The Ferncliff Farmstead exemplifies Ferncliff’s belief that caring for the earth is a form of worship. Environmental stewardship plays an important part of our mission to welcome people into a life of caring for Creation, others and themselves.

The area consists of a raised bed garden (the Garden of Reuse, where the beds are made from largely up-cycled materials), a plot for row crops (the Garden of Eatin’), a composting center, animal pens, an array of fruit trees and bushes, and an outdoor structure for groups to gather to learn.

The Farmstead is an educational space where guests, campers, and preschoolers can interact with farm animals, learn about where food comes from, and get their hands dirty! The gardens and our animals offer visitors a meaningful experience through the work, the play, and the awe. Our youth camps and nature preschool offer activities in the Farmstead which connect them to the earth, their food sources, and a greater understanding of the interconnected web of existence of which we are a part.

In the busy summer months at Ferncliff, produce and eggs from the Farmstead make their way to the dining hall to serve campers, and compostable food scraps from the dining hall are returned to the farmstead to create new soil to use in the gardens!

We have a wonderful array of furry and feathered friends at the Farmstead!

Maybelle and Minnie Pearl are our miniature donkeys. They came to live at Ferncliff in 2017. Maybelle is approximately 16 years old, and she is mother to Minnie Pearl, who is about 14 years old. They love being brushed, rolling around in the dirt, and getting carrot treats.

The goats are Chuckie (the larger brown Nubian goat) and Tom & Jerry (the black and white Pygmy goats). Chuckie has been at Ferncliff since April 2019. Chuckie is known as a little bit of a troublemaker and escape artist. Given the chance, he will bust out of his pen and go into the DAC, inside a work vehicle, into the garden for a snack, on top of a picnic table… wherever he wants to go! Tom & Jerry joined the farmstead in February 2023. They are easygoing and sweet. Fun fact: Tom was once featured on THV11 to promote the Perryville Goat Festival!

The sheep are BJ and Bart. BJ is the larger “woolier” guy, and Bart is the smaller and “hairier” of the two. They are both Katahdin sheep, which is a hair breed – that means they shed their winter coats and we don’t have to shear them! BJ is like a big friendly dog; he loves attention and treats. Bart is a little more reserved and you can often find him away from the other guys, doing his own thing. Bart is recognizable by his classic head tilt pose!

There are nine chickens in the coop. They were delivered to Ferncliff as chicks in spring 2023 and they initially lived inside as they grew up. Now they enjoy living in the farmstead and providing us with eggs! They are Buff Orpingtons, and they look too similar to one another for us to name them!

The chickens live with one rooster, the only male bird in the bunch. He can be spotted by his prominent red comb on the top of his head, as well as his loud voice! That loud voice gives him his name, Russell… as in Russell Crow… get it?

If you live in the area and would like to assist with farmstead chores on a regular basis, we’d love to welcome you into our fleet of helpers! We ask that these volunteers commit to a routine schedule (either weekly or every other week) and attend an onsite training. Contact emily@ferncliff.org for more info.