“Thank you for this food. This food. This wonderful, glorious food. And the animals. And the vegetables. And the minerals that make it possible.”
I remember entering the dining hall during the fourth week of our very first summer of camp, and the echoing voices of 70+ young people singing grace struck me in a new light. We had sung these words weekly since the beginning of staff training, and yet the reverence they were expressing struck me deeply.
Our summer camp hosts campers ranging from ages 5-18, many of whom experience there a sustainable farm for the first time. Thinking back to my childhood, I felt a twang of jealousy for how much earlier they will understand how their food is grown and for the potential influence that knowledge may have throughout their formative years.
At age 23, I found my voice through advocating for a regenerative, healthy food system. What will these youth do with their voices at just 16, 11, or 6 years of age?
Our aim at Bellwether Farm is to equip children and adults to become informed, inspired, and empowered leaders for a sustainable future.
Throughout the summer, campers engage in both “traditional” camp activities, such as canoeing, fishing and cooking dinner over a fire. They also partake in stewardship-focused activities such as animal care, harvesting salad greens for dinner, cooking lessons and being part of our compost system by taking food scraps to our lovable forest-raised pigs.
As a lifelong camper and lover of all things farming, I am continually awestruck by the brave and honest learnings of our young people, who are often willing to ask the tough questions I’ve seen many adults struggle to address:
Written by: Amy Melena, Program Director
“If we can grow lettuce here, why does the grocery store sell it from California?”
“This doesn’t taste like the other carrots I’m used to. These taste GOOD. Why?”
“Wait, these pigs are where bacon comes from?”
The magic of the farm doesn’t end with the last week of camp. We have enjoyed the company of countless school field trips, retreat and conference groups, and enthusiastic volunteers, eager to get their hands dirty and help us weed, collect eggs and hold the baby goats.
We are continually getting to share our love of beekeeping, compost, soil health, local food systems and a deep reverence for God’s amazing creation, day in and day out.
Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of our work, though, is watching people’s personal transformations as they begin to ask, “How can I take this home with me? Where do I start?”
Our work lies in planting both physical and spiritual seeds and trusting that God will help them take root.
The Farm
This land has been farmed for more than 100 years, providing dairy cow and Morgan horse pasture, selective and clear-cut logging, and crops of soy, wheat and corn. Now it welcomes a new era of farm activity that revolves around organic and regenerative practices, both contemporary and ancient. Bellwether Farm provides a replicable model of farming and food production, embracing the highest standards of environmental stewardship. A centerpiece program is our teaching kitchen that focuses on locally sourced food, seasonal eating and healthy nutrition.
The soils of Bellwether Farm produce a range of fruits and vegetables and provide grazing crops to nourish farm animals. With an integrative farm plan, we produce healthy food for our educational and camp programs. By participating in farm life, visitors, campers and retreatants will experience the physical and spiritual rewards of digging deep and getting dirty.
Ecosystems
Nestled at the heart of the Vermilion River Watershed, our land is dynamically shaped by water: upland forest and prairie habitats dominate the non-cultivated natural areas of the Eastern acreage, while the West of Bellwether Farm descends to recreational fields, edge habitats, floodplain forests, a pond, wetlands and riparian corridors with vernal pools.
The diversity fosters tremendous biodiversity and hosts:
· Over 250 species of herbaceous plants, with several being rare or threatened in the state of Ohio
· More than 40 species of shrubs and trees, and 50 acres of mature woodland
· Many dozens of migratory birds, plus many residents from turkeys to chickadees to bald eagles
· Amazing native animals such as treefrogs, coyotes, beavers and deer
We see this land as a gift and our presence here as a membership in a beloved ecological community. We strive to care for and steward this land in a way that conserves, protects and bolsters the integrity and biodiversity of it.
Grounded in an ecological spirituality, we at Bellwether Farm seek to care for the earth, welcome guests and make decisions that reflect an ongoing awareness of both our responsibility and our joy in living in harmony with all that is. We study, pray, live in community and work within a framework that strives to honor the sacred dimension of creation.