Backyards of Key West Podcast with Mark Baratto 204: #204 – Key West’s Children’s Animal Farm with Farmer Jeanne Selander
In this episode, Mark Baratto sits down with Farmer Jeanne Selander to talk about how the animal farm started, how it impacts the community, and Farmer Jeanne’s love for all animals.
More on the Children’s Animal Farm
Website: https://www.keysso.net/farmFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeysAnimalFarm/
The Animal Farm is open, free of charge, the second and fourth Sunday of each month from 1 to 3 pm. Community and school groups may schedule special tours at the farm. (Please note: private tours for the general public are not available).
For more information, call (305) 293-7300 or email Farmer Jeanne Selander at jselander@keysso.net
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Children’s Animal Farm is located on the grounds of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Stock Island Detention Center, at 5501 College Road in Key West. (The Sheriff’s Office Headquarters building and a State Department of Juvenile Justice holding facility are also located in the same complex.)
The farm was started in 1994 in an open area underneath the jail facility. The Stock Island Detention Center was built to withstand a Category Five Hurricane, and is built on stilts, about 11 feet above the ground. Underneath the building is employee parking, and a secure fenced area used for the evacuation of inmates in the case of a fire. It was in this evacuation area, initially a graveled area not used for anything else, that the farm was started.