Our eldest Little Farmer, makes & sells farm soaps & flowers.
A family farm in Hershey, PA, dedicated to education, regenerative agriculture and edible landscaping coaching, permaculture, heritage breed conservation, community & seasonal farm products.
12/28/2025
Desperate times call for desperate measures…
The flu hit 3/4 of us the past 4 days and today is the first day I’ve managed to get out of bed for longer than 2 hours at a time.
A Just Juice PA Medicine Bomb and Liquid Gold wellness shot is just what the doctor ordered.
We’re closed today, but luckily, I know the owner 😜
Stop in this week if the germs are getting you too…flood your body with healthy, fresh ingredients to boost that immune system!
Medicine Bomb: (served warm, or can take ingredients to go and make at home!)
Peach and Mint tea
Ginger
Coconut water
Lemon
Local raw honey
Liquid Gold:
Turmeric
Ginger
Lemon
Black pepper
12/26/2025
We’re taking a moment to say thank you ❤️
As we wrap up our Fall Decor ♻️ Collection and celebrate our 12th year, we are so grateful to everyone who showed up, shared our mission, went out of their way to donate 🎃🌽, and helped us continue connecting people to their land and the importance of community collaboration and healthy soil.
Thank you for another year of support!
Wishing you and yours a joyful holiday season, and looking ahead with excitement to all that’s ahead in 2026.
Despite their reputation for being aggressive, geese can make an excellent backyard flock — it’s a matter of choosing the right breed and starting small with goslings.
12/09/2025
We love this reminder from The Livestock Conservancy about why heritage geese matter.
Heritage breeds carry the genetics, hardiness, and history that modern commercial lines have often lost — and keeping them on working farms is one of the best ways to ensure they don’t disappear.
Here at Rock Hill Heritage Farm, we’re proud to steward several of these breeds, including our Sebastopol, American Buff, and Toulouse Dewlap geese. Each one brings its own story, temperament, and beauty to the landscape — and each plays a role in preserving agricultural biodiversity for the next generation.
If you’re curious about heritage geese or want to learn more about conservation breeding, check out the Livestock Conservancy’s work and explore why these rare breeds deserve a place in America’s future as much as in its past.
Did you know geese were among the earliest poultry to be domesticated? Swan geese in China began this journey over 7000 years ago, while Greylag geese in southeastern Europe and Egypt followed about 5000 years ago. They laid the groundwork for the diverse varieties we see today. Follow us for more facts about Heritage Geese in American History this month.
How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon? ~Dr. Seuss
Artist, Joe Gilronan
11/29/2025
🍂 Just a friendly reminder — we’re still collecting! 🍁
If you have straw bales, corn, pumpkins (non-painted/untreated), gourds, or other fall décor, feel free to drop them off at the farm gate anytime.
Your donations do so much good — they become healthy treats for the animals, compost for the soil, and valuable inputs for our regenerative farming practices.
Together, we’re keeping these items out of landfills and putting them back into the land and community. 🌱♻️
A huge thank you to everyone who remembers us each year — hard to believe we’re celebrating 12 years of this community tradition!
11/25/2025
"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing
that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
11/23/2025
11/23/2025
Sage 🌿 (Salvia officinals): The Herb of Thanksgiving...
Ever wonder why we put sage in stuffing? 🦃
Today we understand that sage is an antibacterial herb. Our ancestors also knew that to ensure food safety, it was best to add an abundance of sage to the stuffing or 'belly pudding' and rub the bird inside and out with salt before filling the cavity (where we know today bacteria is most likely to form). Scientific studies can now help us understand why many of our 'classic flavor combinations', demonstrate that our ancestors knew a great deal about preserving food, food quality and health - leading to the old adage that 'The cook is half a physician'.
Sage is also synonymous with wisdom. In fact, it might be said that many an 'old sage' gained her wisdom from the use of sage. "As far back as 1597, herbalist John Gerard wrote that sage was 'singularly good for the head and brain and quickeneth the nerves and memory.' Half a century later, Nicholas Culpeper, claimed the herb 'heals the memory, warming and quickening the senses".
The Latin name for Sage is Salvia which translates to "Life"...so add some life to your holiday foods this season with Salvia officinalis or our common perennial garden sage!
