Logo with the word "Ephphatha" in black, featuring a tree with green leaves, pink butterflies, a bird, and the phrase "BE - OPENED" in green below.
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Post: Our Fall Open House 2025

Hello Everyone!

Summer 2025 is now a memory to hold in our hearts!

Despite the drought, with abundant watering and care, the gardens did very well. We had tons of zucchini that we gave to local food banks, to neighbors, and to anyone who would take one or two! The tomatoes did well, and pumpkins, which we use for our Open House pumpkin painting activities, flourished.

We had an end-of-summer extravaganza with the arrival of baby ducks, turkeys, and chicks. We also purchased a 12’x24′ run-in shed for our horses, as well as our future ponies. We’re always on the lookout for talented therapy horses, and now we have the space to properly care for them. We hope to purchase new ponies in the coming months. Busy, Busy, Busy!

A group of young ducks and ducklings are gathered on dry grass near a wire enclosure, with some inside and some outside the pen.
Baby ducks…Quack!
A man spreads wet concrete with a rake on a prepared foundation as a cement mixer truck pours more concrete, surrounded by trees and grass.
Getting the concrete foundation ready for the 12’x24’ shed
Two people stand next to a newly placed wooden shed on a concrete slab, with a truck and trees in the background under a clear blue sky.
Setting our run in shed on the foundation in the pasture

Fall is here! In the mornings up at the barn, bird songs are silent. There is a chirp here or there when the pines rustle in the breeze, but the gleeful music has gone. The light is giving way to dark, the sun sets earlier, and it is slower in the morning to spread its rays. As the light dissipates, the leaves on the trees don their bonnets of colorful glory, and there is a nip in the air. One certainly feels the fall whispering close by!

And now the solstice has happened, and we begin the preparation for the seasonal change. Though we may long for summer to return, there is something magical about fall. The earth gets ready for her deep slumber, and the horses and our goats grow warmer coats. And in the shadow of diminished light, we grow inwardly, and here we encounter the soil of planted hopes and dreams. We assess the past. What plants or flowers worked in the garden, and which flowers succumbed to the drought? What type of hay came into the barn? Are the horses eating it? Was it a good time to raise baby ducks and baby chicks in summer rather than spring? These are some of the questions and thoughts we discuss at our board meetings to develop best practices for farm sustainability.

A dark brown horse wearing a fly mask rolls on its back in a grassy field on a sunny day, with trees in the background.
A summer roll
A person in a red shirt and cap stands outdoors holding the reins of a brown horse on dry grass, with trees and blue sky in the background.
Bodie inspecting the new shed site

But as I mentioned before, hopes and dreams, which dwell in our hearts, surface now that the summer intensity subsides. What dreams sustain us? What hopes do we carry in our souls? Now is a good time to bring them forth and place them in the twilight that has its own glow. Which still excites us? Which still speak to our hearts? Now is a good time in the waning light to practice this reassessment. Try this and see if your aspirations have developed, changed, or maybe need to be discarded.

Summer has flown by, and now we are preparing for our Open House on Saturday, October 4th, from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm! This is our major fundraiser of the year, and we are hoping many of our friends stop by to say hello and enjoy a cup of cider—warm cider if it’s chilly. Homemade goodies will abound. There will be hay rides, meet and greets with our farm residents, pumpkin painting, and raffle baskets. You should come! It will be fun and it will help us raise funds to help care for our animals.

Have a Wonderful Fall, Everyone!
See you at our Open House!