Tucked just below Pikes Peak, a stone’s throw from the heart of Manitou Springs, lies a vibrant sanctuary of plants, bees and other animals: Flying Pig Farm. Despite the name, there are no pigs— and it’s far from a traditional farm.
This nonprofit is a community learning garden rooted in building resilience, connection, and empowerment through land-based education.
“If this place had to thrive off of my ability to grow pounds of produce and sell them, it would already be gone,” said Barak Ben-Amots, the Executive Director. “But get the community to fall in love with the place, get 3,000 children to fall in love with the place, the local school districts to buy in, the local army bases to buy in, the local groups for adults with disabilities to buy in, this place feels safe and protected.”
Flying Pig Farm spans three acres of land that, in the 1920s, served as a tree nursery for Pikes Peak National Forest, supporting reforestation efforts after logging and wildfires.
In 2014, Doug Edmundson acquired the property and partnered with local farmers to transform the site into a community farm.
Ben-Amots, a Colorado Springs native, said he discovered the farm just after college while searching for a sense of purpose. “I realized that to be caring for other lives, especially non-human lives, was a style of expression and fulfillment that I didn’t have access to, that many of us don’t have access to.”
Today, Flying Pig Farm partners with school districts, hosts homeschool groups, and collaborates with organizations serving adults with disabilities and soldiers experiencing PTSD — creating hands-on opportunities to reconnect with nature. The farm also runs a community composting program and hosts regular public events.
One of its partner organizations is Our House, a day program for adults with disabilities.
“I love it, and I know the individuals love it,” said Debbie Degear, a skills provider for Our House. “It's always exciting to see the farm on schedule.” At the farm, participants engage in a range of activities, from planting and harvesting to art projects.
“The short version of it is that we are human beings and part of the landscape and supposed to be here,” said Mel Willams, the Operations Coordinator at the farm.
At Flying Pig Farm, both humans and non-humans are lovingly referred to as the "Farmily."
“There is a special kind of bond you create with the beings you share a space with,” explains Ben-Amots. “Resilience is built from a critical mass of community who believe in a space, feel like they belong to it, and it belongs to them, and that is the model we work under.”
The name “Flying Pig" traces back to the landowner, Doug Edmundson’s childhood. As the story goes, a principal once told a young Doug that “pigs would fly before you ever become a good person.” That moment became a turning point.
“Not only did he turn his own life around for himself, but for a whole community,” said Ben-Amots. Pigs have flown.
“I like to tell that story of hope and talk about the flying pig as a magical, mythological transformation because that is what we are trying to do here,” said Ben-Amots.
For him, the most gratifying part is witnessing the change in people who experience the farm.
“We have people who come, sometimes only for two hours ever in their life, and when they arrive, they are worked up, but by the time they leave, hands full of herbs to dry at home, they are so thankful, so calm, and so connected,” Ben-Amots said.
At Flying Pig Farm, transformation takes root not just in the soil, but in the hearts of those who visit, a reminder that with care, connection, and community, even pigs can fly.
