Returning Home Farm
Returning Home Farm is an extension of Penn Forest Natural Burial Park that provides model projects in sustainability. Penn Forest owns 35-acres of land in the Penn Hills/Verona area, but only about 2-acres are currently used for green burials. Another 10-acres are set aside as a wildlife refuge area. That leaves about 23-acres that can be used for other sustainability projects that benefit the community.
Ongoing projects include:
- Raising goats for clearing brush in burial areas
- Raising chickens and ducks for eggs (we share them with visitors when we have extra)
- Beehives
- Blacksmith training classes
- Hiking trails
- Tree/shrub planting for forest restoration
- A quarter acre native PA meadow restoration project
Planned future projects include:
- A sally garden for raising willows for basket making (and maybe coffins)
- A hoop greenhouse for raising tea
- A berry garden
- A mushroom walk trail
- A Hügelkultur garden
We are always open to additional sustainability projects. If you’d like to bring your project to RHF, please tell us about your idea.
