43 – WEE Farm
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Christa Hein: Hey there, welcome to the Farm Educator’s Roadmap. I'm Christa Hein, former nonprofit girl turned farm education entrepreneur. I've spent the last 30 years creating hands-on programs that connect people to the land, animals, and the traditions that nourish our daily lives.
If you're listening, you probably believe what I do - that farm education is needed now more than ever. Not just on rural farms, but in suburbs, cities, and everywhere in between. In this podcast, you'll hear real stories and practical advice from farm educators all across the country. People who are creating change through their programs in creative and inspiring ways.
Whether you're dreaming about starting your first program, are already knee deep in your own farm education work, or are just curious about how others are impacting their communities through farm education, you're in the right place. [00:01:00] Let's dig in.
Christa Hein: Hi, welcome back to the Farm Educator’s Roadmap. Today's episode is for anyone who has ever thought I don't have enough land. I don't have enough to start something like this. Because today's guest is doing deeply impactful farm education and therapeutic work on less than six acres right in a suburban metro setting.
Today I'm talking with Dr. Bonnie Laabs, founder of WEE Farm in Minnesota. A nonprofit farm that blends trauma informed education, animal assisted learning, STEM, and community programming. Before starting the farm, Bonnie was a science teacher in inner city Minneapolis schools where she saw firsthand how trauma impacts behavior, learning, and emotional regulation, and began experimenting with bringing animals into that work.
What she saw changed everything. That experience eventually led her to build [00:02:00] WEE farm. WEE stands for wellness and education for everyone. It's a place where animals, learning, and emotional wellness are intentionally woven together. Bonnie, thanks so much for joining us.
Bonnie Laabs: Yes. Thank you for having me on the show.
Christa Hein: Absolutely. So, I'd love to start at the very beginning to explore how you got into this work. You grew up on a farm and then went on to get your bachelor's, your master's, your PhD, and you spent years teaching science in inner city Minneapolis. That's a lot of ground to cover before we even get to WEE farm.
When you look back at the whole arc of your career so far, does it feel like you were always heading back to the farm or did this path in farm education surprise you?
Bonnie Laabs: I think, having grown up on a farm, that my heart lies there. And so they say you can take the girl off the farm, but you'll never take the farm out of the girl. And I feel that that's really true. So, [00:03:00] my family's farm is in central Minnesota. My dad has crops and black Angus, and so that property is always near and dear to my heart.
I didn't necessarily envision having a farm of my own until about 2016 when I started to accumulate animals as I was doing animal assisted learning in my classroom. And eventually I got to the point where my husband commented, I think we either need to start a zoo or a farm. So that's when I really started to think about it.
Why not? Why not bring those lessons that I learned growing up on a traditional farm to kids of the inner city and allow them to experience those connections with animals and nature.
Christa Hein: So, will you share your education trajectory? What were those degrees that you pursued?
Bonnie Laabs: My bachelor's is in elementary education kindergarten through sixth, with a specialty in middle school [00:04:00] science. And then my master's is in youth development leadership. My second one is in educational leadership, and then my doctorate is in curriculum and instruction from the University of Minnesota. And as you mentioned, my research was focused on trauma, executive function, brain development, and how we can design behavior interventions that promote long-term resilience in learning.
Through that I started doing animal assisted intervention in my elementary science classroom utilizing the animals as partners for teaching self-regulation, impulse control, but also providing rewards such as a reading break or a calming break where a student could earn 10 minutes with a Guinea pig or with a lizard. Sometimes it was an incentive to come in and feed the animal during the day.
So, the counselor and school psychologist and I would work together [00:05:00] and formulate different interventions with partnering with the animals that the kids would find motivating, whatever their unique interventions were. And through that I decided I need to put this all together and develop my own program that bridges STEM education. So, science, technology, engineering, and math with the animal assisted learning so that we provide therapeutic connections and connect to the STEM lessons.
Christa Hein: So, what were you seeing in your students that started to shift how you thought about learning and teaching, and wanted to bring those animals into the classroom?
