged and was able to ask about how the farm’s year went. “How was the Brussels sprout season?” he asked, and “Were the Harlequins bad this year?”. Harlequins are pesky bugs that, fortunately, was not too big an issue for Pete’s Produce Farm this year.
Next, he was able to do some hands-on work on the crops. In November, the farm was busy preparing garlic to be planted. Peter and other volunteers helped to clean the garlic and also trimmed Brussels sprout stalks. While this might sound like no fun, our former-farmer resident had a great time. “You don’t know what this does for me…just to get my hands dirty” he told our host.
Barclay Friends would like to thank the team at Pete’s Produce Farm who allowed us to come visit, as well as our amazing recreation team that remains dedicated to improving the lives of our residents.
To learn more about Pete’s Produce Farm visit: http://www.petesproducefarm.com/