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Twelve Stone Farm & Horse Rescue

Twelve Stone Farm is a 100 acre horse farm nestled in the foothills of the North Georgia mountain's, about one hour's drive north of Atlanta.

When you enter the farm, lush pastures with beautiful horses surround you, and a peace that defies explanation permeates your body. There are rolling hills, with abundant grass lands and beautiful vistas of the mountain's, wooded areas, a lake and flowing streams.

By the lake, there is a pavilion, where concerts are held, and a fire pit for bonfires and conversation, or roasting hot dogs and s'mores.

On a high hill, overlooking the entire farm is the chapel, made of cob construction (hay, sand, straw) that offers the farm visitor a most tranquil place to meditate and connect with Nature and the Inner Self.

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About Us

ABOUT US

Our Farm
Our Farm Steward
Our Family

Our Farm

The Farm

Twelve Stone Farm and Twelve Stone Ministries, Inc., provide a sanctuary where people can come into Nature, find "The God of Their Understanding" and, through this interaction, find healing from the inside out.To assist in this endeavor, we use Equine (Horse) Facilitated Learning, Family Oriented Musical Concerts, Retreats, Conferences, Workshops, and Seminars, as well as other experiential learning modalities to bring Balance, Healing, and Peace to each participant.At Twelve Stone Farm, we rescue neglected, abused, unwanted and retired horses. After proper rehabilitation, these horses help at risk and high-risk children and youth to examine their behavior; to modify their lifestyles from destructive of themselves and others to a life of cooperation and contribution in healthy interaction with themselves, family and the community.Currently, we care and provide for up to 40 horses at a time. Most of our horses come to us after being abused or neglected. Some are old and unwanted. We offer all those in our herd, the care and security, dignity and love that they deserve.

Our Farm Steward

Jerilyn Flowers

I believe that there is no coincidence for me being at the farm.I was at a point where I was recreating my life. After much prayer, contemplation and visulization I knew and pictured my ideal life. Once I had a clear picture, it wasn't two weeks later that I met someone at the Mother's Day PowWow in Canton who told me about Chiquita and Twelve Stone Farm. At the time, I didn't put much thought in it but a week later a close friend suggested, out of the blue, that I check out the Twelve Stone Farm website. I sent an email introducing myself and met with Chiquita's daughters, Elaine and Ellen.Next thing I knew, I was coming around a curve heading towards the farm, I stopped and was immediately struck with my vision, exactly how I pictured it. All I could do was cry, I was home. Twelve Stone Farm fits into my personal beliefs and philosophy of Self Less Service and brings with it the rewards and knowledge that I am doing things for the greater good. As a 100% volunteer I live modestly in my RV and give all that I am to further the realization that we are one with the earth and her inhabitants. I share this knowledge with all I meet.I bring years of experience to the overall running of the farm from many years of service as well as being the Operations Director at ENOTA Spiritual Retreat Center and also as a Camp Counselor at High Meadows. Other skills enable me to do just about anything I put my mind to and I have a workshop full of Big Boy toys (tools) that some men would love to get there hands on.The beauty of this farm drives me to keep the good of all in my minds eye and vision and gives me the strength each day to carry on for the next. The farm creates an opportunity and community for all who share in the beauty and vision that this little piece of heaven on earth provides.I am deeply grateful and honored to be a part of this farm and have the opportunity to Co-create Sanctuary with all the family, friends, Scout Groups, volunteers and visitors who visit & love Twelve Stone Farm as much as I do!

Our Family

The Berry Family

Page being updated ....Statement from the Berry family and carrying on the Vision and mission that Chiquita started ... the farm today.

How You Can Help No Frame

Help spread the Word about Twelve Stone Farm ....

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Volunteer

Twelve Stone Farm is 100% volunteer run and primarily funded organization. We rely on volunteers and contributions to care and maintain our horses and the grounds they call home.Your help and support is needed and welcome. With our current herd of 20 horses and 100 acres of land and pastures to maintain we are in constant need of individuals or groups to help us keep the grounds looking beautiful and our horses healthy. Horse care & other activities may have special requirements when it comes to being with and caring for them, so please feel free to call if you have any questions.Click here to find out more ...