Bonnie Laabs: I think the biggest one was the engagement and the motivation. Animals are so fun to connect with and kids get really excited about them. My favorite ways to connect with students is by talking to the animals. And it creates a nice little icebreaker to say, “Oh, Mr. Tibs, how are you doing today? [00:06:00] Oh, you made a mess. Oops, you spilled your water.” And the kids hear me model that language and conversation. And they get excited about that, too because that's how we interact with animals.
And sometimes people think, oh, that's silly, or I need to stifle that because that's not something that grownups do, but when they hear a grownup doing that, they realize, oh, that is totally normal, and I can interact with an animal that way. And so, it just is a really great opportunity to build that relationship with the student and connect with them.
The other thing that I really noticed was self-regulation and impulse control. And I've seen kids who are ADHD and have very explosive behaviors who somehow learn to control those when they're around an animal. Because animals have a really great natural instinct for impulse control regulation.
For example, if you are out of [00:07:00] control, an animal's going to let you know, they're going to be scared. They're going to try to hide, they're going to try to get away from you. So, it's natural that you need to approach them with a calm body, calm voice, gentle touch. And so, it's really easy to see that cause and effect with an animal. And then it promotes the motivation for a student to be able to have more control over their behavior because they want to interact with the animal.
Christa Hein: So, you mentioned that in the classroom you were also working with a social worker. That's not a typical relationship between a science teacher and a social worker or a school counselor. What made you want to try that, and then what happened when you came together with that other team?
Bonnie Laabs: That's a really great question. In doing my research for my doctorate work, really diving into the trauma, the executive function, I found myself in some territory that really was stretching the boundaries as a teacher going into the social emotional learning. And it's difficult, [00:08:00] I think, when we silo those things and silo, no pun intended, but to be able to cross professions like that is really what is needed.
Some people call that the wraparound effect to be able to come together as a team and wrap around an individual to be able to formulate a intervention across professions. So, I think that in that case, that's when we can really reach students. Unfortunately, professionally, that's not as easy as it sounds for a lot of reasons.
Christa Hein: So, it's one thing for it to work in a classroom like you were making it do, and then it's this other entire thing to build a farm around that idea. So, you had this proof of concept that was making a difference, and then you made this leap to actually build a farm. Massive jump.
Can you walk me through that decision? When did you know that moving onto a farm was what you were supposed to do with your education interests?
Bonnie Laabs: [00:09:00] I think it became clear when I really started seeing students come alive with being engaged in science, engineering, but also seeing students from underrepresented communities be limited in the access and the exposure to some of the things that come so easy for those of us who have grown up on a farm.
For example, there are a lot of kids that do not know where milk comes from. They think it comes from the store, or that eggs come from the store. And so being able to bring them to a farm to say, “Nope, the eggs come from the chickens, let's go in the coop and see if there's any in there today.” Those experiences are so rich and so powerful. And that's what I really wanted to do, was to be able to provide that exposure and experience to all kids.
Christa Hein: Nice. So, I read that you've spent about five years searching for the right property. Five years is a long time to hold onto a vision. What kept you going during that [00:10:00] search, and then what did you eventually find?
Bonnie Laabs: A lot of it was because I really had my heart set on a few key factors. And one was that I wanted it to be accessible for inner cities youth and families. So, I wanted it to be within 30 minute drive from Minneapolis and St. Paul. In addition, it needed to be a minimum acreage that I could have large animals on, horses in particular. So, how could I find a property that was not developed that was 30 minutes from downtown Minneapolis? And also enough acreage that could have large animals, but I could also afford. Because typically when you have acreage that close in, it's a very high price.
So, looking for those properties we sought out, and we looked at several, and there was a property that I knew of that was for sale. And they had several developers who were eyeing it, but [00:11:00] luckily those development plans fell through. And one thing led to another and we were able to negotiate a price with the owner and sell our house in Minneapolis and move there.
And it worked out perfectly. And perhaps you can call that fate, you could call it universal energy, God, whatever your beliefs are, but it really fell in place perfectly. And there’s no doubt in my mind that we're exactly where we need to be.