*I also love to make cornmeal, apricot, sage cookies (recipe in comments) and a pot of sage tea to ring in the beginning of the cold season. What is your favorite way to use sage?
Happy Thanksgiving week from The Heirloom Gardener - John Forti
Sage Woodcut with handwritten notes- Leonhart Fuchs Herbal 1501–1566
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I spent my childhood in suburbia, gardening with my mom and growing vegetables and roses. She instilled in me the desire to have fresh food, and I took that inspiration with me into adulthood. When I had children of my own, I wanted to provide fresh and healthy food for my family. At that time, as a vegan and a new mom, I was horrified by the pollution of the commercial agricultural industry, and the impact it had on our health and environment.
Wanting to garden with my own kids, and with the support of my favorite Auntie, I began experimenting and learning how to incorporate edible landscaping, natives, and other sustainable principles into our lives. We lived in the city, at first in a townhouse, where I used containers to grow herbs and lettuce, then in a home on less than a quarter acre. At this house, I made our entire backyard edible: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries (of all different sizes and varieties), cranberries, herbs, and raised beds of vegetables.
As the kids grew, we took them to visit all different kinds of farms. We were avid attendees of the annual Farm Show in Harrisburg, learning about all different breeds of animals. When it came time to sell our city house, we looked for a year to find land. We knew we wanted to bring so much of what we had learned to our next property, on whatever scale we could manage. In 2012, we found a small agricultural conservation property in Hershey, PA, that had been owned by a Vocational Ag teacher. It was a smaller footprint than I had imagined, but it had a great number of plantings in place, including grapes and berries.
We bought guinea hens and chickens, and started to add to, and rehab, the property and the house. I began to learn about regenerative agriculture, working with nature and utilizing permaculture principles. I didn’t want to support commercial agriculture practices; I wanted to grow as much of our own food as possible. The kids began to explore 4H, which led to rabbits, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs and sheep joining us on our farm.
We spent years going to Mother Earth News Fairs and any other learning opportunity we could, supporting our kids in whatever they wanted to pursue. My daughter fell in love with baking, flowers, herbs, soap making, and gardening, my son with a variety of animals, but mostly anything that required tools and equipment. Between the two, they developed a wide range of knowledge and skills.
My love for history and farming has led to travel, research and learning about our culture’s history in farming and agriculture. I traveled to the beautiful state of Virginia to complete a Permaculture Design Certification, learning and meeting some lovely people and farmers and bringing home much inspiration to share.
I have spent years seeking an education I never had the opportunity to receive growing up in a suburban environment. Agriculture was not in the curriculum. In my research, I have learned farms were once part of every city – vital, functional, and important parts of all communities. Until the 1940s, there were no grocery stores, everyone had their own chickens, gardens, etc. I genuinely think we evolved out of healthy personal and community practices… in the name of “progress”.
Ironically, our previous generations lived much more sustainably and healthily than we do, even with so many of today’s technological and commercial “advances.” Talk to your grandparents about farms – find out about your own farming family history!
In a world filled with technology and screen time, there is so much to gain by getting outside. This is my favorite way to spend time with my kids; following whatever sparks their interest and subsequently learning, working with them, and supporting their independent projects.
I continue to learn, fail, improve, implement, fail more, and keep on learning. I went from making the most of a city property as a vegan to adopting regenerative and permaculture principles on our small farm. I have seen and felt the profound positive impact that comes from getting outside, getting your hands dirty, and living as sustainably as you can on whatever scale you can. I’ve experienced how it can affect your health, both mentally and physically.
I have been blessed with wonderful neighbors, farmers, friends, teachers and mentors on my journey. My page is intended to share, inspire, collaborate within schools and the community, educate, and expose anyone who is interested to permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable living on any scale. Hopefully, you can learn from my successes as well as my failures, and discover for yourself a path to a healthy, sustainable life.
I do not bake, I am not a perfect parent, person, or farmer, but I love to learn, to laugh at myself, and support others. Above all… I want to inspire, to encourage, to help anyone I can get outside and get your hands in the dirt, for yourself, your kids, your family, your community, and the planet.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Get your hands dirty and keep your hearts full. Blessings to you and yours!