Sponsor a Horse

We have many horses that are elder, have medical conditions, as well as the general care of our horse population. Your help in sponsoring a horse offsets the costs needed for medications, veterinary and farrier services and their overall health and wellbeing.Click here to find out more & Sponsor A Horse...

Donate

Twelve Stone Farm is a certified 501(c)3 and your donation is tax deductible. Donations can be made via PayPal and mail. In Addition, contributions can also be made by purchasing specific items for our horses on the Buy An Item page or from our Wish List. Click here to Donate...

with Family, Friends, Corporations, Church Groups and Youth Organizations.

Volunteer

Some ways you can Volunteer at Twelve Stone Farm...Grounds and Sanctuary:Mowing, Gardening, Weed Whacking, Fence Repair are a few of the ways you can help us maintain the living environment for our horses and maintain the tranquil spaces of this farm. Horse Care:Horse care & other activities include grooming, assisting on farrier day, feeding, training and just giving them some love and attention.Other Areas:FundraisingGrant Writing Special ProjectsEventsNewslettersIf you are interested in helping with horses, please call. There are special requirements when it comes to caring for or being in the pastures with our horses. Community Service for High Students, Youth and Church Groups are welcome. Volunteers younger than 16 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or designated adult and all volunteers must sign a Volunteer Waiver.If you believe you have skills and talents that we may not have thought of… give us a call or send an email. We would be happy to discuss the possibilities.

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Sponsor a Horse

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Sponsor a Horse

We have many horses that are elder, have medical conditions, as well as our young and healthy horses needing general daily care. With Horse Sponsorship, you help offset the costs needed for medications, veterinary and farrier service and the overall health and wellbeing of our herd by providing supplies, medication, treatment and grain.It costs $1,720 per year for a healthy horse to be cared for at the farm. The cost is substantially higher for the sick and elder horses that take daily medications and are under Veterinary care. Farrier service alone runs $35 per horse every 6 weeks. Being a not-for-profit, the unexpected costs for Emergency care can have a huge impact on our ability to fulfill our mission and care for these magnificent animals.Some of our horses have conditions that require daily medications such as Phenylbutazone (bute) , used for pain and inflamation. Other horses require antibiotics and cancer medications.If you can help by making a monthly commitment in sponsoring a Horse, you will make a big difference in the life of one of our special friends.If you are unable to make a monthly commitment at this time, please consider making a general donation. See the Donate page for details.
Click here to find out more about Horse Sponsorship, view pictures and read about the horses looking for sponsors ....

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Donate

Donations

Gifts
Buy Supplies
Wish List

Gifts

Gifts & Funding

Donate

Twelve Stone Farm is a not-for-profit organization recognized as exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Twelve Stone Farm are deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.As a 100% Volunteer organization, your contributions are used in the care, upkeep and maintenance of the farm and the horses we rescue.We want to say how deeply grateful we, and all of the horses that we care for here are for all of your generous donations of time, effort and money! We would have a hard time doing this work without you. Words cannot express our appreciation for each and everyone of you!Contributions, in any amount, can be made through PayPal or by mailing a check/money order payable to Twelve Stone Farm.Types of Contributions include general donations, reoccuring contributions, In Memorium as well as Buy Supplies and Wish List contributions.Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to make special arrangements.

Buy Supplies

Buy Supplies or Services

You can also donate by purchasing from the below list or our Wish List for additional items we are in need of. All donations are processed through Paypal or you can mail a check directly to us. Please note: These items will not be shipped directly to you. De-Wormer _ $2.50 eachFura-Zone Wound Balm _ $10.00Bag of Grain _ $13.00 eachEquine Senior Feed _$15.00 per BagFarrier Service _ $30.00 per horseSalt/Mineral Block _ $7.00 each(50 lb Block)

SWAT Fly Ointment

_ $12.00 per tube

Fly Spray 32oz.

