How The Heron is Bettering Our Community, one Mushroom at a Time… 

Last spring, Chautauqua Lake Central High School student Lydia Kushmaul visited The Heron to learn about our regenerative farming practices. Through conversations with Steve and Julie Rockcastle and a firsthand look at the land we steward, Lydia explored the deep connections between sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, and community. What she discovered goes far beyond food production—it’s a way of life rooted in respect for the earth and each other. Below is her reflection on that experience…

“Grounded in the land we steward, we envision a world where people are connected to food, nature, and each other”. These are the words of Green Heron Growers founders Julie and Steve Rockcastle, whom I had the fortune of meeting, questioning, and learning an immense amount from. Green Heron Growers is an organic farm located in western New York that focuses on producing grass-fed chicken and beef, and sustainably grown shiitake mushrooms and vegetables. Knowing this alone was reason enough for me to be interested in visiting and learning more about the production, but after talking with Steve and Julie and touring the farm, I realized that it is so much more than an environmentally friendly place to get food– it’s a community, and to watch it in action and hear about how it came together and how it continues to work and grow was awe-inspiring.

Before ever becoming a farm, the Heron was mainly used to host an outdoor music festival. Julie’s father was in charge of mowing their grassland for years, and when one day the neighbor’s cows got loose and started grazing on the land, they realized how beneficial the cows were. They now have hundreds of acres of land where they graze cows and chickens, grow vegetables and mushrooms, rent camping space, and host families. The main goal of the farm is to produce quality food that is grown and raised healthfully and sustainably– to produce food that not only tastes good but also makes people feel healthier and stronger. The pastures that they use for this production are some of the best natural sequesters of carbon, and thus help the atmosphere and continuously make the soil more nutrient-rich. As the grass goes through the process of photosynthesis, it takes carbon from the atmosphere to make more plant matter. What this does is reduce the amount of carbon dioxide present in the air while also continuing to grow the roots of the plants and make the pastures stronger. Additionally, because the farm does not till their soil, these roots are allowed to remain in the ground and continue growing, limiting the amount of erosion disturbance to the soil while increasing its amount of organic matter.

In terms of meat production, the farm’s products cannot even compare to those of conventional CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations. While most of the meat that we find in our grocery stores has been pumped full of antibiotics and raised in extremely close quarters, the animals on the farm are the exact opposite. Because of this, not only are their lives much happier and healthier, but the meat itself tastes better, and is infinitely better for the people consuming it. Steve mentioned that he had been a vegetarian for around twenty years before realizing that there was a way to get the nutrients he needed without feeling awful about what he was eating, and that since switching to the meat they grow he is in the best physical state of his life. When I asked what negative impacts the farm had, I was immensely impressed that both Steve and Julie could think of none– every aspect is carefully thought out and planned, enough so that the environment suffers very little and benefits tremendously. The one overall negative that the couple mentioned was the cost– because the farm requires constant manual labor and attention in addition to basic repairs and upkeep, they have to price their products higher than normal and also do not make much money. The Great Blue Heron Music festival is their main source of income that also helps keep the farm alive. Because of this, all of their workers get farm credit and many also have the opportunity to join them for lunch and/or breakfast, because as Julie said, “We don’t want them putting all of this hard work into producing good food to then just go and buy whatever’s at the grocery store”. Additionally, people who visit the farmer’s market in Fredonia are able to use food stamps to buy the fresh produce that is there. High costs and low revenue aside, it’s worth it for Julie and Steve– anyone who has the pleasure of getting to listen to the Rockcastle’s story and hear about their farm can see the passion that they have for everything they’re doing, and the pure love they hold for the lifestyle that they live and are sharing with others. Truth be told, it made me want to live or work there too, both because of the good it was doing for the environment, and the joy that the entire place held.

