{"id":47280,"date":"2025-07-25T01:45:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T08:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47280"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T15:37:08","slug":"family-day-at-the-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/family-day-at-the-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Day at the farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family Day at Stable Harvest Farm was educational \u2013 and fun! <\/i>(photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>Sunday, July 6, was a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for a visit to Stable Harvest Farms, in Langley, to enjoy one of its Family Days.<\/p>\n

My wife and I joined the first tours of the morning. Our group of maybe 50 people, including lots of young children, was split into two, after a brief introduction by one of the university student interns who work on the farm over the summer. We were then led through some of the fields, where we learned a bit about the vegetables and flowers being grown there, while the other half of the group started at the petting zoo.<\/p>\n

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Just two of the many animals at Stable Harvest Farm. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stable Harvest Farms, a nonprofit founded by Syd Belzberg, welcomes more than 15,000 visitors a year \u2013 families, educators, students, volunteers, members of various groups. Several Jewish organizations have participated in the educational offerings. For example, Vancouver Talmud Torah has been involved since the farm\u2019s establishment five years ago, with students from grades 2 to 7 visiting once or twice a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to feed and support organizations both Jewish and non-Jewish through JFS [Jewish Family Services] and Meals on Wheels, and countless other nonprofit organizations,\u201d Belzberg told the JI<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Stable Harvest has donated well over 360,000 pounds of produce since 2020 to various communities in Greater Vancouver. On our tour, we found out how that produce is grown and harvested organically, stopping at some of the 12 education stations that have been created for visiting schoolchildren and others. The stations cover a wide range, from what\u2019s in a seed, to what organic agriculture is, to methods of irrigation. One of the coolest stops was the bat boxes, houses for owls and bug hotels station. But, I have to admit, feeding the sheep and the Nigerian dwarf goats was the most fun. And we got to see the beekeeper in action.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
On our tour, we found out how that produce is grown and harvested organically, stopping at some of the 12 education stations that have been created for visiting schoolchildren and others. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the learning stations, there are signs everywhere. All the crops are labeled with what\u2019s being grown and fun facts abound. Did you know that there are some 27 different types of broccoli, for instance? Or that snapdragons are edible, and can be used for dyeing cloth?<\/p>\n

Farmer Maya led our group, making sure we all had enough water and were faring well in the heat. All the staff are \u201cmentored by an experienced educator to develop and deliver impactful, age-appropriate learning experiences aligned with BC\u2019s Ministry of Education goals,\u201d Belzberg told me later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The focus, he said, has been making sure the learning stations \u201clink directly to the BC curriculum\u2019s \u2018Big Ideas\u2019 and core competencies (e.g., communication, thinking, social responsibility),\u201d as well as being sensory- and inquiry-based.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
The beekeeper in action at Stable Harvest Farm. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cStudents engage through touch, smell, sight and movement \u2013 using storytelling, questioning and games to spark curiosity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As our Family Day tour proved, the activities offered are inclusive and adaptable for diverse needs, and the staff are well-trained to keep visitors young and old, with varying levels of physical and mental nimbleness, engaged. My wife and I had both an educational and entertaining time. It was well worth the drive from North Vancouver, where we live. Most everyone would enjoy the fresh air and welcoming atmosphere, I think.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To keep track of the many things going on at the farm, including volunteer opportunities, follow it on Instagram and check out the website, stableharvestfarm.com<\/a>, every now and again. You can find out when the next Family Day is and book a visit on the website or by email, info@stableharvestfarm.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family Day at Stable Harvest Farm was educational \u2013 and fun! (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) Sunday, July 6, was a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for a visit to Stable Harvest Farms, in Langley, to enjoy one of its Family Days. My wife and I joined the first tours of the morning. Our group of maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3076,9919,23451,20694,3485,4365,1558],"class_list":["post-47280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-education","tag-families","tag-stable-harvest-farm","tag-syd-belzberg","tag-tours","tag-vancouver-talmud-torah","tag-vtt"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}