Our Home Site
Co-Habitate is an agriculture education center and homestead in Highlands, North Carolina, dedicated to fostering sustainable living, regenerative farming, and community engagement. Nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Co-Habitate serves as a hands-on learning hub where visitors can explore organic gardening, permaculture, and traditional homesteading skills. Through workshops, farm-to-table initiatives, and ecological restoration projects, the center empowers individuals to cultivate a deeper connection to the land and their food sources. With a commitment to environmental stewardship and self-sufficiency, Co-Habitate creates a space for collaboration, education, and innovation in sustainable agriculture.
Sonya’s Story
Sonya is a dedicated gardener, farmer, and naturalist. She loves and respects the interactions she has with the other species with whom she shares this world.
As a young child, explorations of the natural world were one of Sonya's first passions. This affinity to the natural world led Sonya to study forest ecology in college. Her long-term goal had always been to live in the mountains of North Carolina. In the 23 years she has lived in the region, she has been enamored with the richly diverse ecosystem of the Highlands Plateau. During this time, Sonya has deepened her knowledge of her adopted homeland and shared this knowledge with others.
Sonya worked with the Highlands Biological Station as the Executive Director of their non-profit arm, the Highlands Biological Foundation. In this capacity, she developed educational programs for all ages, designed the annual lecture series to increase science literacy, started an afterschool program, gave numerous talks to other local organizations, and helped to build and design a habitat garden filled with thousands of native plants.
Canty's Story
Canty, an Alabama native, is also an enthusiastic gardener, naturalist, and farmer. With a lifelong love for nature, he combines his skills and expertise to promote experiential learning by sharing his knowledge and excitement for nature to inspire others to nurture their relationships with the environment, cultivate healthy practices, and improve well-being through hands-on engagement with the earth.
Canty has a lifelong and deep connection with the community of Highlands, its people, and its natural wonders. Over the years, Canty has become increasingly involved with community projects that bring him into partnerships with other community organizations like libraries, greenways, community service centers, schools, and land trusts. For Canty, this type of community-supported engagement is especially important.
Canty believes that everyone has a part to play, and through the vision of Co-habitate, we come together to walk the path.
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.