A Visit to Cornerstone Ranch
February 7, 2020
Hello, it is Lily McCutcheon and I am back again with another garden visit. This time I had the opportunity to visit the 40+ acres right on the edge of Mckinney and Fairview that make up Cornerstone Ranch. Cornerstone is a group home for adults with intellectual and physical disabilities that provides care for both full-time live-in residents and for members of their day program. I had the privilege of walking their winter gardens with Executive Director David Heaton and was able to learn more about how the garden is put to use and how the ranchers get involved.
One of the foundations of which the Cornerstone Ranch mission is built upon is that of the importance of agriculture through organic gardening and therapeutic animal care. The Cornerstone Ranch garden has always been a key factor in the daily life for all ranchers because of the activities and skills grown within the garden. After receiving a grant in 2015 from the Seed Project Foundation, Cornerstone Ranch was able to help grow the garden from the organic compost, dirt, fencing, and seeds that were supplied by the grant. Through these purchases, Cornerstone was able to help further enrich the development of skills cultivated within the garden and create a greater space for learning.
Within the garden, the ranchers plant everything from carrots to basil, and jicama to sunflowers, with all of their harvest’s being put to use. The produce grown is used in a variety of different ways, whether it’s in a cooking class on the ranch, supplying produce for the Harvest Auction dinner, or selling flowers and produce at the Mckinney Farmers Market, it is made sure that everything is utilized.
The full-time ranchers and those apart of the day program have weekly gardening classes where they can help out by tending to the gardening in whatever way is needed. In their classes, they also learn about different kinds of nutritious fruits and vegetables and why it is important to eat a healthy diet. Similarly, through tending the garden, the ranchers are able to learn valuable lessons of caring for a plant and aiding it in the growing process from seed into adulthood, as it also relates to the Christian values instilled into the ranchers daily. Ranchers spend time in time in the gardens sitting and harvesting the crops or working on projects during the day as it is a sanctuary of peace.
The garden is also home to more uncommon types of plants as well, including the cut herbs used for Chamomile Tea and the luffas that are grown to make luffa soap. Outside of the garden, Cornerstone also has alpacas that live on the ranch which are shaven every 4-6 months, so that their fur can be used as yarn. Once the yarn is collected, ranchers crochet together hats and scarves that are donated to those in need or sold in the Cornerstone Ranch store.
Everything on the ranch is apart of a farm-to-table process and contributes to Cornerstone values of a healthy lifestyle. The Cornerstone garden serves as a fundamental activity on the ranch as it is home to so many learning opportunities for life skills to be developed. Volunteers are welcome to come help out in the gardens, among other activities at the ranch, at organized group work events where you are sure to be greeted with many enthusiastic high-fives and smiles from everyone around you. As for me, after visiting Cornerstone for the first time, I look forward to the next time I get to go back and help out around the garden with my new made friends!