Fox Run Farm

Fox Run Environmental Education Center began 10 years ago, the result of Ame Vanorio’s lifelong interest in wildlife rescue. Vanorio, a former high school teacher, is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. She’s turned her 16.3-acre farm into Northern Kentucky’s only rehab center for wounded deer, possums, raccoons, squirrels, and turtles.

One of the nonprofit organization’s goals is to educate the public about wildlife. Vanorio conducts farm tours, interactive programs, and workshops for adults and kids, and she leads a variety of education programs in and around Pendleton County. Fox Run’s Science Club for kids aged 9 to 15 meets every third Thursday at the Pendleton County Library to get kids fired up about biology, geology, and the environment.

Vanorio doesn’t focus solely on wildlife; she also runs a productive farm with an orchard and raised beds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Vanorio raises chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, sheep, and cattle for grass-fed beef.

Fox Run functions as a learning lab for young farmers who intern each growing season. Vanorio teaches her interns how to successfully run a self-sustaining farm, and a number of them have gone on to farm or work in agriculture. “It’s so expensive for young people to get land and start a farm—they need capital to do that,” she says. “I like to help them figure out the ins and outs of physically running a farm.”

Fox Run runs a small CSA capped at 20 members. Each share is $400, and the CSA runs for 22 weeks from May to October. Shareholders receive fresh produce and flowers, and have the option to add eggs and meat.

— Caitlin Koenig

Fox Run Environmental Education Center
P.O. Box 174
Falmouth, KY, 41040
859.242.1037
FoxRunEnvironmentalEducationCenter.org
foxruneec@gmail.com