Our Story

How we started:

Yellow Springs Farm began in 2001 in Chester County, PA. It was founded by owners Catherine & Al Renzi. The PA artisanal cheese-making facility and native plant nursery included a historic 19th-century farmhouse, dairy bank barn, and a pond with spring house. Originally a cow dairy farm over 150 years ago, the Renzi’s took care to steward the farm, plant nursery and goat dairy from 2001-21. They protected its land, water and resources from future development with a donated conservation easement.

Yellow Springs Farm LLC relocated to Talbot County, MD in 2022, where we continue our mission to teach, consult, and share expertise in all aspects of commercializing value-added products from Farm to Fork. We no longer offer retail sales of plants and cheese, or have a farm location for visitors. We work with consulting services clients in MD, PA, and DE, in person and via Zoom.

About Al and Catherine Renzi:

Prior to establishing Yellow Springs Farm in 2001 in Chester County, PA, Catherine and Al had corporate business careers. During 21 years of farming, goat animal husbandry and cheesemaking, Al and Catherine created dozens of fresh, aged and bloomy rind cheeses. Many were award winners at the American Cheese Society and PA Farm Show. A number of Yellow Springs Farm cheeses incorporated native plants from the Farm. Yellow Springs Farm also had a native landscape plant nursery featuring species beneficial for water and land conservation, including building pollinator habitat. Yellow Springs Farm connected local landscape with the local food system in many ways.

The Renzi’s were on the forefront of testing and developing food safety protocols for their cheesemaking operation.  The Renzi’s co-founded Chester County Cheese Artisans, in Pennsylvania. They worked on Best Management Practices, Marketing and Food Safety. They also raised awareness of the quality of local artisan dairy product for consumers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Yellow Springs Farm goat cheeses enjoyed distribution with Whole Foods Markets, and many specialty stores, and fine restaurants.

Catherine Renzi studied architecture and finds her training in design and art history helpful in creating gardens using native plants to provide an aesthetic appropriate to the site and characteristic of the local region. She became interested in landscape and conservation through a lifelong passion for growing food, flowers, and raising all sorts of plants and animals.

Catherine’s oil painting and drawings are naturally inspired by her love of the outdoors. For information on her fine arts work, visit www.catherinerenziart.com.

Al Renzi brings his experience in biology and microbiology to plant selections and sustainable practices and artisanal cheesemaking. Prior to establishing Yellow Springs Farm in 2001, Al had a lengthy career in the pharmaceutical industry. Al volunteers for various non-profits and watershed conservation organizations including Trout Unlimited. As a former board member of the Valley Forge Chapter of Trout Unlimited he conducted stream monitoring studies, participated in stream restoration projects and obtained grant funding from Trout Unlimited and the Department of Environmental Protection for preserving and restoring brook trout habitat and stream monitoring in SE PA.

Together, Catherine and Al’s mix of arts and science makes for productive teamwork.

Need a Speaker?

We offer informative presentations on Value Added Agriculture, Food Safety, Cheesemaking and conservation landscape topics via Zoom or in person. Please ask about our offerings and fee schedule if your event, group or organization is looking for speakers.