Down on THE FARM

BY VALERIE HARDY | PHOTOS BY 726 VISUALS

She may have grown up in Chicago, but Cindy LaRocca has always been a farm girl at heart. From the age of 3, she told her parents that she “needed to live on a farm” and regularly asked them to get her farm animals as pets. LaRocca often rescued ill or injured animals (skunks, possums, rabbits) and nurtured them back to health.

Her passion for animals led to jobs at horse farms and dude ranches and volunteer work at veterinarian offices, but LaRocca spent the past 30 years working in early childhood edu- cation. She owns a preschool and prioritizes celebrating animals within the curriculum. However, recently, she turned her longstanding belief

When LaRocca, owner and operating manager of Honey Bee Gardens Farm, first saw the property, it had been abandoned for five years and was pretty run down, but she fell in love and told her fiancé Tom she wanted to buy it. His initial reaction: “Are you out of your mind?” that there was a way to incorporate farming and education into a tangible reality: Honey Bee Gardens Farm in unincorporated Downers Grove (8405 Kearney Road).

However, he supported LaRocca’s dream of turning it into a working farm to share with the community, and the couple purchased the property in October 2018 then got married on the grounds in August 2019. After significant rehabilitation, Honey Bee Gardens Farm is now in its second fully operational season.

While the LaRoccas live at the farm, it is open to the public two days per week (Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.) June – October. LaRocca said the farm is a “place where children and families from all over Chicagoland can come experience that back-to-nature feeling.”

Visitors can paddle boat, canoe, or fish (all catch and release) on the farm’s lake. They can also walk in the creek and see crawfish, snails, and tadpoles.

Additionally, Honey Bee Gardens houses various kid-friendly animals –most of which were rescued – including a full-sized horse, miniature horses, llama, goats, sheep, and chickens, said barnyard manager Kelly Wygonski. On Farm Fun Fridays, for $10, children may participate in various activities and “always leave with something pretty awesome, like dinosaur eggs, fairy wands, or painted rocks,” LaRocca said. On Saturdays, for $30 for up to five people, the Buzz Around the Barnyard program allows guests to see the farm’s 12 beehives in action and learn how vegetables grow, where eggs come from, and how turtles line up on logs to bask in the sun.

The Barnyard Basics class helps children learn about the farm’s animals, how they benefit the environment, and how to care for them. “There is a lot of interest from the kids…but picking up poop seems to be a favorite!” LaRocca said.

Adult visitors enjoy programming like the recent pickle-making workshop or the beekeeping classes run at the farm by the president of the Cook/DuPage Bee Association.

While the farm’s Honey Bee House was originally intended to be the farm’s educational center, the whole farm has served as “a big, outdoor classroom [and has hosted numerous] homeschool, scout, and other groups,” LaRocca said. Such groups often utilize the farm’s agricultural dig pit and gem-mining table.

The Honey Bee House enhances the farm’s charm. It accommodates up to 45 people and is available for private events. A three-hour rental costs $500, which includes access to many of the farm’s features at flexible morning, evening, and weekend times.

At the Farm Market, patrons can purchase seasonal vegetables, freshcut flowers, farm-fresh eggs, honey harvested onsite twice a year, and more. The farm’s agricultural manager, Kevin Chiarappa, explained that the farm uses a high-intensity succession planting approach in order to yield the most food per square foot. Chiarappa described himself and his colleagues at the farm as “new-age pioneers” and said community members wishing to try their hand at growing their own food have a built-in support system at Honey Bee Gardens. ■

DIANE GLASS Chicago