As previously mentioned, one of the main products of the farm is its meat which is raised sustainably, but also happily. The process of raising and producing organic pasture-raised chickens takes about eight weeks. They buy day-old chicks, which are then kept in a brooder with red lights for temperature regulation and wire tops for protection, for three weeks. After that, they are transferred to a pasture for five weeks, and kept in two separate open-bottom cages, fifty in each, that are 10 x 12 ft, or around the size of a small bathroom. Because these cages are bottomless and placed on pastures, when the chickens feed on the grass, their manure is left behind on the ground to help fertilize the soil. To protect the chickens from predators, the wire cages also have wooden boards placed around their perimeters to prevent animals from digging underneath them, and traps next to them as well. Each one contains feed for the chickens which is a mix of corn, soy, wheat, peas, barley, and other natural micronutrients. Grit is sprinkled on the top to help with digestion, as it is stored in the gizzard and helps to crush up the food pieces, making them possible to digest. The chicken’s cages are moved twice a day to new spots, so that each previous spot has time to absorb the nutrients from the manure, and regrow even stronger than before.

The farm’s other meat product is their cattle, which graze over a total of nearly 80 acres of land. They keep around twenty five cattle, and they are moved every day, with a couple acres every move. The cattle are contained by electric fences that are attached to stakes which are easily transferable. The goal of this process is to have 60% of the section of pasture they’re on eaten, 30% trampled, and 10% left for regrowth. The trampled percentage of the pasture not only builds an area for microbes but also protects the soil by keeping it cool, building organic matter, and retaining moisture. The manure that the cattle leave behind is taken back to an area where it can be combined with other organic matter to create compost for the fields and for the gardens. To prevent runoff into the nearby pond and other bodies of water, most of the land contains forage and other cover crops that absorb the nutrients. During the seasons when the cattle can be on pastures outdoors, their diet is solely the grass on which they walk. In the winter they are kept in two large outdoor barn areas, which are largely for shelter– they tend to enjoy spending time outside even when it’s cold; Julie explains that often there will be cows laying down on snow-covered hills, happy as can be. At this point, they are fed bailage, which is cut grass that wilts overnight and is then wrapped in plastic, which helps it begin to break down, so that when it is fed to the cows during winter, it is almost like fresh grass.. In terms of methane production, there is not really any process or procedure that makes cows produce less. One thing I did discover when researching more after I visited the farm was that in some cases, grass-fed cows can produce up to 20% more methane than grain-fed cattle, largely due to the fact that they naturally produce more methane when digesting grass. That being said, the cattle mitigate these emissions through constant high levels of carbon sequestration, which, as previously stated, is achieved through the rotation of the cattle around many different acres of pasture and land. The idea is that as the cattle rotate through the pastures, they encourage new growth while working manure and other natural fertilizers into the soil. This healthy soil then has a much higher capacity to trap carbon dioxide and keep it from rising into the atmosphere. Thus, while grass-fed cattle may produce more methane than those at a conventional farm, their net emissions are much lower because of their critical role in carbon sequestration. Even taking all of these factors into account, for me, the most fascinating thing about specifically the cattle aspect of the farm was the care with which they treated the animals, and the thought that they clearly put into it. The first thing I learned was that the group of cattle operates entirely like a family– if a mother is taking care of a calf and needs to go off somewhere, the rest of that group will come in and protect it from harm. Additionally, Julie and Steve both explained that if they ever need to take one cattle for a checkup or examination, they have to bring the entire group, because they get nervous and finicky if even one cow is missing. One of the most fascinating parts for me to see of this operation was how they load the cattle into trucks. When we were driving by, Julie explained to me how Temple Grandin, a person with autism, was able to use her unique insight into the minds of cattle to create a new feeding system that now CAFOs all over the nation use. The way it works is it starts out about three cows wide, and then funnels them into a single file line, continuously curving until they get to the point of loading into the vehicles. The purpose of this type of corral is to keep the cows from freaking out about the direction they’re going in, since they can’t see the end of the tunnel and thus have nowhere to go but forwards. This is only one example of many showing how the Green Heron Growers not only produces quality foods, but also makes sure that their animals are happy and as stress-free as possible. Contrasting this spacious, beautiful, and happy environment is that in which a majority of beef cattle are raised– cattle in concentrated animal feeding operations are not only packed extremely close together in a large, dirty barn, but they are quite often subject to animal abuse. These operations also take the manure and pile it into manure lagoons as big as football fields, which means even the slightest bit of rain can cause it to runoff into nearby streams and negatively impact the water quality. In terms of disease control for cattle, Julie explained that they have had very few issues with disease at all, and the only vaccinations the cows receive are one for a respiratory disease and another for pink eye. Yet another significant difference from conventional CAFOs, which generally pump their cattle full of antibiotics, since they are packed in close quarters resulting in rapid spread of disease and infection. The absence of the necessity for large amounts of antibiotics in the animals greatly improves the quality of the 100% grass-fed beef – as previously stated, not only does it taste remarkably better, but it also improves the consumers physical health, as they are eating meat without the presence of synthetic antibiotics.

