Farming with Friends

Home
United States
Bath, OH
Farming with Friends

Regenerative Farming + Employment of People with Disabilities + Community Engagement

Farming with Friends' mission is to create opportunities for people with disabilities to grow, work, and connect through farming — building friendships, purpose, and a lasting bond with the land and our community.

12/20/2025

🌱 Spotlight Story: Sam Bloomed! 🌱

This year on the farm, Sam grew far more than flowers. 🌸

Sam is a valued member of the Farming with Friends community, and this season he jumped into our flower program—learning how to grow, harvest, and carefully dry blooms that will last long after the season ends. From bold colors to delicate textures, Sam took pride in every step of the process.

But when we asked Sam what he learned this year, his answer went beyond flowers.

💬 “I learned about sociability and communication—how to talk with all different kinds of people.”

On the farm, that meant greeting visitors, working alongside volunteers of all abilities, collaborating with staff, and building confidence one conversation at a time. Over the season, Sam became more comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and connecting with others—showing curiosity, kindness, and growing confidence in his work.

And he’s already looking ahead. 🌱
Next year, Sam wants to focus on developing his leadership skills—helping guide others, sharing what he’s learned, and continuing to grow into his strengths.

Sam didn’t just learn how to grow and dry flowers.
He learned how to connect.
How to communicate.
How to see himself as a leader.

💛 These moments matter. They represent confidence, belonging, and possibility—and they show what can happen when people of all abilities are given the opportunity to grow together.

Sam represents the heart of Farming with Friends:
🌻 Inclusion, not isolation
🌻 Growth, not limitation
🌻 Community, not charity

As we close out the year, your support helps make stories like Sam’s possible—creating meaningful vocational opportunities and empowering all abilities to grow together.

👉 Give before December 31: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

🎁 Your Gift Makes a Real Impact
• $75 — Provides paid employment for a team member with disabilities
• $500 — Covers seeds and plugs for the entire growing season
• $2,000 — Supports one Farm Hand Trainee for a full season of hands-on training

Every dollar helps grow confidence, purpose, and inclusion—right here on our farm.

Thank you for believing in our people and our mission. 💛
— Ginnette Simko & the Farming with Friends team

Click here to donate and help more stories bloom: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE🌸

12/19/2025

🌱 Spotlight Story: Mr. Dennis 🌱

As we close out the year, we’ll be sharing stories that highlight the heart of Farming with Friends — the people, purpose, and partnerships that make this work possible. These are the stories your support makes possible.

💛 Meet Mr. Dennis 💛

This year on the farm, Dennis grew far more than vegetables.

Dennis is the Farm Assistant at Farming with Friends. He has autism and often says he lives with one foot in the world of people with disabilities, and one foot in the world of typically abled people. That thoughtful perspective reflects exactly what we strive to grow every day: inclusion, integration, and friendship.

This season, Dennis:
🌿 Learned new technical farming skills
🌿 Strengthened his problem-solving abilities
🌿 Gained confidence, independence, and flexibility
🌿 Became a trusted member of our small but mighty farm crew

But Dennis didn’t just become a better farmer. He became part of a community.

At our host site, Old Trail School, Dennis helped distribute weekly produce bundles and proudly shared the harvest he helped grow. And many mornings, preschoolers greeted him on their daily hike: “Hi Mr. Dennis!” He always replied with a huge smile and his signature, enthusiastic: “Howdy!”

Those moments may seem small, but they are everything.

They represent belonging, visibility, and what’s possible when people of all abilities work side by side.

Dennis represents the heart of Farming with Friends:
🌻 Inclusion, not isolation
🌻 Integration, not separation
🌻 Friendship, not charity

As part of our end-of-year fundraising campaign, your support helps ensure more stories like Dennis’s can grow in 2026 and beyond. You can help create meaningful, paid work and authentic community connections.

💛 Your gift makes real impact:
• $75 — Provides a day's paid employment for a team member with disabilities
• $500 — Covers seeds and plugs for the growing season
• $2,000 — Supports one Farm Hand Trainee for a full season

👉 Give before December 31: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Thank you for believing in the power of inclusion — and for helping our farm, and our people, continue to thrive. 💛🌱

12/16/2025

🌱 Spotlight Story: Alex’s Year of Growth 🌱

As part of our end-of-year fundraising campaign, we’re sharing stories that highlight the heart of Farming with Friends—our mission, our people, and the meaningful work happening on the farm every day. Today, we’re excited to shine a light on Alex.

If you’ve visited the farm this season, you’ve likely seen Alex out in the fields—focused, determined, and often teaching someone else what he just learned.

When Alex joined Farming with Friends, he was eager to dig in, literally! But this year, he took a big step forward. In his own words:

🗣️ “I learned new farm skills, like how to fertilize and how to spray with Bt. Not just how to do it, but why it matters.”

Understanding the why made all the difference. Learning how Bt protects plants naturally, and how proper fertilization leads to healthier harvests, helped Alex grow in confidence, responsibility, and pride. He’s gone from following instructions to taking the lead, and we couldn’t be prouder.

🎁 Your gift makes real impact
Every donation supports paid employment, skill-building, and meaningful opportunities for people with disabilities—right here on our farm.

