About US
Swallowtail Forest Farm is a highly diversified, small scale farm that incorporates agroforestry practices. We are located just outside of Mercersburg in south central Pennsylvania.
for-est farm / noun
the cultivation of high-value crops under the protection of a managed tree canopy.
Meet the Farmer
Ethan Strickler, tree enthusiast and avid garlic eater, loves watching his trees grow. From transforming row crop fields into chestnut orchards to practicing sustainable woodland management for shiitake mushroom production, Swallowtail Forest Farm is founded on the philosophy that perennial and tree crops are key players in a regenerative food system. Ethan also enjoys farm walks with Silas the farm dog, the first and last Pawpaws of the season, and persimmon pudding for dessert all winter. This is, of course, only possible if Ethan’s family does not eat all of the persimmons fresh in the fall!
The name Swallowtail came naturally, as Ethan, an avid butterfly enthusiast, has been planting pawpaws, milkweed, and other interesting host plants to attract these beloved insects for decades. The farm’s logo is an artistic rendition of the zebra swallowtail, which are abundant on the farm today.
Silas, farm dog and team mascot, can often be found by our side, for everything from tree plantings to mushroom harvests.
“The value of doing something does not lie in the ease or difficulty, the probability or improbability of its achievement, but in the vision, the plan, the determination and the perseverance, the effort and the struggle which go into the project. Life is enriched by aspiration and effort, rather than by acquisition and accumulation.”
-Helen Nearing