Christa Hein: So, that's a really big personal commitment to sell your home to make this happen. I just want to ask, what was that conversation like, and were there moments where you thought, what are we doing selling our house to start this dream?
Bonnie Laabs: I think for me it was a lot easier than my husband, to be totally honest. I grew up on a farm, so I pretty much knew what I was getting into. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but also very rewarding. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and so as a city kid, he was not [00:12:00] necessarily ready for what we were about to experience.
But because he is such a trooper and really believes in me and my passion for education, he said, “Okay, let's do it.” And he really jumped in with both feet. So, it's very drastic difference between the two of us, but it's really working out great.
Christa Hein: That is amazing. So, then you built your farm programs on this new property, and it's less than six acres. And I think this is such an important piece for listeners because so many people feel limited by land or money. When people hear the word farm, they often picture something much larger.
How have you had to think differently or creatively because of the size of your land?
Bonnie Laabs: First off, I think that six acres is a perfect size for us. It's large enough that about half of it is pasture for our horses to graze, and the other half is the homestead, the buildings. Our garden itself is actually pretty [00:13:00] large. It's a third of an acre, about 12,000 square feet. So, for the size of our property, we have a very large garden.
I have seen friends in other states who have started educational programs on two acres even, and they have similar challenges, but I have seen it done very nicely. So, I think that the big key is being able to support your animals and which animals you're going to have. And if you don't have enough pasture space for animals to graze, what that would look like, how you would feed them. But really it comes down to the acreage for the animal unit, if that makes sense.
Christa Hein: Yeah. Are there things that you couldn't do, and you wanted to because of the size? And then how did you think about that balance between what you wanted and what the land could actually support?
Bonnie Laabs: In some ways, I would love to be able to have more animals that we could breed and reproduce like a traditional farm. That is [00:14:00] not an option, because we want to be good stewards of our land and our animals. So, we don't want to have more animals on the space than we can accommodate. So, being able to breed animals is not an option for us.
So, a lot of times what we do is we partner with other farmers. For example, there's a dairy farmer that we partner with, and in the spring he will sell us a bull calf. And then we will have a bottle baby throughout the summer that the kids can experience.And then in the fall we move the cow to a beef farm where they can finish growing and serve out their purpose that way, because it becomes too large for us to have cattle on our property.
We also do not have tillable acres. Of course we have the garden, but nothing that's tillable in the sense of being able to have grain or crops.
So, it's a little bit different, but in a way it's actually inspiring, too because part of our mission is being able to teach people how to grow with limited [00:15:00] space and limited water. Because that's where our world is headed in a lot of ways.
Christa Hein: Yeah, it's a really practical model that you're demonstrating for people.
Bonnie Laabs: Yes, and that's exactly what we're hoping for, is bringing in the permaculture, how things go together, how you can maximize your homestead space, and be creative in growing. Whether it's adding hydroponics, vertical growing, adding herbs into your landscaping, or fruit trees, et cetera. But really being able to use all of your space and use it effectively.
Christa Hein: Nice. So, I want to get into the day-to-day reality of the farm. Your name, WEE, wellness and education for everyone. That word everyone feels very intentional. Who specifically are you trying to reach and what does accessibility actually look like in practice on your farm?
Bonnie Laabs: When we think of everyone, we think of everyone. So, all ages, all backgrounds, all cultures. We want to be inclusive [00:16:00] of everyone in our community. And that can be hard sometimes to accommodate a wide range because there's some people that have really strong opinions about that. We create a safe space and then allow the animals to do the rest.
And that's how we look at it every day, is that we don't always know who's coming to the farm, but our job is to prepare the space, prepare the animals, and then let the rest naturally happen.
Christa Hein: Beautiful.
Bonnie Laabs: We have made sure that our farm is accessible for people that may have disabilities. And so, a lot of things are on the main floor. Making sure that we, not necessarily have paths, but that there's smooth areas that people can get to if they're in a wheelchair.
Having a handicapped accessible bathroom. And then we even have a golf cart, so if we have someone with limited mobility issues, we can offer to visit the animals on a golf cart. And we have had a few people who have taken us up on that and it works really great.
