Welcome to Spirit Farm
Spirit Farm provides the opportunity for experiences many of us remember as children and want to pass on to the next generation, who – due to poor community development and increased dependence on technology for learning and entertainment – have few chances to experience natural habitats or interact with agricultural animals.
Spirit Farm is located within the Harmony Institute’s 80+ acres of land directly behind Harmony High School and Osceola County Fire Station 54. The farm itself is reminiscent of an old Osceola settlement, with the Institute’s farm staff working out of ‘Ray’s Hardware’, and kid’s playing cards and enjoying cool drinks in ‘Red’s Saloon’, their miniature horses saddled and tethered to a hitching post outside. Around the vegetable garden, pens of goats and sheep bleat for the kids to come in and play while miniature donkeys poke their noses towards little hands in hope of a pet. Pigs await a nice pinecone scratching and the chickens cluck and strut. In the distance is a life-size tipi marking the entrance to natural trails that lead through scrub and forest.
This is where hundreds of kids come to play and learn, as all the activities contribute to a child’s education and many of the fun activities – from measuring feed for a miniature donkey, working in a garden, roping, balancing on the barrel ride or simply going on a guided nature walk discovering wild animals tracks and learning about native plants, promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning.
Moreover, Harmony Institute programs include a core component of recognizing the values of nature and animals and focus on environmental stewardship and animal empathy with an emphasis on transferring these ethics to human-human relations. Programs are designed to foster interests in science education, exercise and proper nutrition, communication and team building skills as well as job and life-skills development.
Whether through Institute programming or through our Spirit Farm Adventures, Spirit Farm offers activities for both kids and adults. We hope you’ll explore some of these opportunities for yourself and your family. If you would like a tour of the farm or more information about programming and adventure activities, please call Samantha Covell, Education Coordinator or email scovell@harmonyinstitute.org.
(While the Harmony Institute was the visionary behind the development of the town of Harmony, the Institute is completely autonomous and not funded by Harmony Development.)
