MARION – “Mum’s” the word at High Tunnel Poultry & Farm.
The family operation, halfway between Bucyrus and Marion, is brimming with fall’s favorite flower. Thousands of nine-inch pots and more than 60 varieties, all grown and potted this year in three “high tunnel” greenhouses starting back in June.
“Mums are the big push now,” said Beth Ricketts, who runs the nursery and farm with her husband, Andy.
“Fall’s a great time to get trees in the ground too. We grow them ourselves and we pick things that grow well for our zone here, for the Ohio climate.”
High Tunnel Poultry & Farm, 1739 Morral Kirkpatrick Road East, has always been a nursery and landscape business, offering a variety of perennials, trees, shrubs, and even produce throughout the year, including grapes grown from their own arbors.
But the longtime business – formerly Ricketts Nursery – has in the last few years branched out into a livestock operation. They started with a few chickens “to make the farm something more,” Ricketts said, then added grass-fed beef and hogs on the 10-acre pasture.
The push, she said, is to rotationally graze the livestock in order to benefit the herd – and the land.
“We try to keep the cattle on the limit they can manage and the same with the hogs. We just try to keep the numbers manageable. All of our animals are farm raised with loving care.”
The business, which changed its name in 2017, was founded by Andy Ricketts’ parents, Al and Jan Ricketts, as a nursery more than 40 years ago. Now, Andy and Beth’s three children – Evan, Bryce, and Miranda – all pitch in with day-to-day farm chores.
Spring and fall are typically ideal planting times, Ricketts said, since the plants and their root systems are not as “stressed.” “We try to keep the stock here as to what actually flourishes well here and does well.
We propagate and grow ourselves as well.”
In addition to selling produce at their farm, the Ricketts family also hauls their fruits and vegetables – homegrown blackberries, tomatoes, peppers, and squash, to name a few – to the farmer’s market in Caledonia on Saturdays during the growing season.
“Our produce is raised chemical free and our soil fertilized organically, thanks to the animals,” Ricketts said. “We are now dedicated to feeding our family as much as we can from the farm.”
The farm, she said, draws most of its customers from Marion and Crawford counties. It is open from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sunday.