We own and operate Rumbleway Farm, a 62 acre certified organic farm located in Cecil County, Maryland. The stone house and barn of post and beam design were built by Scotch-Irish settlers in the 1800's. The farmstead boasts a fifteen foot deep icehouse, the original milk house and an existing cistern well system.
The land was last farmed in the 1960's by a dairy farmer. We moved here in 1992 and have been restoring the buildings and working toward sustainable agriculture ever since. The chicken house has been completely rebuilt from the existing foundation. Other projects include re-pointing the stone work, clearing the pond, fencing, and additions to the barn and milk house.
Our first venture was custom meat from beef cows and pigs, and hay grass. We spent the next few years increasing our family size.
In 1997 we branched out into chickens raised on grass in moveable shelters similar to what Joel Salatin was doing in Virginia. We added turkeys and rabbits shortly after that.
In 1998 we installed an on-sight processing area which was expanded in 2000. In 2002 a certified kitchen was added and the processing area was enclosed.
In 1999 we applied for and were granted organic certification by the USDA and the State of Maryland. Dinner at the Farm and our yearly Farm Day started in 2000.
In 2009 we started having cooking classes in the winter to further utilize our kitchen.
We felt it was important to keep our farm as close to the original intent as possible. Read below about how we raise our animals.
Chickens and Turkeys
Baby chicks and turkeys arrive from the hatchery by US mail at 2-3 days old. They are raised in the chicken house for the first three weeks and then are placed out on pasture. It takes about 10 weeks to raise chickens to a market size of 5-6 pounds. It takes any where from 18-20 weeks to raise a turkey to 18-22 pounds dressed weight. We start receiving chicks in March and finish our last processing in October. Turkeys usually arrive in July and August and are ready for Thanksgiving.
Beef Cows
The cows spend their days grazing on lush grasses and vegetation. We are currently mob grazing and the cows are on the move everyday to great new grass. The cows are supplemented with alfalfa hay in the winter. They are bred once a year and the calves are born in the spring. All of this happens right here on the farm. The calves are weaned from their mothers in the early fall. We sell two year old steers for meat. The steers are transported to a USDA certified processing facility. We then sell the meat in our farm store.
Rabbits
Rabbits are raised on our farm and they have litters 1-2 times per year