Christa Hein: [00:17:00] So, can you tell us about the types of programs that you're running right now? Maybe paint a picture of what someone might experience or what their options are to come out to the farm.
Bonnie Laabs: Sure. Our most popular is our summer camps. We have several different camps for kids ages three to 14. And we have Nature Adventure. We have Nature Explore. We have our most popular which is our Little Vet Camp where kids can learn and experience how to do a vet checkup and see what veterinarians do. Then we have some specialty camps that I've created the curriculum for, such as our FBI Mystery Spy, where we are solving CSI, which is Critter Scene Investigation. We're solving crimes that are based on farm forensics. Hoof marks, bite marks, hair - using forensics to solve mysteries on the farm.
And then we also have farm foodies where we are allowing the kids to go in the garden harvest [00:18:00] and prepare lunch together. So, they're getting a full farm to table experience. And then we have a Farm-to-Fabric and Fashion where we explore how clothes are created from fibers all the way up to fabric. And then doing some fashion design there.
So, all really interesting camps. We also have Sunday strolls, which is more geared towards families, where you can come out and do a basic tour and visit all the animals. And then of course, we're building into more of our farm-to-table multicultural cooking classes, food preservation.
And our therapeutic piece. I am being certified in equine gestalt coaching, so I'll be able to offer equine programs where they are equine assisted, so I'll be partnering with my horses. And then we have another program called HeART and Animals. So, it's capital A-R-T in the heart and that [00:19:00] incorporates a mindful art project as well as a visit with the animals. So, it's really great for overall wellness and mental health.
Christa Hein: Those are amazing offerings. The vet program, the fiber program, the CSI - what creative curriculum you have. And you personally have developed this curriculum, is that right?
Bonnie Laabs: Yes.
Christa Hein: So, do you have different trauma informed curriculum that you use, or do you just modify the curriculum that you have based on the group that you're working with?
Bonnie Laabs: Most of the educational activities can be modified to include more of a trauma informed lens. The programs that are equine assisted or the HeART and Animals definitely are geared more towards working through traumas with people helping with healing. But any of our programs can be easily [00:20:00] adapted because they have that nature and animal connection, which promotes healing across the board.
Christa Hein: Yeah. So, who's doing all this work with you? Is it just you and your husband? You have a team, volunteers? What does your staffing look like?
Bonnie Laabs: We are finally blessed to be able to offer some staffing. So, we have a garden coordinator this year who is in charge of planning all of our garden programs, and we have some part-time staff that help with camps. Some are teachers that are off for the summer. Some are older youth and college age kids that have gone through camp and are now coming back to help us.
We have a couple of girls actually, who are doing our work to lease program that they help us on the farm, and exchange their work hours to lease our horses for 4-H. So, they help us with different things.
And then we also have space. We want the farm to be used as a community farm. [00:21:00] So, if there's someone out there that has a program, perhaps goat yoga or paint and sip that they want to bring their program to the farm, then we have space for that. And we work with people to be able to provide that space for them because we don't want to do it all, and we can't do it all either. But we have a really great space that other people can bring their programs here to make a difference for our community.
Christa Hein: Oh, that's great. Partnerships are so important.
I want to ask a little bit more about your animals. So, you have horses, mini donkeys, pigs, goats, hens, some tortoises. Now with the horses, it seems like the horses especially are really close to your heart right now. For people who aren't familiar, can you break down what equine facilitation actually is and why horses specifically are such a powerful tool?
Bonnie Laabs: Absolutely. Equine assisted would be partnering with my horses. [00:22:00] And sometimes I hear people say, oh, I'm going to use my horses. And we try not to say the language used. We prefer to say partner with because the horses have such a unique talent in doing the work.
And so, some of it is just being a large animal and having them in the space with the human and doing different obstacles with them that builds leadership and confidence. Some of it though, horses have a natural ability to read and tone energy. So, they vibrate at around 500 hertz which is near serenity. And when we come in their energy field, a lot of times we're vibrating much lower.