One of my personal favorite parts of visiting the farm was getting to see all of their vegetable gardens, and the care with which they were grown. The garden grows countless varieties of potatoes, lettuce, garlic, peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, onions, and more. On the sides of two of the greenhouses, which contain plants such as tomatoes that grow better in shade, are strawberry and raspberry bushes as well. Every single section of the garden is hand watered through the use of a hose, which saves an immense amount of water compared to the irrigation methods that large monoculture farms use (flood irrigation loses 50-60% of the water applied, while hose irrigation loses close to zero). As mentioned previously, the farm takes the manure from the cattle and uses it, combined with other organic material, to create compost that can be applied as fertilizer on the gardens. This greatly improves the soil quality, and also prevents the negative effects that synthetic fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus can cause. The presence of these nutrients in soils means that eventually, they will most likely runoff into a nearby body of water. Because nitrogen and phosphorus are both limiting factors for plants (meaning that if an excess amount is present, the plants will grow rapidly), their presence in water bodies can cause algae to quickly increase in number, which is better known as an algal bloom. When that algae dies, it needs to be decomposed, and to do this, microbes require a significant amount of oxygen. What this means is that the use of synthetic fertilizers on crops and/or gardens can lead to hypoxic areas of nearby waterways, and eventually dead zones, because the nutrients they contain lead to a significant decrease in the amount of oxygen in the water. Thus, compost is a much more environmentally friendly alternative, especially considering the fact that it provides a way for the farm to get rid of excess manure in pastures. Further aiding the vegetables’ growth, patches of tall plants such as peas are present in between patches of garden that are there specifically to encourage nitrogen fixation in the soil. Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken in its molecular form from the atmosphere and converted into usable nutrients for the plants by nitrogen fixing bacteria found in the plants’ roots. It is a crucial part of the nitrogen cycle, and is also an extremely beneficial way for plants to receive the nutrients they need without having to apply synthetic fertilizers containing nitrogen. Because the fixed nitrogen is absorbed directly by the plants, it is less susceptible to leaching and denitrification, meaning not only does it get plants the nutrients they need to grow well, but it also prevents the negative impacts on water quality other methods of getting plants nitrogen have. Another way conventional crops negatively impact the environment is through their use of chemical herbicides and pesticides. Both of these often contain substances that can cause extreme harm to humans and animals, including carcinogens and neurotoxins. Similar to the use of synthetic fertilizers, when these pest controls runoff into waterways, not only do they negatively affect the quality of the actual water, but they can also make their way into the organisms it houses, and work their way up the food chain into animals that humans consume in a process known as biomagnification. Many pesticides and/or herbicides that are used are persistent, which means that they do not break down easily, and thus can remain in the tissues of animals for an extremely long amount of time. Because of this, the farm does not use any chemical pesticides or herbicides– the gardens are manually weeded, and also contain ground covers to prevent the growth of unwanted plants. When a section of garden is not being used, it is covered with a tarp to kill any weeds that may be growing and prepare it for a crop to be planted.  In terms of pest control, most have fences surrounding them to keep herbivores away, but something much more complex is going on under the surface as well. The healthiest plants have what is called a mycorrhizal web, where they can actually communicate with one another and build up defenses against insects that may come and try to eat them. Additionally, some plants (the arugula) have fabric coverings over them to prevent them from pests targeting that specific plant.