_ $21.00 per bottle

Bannix Anti-Fungus

Treatment (Rain Rot)

_ $25.00 per bottle

Buy Now

Wish List

Donate

You can help Twelve Stone Farm by donating a Gift-In-Kind such as horse feed, tools and equipment, office supplies and more...CURRENT NEEDS WISH LIST:Double ended snapsFly SprayHalters – breakaway – all sizes including draftLead ropesVETERINARY SUPPLIES & MEDICATIONSAntibiotics (SMZ, Naxcel, PPG)Betadine SolutionPhenylbutazone (Bute)DewormerGauze PadsNeedles and SyringesSatin Star cotton sheetingTriple Antiobiotic ointmentSunscreen Vet WrapBUILDING MATERIALSBoards for FencingFence PostsT-PostsDeLog Wood Siding (Tongue and Groove)White Rock Driveway MaterialFARM SUPPLIES Water PumpEQUIPMENTFarm Use Vehicle (Compact car)Transmission for Scott LawnmowerBobcatMid-Size Tractor with front end loader & Back HoeZero Turn Large Deck MowerWindmillBUILDINGSBath House3-6 Stall Barn with Tack RoomCovered ArenaBuilding materials for central electric & well house stationGive us a call or send us an Email if you have any questions or feel you may have something that would be of use to Twelve Stone Farm that may not be listed.

