Peachtree Farm and Why It Is Important

Construction begins this summer for the integrative and inclusive Peachtree Farm. Peachtree Farm will serve as a community initiative to provide high-ranking jobs for adults with disabilities and service opportunities for the Peachtree community.

Founder Mike Twiner has been involved with the Georgia special needs community for nearly 20 years as his daughter, Qwen Twiner, has special needs. Twiner has worked with several special needs charities throughout Georgia, and even chaired the Special Olympics of Georgia.

Twiner reflected on the concerns of all parents with disabled children: “What is our child going to do when they graduate from high school that’s productive and meaningful? Where are they going to live that’s safe [where I can feel comfortable with leaving them]? Who’s going to take care of them when I’m gone?”

In order to alleviate these concerns and build hope and better connections in the Peachtree community, Twiner created Peachtree Farm as “a result of that need [and] a community effort to solve these three problems.” These valid concerns are what inspired Peachtree Farm to provide high-ranking jobs for adults with disabilities, and on-site homes with caregivers who will ensure the health of the disabled employees.

The farm will also be a beacon of unity and provide community volunteers with the opportunity to serve and interact with adults who have disabilities.

With hopes for improved interactions between abled and disabled individuals, Twiner believes “the more you interact with people with special needs, the more comfortable you’ll both feel around each other.”

Looking back at the grand scope of mistreatment and oppression of adults with disabilities over the past 60 years, there has been a plethora of initiatives to ensure the abled can gain a better understanding of disabled people (and vice-versa). For instance, family shows such as Sesame Street have been long known for educating all people on the importance of comprehensive discussions revolving around disabilities. Specifically, their See Amazing in All Children initiative introduced an autistic four-year old girl, Julia.

Efforts such as this capture the genuine essence of how important it is to communicate and form relationships with people in the disabled community. To ensure these healthy connections are made, “The Peachtree Farm’s operations will be led by adults with disabilities,” Twiner said.

For the community, Peachtree Farm will also employ adults without disabilities and local high school students “so that they can learn how to work,” he continued, “and [we’ll] teach them what a job is.”

Construction for the farm begins this summer, and Twiner affirmed that, “all the funds necessary are in the bank to complete the Phase One greenhouse, so we’re going to start construction with all necessary assets in place.”

However, Peachtree Farm will still need help from local sponsors as they continue their development.

The first phase of Peachtree Farm will be a 120-foot greenhouse, along with bee apiaries that will pollinate produce and vegetation around the farm. Their apiaries will also serve as a public art project, where local artists will be able to come and paint bee boxes that will be displayed at the apiary. They also project to have a commercial kitchen, office building, warehouse, 15 residential houses for the adults with disabilities, a barn, a service dog training area and a farm animal area.

Sustainable Crops

As a viable part of their greenhouses, Peachtree Farm aims to produce approximately 28,000 lbs. / 14 tons of tomatoes per greenhouse, year-round, along with several other plants that will be sold at their on-site farm stand.

Peachtree Farm’s primary means of producing their tomatoes will be through hydroponic farming and automatic fertilization. Hydroponic farming is truly what will allow the Peachtree Farm to stand apart from their competitors, as their greenhouses allow them to avoid artificial ripening during the winter months.

Twiner’s son, Joe Twiner remarked, “hydroponic tomatoes are on the vine until they’re picked and sold, and so they taste like fresh summer tomatoes in January.”

The greenhouse will hold 72 grow stations, and the grow station is a “bato bucket,” a large plastic tub full of percolate, a lightweight grow material that the plant roots will grow in. With the help of timed lights, the tomatoes will be automatically fertilized, and water will be applied to them on a regular basis.

Following the fertilization process, Twiner highlighted that “it’s [all] a closed system so we’re not wasting any water, [and] we’re not wasting any nutrients.”

“Everything on this farm will be for sale,” he added.

In addition, the rest of the greenhouse and outdoor space will be used for community gardens and outdoor crops, such as shrubbery, oak trees, Japanese maples and other commercially viable crops.

With issues such as climate change on the rise, Peachtree Farm recognizes that the U.S. agricultural emissions totaled up to roughly 629 million metric tons in recent years. To reduce their carbon footprint, Peachtree Farm is exclusive to local restaurants and aims to have only local partners once their greenhouses are up and running.

“We are the ultimate greenhouse. We produce food with a very low carbon footprint,” Twiner said. “There’s no electricity being used, other than for the lights, but all of our products are being recycled [and] put back into the environment.”

The Future of Peachtree Farm

During Phase One of development, they will build small 3- and 4-bedroom cottages with enough room for two adults with disabilities and a caretaker, or three adults with disabilities who may need minor support. “We hope to create 10 jobs for adults with disabilities, and a lot more after that. Our staff will mostly be one full-time employee and community volunteers that will aid with all other aspects of the farm,” Twiner added.

He finally expressed the need for community involvement. “Without the [help of] the community, this project won’t be successful, and so we’ll need volunteers to help with all aspects of the farm.”

In the next two years, Peachtree Farm is projected to be self-sustaining and contain completed greenhouses, residential homes for employees and an office building, along with a full-time staff. It will accomplish all of this while upholding its role as an establishment built for integration and inclusion for all.

Go to peachtreefarm.org to learn more about the farm and how you can help it achieve its mission.