Organic Farming

When we were first presented with the opportunity to buy Raven Rocks, what we knew was the gorgeous ravines and woodlands. As we became more familiar with the property, we realized there was so much more. It had a rich history of community and agriculture. Those were gone, but the imprint was still there. Our ‘gang’ had diverse interests, but we were all interested in making the best use of the property, whether it was preserving and restoring the woodlands or restoring the worn-out farmlands so that they could once again provide food and livelihood and a possible community setting.

Ted Cope had a particular interest in farming. He was concerned with conventional farmland tillage practices which inevitably caused topsoil loss. Production of Christmas trees and rotational grazing, as recommended by Joel Salatin, were two ways we used to help restore the soil. In winter, cattle were kept in the barn for a short time. It became apparent that pasturing in winter was healthier. We even gave up on making hay with year around grazing practices, moving animals to undisturbed pasture during wet or snow-covered times. We tried to emulate mob grazing as the buffalo experienced on the range before human grazing management.

Starting out with a few cows, Ted eventually increased the herd size and became certified organic in 2001. We started selling beef and vegetable products at the Worthington Farmers Market.

In 2008, Raven Rocks received a Family Farm Conservation Award from the Belmont Soil & Water Conservation District. Part of the acceptance speech included the following paragraph:

“We found ourselves in this stream or web of life. It became apparent that Raven Rocks was not an isolated place but dependent on surrounding areas and our wider world for its survival. With individuals giving time in the production, harvest and selling of Christmas trees we have been able to include more watershed areas and scenic ravines so that the tract is now over 1200 acres.”

After practicing organic farming at Raven Rocks for 50 years, we stopped raising beef cattle and selling eggs from organic pasture raised chickens in the fall of 2022. This is due to the age of the people involved. We still have organic gardens and are strongly committed to the organic philosophy which we have used for raising Christmas trees as well as for food and other land resources.