A woman born 120 years ago is influencing how sustainable farming is taught today to children and adults in the Dayton area. In 1957, Marie Aull, an avid gardener, donated land she and her husband had loved for decades to the National Audubon Society, creating the first Audubon Nature Center in the Midwest. Located 15 miles northwest of Dayton, Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm is a 200-acre sanctuary for preservation and education about the environment and sustainability.
Aull passed away in 2002, but her legacy lives on. The farm serves as a model for sustainable agriculture and the interconnection between wild and cultivated spaces. Farm manager Samantha Wickham works to keep the farm in harmony with the ecosystem. The farm raises livestock to maintain the land’s ecological diversity. Chickens in a mobile coop forage for insects and follow the path of the grazing cattle. Cattle and chickens add manure to the pasture, in turn creating healthier soils. Wickham hopes to use Nigerian dwarf goats this year to manage invasive honeysuckle, giving the goats fresh forage while reducing the use of herbicides.
Aullwood meat, eggs, maple syrup, and apple butter are available for purchase at the farm. “Being able to share food with the Dayton community is a way for us to promote awareness of where food comes from, how it is grown, and the lovely result on the plate,” says Wickham, who earned a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in New York State. “I hope that Aullwood can be a big part of exposing people to how to grow food, and excite them to do it themselves!”
Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
Montgomery County, OH
Mon–Sat 9am–5pm; Sun 1pm–5pm
Aullwood Nature Center
1000 Aullwood Road, Dayton, OH
9101 Frederick Pike, Dayton, OH