💛 What your support can do:
• $75 — Provides a day of paid employment for a team member
• $500 — Covers seeds and plugs for the growing season
• $2,000 — Supports one Farm Hand Trainee for a full season

👉 TO DONATE, visit https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Thank you for helping stories like Alex’s continue to grow. 🌾💛

12/10/2025

Hi friends! We're taking a moment today to express our gratitude to Goldberry Roasting Company. This amazing local business raised over $720 toward our end of the year campaign (https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE)! What's more, they are sponsoring a different non-profit organization each week during the month of December to give back. Please visit their stand at Market 42 - Ohio this month to support them and their commitment to our shared community. If you're looking to do some holiday shopping, this gift set would make someone on your list very happy (coffee AND chocolate!!). Thank you, Goldberry! 🤟

12/03/2025

🌱✨ **This Season, choose gifts that grow goodness.** ✨🌱

As you’re checking off your holiday shopping list, we invite you to support Farming with Friends by choosing items that are grown, made, and crafted with heart — right here on the farm.

Shop Online Here: https://www.farmingwithfriends.org/store/

🥕 **Produce Bundles** grown at the farm at Old Trail School
Fresh, wholesome, and perfect for cozy winter meals. Stock up this week and taste the difference local makes.

🌾 **Dried Floral Wreaths** in collaboration with Heads Up Flower Garden
Hand-crafted with dried elements from our fields — each one a unique piece of natural beauty for your home or a thoughtful gift.

🌿 **Jewelweed Salves** in collaboration with Bainbridge Blooms
Small-batch and plant-powered. A soothing, practical winter essential for anyone on your list.

Every purchase this week directly supports our mission as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — creating meaningful work, community connection, and opportunities for all. When you shop with us, you’re part of something bigger. 🤘

📆 **Pick-up:** December 13
📍 **2317 Ira Rd, Akron | 10 AM–Noon**

Shop with purpose this week — and bring home something beautiful.

12/02/2025

💛 It’s Giving Tuesday!
Today, we celebrate the power of generosity and the impact we can create when our community comes together.

If Farming with Friends has touched your heart, we’d be grateful for your support of our GiveButter fundraiser. Your gift helps us grow inclusive programs, support individuals of all abilities, and continue building a place where everyone belongs.

✨ Donate here: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Thank you for giving and growing with us. 🌾💛

12/01/2025

EXCITING NEWS!! Meet our new friends at Goldberry Roasting Company. Every week in December this amazing business is partnering with one Medina County non-profit to receive 20% of sales as a donation from their Market 42 - Ohio cafe. They selected US for week one! We are beyond thrilled and so very grateful!

Goldberry Roasting Company is not your typical coffee purveyor. They have a close relationship with their coffee farmers in the Sierra Norte region of Mexico and have a hand in the cultivation and processing of the coffee beans. Even better, they started a non-profit to enhance the quality of life for struggling coffee growers in Mexico!

So, your purchase supports a wonderful local business, two incredible non-profits, and community-based agriculture, both at home and abroad!! Great coffee is an excellent holiday gift. Please be sure to stock up and spread the love!

Visit them this week at Market 42 - Ohio, or purchase online: https://order.toasttab.com/online/goldberry-market42

11/27/2025

🍂 Happy Thanksgiving from Farming with Friends! 🍂
Today we’re extra grateful for our community—your kindness, your support, and the way you show up for our farmers, families, and friends all year long.

As we gather around our tables, we’re reminded how powerful it is when people come together. If you’d like to help us continue growing inclusive farm programs, learning opportunities, and community connections, we’d be so grateful for your support.

🤘 Donate here: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Every dollar helps us create a place where everyone can belong, learn, and thrive.
Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving! 🧡🦃

11/25/2025

🧡 Happy Thanksgiving Week! 🍗

This week is all about GIVING, and we’re so grateful for the impact our community has helped us create this year.

As shown in our infographic, together we’ve:
🥕 Harvested 2,500+ pounds of produce
🙌 Welcomed 170+ volunteers
🎃 Hosted 1,200 guests at our Fall Festival
🏆 And received the Patrick O’Bryan Faithful Servant Award

Your generosity makes all of this possible. If you’d like to continue the spirit of giving, our GiveButter fundraiser helps us grow inclusive programs for individuals of all abilities.

🤘 Support here: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Thank you for giving so much to Farming with Friends this Thanksgiving Week! 🌾🦃

11/15/2025

🌾 That’s a wrap on our farm season! 🌾

Our incredible crew wrapped up their final week on the farm and are heading into a well-deserved winter break, while our director and board shift into planning for 2026. It’s always a bittersweet moment… so we made sure to make it a week to remember!

This week we:
✨ Harvested 95 lbs. of food to donate to neighbors in need
✨ Bid a warm “see you soon!” to our friends at Teammates Center L.L.C — thank you for a fantastic season! 🤟
✨ Created dried-flower wreaths with our friends at Heads Up Flower Garden (more to come about those wreaths — and our growing friendship!)

And on Friday?
🍩 Ate donuts
🎁 Opened presents
🌱 Tarped the garden
🪣 Cleaned a million buckets and bins
🌤️ Enjoyed a beautiful fall day together — complete with a few hugs 🥲

💛 Thank you, friends, for an amazing season. We are so grateful for this community and can’t wait to share our plans for next year!

11/07/2025

Check out this huge blister beetle we found while harvesting spinach this week! They look cool, but if you touch them, they could give you a rash, so be careful!

Also, here's a picture of Andrew with our spinach harvest. It's destined for local food pantries. We are so fortunate to be able to share our bounty with the community this harvest season! 💚🤟

Address

Bath, OH

Telephone

+18179440499

Website

http://farmingwithfriends.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Farming with Friends posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Farming with Friends:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Bath?