Perhaps what the farm is most well-known for are the mushrooms that they grow. Their main product are their shiitake mushrooms, and they have also recently begun growing lion’s mane mushrooms, these being the two most sustainable and successful varieties they tested. The mushrooms grow out of logs in complete shade, and it is a year-round process. In terms of wood, they get most of it from their own property, and the rest from state woodlots. The varieties they use are oak, maple, beech, and black cherry, and they are cut in the spring before leaves grow in abundance. Holes are then drilled into the logs, where the logs are inoculated with mycelium spores and then have wax placed over the holes. The inoculated logs sit in stacks for a whole year before they are leaned against wooden poles parallel to the ground and the mushrooms begin to grow. What this waiting period does is allow the living mycelium spawn to colonize the log, because it takes over a year for them to gather the energy they need to begin producing mushrooms. To aid in this process, the logs are also soaked (one batch/day) before they are stood up, which allows for better air circulation and easy harvesting. They are hand harvested, and the farm inoculates over 2,000 logs a year, making them the largest mushroom farm in Western New York. Each log can be used up to three times before it begins to dwindle in production, and once a log is done it is used for firewood around the farm. In addition to being an incredible addition to a person’s diet, providing the consumer with protein, Vitamin D, and fiber, the mushrooms from Green Heron Growers can also have medicinal properties. The tinctures the farm makes from these mushrooms are beneficial for immune-system support, anti-cancer properties, and cholesterol reduction. Basically– add some mushrooms to your meals!

As a person who was visiting any sort of sustainable farm for the first time, everything about it was truly awe-inspiring. From the way they treated their animals to the absolutely breathtaking land to the fact that everyone who worked there felt like a family and had a home, it was a joy to get to witness, even for only a couple hours. In terms of the environmental aspect, from what I saw and was told, Julie and Steve know what they’re doing better than most. Their chickens are fed a natural diet that encourages omega-3s without the need for GMOs, are moved twice a day to promote healthy soil and plant growth, and are taken care of and protected to an accomplished degree. The cattle are treated with the exact same level of care– they are fed only grass, which makes the meat much better to eat and much better for the consumer’s health, are grazed on over eighty acres of land to promote happiness in the cows and also to better the quality of the soil and the land they are on, and their manure is taken and turned into compost for the betterment of the crops the farm grows. For these vegetable gardens, no chemicals are used in any respect, because Julie and Steve have managed to use not only their own organic processes, but also take advantage of the natural methods of protection and healthy growth that plants have when they are taken care of the right way and live in healthy soil. The mushroom farm, one of the largest producer in Western New York, grows over 2,000 logs worth of mushrooms a year, providing a food that is nutrient rich and extremely good for human health. All of these aspects of the farm come together to create not just a place that is good for the environment and human health, but one that is good for the soul. Julie and Steve have managed to create a place where a person can feel good about what they’re eating, which allows them to feel good about themselves. The Heron is truly beautiful, not just because it has acres of healthy and fruitful land, but because it is a place where one can, as they say, connect with the environment, themselves, the arts, and most importantly, one another.

Lydia’s experience is a reminder that regenerative farming isn’t just about growing food—it’s about nurturing the land, the animals, and the people who help make The Heron thrive. By choosing to shop with us, you’re supporting a farm that values sustainability, animal welfare, and feeding the community with real, nutrient-dense food. Visit our Farm Store or shop online to bring home nourishing, organic food grown with care, and feel free to reach out to check out the farm for yourself!