Livestock hold the key for area cheesemakers
While driving through Chester County, it's hard to miss the cows, sheep and goats grazing on scenic farms, but many people may not realize those animals also provide milk for a growing local cheesemaking industry. "There is a vibrant local community of farmers — whether it's cow farmers, or goat farmers, or grape farmers, and I hope people will come support local farmers because it's a very challenging undertaking," added Al Renzi of Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs.read more

Happy Trails - Cheesemakers look for success on the yellow brick road
Local cheesemakers are taking a page from the Brandywine Valley winemakers’ book to partner up and promote their product as a region. Pennsylvania currently has 70 wineries connected along 11 wine trails, including the Brandywine Valley, each welcoming visitors to tour their grape vineyards and taste their merlots and then travel down the road and do it all over again at a competitor’s farm. With wine trails so successful, Yellow Springs Farm owners Al and Catherine Renzi got to thinking: Hey, let’s try that, too. read more

Save Energy, Reap Rewards
You manuever the controls on your thermostat, hoping for a few more degrees of warmth. But wait! What if there were a reward for leaving the setting right where it is - or, better yet, for lowering it? What if putting up with a little chill got you a price break on a butter pound cake split three ways and filled with lemon curd and blackberry and raspberry puree - the hopelessly tantalizing spring torte from Bredenbeck's Bakery in Chestnut Hill? Or maybe a $10 coupon for native plants or artisanal goat-milk cheeses at Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs? Or a bed-and-breakfast package at the Four Seasons Hotel in Center City? read more

Native Plants - Editorial
Gardening without birds and butterflies is sort of like dancing without music. That's why, as the shadows slowly stretch and lengthen, I exercise prudence in cleaning up my fading beds and borders. I resist removing the dried seed heads of purple coneflowers, Joe Pye Weed, and perennial sunflower. I fill up my birdbaths with fresh, clean water. And I'm read more

Going Native - Native Plants for Gardens and Meadows
Since 1974, summer visitors to the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford have been met with a profusion of seasonal color. Butterfly yellow flowers called sunset drops (Oenothera fruitcosa) bon on stems with pointed leaves. Spiky clusters of orange, red and yellow blossoms provide a read more

Chester County Charm - Growing Native Plants at Yellow Springs Farm
Salamander studies in the springhouse. Nubian goats in the front field and an array of native plants are a few of the pleasures I found one hot August day at Yellow Springs Farm. Owners Catherine and Al Renzi are dedicated conservationists and together they are pursuing thier passions on eight acres in read more

Solar tour features powerful choices
Homeowners considering buying a solar power system will have an opportunity to speak with those who have already done so. Inside the Gordon area are an assortment of wildflowers, shrubs and trees. The university worked with Yellow Springs Farm Native Plant Nursery, located in Yellow Springs, north of Exton, to choose native Pennsylvanian plants for the area that would attract a cross section of wildlife. read more

Al and Catherine Renzi’s family farm appeals to landscape DIYers and low-maintenance greens-keepers alike. Pick out red oak trees, winterberry bushes, blooming phlox, aster and more East Coast natives, then bring them home and plant them yourself. Better yet, hire Renzi’s crew to turn your high-­maintenance sod into an indigenous meadow
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The gentle hills and green meadows of Yellow Springs Farm (YSF) in Chester Springs were once the home of a thriving dairy cow herd. Today, proprietors Al and Catherine Renzi raise and sell environmentally-friendly native plants and tend a small dairy goat herd, a vineyard and honeybee hives. Solar panels augment their electricity needs and add to the local power grid. This is definitely not your grandpa's dairy farm!
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From the Farm
February is not my favorite month of the year. I try to focus on love for Valentine’s Day, leadership for Presidents Day, new beginnings for Chinese New Year, and revelry for Mardi Gras, but somehow all these occasions are tainted by the large rodent who makes the news each year in Punxsutawney, PA. He announced six more weeks of winter. Even if he predicts four more weeks of winter, rarely the case, it is still more winter than I care for. By now, the wood stove is less charming, my winter clothes feel itchy, my boots are too heavy, my fingers and lips are chapped, and my friends and family are tired of me apologizing for being grumpy. Laughing aloud, listening to good music, and moisturizing creams help the weeks pass. If you love this weather, I envy you, but let’s talk about it some June day when I am happily working the soil.read more

From the Farm
Countless project deadlines loom in order to beat winter weather, daily goat chores continue to set the rhythm as daylight shortens, and deferred home maintenance calls for my attention with broken door knobs, cluttered closets, and dust bunnies hiding in many corners. I could work on these necessary unexciting tasks, but instead I prefer to focus on a new cheese recipe to try, and researching goat pedigrees forever hoping to improve bloodlines along with good temperament and milk production.read more

May Bird Walks at YSF
Vincent Smith of Valley Forge Audubon Society led two bird walks at Yellow Springs Farm in May. Both Sunday mornings were good days for birders. Many thanks to Vince and Sharon Burke for sharing their knowledge and good company. read more

Real Time Research at the Farm
Yellow Springs Farm is committed to the advancement of scientific research related to native plant communities and their importance and interactions in our environment.We are currently collaborating with the University of Delaware to study insect preference and visitation rates for native plant species versus their genetically modified counterparts. Native plants that are genetically modified or cultivated exhibit different traits versus the native species, such as extended bloom time, modified colors and/or height variations.We will keep you updated on our findings. read more