Where inclusion, art, and ecology meet
Lonely Worm Farm is a Hudson Valley care farm where adults with physical and intellectual disabilities can connect with nature and each other, learn about regenerative agriculture, obtain job training, and express themselves through the arts. We foster an inclusive environment where everyone can grow, learn, work and play–and share their skills and insights with the general public.
A Very Brief History
As families across the United States know, once children with intellectual and/or physical disabilities age out of school, the programs that have sustained them end. Parents call this transition to adulthood “the cliff.” Their children are thrown into a world in which 70-80% of adults with disabilities are unemployed; isolation, depression and poverty are common; and opportunities to make friends and develop talents and skills are few.
Believing that farms and small family businesses can help reverse this problem, Eliza and Jason Factor established Lonely Worm Farm in 2021. They envision a farm and arts operation that will offer a range of inclusive employment opportunities, as well as serve as a destination for folks looking for a wheel chair accessible orchard, a drop in weaving workshop, or simply the chance to pet a goat and connect with nature.
In partnership with The Arc Greater Hudson Valley, Lonely Worm Farm’s weekly volunteer program began in 2022 and has been expanding ever since. In 2023, we began our job training program and in 2024, our paid staff included people with disabilities. In 2025, we joined with In Flight’s ISAIL program to offer a rich array of farm and arts activities Monday through Friday throughout the year.
The garden is a conversation that spans season after season, forward and back, with all beings that emerge within it. It has evolved specifically in the last five years from horse pasture to a diversified food forest with an intention to recognize and note the land’s ancestral lineage under the care of the Munsee Lenape people. The land is currently tended towards nurturing those that participate with it, the human and more-than-human world, by way of offering food and a sense of belonging, even if just for a walk around. The garden features many wheelchair accessible paths that guide folks through the keystones of the garden, which include a willow/stump circle, community-built garden boxes, a living labrynth, hills of perennials, no-till garden beds, a polyculture forest, a hand-dug pond, art installations, greenhouses, etc. The garden invites every body with the intention that all might understand, in their own way, the interconnection of a place teaming with life.
WORKSHOPS,CLASSES, & EVENTS
Lonely Worm Farm’s workshops and classes are designed to be flexible and inclusive. Teaching is individually tailored to build skills, deepen conceptual understanding, and provide job training. Classes are led by instructors trained in that particular discipline. Individuals of ALL abilities are welcome. We work with school groups, senior centers, disability groups and the general public.
AGRICULTURE:
Our agricultural classes teach earth friendly farm skills, wild food and herb identification, bouquet making, and the basic principles of ecology. Come for a nature walk, stay for a harvesting session!
ART
Our arts classes are aimed at self expression, community collaboration, experimentation, and awareness and respect for materials. One-on-one, group, or private lessons welcome!
THE KITCHEN
In our cooking and herbalism workshops, participants work with farm-fresh ingredients to make healthy and delicious dishes, while our herbalism classes explore their healing and medicinal properties. We make teas, tinctures, cordials, salves, lotions, and more!
Learn more & engage with Lonely Worm Farm
Check out the Wayward Utopias: Farm, Fiction & Friends Substack page (we love how what they shared about the 2026 Care Farming Network National Conference!)
Explore their website