Meeting pigs and donkeys and learning how to grow fruit and vegetables is all part of the experience at Farming in the Field Education near Laurencekirk.
Marie Thomson set up the venture on the family farm, Burn of Balmakelly, in 2019 for the general public after the younger generations of her own family enjoyed the experience of helping out on the farm.
However the enterprise really took off when Marie was approached by a home education group and also Carronhill additional needs school near Stonehaven.
Since then she has specialised in helping young people develop skills to promote their employability.
The Carronhill pupils, aged between 16 and 18, have been coming to the farm every week for more than two years now and Marie has just taken on her second work placement student.
She said: “My plan is to offer six work placements four hours per week for six weeks over 48 weeks, which would support 48 individuals.
“I see myself as a springboard for them to develop the skills they require to promote employment.”
Marie was a physiotherapist for 20 years but her love of farming, instilled by her dad in childhood, never left her and at Burn of Balmakelly, which husband Barry farms, she started to grow and sell produce from her garden, then from a bigger plot.
Now she has three acres, growing a wide variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables, however she closed the farm’s shop –What’s for tea tonight? – in February to concentrate on the educational side of the business.
“I want to offer people an experience tailored to their ability, age and interests, whether it be a group of active assisted needs people, a nursery school, a pensioners group or a young farmers club,” said Marie.
“I was sad to close the shop but feel the special care and attention I want to give the groups and individuals can only be done by myself meantime.”
Now, instead of selling the farm’s produce in the shop, she has set up “Learn to Grow” groups.
The members of these groups come to the farm every month to sow, tend and harvest the fruit and vegetables and then take home the spoils of their work.
Marie stresses that education is the key to her business and it is not a farm tour, petting farm or pick-your-own.
People can choose a category from the website and book a one-hour slot for £6 per person for up to 12 people and Marie will create an educational experience based on each individual or group’s needs.
Marie is also offering educational workshops every week in the summer and has special events, such as a scavenger hunt, running at certain times of the year such as Halloween and Christmas.
Two Kunekune pigs, which Marie describes as her “biological waste managers”, are extremely popular with the visitors.
“They were originally bought to keep down pests and disease in the crops, cultivate and fertilise the soil, but they are so friendly and a big hit with everyone who comes,” she said.
A more recent addition to the farm’s offering is two donkeys.
“I noticed that some of the wheelchair visitors couldn’t interact with the pigs because they are too small, but the donkeys are just the right height for eye contact to engage people in wheelchairs and are loved by everyone,” added Marie.
She plans to train them to pull a cart, which will hopefully have wheelchair access.
Marie says she gets a great deal of job satisfaction, particularly from supporting the active assisted needs youths leaving education to learn new skills which allow them to go on to further training or employment.
More details about Marie’s education venture are online at farminginthefieldeducation.co.uk