habitat

Gifted Earth Rock Shop sits at the edge of certified wildlife habitat.  Our family property consists of approximately 15 acres of old orchard trees and shrubs, small meadow spaces and deep dark forest.  At one time in recent history, our property was the homestead of Kegel Orchard, a small commercial apple orchard run by the Kegel family. Many of those original trees are old and dying and as a family we have made the commitment to designate much of our acreage to wildlife, especially pollinators.  Gifted Earth Rock Shop is our business focused on environmentalism and sustainable practices, and that goes hand in hand with our personal mission for the land we steward, work and live upon.  We are striving to create native wildflower gardens in several of our spaces, carefully beautifying overgrown spaces to look more cultivated without sacrificing important wildlife food, cover and places for wild creatures to raise their young. While this is an ongoing, slow development to begin with, eventually a native wildflower garden surrounding the shop will be a source of beauty and provide a natural immersive space for our visitors to sit awhile for meditation or quiet renewal. 

Just a few of things we are doing, working toward and purposely leaving alone in order to keep our land wild with sustainable practices:

~Maintaining the orchard by replacing old or dead apple trees with new apple or other fruiting trees and bushes.

~Leaving the leaves- a fallen leaf cover provides food, shelter and nesting for wildlife.

~Minimizing mowed areas

~Reducing erosion

~Using drought tolerant native plants

~Leaving densely planted areas

~Eliminating chemical pesticides

~Use of non-chemical, organic fertilizers

~Water sources for wildlife

~Mature trees, dead trees and fallen decomposing logs

~Planting and leaving dense shrubs and berry brambles

~Leaving brush and log piles for wildlife 

~Building nesting boxes and bird houses