And so, they will tune into the areas in our body, the chakras that are lower vibrating, and they will try to raise the vibration. Similar to if you're in a choir and someone is singing off key; you would want to get them back on the pitch. And so that’s, kind of, what the horses do, [00:23:00] too. They sense that low vibration and lift it. It's pretty cool science behind that.
Christa Hein: Wow. And then you mentioned a certification that you're working towards, what is that?
Bonnie Laabs: Yes. There's two pieces to it. The first is the equine facilitation, which is the team building exercises with partnering with the horses. I have completed that already.
The second piece to that is the equine gestalt coaching, which is more a therapeutic experience working with clients to look at trauma and unfinished business and be able to bring it to the present to reshape it and provide healing around the experience. So, I'm very excited about both of those. Both really powerful experiences and both of those trainings come from Touched by a Horse. Melisa Pearce provides that training and she is world renowned.
Christa Hein: Wow. That sounds amazing. So, another unique part of your farm is the multicultural [00:24:00] garden. Can you tell us about that? What was the vision behind it and what does it look like for visitors to see different cultures represented?
Bonnie Laabs: Absolutely. So, I have a saying that I came up with where race, status, gender, culture can divide us; it's our need for food and the earth that provides that, that reunites us. We all need to survive, and water, too, but what better way to learn about each other than through eating?
I love to eat and most people do. And a lot of times it's a little scary, uncomfortable to ask people about their culture. But when it comes to sharing your favorite recipe, then it's a whole different conversation. And I also, growing up, we grew cucumbers and tomatoes, very traditional Midwestern gardening. And as I moved to the Twin Cities and started meeting more people from a diverse community, learned that not [00:25:00] everybody eats the same thing.
And so, part of that was digging in deep and finding well, what do you eat and how do you prepare it? How do you preserve it? And what are those recipes? And then again, going back to the culture of sharing grandma's favorite secret salsa recipe. And the stories that go with those recipes, being able to celebrate the harvest together.
And so, that's what we're really aiming for in our garden, is planting for a diverse community, teaching people how to grow for a diverse community, and finding out what different cultures are looking for different produce. What they're looking for, whether it's bok choy or lemongrass, and then bringing in people from different cultures to be able to provide those cooking and food preservation courses.
So, we have a kimchi course this summer. We have a salsa course where we're going to be canning the salsa, so making it and canning it. And then we have a couple other courses, too. We have a fry [00:26:00] bread course with our outdoor oven that we can make different things with. And I'm sure there's more I'm just not thinking of right now. But that is the idea behind it, is to be able to learn about each other through our common interest in food.
Christa Hein: And then are you doing these food courses in your own home kitchen, or is there another cooking space there on the farm that you use?
Bonnie Laabs: We have a cottage kitchen permit, so, we can provide cooking through that. So, it's a small space. And then we have an outdoor wood fire oven that we can utilize, too. So, it's been pretty fun.
Christa Hein: So, on the farm you've built education, therapy, community, and you're continuing to grow it. I want to ask about your sustainability and growth. So, you started as a nonprofit donation-based model. What have you learned about making something like that sustainable?
Bonnie Laabs: For us, the nonprofit made sense because I am [00:27:00] really good at being able to write for grants. And so, a lot of the grants that we've gotten have been directly supporting the Multicultural Learning Garden. Some of them are smaller as far as we just got a grant from the Academy of Dermatology to put in a shade pavilion. And we got a couple of corporate grants to be able to clean our trees and our woods because we have quite a few invasive trees that need to come down.
So, writing for grants is primarily our budget. It primarily fills our budget, but then we also have more large donors, and we're moving into more corporate funding, which helps us to really be able to reach a wider community.
And then of course, we charge for camps and tours and whatnot. But we also have scholarships, too, because we want it to be accessible for everyone. So, we don't want money to be the reason why someone can't experience the farm.
Christa Hein: Yeah, is [00:28:00] the land also in the nonprofit or is the organization of WEE Farm the nonprofit, but your land is still privately owned?
Bonnie Laabs: So, technically how we have it set up is the land is owned by my husband and I as our personal investment, and the nonprofit is residing on our land.
Christa Hein: Got it. That makes perfect sense. Thank you for clearing that up.