In the Press

In The Press

Interview
Book Excerpt
Newspaper

Interview

A Thanksgiving Interview with Chiquita Berry of The Twelve Stone Farm by Mary DavisThose of us who do the work of the Mythic Imagination Institute recently held a day-long retreat at a farm owned by a remarkable woman, Chiquita Berry, a friend of our M.I.I. staff member, Sheri Kling.As we visited the top-of-the-hill ceremonial kiva-like structure Chiquita and a friend built; as we overlooked her lake with all its ducks and geese, quacking and honking; as we watched her horses roaming the green, rolling hills; saw and heard her pot-bellied pig, "Pork Chop" play and squeal; as we watched the fawns, "Jane Doe" and "John Deere" greet us at the gate and prance alongside our auto as though they were friendly threshold guardians; as we enjoyed the fountains and pools Chiquita built, inhabited by healthy frogs, who found their way once the pools were built; as we chopped salad makings and talked in her open kitchen; we began to get a sense of this woman. And to give thanks for her presence!And then, in our opening ceremony, Sheri sang the song she had written in honor of Chiquita's recent birthday! (Song can be heard at http://www.mythicjourneys.org/newsletter_nov05_berry.html )Seventy years for a woman who in appearance and energy seems maybe forty years old! So, of course, we were interested in her story, especially since we are a group of people who are seeking to find within our own stories, within our journeys, the connections to the Big Stories; the interactions and the play among our personal stories, our personal myths, and the Big Ones!So, here goes Chiquita's story!Mary: Chiquita, how did you get to this beautiful farm? What brought you here?Chiquita: I live on a very sacred piece of Mother Earth called Twelve Stone Farm. To give some background information, my husband and I divorced in 1983 after 26 years of marriage. To support my daughter and myself, I had a business baking and decorating wedding cakes for the hotels, country clubs and large caterers in Atlanta. I also loved horses and had two which my daughter and I enjoyed riding.In 1987, my farrier (the man who puts shoes on horses) told me he had just signed a contract to buy a beautiful horse farm in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains, where he planned to breed and train horses and also run weekend trail rides. I asked if I could see it, and the next week, on his day off he took me to the farm. As we approached the farm, it took my breath away! You drive to an overlook and look across vast beautifully rolling hills and pastures, then woods, surrounded by mountains! And he said, "This is the farm!" We drove down the hill, unlocked the gate, and entered paradise!As he showed me around the farm, and we walked and talked and looked, as we got near the back of the farm...I had a Vision...I saw people wandering all over the farm, looking for God! I told my farrier he was going to do a great work here...Mary: How did you become the owner of the farm, when your friend was buying it?Chiquita:Shortly after he started buying the farm, he had some financial setbacks. He said he was going to have to sell it. I said he couldn't, his mission was too great, and that I would make half his payments to keep him from losing it. I did this for several months, and then things went from bad to worse for him. He said that I would have to sell out with him or take over the payments.There was no way I could make the huge payments by myself, and I couldn't bring myself to sell out either. I agonized over what to do. I felt God wanted this land for a Sacred Healing Place. My friend said he thought this was my mission, not his!During this time, everything in my life began to fall apart, my van, my house, my business, my beloved animals...I was about to have a nervous breakdown, when suddenly I had an epiphany. This must be the Most Important Thing I would ever do in my life, and the Dark Side was throwing everything it could at me to scare me so I would not fulfill my mission! I told God, "Win or lose, sink or swim, live or die, I will hold on until the last thread is pried from my fingers..." And suddenly everything in my life got quiet and calm, and nothing else broke down. And I had nine days to come up with the full payment!Here I was at the age of 52, facing that first payment, knowing that it was September, and that in January and February I wouldn't earn enough money to make the payments and would lose the farm. That was nineteen years ago, and I have NEVER missed or been late with a payment! So many miracles have happened during that time, and I have become an expert at "creative financing." Let me tell you, God is still in the business of creating loaves and fishes!Mary:You told me that the farm was overgrown, with all the buildings falling down when you came. Would you share that part of your story with us? How did you feel? What was the process of clearing and cleaning? How did you learn about building a lake and pools and fountains? How did you learn to use a tractor? How did you build the "kiva" and your house, doing all these things yourself?Chiquita: Now I have this huge 100 acre farm to take care of by myself. I'm almost penniless, and the farm is growing up with weeds and briers. It has one old falling down barn and one falling down shed. I have no equipment to maintain it. The fences are all falling down. It is a mess and getting worse by the day.A year or so later, I happened to be talking to a friend about the farm, and I mentioned that I really needed a tractor to mow down the weeds and tree seedlings that were growing up everywhere. She said they were selling their tractor and she agreed to sell it to me over time!This began one of the scariest times of my life! I had never been on a tractor. I got a man to help me get the tractor to the farm and teach me how to drive it. I started to mow all the weeds and briers that by this time were eight to ten feet high, and so thick I could not see the wheels. I could only see the hood of the tractor. I drove it in low gear, feeling my way along the ground, terrified that I would hit a hole or wash and turn the tractor over. I started in the level places, but soon I was having to drive on steep slopes, and it was absolutely terrifying! Over time I was able to get the whole farm cleared. I started with 95% weeds and 5% grass, and by mowing it twice a season, before the weeds