Max Lagasse (left) and Jennifer Kohn weed flower beds at Little Otter Flower Farm in Bedford on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020.
Flower seeds harvested from last year's crops dry in the greenhouse at Little Otter Flower Farm in Bedford on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020.
Frost cloths laid on flower beds for the winter at Little Otter Flower Farm in Bedford on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020.
BEDFORD — A new flower farm with a cause is blooming in Bedford.
Little Otter Flower Farm’s ultimate goal is to provide meaningful work and growth opportunities for people with autism.
New Jersey transplants Jennifer Kohn and Dave Lagasse purchased the farm’s 70-acre property in 2018, wanting to move their 20-year-old autistic son, Max, to a more serene location and give him a job opportunity where he could thrive.
“This all started because the unemployment rate among kids like Max is about 85%,” Kohn said. “Success for kids with autism is considered a part-time job that they hold for more than three months. To me, that’s not success.”
Max worked at a garden center in New Jersey, but Kohn said he was primarily relegated to menial chores such as sweeping or loading cars.
“They had low expectations for him,” Kohn said.
People with autism often face social stigma because of their unique needs, Kohn said, and they are prone to being dismissed or underestimated. This often results in a lack of meaningful work for this population. Little Otter Flower Farm hopes to change that.
“They need a little more than just an opportunity. They need folks to understand them,” Kohn said of individuals with autism. “One of the things I hope to do is to provide a place for other kids like Max to work with somebody who actually understands autism, and is not just about giving them an opportunity, but giving them an opportunity to grow.”
As the flower farm becomes more established, Kohn said she wants to employ local people with autism in rolling internships lasting three months each. The program would start small, drawing interns primarily from local high schools, but Kohn eventually hopes to take up to three to five interns at a time. Her objective is to fit each individual to the best position for their desires, abilities and needs, whether physical labor or social media management and administrative work.
Kohn plans to draw upon her experience as both the mother of a person with autism and a board member of the organization Spectrum Works, which aims to find employment for individuals with autism. She also hopes to work with local businesses to educate employers about autism and help place autistic individuals in local jobs.
“Folks with autism can be fabulous employees,” Kohn said. “They’re so loyal, and they’re so grateful for the opportunity. It’s just a matter of meeting in the middle. Folks with autism, they’ve got to change, too. They’ve got to be able to deal with things that might be uncomfortable with them. But employers can meet them halfway! Letting them wear a baseball hat to filter out fluorescent light, or letting them stand instead of sit, or fidget. Everybody with autism has different strategies on how to cope with the world.”
The family was brand new to the flower business — and agriculture in general — but with the help of local resources and online seminars and forums, the farm successfully produced its first year. The family was pleased with the outcome. Kohn felt a little surprised, joking that she kills cacti. It was a year of learning, she said.
“We needed to find something that both he [Max] and Jen were willing to do that was of the type that he could grow into being able to do it himself. That this could be his one day. Flower farming became the ideal combination of skills,” Lagasse said of the farming choice.
The Bedford community has been overwhelmingly warm, welcoming and supportive, Kohn said, from consumers buying flowers at the farmers market to the local Joe Bean’s coffee business donating cardboard boxes and used coffee grinds to spread over the soil as nourishment.
Flower farming plays to Max’s strengths and also was an enterprise Kohn felt she could do full time after leaving a career as a tenured professor of economics at Drew University.
Max loves being outside and loves to work, making this life ideal for him, Kohn said.
“A lot of folks don’t like to farm, because it’s so much work, but for a kid like Max to have an endless list of outdoor, physical tasks is really great for his wellbeing,” she said. Max also loves color and has great attention to detail, Kohn added.
“He could remember what’s planted in every row, and when we planted it, and whether we’ve seen that bug before,” she said.
Max said one of his favorite chores around the flower farm is wood chipping. He also enjoyed preparing cardboard to lay over the flower beds. His least favorite part of the work is weeding, he added.
“I loved harvesting and making arrangements,” Max said.
Lagasse said flower farming has allowed his son to grow as a worker.
“It’s not just being able to do a list of jobs. It’s starting to be able to identify what jobs need to be done, and then doing them,” he said. “It’s been great.”
Flowers primarily are sold plain in bunches, but Max found unexpected pleasure in creating arrangements with them as well. Consequently, bouquets also can be found for sale at the farmer’s market. Max also has taken arrangements to nursing homes and hospitals to cheer others.
“This is Max’s farm. I help Max more than Max helps me,” Kohn said.
The farm business is helping Max learn to cope with social situations like the busy, bustling farmers market and interacting with customers, Kohn said.
“I like their vendors,” Max said of the farmer’s market, particularly those who make baked goods.
Sensory triggers, such as sounds and lighting, often affect individuals with autism to some degree, Kohn explained. Levels of severity and types of triggers vary greatly, and Kohn said learning to cope with these triggers is part of living with autism. Like she worked with Max to identify and manage his personal sensory triggers, Kohn said she hopes to offer the same help to others with autism and also teach employers how to accommodate these needs when they hire someone with autism.
Though nothing is blooming in the cold winter, Max and Kohn have been busy at Little Otter Flower Farm preparing for the next growing season. Frost cloth was laid on some beds, layers of cardboard and old stalks were laid to decompose and nourish the soil, seeds from the previous harvest were dried for future use, and sand beds were laid in the greenhouse.
Max said he was sad to see the flowers die as growing season ended, but he worked diligently to maintain the flower beds in preparation for spring.
Lagasse said he and Kohn hope to activate their internship program in the spring.
“We’re happy to be here,” Kohn said.
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December 08, 2020 at 07:00AM
https://godanriver.com/news/state-and-regional/bedford-flower-farm-aims-to-create-meaningful-jobs-for-people-with-autism/article_b62cec6b-5aef-5803-83d1-d6417b552a7d.html
Bedford flower farm aims to create meaningful jobs for people with autism - GoDanRiver.com
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