ABOUT | Around the farm
Charles "Chuck" Deimler
Charles R. Deimler was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and grew up on farmland that boasts some of the best non-irrigated soil in the world.
Living alongside Mennonite and Amish communities, life was always about the land and the bounty it provides. As a young Taurus, he was drawn to the dirt and clay. In his teens he joined the local 4-H Soil and Water Conservation Program where he was introduced to the tenets of being a responsible steward of natural resources.
At Dry Barn Farm, Sustainability is a Goal not a Hobby.
Along with being an innovative thinker, Chuck’s always been industrious and has co-owned Ephrata Precision Parts - a jobbing machine shop and molded polyurethane business – since 1982. Today, his time is split between farm and factory.
In 2009 he and his wife Holly bought a 123 acre farm in Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania. With the help of their son, Dylan, they’ve remediated the land from its former use as commercial crop fields to a sustainable organic farm that’s been recognized by the state as a model for conservation.
Dry Barn Farm has planted over 1,000 trees on their land, reinstated wildflower fields, instituted wetlands protection initiatives and restored the riparian buffer on its streams to ensure its headwater sources leading to the Susquehanna River are of highest quality.
In addition to vegetable crops, orchard fruits and berries - both wild and domestic - the Deimlers raise grass-fed, rotationally grazed beef, pasture chickens, pigs, sheep and goats and tend honeybee hives. They also saw timber and gather nuts and mushrooms from the woodlands that surround the farm.
Dry Barn Farm is Proud to be a Sustainable Artwork Site.
Over the years, Chuck has deepened his connection to the land through his artistic gifts. He hand-harvests and processes the farm’s wild clay that he spins, sculpts and fires in the potter’s shed studio that he converted from an old spring house in 2020. When digging out invasive plants, Chuck’s is always on the lookout for a nice clay vein that will eventually make the journey onto his potter’s wheel.
