About Us
Welcome to Tonoloway Farm, an Appalachian food forest in Highland County VA.
We are Tonoloway Farm, located on the rocky, wooded slopes of Bullpasture Mountain in Highland County, VA. We produce food sustainably among the hardwood forests of the Appalachian mountains. These foods include syrups from our native trees: maple, black walnut and hickory, as well as mushrooms grown in the woods, and fruit from our orchard.
Tonoloway Farm is a dynamic forest farm. This is steep, rocky Appalachian hardwood forest, and the wild shows us what grows well here. Maples, walnuts, mushrooms, and wild fruits abound. Our aim is to grow more of what thrives naturally, while fostering diversity that supports sound ecology. Research shows that temperate forests can yield double the productivity of grasslands*. We aim to experiment, observe, nurture, and help the forest prove her case.
What does Tonoloway mean?
Tonoloway Farm is named after the Tonoloway formation, a limestone feature within the karst topography of the Alleghany highlands. This Tonoloway limestone defines the farm, with outcroppings shaping the fields and forests, karst caves providing spring water, and the limestone itself giving alkaline properties to our soils.
History
This land has been in agricultural use since the early 1800’s, when it was cleared of forest for logging and grazing cattle. In 1862, the Civil War Battle of McDowell was fought on the slopes of Sittlington’s Hill, adjacent to the farm, with artillery units from the Union 12th Ohio regiment positioned on the knoll in the farm’s high pasture. During the ensuing 100+ years, the farm continued to be grazed with cattle, as forests gradually re-established themselves. The property received a permanent conservation easement in 2007 as part of an effort to preserve the McDowel Battlefield area.
For more information on the Battle of McDowell, visit the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
*Jackson and Jackson, Environmental Science: the Natural Environment and Human Impact, Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd; 2 edition (April 1, 2000)