went to seed, I discovered that I could eliminate the weeds and give the grass a chance to grow. Things were looking better!One day as I was working on my fences up by the road, some farmers came driving by and asked if I could use some chicken litter for my pastures. They needed to empty their chicken houses quickly and agreed to let me make payments. This allowed me to build up the soil and give the grass a real boost. Over time my pastures markedly improved, and since these same farmers also cut hay, we worked out a deal...they would fertilize my whole farm in exchange for a cutting of hay.Mary: With all of the buildings falling down, where did you stay while you were working on the farm?Chiquita: I was able to locate an old mobile home, which I had moved to the farm, so I would have a place to get out of the weather, cook food and take a bath. I placed it by the old barn where the well and power were located. Over time I made a little garden between the barn and the trailer, with a little waterfall and ponds.Mary: Were you still working in Atlanta?Chiquita: I had to build up my cake business to underwrite the huge expenses of buying the farm and making improvements, plus keeping up my home and ten acres where I lived. I didn't have much of a life besides work, but I had a dream and a mission, and I was inspired by how beautiful the farm was becoming. I began to have people coming to the farm and finding peace and healing. I moved my horses to the farm, and they were so happy there.In 1995, things were steadily improving on the farm. In that August, I had my 60th birthday; in September, my ex-husband died unexpectedly, and twenty-eight days later, my father died. I then was able to collect Social Security from my husband's account, and I received a small inheritance from my father.I had developed carpal tunnel problems from all of the cake decorating, and in May of 1996, I finalized the sale of my business.Mary: When did you move to the farm?Chiquita:I had a neighbor friend who had been in house building. His wife died of cancer, his company was sold, and he lost his job. I asked him if he would consider helping me build my house. We sat down, drew a plan, and he agreed to help me. So in the Fall of 1996 into the Spring of 1997, using the money from Dad's estate, we dried in the house. That's all I could afford. I kept working on it as I could, insulating, running the water lines, and having an electrician friend connect the power after I had done all of the receptacles. My son-in-law helped me install the sheetrock, which I finished by myself.About that time, the lady who bought my business declared bankruptcy and I lost that income. I was using that money to make the land payments! I had to do something right away. Since there wasn't any reason for me to remain in the house I was living in, I decided to sell it and move to the farm. Within two weeks, it sold. This gave me the money to hire my friend to come back to the farm and help me get the flooring done. My son-in-law tiled the bath, while I installed the kitchen cabinets and appliances.My life began to fall apart again. I know when the paradigm you live in has served its purpose it falls away so a new life can come in, but while my mind understands, my heart doesn't get it. I lost five friends, two horses, almost lost my grandson, lost the income from my business, everything was breaking down and falling apart. I had to move to the farm as soon as possible.So in November, 1999, I finally got to move to the farm.Mary: We are beginning to get a sense of your daily life on the farm, as you maintain the farm and continue to build. What came next?Chiquita: When I was settled into the farm I began to work on making raised vegetable beds, more flower and water gardens, and finishing the house. I took most of the wood and tin off the old barn and had the rest torn down by a bulldozer. A couple of years later, a friend wanted to be married down by the creek with her reception up here by the house. The old shed was the last eyesore on the farm, so I decided to tear it down. I took off all that I could of the wood and tin, then got a rope and pulled the posts out from under it with my tractor. I completely dismantled it by myself with crowbar and hammer. Then I hired a company to build a new pole barn over the concrete pad. What an improvement, and in time for the wedding!Mary: Tell us about the building of the lake.Chiquita: About two months later, an old horse died on the farm. It was July, so I had to get him buried in a hurry. I to get him buried in a hurry. Iwas able to locate a man with a big bobcat to do it. When he was burying the horse we were talking, and I asked him if he knew anyone who made lakes. He said he did. I asked him to look over what I had in mind and give me a price. He did, and it was about twice what I had hoped to pay. But I felt so strongly that I was supposed to have him do it, and I felt the horse had "offered himself" to see that the lake got built, that I said it's a deal. With a handshake, he began.Mary: You built this lovely circular sacred space that feels kiva-like to me up on a hilltop. How did that happen?Chiquita: The man had just taken down the trees along the creek bed and begun to dig for the core of the dam, when a friend brought a young lady up to see the farm. She loved it and she asked if I would consider selling her an acre so she could build a cob construction (old world type of clay, sand, straw) house. I said I didn't want to sell any of the farm, but if she was wanting just to build something, I was wanting a chapel. She was thrilled and said she would love to do it. Such was the beginning of the chapel.I wanted the chapel to be circular, since I wanted a Native American Medicine Wheel embedded into the floor. We began with broken up concrete rubble and stacked it above the (rain) splash line, then hand mixed clay from the lake bed, sand, and hay from the pasture, and with our bare hands molded the entire building.We started in September, worked through the winter in cold and sometimes rain, and reached a good stopping point by April, in time to have a Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday.This wonderful young lady had met a fantastic fellow, fell deeply in love, married and moved out of town, so the chapel was mine to finish.Mary: What do you do on the farm, in addition to maintaining it? I heard that some of the animals were orphaned, and you