Cornwall Manor’s farm feeds residents & provides produce to local food pantries

The availability of in-season farm fresh vegetables contributed to Alex Althsheuer’s decision to move to Cornwall Manor.

Trailside Organic Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm on Cornwall Manor’s campus, is run by Rodale Institute staff, and food grown there is consumed by manor residents. Surplus goods are donated to nearby charitable organizations. 

“I’m a consumer, the (farm’s) No. 1 customer,” Althsheuer said, adding he’s a big fan of the Farmer’s Market on Fridays. “I go there every Friday and I buy for, like, five people, but it’s just for me. I moved here about three years ago and, before I moved, I researched the retirement community in central Pennsylvania, and several things attracted me to Cornwall Manor. That (farm) was definitely one of them.”

The farm’s presence and production of organic foods align with his belief system concerning the kinds of food he eats.

“They interlink with my way of thinking because I was trying to get organic produce for many, many years before. And I have concerns about herbicides and pesticides,” Althsheuer said. “I would never guess in 100 years that they would have (an organic farm) at a retirement community.”

This particular benefit of retirement community living speaks volumes to him.

“First of all, it means management cares about us,” he noted. “Second, it’s outside-the-box thinking, innovative thinking. And if they innovated with this, they would probably innovate with other things.”

Vicki Deitzler, vice president of Advancement & Operations at Cornwall Manor, said the organic farm idea was born with a past relationship she had with Rodale Institute when she was with another employer. 

The farm has a greenhouse, three unheated hoop houses to grow food in winter, and a barn, which contains an activity center on the first floor and a food-processing and storage area on the lower level, according to farm manager Katie Landis.

“Ideas are always the easy part, but embracing that and saying, ‘That is something that we should pursue.’ We were fortunate to have the land to be able to do something like that,” Deitzler said. “No matter your age, we all should be giving our bodies and ourselves all the best nutrients possible for healthy living, but really looking at healthy longevity. And that is something that Cornwall Manor sees as a top priority for our residents.”

Founded in 2021, the farm began to grow produce in 2022 and is the first farm of its kind to be founded on a retirement community campus and run by Rodale Institute employees. 

“I knew firsthand how excellent they are in regenerative organic agriculture,” Deitzler said. “I had the ability to talk to the leadership here and the board of trustees about potentially partnering with Rodale to be the first continuing-care retirement community to have an organic farm on site. And it is the first continuing care retirement community to have an organic farm on site, and I credit the board and the leadership for embracing that.”

Landis said institute management is “really excited” about the relationship the organic organization has with Cornwall Manor. 

“Like Vicki said, they initially wanted this to be a model for other continuing care retirement communities to kind of adapt on their own. And they’ve seen that happening too,” Landis said. 

Phoebe Ministries, a retirement community in the Allentown area, partners with Rodale to grow produce, and Luther Acres in Lititz has based theirs on the Cornwall Manor’s farm program. 

“They (Phoebe) don’t have their own land, but they’re using some of Rodale’s land to grow produce for their retirement community,” added Landis. “So they (Institute leadership) are just really excited about it. And to see how else they can kind of spread the mission further away from Pennsylvania to national, and maybe even globally.”  

A highlight since the farm’s inception is a record 2,918 pounds produced in 2025 for sale to residents at the weekly Farmers Market. An additional 4,590 pounds that didn’t sell was donated to food pantries at Chestnut Street Community Center and Lebanon County Christian Ministries, both based in Lebanon.

“I think some of the residents were themselves surprised how much value this farm brings in. I don’t know if there was that much enthusiasm among residents when they were starting this,” Deitzler said. 

“But now they open it at 11 o’clock and I am there at 5 to 11, and there are already 20 people in line,” noted resident John Boudman.

In addition to the farm, residents can also grow their own vegetables and other garden items on adjacent land, an initiative that predates the farm that was founded in 2021. This provides homegrown food to residents who cook for themselves. 

Being able to continue her love of gardening prompted Christine Dixon to choose Cornwall Manor over other senior residences.

“It’s huge. It’s one of the reasons that I’m here – a big reason that I’m here,” Dixon said. “I had an extensive garden at my own home and I was loath to give that up, but when I found out not only was there the farm, but there were allotments for residents to have their own little plots too, I was in.”

In Dixon’s case, she has four small plots on one area of the farm that is maintained by residents like her. The majority of the farm, which runs about 3 acres, grows food during the season for either the in-house Farmer’s Market that’s open on Fridays or in the home’s dining service.

John and his wife Linda also participate in the residential garden program and have three plots on which they grow a variety of food and flowers. 

“It’s wonderful. When we moved here, we left a mature asparagus patch behind and I thought, ‘Well, it takes too long for asparagus to grow,’ so I didn’t bother planting it,” Linda said. “We were here for two or three years and I thought if I’d planted it (then), we’d be eating it now. So three years ago I planted some asparagus, so that’s developing and maturing and next year we’ll get some good asparagus.”

All volunteers and residential growers must attend food safety training seminars – a requirement that appeals to residents interviewed by LebTown.

“I help wash the vegetables for the farm market, and they have to be washed and bundled,” says resident Laurie Clement. “I come over with my sister and it’s a chance to visit with her and get some work accomplished. “I’m not much of a gardener. I like to plant stuff, but then after that, you’re on your own. I don’t have a whole lot of success, but I like to eat fresh vegetables –  and organic is terrific.”

Like his fellow residents, John appreciates the food safety protocols.

“We go through an introduction before we touch anything. And everything is cleaned and washed, and we wear gloves while it’s washed and washed and washed,” he said. “I am very happy to buy anything on Friday because we’ve been part of the cleaning process and we know what goes through that food that’s presented and it’s pristine. We take it home and we still wash it because that’s what we’ve always done.”

Clement said a future endeavor will see produce being offered through the Monday Market at the Manor Shop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., a much longer period of time than the one hour that produce is sold on Fridays.

“So Fridays is the Farmer’s Market and that will have a line when they come and they practically sell out every time. And now on a Monday, we thought we could offer produce through the Manor Shop, which is run by our Cornwall Manor Society, and it is on our Buckingham campus,” Deitzler said. “Residents can pop in there and see if they need produce for the week. We’re going to give it a try and see how it goes. It’ll be a select amount of produce that we’ll do over there on a Monday.”