Ariel Rittenhouse

Vegetable Lead

Ariel Rittenhouse is the Vegetable Production Lead at Rock Bottom Ranch. She’s a recent transplant from Columbus, Ohio. At ACES, she leads the vegetable production on the one-acre, low-till plot, including three hoop houses. Additionally, she mentors apprentices and stewards to cultivate knowledge, skills, and passion for regenerative agriculture!

Her agricultural journey sprouted while studying environmental studies at Allegheny College, a liberal arts college tucked away in the mountains of rural Northwestern Pennsylvania. Always passionate about the natural world, she saw a bridge between people and conservation through food. She became increasingly curious about sustainable agriculture. This led her to apprentice on organic vegetable production farms in the Hudson Valley and Ohio. Realizing a disparity between who had access to the fresh vegetables she was growing, she decided to serve with FoodCorps in Connecticut. Here she connected children with fruits and vegetables, taught nutritional literacy, and demonstrated the importance of where our food comes from. She most recently farmed on the Dickinson College Farm in Central PA where she was the Vegetable Crew Lead. She was able to educate and share her zeal for sustainable agriculture with apprentices and student farmers while immersed in the hard work of production. She is excited to continue her journey of combining education with regenerative agriculture here at RBR!

In her free time you can find her exploring the outdoors through running, hiking, and cycling. She also enjoys cooking and reading.