spoke about therapeutic horse back riding. I know that the farm is also available for small group retreats, and I heard you speak a bit about shamanic retreats.Chiquita: During all this time, I had been working with at-risk children through the mentoring program in the schools. I invited them to the farm for field days, and had large groups of them running, playing, roasting wieners, having hay rides, petting horses, and being able to be free and just be kids. During one of these outings one of the mentors came up to me and asked if I had ever considered having a therapeutic riding program on the farm. I told her I would love it, and since she was a certified instructor we began a program to help mentally and physically challenged children learn to ride horses. We now have five horses and twelve children, plus some twenty volunteers involved in this program.Another instructor and I have started a series of seminars and workshops on Equine Assisted Learning where we use horses as teachers to assist people to see themselves in a non-confrontational way, facilitating them in making adjustments in how they view the 12 Stone Farm chapel on the hill in a non-confrontational way, facilitating them in making adjustments in how they view theworld, their fellow human beings, and their personal spirituality.Mary: Will you tell us more about retreats at the farm?Chiquita: Even before I moved to the farm I had been having individuals and groups here for camp outs, counseling, and retreats. Now that I am here, I have been having many more coming on a regular basis. Nearly every weekend something is scheduled.It's exciting to see what happens to a person who comes to the farm! The farm has a most peaceful feeling that pervades everything! You feel a shift in energy as soon as you turn into the driveway and make your way down the hill toward the lake and house. The deeper you get into the farm, the more peaceful you become. It's like your worries and cares stay out in the road and you come into this Special Sacred Place that soothes and protects you from the harm of the world. You can relax, and unwind, and begin to feel free to just Be.Mary: And the animals?Chiquita: Another aspect of the farm of course is the animals. At present I have twenty-eight horses on the farm. Eight are mine and the rest are boarded here. The farm has healed many of these horses that came here abused and mistreated. They have been able to relax, unwind, and become what a horse is meant to be, friendly, beautiful and flowing, spiritual and mystical. They are great teachers and companions.Also, one of the boarders works at an animal shelter, and she and I rehabilitate wild animals. She is a certified rehabilitator so she works with them until time for their release. Then, she brings them to the farm where they can find food and safety while they are acclimating to being free. At present I have about thirty ducks and geese of all sorts, two infant deer, a male I named John Deere and a female I named Jane Doe. Then, there's the pot-bellied pig I named Pork Chop. The children love them and look forward to petting them every time they come.Mary: And, Chiquita, what about you — the sources of your vision, your strength, your energy?Chiquita: Being on the farm is not all work, let me tell you. �I LOVE this place. It is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It means as much to me as my children, and I joy in the things I do here and in the people I have come here to experience the bliss.I celebrated my 70th birthday this August, and I had a wonderful party with barbecue and a live band, and lots of cherished friends and family. One of my friends, Sheri Kling, who is a singer/songwriter, even wrote a beautiful song honoring the farm and me!My oldest daughter and I make a point of going horseback riding at least once a month for an all day ride of 20 to 30 miles, fording streams, going cross-country, climbing mountains and exploring new trails.In addition to maintaining the farm, I am a docent at a Heritage Museum, and I am part of a Living History vignette in the village at the museum. I also belong to a Heritage Guild that teaches and demonstrates early pioneer skills.I have tried to give you a view of my life from the "historical" point of view, but I would be terribly remiss if I did not explain some of my philosophy of life, which is, to me: God, the Creator and Great Mystery, is everything...God is Love! And my faith and the practice of my faith is a Way of Life, not something I do for three hours on Sunday! I feel to those that much is given, much is expected; that we are given abundance to share, not to hoard. My greatest joy is sharing my farm and my life with those who respect and appreciate the value of what is here. For the purpose of my life and the farm is to be a place where people can come out into Nature and find the God of their understanding and in so doing can find healing.Mary: Will you tell us the story of your horse, "Sug" (short for "Sugar")?Chiquita: I have an old "used up" mare that I recently rescued. She is an old bony thoroughbred (race horse stock) that was raced, and even had pin firing to her legs so she couldn't feel how badly they hurt, until she couldn't race anymore. Then, they bred her and she had so many foals that her teats and vulva are all stretched and scarred. When she was too old to raise any more foals and was not a "money maker" any more, she became a throw away horse, considered not good for anything but the slaughterhouse.I use this horse, who in spite of her treatment is gentle and kind, to show how life sometimes deals us a difficult hand. I have people, principally women, handle her and connect with her emotions. I let her be a mirror to them so that they can work through their issues. Realizing that everybody comes into life with issues and pain, and that the experiencing of life is to help us realize that we can be anything we want to be because of our circumstances or in spite of our circumstances. For life in all its gore or glory is completely up to you!!!Thank you so much, Chiquita, for sharing your story and all of its lessons.Email skeetsfarm_aol.com or use our Contact Us form if you are interested in visiting Twelve Stone Farm.To Download Sheri King's song visit:http://www.sherikling.com/music-downloads-twelvestone.htmTo View the Passages interview as posted with pictures visit:http://www.mythicjourneys.org/newsletter_nov05_berry.html

