Cowden Farm

Supporting people to develop independent working skills
- mission statement, Cowden Farm
www.cowdenfarm.org

Several months ago a brightly painted sign appeared beside the road a couple of miles from the village. It says Cowden Farm. Then, soon after that, a supplementary sign saying Nursery Open. Curiosity drove me to explore what was behind the signs.

Leaving the road, I came to a small car park and beyond it, a poly-tunnel. Inside the tunnel was a good selection of trays of bedding and vegetable plants. I picked out a tray of Iceberg tomatoes and looked for someone to pay. No-one around, so I ventured through a 5-bar gate towards an open door in a farm building. There, a group of about 20 smiling young adults were just finishing lunch. These are the 'customers' of Cowden Farm, who all have some degree of learning difficulty and come here to be taught how to work with animals, to restore furniture, and to become proficient in farm maintenance and organic horticulture.

Having paid for the tomatoes I was sent on my way with words of encouragement such as: 'They will grow really big', 'You must look after them well' and 'They will taste nice'. I'm sure they will!