On a stretch of preserved farmland in Elizabethtown, transformation happens every day at a space that offers reconnection - with the land, with one another and with the essential act of growing food.

This is Wittel Farm, a nonprofit on 85 acres of land with a long history of care, now being reimagined as a place where food, community and environmental stewardship meet.

Records date the property to the mid-1700s, and long before that it was cared for by the Susquehannock people. In the 1980s, Chuck and Katie Wittel placed the property into a land trust, gifting it to the Lutheran Camping Corporation.

While not much was produced at the farm for many years, that changed in 2016, when the farm's current manager, the Rev. Matt Lenahan, began the Growing Project, a partnership between the Lutheran Camping Corp., the Lower Susquehanna Synod and Hunger-Free Lancaster County.

Lenahan, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Akron, grew up on a large commercial farm in New York and once thought he would never farm again after entering ministry.

His thinking shifted as he became more aware of food insecurity and the fragility of modern food systems.

"I really started to think about the food system and how food-dependent we are because so few of us are actually participating in the food production," he said. "We've really stepped away as a culture from agriculture as a principal way people live, and I think that's problematic."

Knowing that access to fresh, locally grown food was a challenge in the county, Lenahan asked a question: "What if we grow food together and give it away?"

From that idea, a community-based effort to produce food for Lancaster County's charitable food system began to grow. Wittel Farm partners with the Lancaster County Food Hub, the Elizabethtown Community Cupboard, Power Packs, Water Street Mission and other organizations to distribute its harvest. This summer, the farm will partner with Columbia Dream Center for the first time, providing produce for its summer food program.

In its first year, the farm produced a few thousand pounds of food. Now, it is in its 10th growing season, farming about nine acres intensively and growing more than 20 varieties of fruits and vegetables, including plums, berries, pawpaws, greens, cucumbers, pumpkins, beans, peppers and potatoes.

Along the way, Lenahan embraced regenerative agriculture, a chemical-free approach that focuses on soil health, biodiversity and ecological balance. Cover crops, composting and minimal soil disturbance replace synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

"We work year-round at this site," Lenahan said. "And we are constantly learning."

That learning happens not only for Lenahan, but for the hundreds of volunteers who come to the farm each year. Between 300 and 500 people help plant, weed and harvest throughout the growing season.

Alex Chism, a Millersville University senior studying education and plant science, joined the farm as an intern in 2024 and quickly became an essential part of its work.

"I really enjoy the physical nature of the work," Chism said. "It's very methodical. There are so many things grabbing for our attention, and to be able to just focus on one thing that is very fruitful is amazing."

This past year, Chism expanded the farm's crop diversity by adding flowers alongside food. The flowers have increased pollinators such as bees and butterflies, boosting fruit and vegetable production.

Ceinwyn Erb, an Elizabethtown College junior studying environmental science, began volunteering at Wittel Farm in September.

"It's been wonderful to have every week a set time to be outside, be in nature, working with my hands, doing something that is positively impacting the local community and the local environment," Erb said.

Lenahan describes Wittel Farm as "community-sustained agriculture," a model that invites people into the work of food production rather than simply consuming its results.

"We like to talk about food sovereignty, acknowledging that every one of us eats, so we all have a stake in food production," he said. "It's about really helping people to reclaim an intrinsic human connection to the natural world and to growing food."

He is careful to note that Wittel Farm is not about "agritainment."

"I really want this to be a place where the community can get involved and have a real experience," he said. "I think there is actually joy in doing this work together. ... I really love bringing people together on the farm who have no experience with farming at all, no experience with food production, and they get to have an experience here, whether planting something, tending or harvesting. It's transformational for people."

This year, the farm plans to add chickens, expand partnerships and hire more staff, including a farm educator role Chism will fill after graduation.

Though the land is held by the Lutheran Camping Corp. and protected by Lancaster Farmland Trust, Lenahan sees Wittel Farm as belonging to the whole community.

"This is a place for everyone," he said. "Young children, seniors, people with no experience at all. Everyone has something to contribute."

For more information or to volunteer, visit http://www.lutherancamping.org/the-wittel-farm.