The Farmer
John Wood is an Amesville, Ohio native. He is the farm manager, fence mender, tractor operator, chainsaw wielder, vegetable picker, and weed puller. In short he grows the food start to finish.
In addition to Homecoming Farm, John has worked on organic farms in Ohio, Florida and New Zealand. He holds a degree in Environmental Education and Outdoor Leadership Studies from Warren Wilson College. John has worked as a wilderness educator and guide in North Carolina, Utah, Canada, and the Everglades of Florida.
When he's not farming, you can find him in his wood shop turning bowls on the lathe or building furniture from local, sustainably harvested wood. You can check out his work here.
John Wood is an Amesville, Ohio native. He is the farm manager, fence mender, tractor operator, chainsaw wielder, vegetable picker, and weed puller. In short he grows the food start to finish.
In addition to Homecoming Farm, John has worked on organic farms in Ohio, Florida and New Zealand. He holds a degree in Environmental Education and Outdoor Leadership Studies from Warren Wilson College. John has worked as a wilderness educator and guide in North Carolina, Utah, Canada, and the Everglades of Florida.
When he's not farming, you can find him in his wood shop turning bowls on the lathe or building furniture from local, sustainably harvested wood. You can check out his work here.
The Family
John gets a lot of help from his parents George and Marcia.
Marcia Burchby is a retired kindergarten teacher and long-time gardener. Other than managing the flower growing operation, her responsibilities include talking John and George out of hair-brained ideas.
George Wood is a semi-retired principal and superintendent. On the farm his roles include developing infrastructure and managing the pastures. He is our chief mushroom hunter, deer chaser, horseman, and bass angler. He reminds us that there is more to do around here than just farming.
John also gets some help from his wife, Katelyn who is a librarian. And not to be forgotten, the best pest management and farm patrol team around, their two dogs Birdie and Bruce.
The History
Homecoming Farm is located on 110 acres just outside of Amesville in Athens County, Ohio. The land was purchased by the Wood Burchby family in 1993. The land had been overworked for many years and then neglected. Lots of labor has gone into pushing back the brush to reclaim land for farming and also into improving the quality of the woods and wildlife habitat.
In 2010, John started developing Homecoming Farm by planting an apple orchard. After much weeding, manure hauling, and building, I 2005 we started offering our products to the public.
Homecoming Farm is located on 110 acres just outside of Amesville in Athens County, Ohio. The land was purchased by the Wood Burchby family in 1993. The land had been overworked for many years and then neglected. Lots of labor has gone into pushing back the brush to reclaim land for farming and also into improving the quality of the woods and wildlife habitat.
In 2010, John started developing Homecoming Farm by planting an apple orchard. After much weeding, manure hauling, and building, I 2005 we started offering our products to the public.
The Name
Homecoming Farm's name was inspired by the works of agriculturist and author Wes Jackson:
“What we must think about is an agriculture with a human face. We must give standing to the new pioneers, the homecomers bent on the most important work for the next century -- a massive salvage operation to save the vulnerable but necessary pieces of nature and culture and to keep the good and artful examples before us. It is time for a new breed of artists to enter front and center, for the point of art, after all, is to connect. This is the homecomer I have in mind: the scientist, the accountant who converses with nature, a true artist devoted to the building of agriculture and culture to match the scenery presented to those first European eyes.”
― Wes Jackson, Becoming Native to This Place
Homecoming Farm's name was inspired by the works of agriculturist and author Wes Jackson:
“What we must think about is an agriculture with a human face. We must give standing to the new pioneers, the homecomers bent on the most important work for the next century -- a massive salvage operation to save the vulnerable but necessary pieces of nature and culture and to keep the good and artful examples before us. It is time for a new breed of artists to enter front and center, for the point of art, after all, is to connect. This is the homecomer I have in mind: the scientist, the accountant who converses with nature, a true artist devoted to the building of agriculture and culture to match the scenery presented to those first European eyes.”
― Wes Jackson, Becoming Native to This Place
