Capability Farm: Bob and Ellen Mulford Are Helping Nature Make a Comeback

They Wondered What Their Farm Might Look Like If Nature Was Given Another Chance

(Ripley County, Ind.) - Summer days and evenings once sparkled with backyard butterflies and fireflies, but many area residents are noticing a quiet change: fewer wings in the garden, fewer flashes in the dusk, and fewer signs of the tiny creatures that help keep the natural world alive.

That loss is more than nostalgic. Scientists estimate the world has lost nearly 80 percent of its insects since 2000, a decline that ripples through the food chain by affecting birds, wildlife, pollination and even the food we grow.

For Bob and Ellen Mulford of Versailles, the change was not something to simply mourn about from a distance. Sixteen years ago, the retired doctor and retired schoolteacher decided to answer it on the land they knew best: their own family farm.

What was once a traditional grain and livestock farm has become Capability Farm, a 400-acre wildlife sanctuary where native grasses wave across restored fields, wetlands teem with life, and birds, butterflies, beavers and other wildlife are flourishing in remarkable numbers.

But the story of Capability Farm began long before the restoration project.

Bob's grandfather purchased the original 160-acre farm in 1940, clearing woods to raise cattle. As decades passed, the family added more land, and by the late 1970s the operation had become a grain farm. Bob grew up working alongside his parents and grandfather, but he also watched much of the area's natural habitat disappear as fields replaced forests and wetlands.

After marrying in 1974, Bob and Ellen returned to the family farm. Their careers took them in different directions—Bob spent 40 years caring for patients in Versailles and later at King's Daughters' Hospital, while Ellen devoted 45 years to education, including 43 years teaching first grade at South Ripley Elementary School.

Even while raising a family and serving the community through medicine and education, they never lost their appreciation for the outdoors.

They loved, and missed, seeing the butterflies and wildlife, and over time they began wondering what the farm might look like if nature were given another chance.

In 2010, they decided to find out.

Working with the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Mulfords began transforming all 400 acres into native habitat. More than 250 acres were restored through conservation practices that included planting native grasses, creating wetlands, restoring woodlands, raising bees, establishing wildflower strips and planting thousands of native trees and shrubs.

Today, the results speak for themselves.

Capability Farm has become home to more than 200 species of birds along with reptiles, amphibians, mammals and countless pollinators. Bobcats, otters and beavers have all made appearances.

Thanks to Ellen’s current hands-on care and protection of roughly 50 butterfly eggs, along with caterpillars and chrysalises, endangered monarchs are thriving on the milkweed she plants and the native flowers that bloom throughout the growing season.

The property has also become an important stop for birdwatchers hoping to spot some of the varieties living there, such as Northern bobwhite, yellow-breasted chat, blue grosbeak, and Lincoln’s sparrows.

There are ten miles of mowed trails through prairie, woods and wetlands, welcoming visitors to see up close how restored habitat can bring a landscape back to life.

The Mulfords haven't done it alone.

Friends, family and volunteers—including what they affectionately call the Capability Farm Crew—have helped plant, maintain and improve the property over the years. Together, they've created a place where people can slow down, walk the trails and reconnect with nature.

But Capability Farm isn't just about habitat. It also focuses on education – kids and adults learning about conservation and wildlife while they’re enjoying the natural settings.

The farm has become a living classroom that demonstrates how farmland and conservation can work hand in hand. There are regularly scheduled school groups, naturalist classes, photographers, Audubon clubs and conservation groups eager to learn how private landowners can make a difference.

For Bob, one of the greatest rewards has been watching his grandfather’s land come back to life. It’s what happens when two people are willing to imagine and work towards what their land could become.

Bob and Ellen Mulford found a way to give to their community by restoring a piece of southeastern Indiana's natural heritage for future generations.

Even after years of loss, nature is ‘capable’ of coming back when people make space for it to thrive - one butterfly, one trail, and one returning bird at a time.