Our Three Fundamental Practices

Lifesharing, partnering with the land, and spiritual wholeness

Three fundamental practices enable Plowshare Farm to offer an environment where those in need can thrive.

Lifesharing

Our residents live with co-workers and their families and share all aspects of social, cultural, and everyday life. We do not have shift workers. Our extended family homes allow each person to develop a strong sense of belonging, and a community is built in which there isn’t a clear division between the dependent and the independent. Instead, a feeling of interdependence is fostered. All live and work side by side, day by day, each learning from the other.

Partnering with the land

People usually long to feel that their daily striving produces something useful and contributes to the general good. People with special needs carry this same longing, and at Plowshare Farm that need is met through the simple yet significant, slower paced, rhythmic tasks our family farm provides. By caring for the land, creating much of our own food, and doing most building and maintenance projects, we perform meaningful work which is truly productive, of service to the community, and of genuine good to society.

Recognition of spiritual wholeness

Our work is inspired by the teachings of Dr. Rudolph Steiner, the Austrian humanitarian and social scientist who founded the Waldorf School movement and developed Anthroposophy. Guided by this study of the wisdom of humanity, life at Plowshare Farm is built upon the recognition of each individual’s spiritual wholeness and an appreciation for the unique gifts each individual, no matter how severely handicapped, brings into his or her life. The focus at Plowshare Farm is not on disability, but on capability.