Book Excerpt

The Spirit of the LandBy: Carl JapikseTaken From the book: "The Enchantment of Big Canoe~Bent Tree & the North Georgia Mountains" 2011 EditionHalfway through her life, Chiquita Berry was drawn to a one-hundred acre tract of land in Talking Rock. It felt as though she was in tune with the Spirit of the land-that it was part of the fabric of her very essence. So she purchased the tract, and began years of building it into the Twelve Stone Farm – a place where she celebrated the best within nature and shared it openly with others.During Chiquita’s life, as many as 40 horses lived on the lush pastureland, many of them adopted by her through a horse rescue program. She held concerts that featured local musicians, and helped Tater Patch Players stage William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream alfresco in the hot, sultry days of 2008, and the play Dracula, in October 2009. Boys and Girl Scouts alike held camp outs on the property.Chiquita lived quite modestly in a small home. She put all of her time and energy maintaining and building up the farm.The centerpiece of her improvements was an Indian “smoke lodge” modeled after the chapels built and used by the Cherokees who inhabited this region hundreds of years ago. She was intimately involved in the development of the Funk Heritage Center in Waleska, and poured her immense enthusiasm for everything native into building the shrine. Located on top of the highest hill on her property, it radiates out to one of the best panorama views of the north Georgia mountains to be found anywhere.The purpose of the farm was to provide a place where visitors could commune with “the God of their understanding.” It was designed to let people discover the divine through the beauty of nature – and the spiritual essence of the land.Chiquita never stopped learning about the inner dimensions of life, taking classes in spiritual unfoldment in her seventies.One day in April 2010, Chiquita began the day taking a 20-mile ride on horseback with friends, returned to welcome the farrier to re-shoe her horses, then dined with friends from Ireland and her daughter Ellen. She died peacefully in her sleep that night.Her children are working to keep the mission of Twelve Stone Farm active-and open for visitors to enjoy, either at an open-air concert, weddings at the chapel, or just peaceful self-renewal.For more information about Twelve Stone Farm, visit its website at 12 Stone Farm.com. **Please note the website address has since changed. For information or questions visit www.twelvestonefarm.org

Newspaper

Newspaper Articles

Battle of the Bands!

We won a local Photo Contest!

Additional Articles Coming Soon!

Gallery

Co-Creating Sanctuary

Horses

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Volunteer Days

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In Memorium Chiquita Berry

In Memorium

Greetings!It is with the saddest heart that my sister, brother and I have to report that our Mother, your friend, Chiquita Berry, passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early morning hours of Monday, April 19, 2010. She was 74 years old, and maintained the 100-acre 12 Stone Farm in Talking Rock which featured gardens, a chapel, a lake, a campground, and a pavilion —all by herself.She left behind a thriving herd of horses which includes Arabians and Quarter horses. Through them, she was able to support such diverse things as horse rescues and therapeutic riding programs. She wanted to share the beauty of her farm with everyone and hosted Boy and Girl Scout camping events, plays, concerts, weddings, group and riding events, all in her enthusiasm to share all the farm had to offer, the pavilion by the lake and the surrounding riding trail systems. The farm that she viewed as "being so very blessed to enjoy in such abundance." But that is just the part you can see. In addition to that, she was a boundless source of enthusiasm, courage, hope, strength, joy and friendship — to everyone who met her. Her "Can Do!" attitude inspired everyone. Standing roughly 5' tall, she seemed like a giant, with her daily adventures and escapades; no kidding. And she had more energy than a whole classroom of first graders, doing tasks like bush hogging 20 acres of a hilly pasture with ease, exercising 10 horses, or weed-eating all the way around her lake - in a single day — and still take all the time in the world to visit with a friend who stopped by for counsel or to visit. Her late 60's found her foot-kneading mud to build the chapel on the hill out of clay she had hauled out of the lake bed she was having constructed, and creating the vision we all enjoy that is today's 12 Stone Farm.In her "last life", Mom was a renowned cake decorator, providing custom confections throughout Atlanta — even the Governor's Inauguration. She always told us that any party was made up of "good people, good food, & a good space"Many have asked about a Memorial.Chiquita founded "12 Stone Ministries" to provide the resources to help establish — on a more permanent basis — the "wide open space to commune with nature" that was her primary vision for the farm. Those wishing to do something in Mom's honor can make a tax-deductible contribution to "12 Stone Ministries", a 501(c)(3) non-profit, through the Donate page or by mail .We thank you all for the joy and purpose you brought into her life, and the love it gave her in living her own life.Yours truly, we remain,Elaine, Paul and Ellen (Chiquita's kids)http://jasperpickenscountyga.com/rest-in-peace-chiquita-berry/

706-253-2536

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