Remembering the past while making memories for the future
Farm visits for older people have proved to be some of the most rewarding visits for both our visitors and hosts. Bringing a group of older people of different abilities onto a farm obviously has its challenges but the rewards that this type of visit offers in terms of sensory, hands-on experiences and opportunities to connect with nature as well as memory can be remarkable. For some a trip to a farm is a trip down memory lane. For others a 'Let Nature Feed Your Senses' visit just shows that we are never too old for new experiences!
To help our hosts make the most of their visitors experiences and memories so that they can create the best possible farm visit we have been running workshops around the country. You can find out more about reminiscence here.
'I used to be a land girl in the war.'
"On Wednesday we had a group in from Hartsholme House. Hartsholme is an elderly care-home specialising in the care of those with Alzheimers.
The group was a joy to host, and they all seemed to get a lot out of their visit. We had found some old gardening tools discovered when our walled garden was in a state of disarray some years back. We put the tools out on a table along with some plants, vintage metal signs and books. Using what she had, Nicky our Gardener did an interactive talk involving the party, which led to some of them reminiscing about their past experiences on farms and in gardens as youngsters, which was great!
After seeing the vintage gardening tools, one lady Iris Procter (pictured) recalled her time as a land girl in the war and gave a brilliantly descriptive account of her time as a lady farmer. 'I used to get up at 5am every day to milk the cows, I even drove a tractor', she said."
Take look at the video below filmed on a visit by residents of St. Leonards Care Home to College Farm, Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire. Then scroll down to see photos from several other Let nature feed your senses visits.
Have a look too at the photo albums of several other visits by residents from care homes to 'Let Nature Feed Your Senses' host farms. Click on each photo to see the whole album.