By Gabriela Rodriguez
Gemmill Farm, last known as Five Spruce Farm, is a 398-acre farm donated by the Warnick Foundation in 2010 that has become a resource for classes at DelVal and a source of food products at the local Roth farmer market and sometimes at the dining hall.
The 150 tillable acres of land has a long, rich history in the Doylestown community, as with the family who started its legacy and created a foundation to continue the spread of that history.
Apple orchards and natural forests dominate the landscape.
Fruit from the farm supplies products for the farm market on Roth farm or the dining services on campus, and the pastures are used for summer grazing and field crop productions.
Courses at DelVal, including Wildlife Management, ecology, and herpetology, use the land for laboratories and field days. The labs at Gemmill allow students to learn how to use equipment and learn how to identify species around the area. The main house is still used today for meetings and retreats by organizations and clubs from DelVal. One of the houses on site still has its original furniture, which has small plackets decorating one of the outside walls, showcasing all the tree species found on site.
History behind the Gemmill property
Before the land was donated to DelVal this land was owned by Kenneth W. Gemmill and his family. Gemmill was a well-known nationalized tax lawyer, who worked in NYC before becoming a partner in the Philadelphia firm of Decher, Price, and Rhoads. He married Helen Hartman Gemmill in 1941 during the war.
Helen Hartman Gemmill worked at Vogue magazines as an editorial staff. She began her journey there after graduating from Bryn Mawr College and winning Vogue magazine “Prix de Paris” in her senior year for her article about the Amish and Mennonite culture in Lancaster, PA. Mrs.Gemmill is well known in the Doylestown community due to her participation with the Historical Societies and taught English when they purchased the farm in 1941. They renovated the farmhouse and moved in with their 4 children. The Gemmills were very involved with the DelVal community, with Mr. Gemmill being part of the board of trustees, and holding the chairman position from 1985-1991. Unfortunately, both Mr. Gemmil and Mrs.Gemmil passed away on the same day, December 11, 1998, leaving behind their legacy with their only surviving child, daughter Elizabeth H. “Betsy” Gemmill.
ROTH FARM
The Roth Farm is a 140-acre preserve farm donated in 1992 by the Rot family. It demonstrates farm life from the mid-1860 to 1920s, as a living farm museum before 2012 when DelVal made it into the Center of Sustainable Agriculture. Serving as a living laboratory for sustainable agriculture and the practicum space for the organic farming certificate program. Courses like organic food and fiber, and principles of sustainable agriculture utilized this site as part of their laboratory days. Where students learn about handling farm animals, the methods of covering crops and learn about sustainable agriculture.
ROTH FARM
On-site, you can find about 18 adult Boer goats with six of their children in the Pennsylvania Bank Barn. Cows can be seen out grazing out grazing in the fields and Fiona the donkey can be seen patrolling the main entrance land.
The farm has a Farmer market, where they sell most of the products produced on-site or at the other DelVal Farms. From Boer meat to organic tomatoes, beets, carrots sunflowers, and zinnias, these are some of the items you can purchase at the site’s farmers market. The money that is gained from these sales is utilized to make improvements to the barn, for example, a new ramp entrance in the Pennsylvania Bank Barn.
To learn more about the farm check them out at the DelVal website:
Gemmil: https://delval.edu/about/visit-delval/our-campus/gemmill-center
Roth:https://delval.edu/about/visit-delval/our-campus/roth-center
Follow Roth Farm on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/share/MaDx6BTpmbfucfzw/?mibextid=LQQJ4d