So, you're also starting to train additional educators so you can step more into the therapy side. What does that transition look like for you personally?
Bonnie Laabs: It is exciting and a little nerve wracking at the same time. Because of course I need to be able to give up control, and be able to trust the process, and trust that things will work out. That it might not be done exactly the way I see it in my head but still trusting that, again, a safe space with animals that do their thing will continue to meet the needs of people.
So, it's been fun, but it's been a shift, [00:29:00] too.
Christa Hein: I always like to ask people's advice for others who are thinking of starting this work or maybe growing their work. For educators or community leaders listening who might be thinking about using animals and agriculture and what they do, what's the one thing that you wish someone might've told you before you got started?
Bonnie Laabs: I think the most beneficial lesson that we've learned over the last four years is the power of networking and really being able to make those connections. To get out, to find different people in different areas that can help us. It was slow going at first, but now we're really building this strong network, and I can pretty much call anyone at any time and either they know the answer or they know someone else who will know the answer.
And so having that network is really important. I would definitely tell anyone who's looking at expanding to bring [00:30:00] on those experts on your board, or get them involved in volunteering, but build your network as far and wide as you can, because that's the most supportive thing you can do.
Christa Hein: So, if someone is sitting on just a couple of acres right now and thinks that's not enough to build a real farm education program, what would you tell them?
Bonnie Laabs: I would tell them you would be really surprised what you could do with a couple of acres and to think about it as, not a deficit in acreage, but as a unique situation of what can I bring in that will fit? Will it be bees? Is it maybe teaching people how to grow creatively with limited space by putting in vertical growing systems or hydroponics, or even a deep winter greenhouse depending on where you're headed and what animals can you have if you're not able to have cattle.
Like we're not able to have cattle or livestock, but we could have one here or there, bottle baby until they outgrow [00:31:00] our space. And then the smaller animals that we have, actually end up being treasures. So, tortoises are not traditional farm animals, but they are highlights of our farm because they are able to bring such a variety to what our visitors experience. So, definitely do not see limited acreage as a deficit. It's a unique opportunity.
Christa Hein: Oh, that's always such great advice. So, where is WEE Farm headed? What does the next chapter look like and what are you most excited about?
Bonnie Laabs: I will finish my equine certification in June. And so being able to start seeing clients and have groups for the gestalt coaching. And then also continuing to bring in other community members with their programming to utilize the space. Our Multicultural Garden is growing rapidly and bringing in more community people to share their recipes to share in the [00:32:00] harvest, more educational programs.
And right now, I'm still teaching full-time during the day, but I would suspect that within a year I will be able to transition to being home on the farm full time. So that'll be really exciting for us, too. Overall, I see that we will really be a community center for providing that healing and wellness in a lot of different ways and touching a lot of different lives.
Christa Hein: Nice. So, where can people learn more about your work online or get in touch with you?
Bonnie Laabs: Our website is weefarm.org. We're also on Facebook and Instagram and X.
So, look us up and follow along. And I'm happy to try to answer questions if anyone has any burning questions.
Christa Hein: Awesome. Bonnie, this has been such a great conversation. What stands out to me is how intentionally you've taken what you saw in the classroom, and you built a space where those needs can be [00:33:00] met in such a direct way through farm education. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Bonnie Laabs: Absolutely. Thank you again for having me.
Christa Hein: Yes. To our listeners, if you've ever felt like you don't have enough land or enough resources, I hope this conversation expands what feels possible for you. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow, leave a review, and share it with someone who's dreaming about starting their own farm education program.
Until next time, keep teaching, keep growing, and finding new ways to help connect people with the farm.
Christa Hein: Hey farm educators, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Before you go, I've got something special for you. If you're ready to build a farm education program that people are excited to book, grab my free guide, Five Simple Steps to Growing an In Demand Farm Education Program. It's packed with the same steps I used to grow my own farm education business.
It'll help you get noticed, attract clients, and make an [00:34:00] impact. Just head over to www.farmeducatorsroadmap.com/fivesimplesteps to get your free copy. It's quick, easy, and will make your programs irresistible. I can't wait to see what you create. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode.
