JICO Ranch is a real working place — livestock in the pasture, rows in the ground, and a gate that opens to the public. Come meet the herd, pick what's ripe, and take supper home with you.
Goats that will absolutely go through your pockets. Cattle grazing the back field. Laying hens, hogs rotating the paddocks, and a few residents who have earned their names twice over. The barnyard is hands-on — the big stock is visited from the fence line or walked with a guide.
Some of them work, some of them just live here. Hover or tap a card to hear a little about each. New arrivals get added once they've settled in.
Sponsorship supports the care and keeping of the animals here — and gives you a standing reason to come see one of them. Kids especially: it stops being a farm you visited once and becomes their goat.
Supports every animal on the place. Open to as many families as want it — pick a favorite to follow, no waiting list.
One animal, one family — your name alone on the stall plaque. When an animal is taken, it's taken, and we start a waiting list.
You can only sponsor animals who live out their lives here — the goats, donkeys, horses, rabbits and laying hens. Animals raised for meat are never offered for sponsorship. Ever.
The animal stays ours and stays here — we handle all the feed, vet care and everything else. You get the relationship, the access and the updates.
These are living animals and we won't pretend otherwise. If yours passes during your year, you can move your sponsorship to another animal or take a prorated refund — your call.
JICO Ranch is a working family business, not a charity, so sponsorship is a membership purchase rather than a tax-deductible gift. We'd rather say so plainly.
A market garden planted for the table, not the truck — varieties chosen because they taste like something, harvested when they're ready instead of when they'd survive a warehouse. Much of it you can pick yourself, basket in hand, straight off the row.
Tomatoes, squash, okra, beans, peppers, cucumbers, greens and root crops rotating through the year. Baskets at the stand, pay by the pound on the way out.
Zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos and celosia planted in waves so there's something to cut from late spring through first frost. Shears and wrap provided.
Seedlings and transplants grown from our own seed for your garden at home, plus herbs and hanging baskets when the season turns.
Planting shifts with the weather, so treat this as the plan rather than a promise. The current month is highlighted.
Pricing below is per person unless noted. Reservations open about six weeks ahead, and anything marked reserved does fill.
The full loop with someone who works it — barnyard, pasture, garden rows and the greenhouse, with time to ask real questions about how the place runs.
Grab a basket at the stand and go pick it yourself. What's open changes week to week — the strip at the top of this page always lists what's ready today.
A structured two-hour visit built for classes and homeschool groups: animal care, seed to harvest, and a take-home planting. Teachers and chaperones come free.
Seasonal skills taught in the barn — raised-bed setup, canning and putting up, backyard chickens, composting, seed starting. You leave with something you made.
The barnyard, a shaded table, animal feeding for every kid, and a wagon ride. You bring the cake, we handle the rest and the cleanup.
Showers, reunions, company days and small weddings, with the pasture as the backdrop. Tables, parking and power included; you bring your own vendors.
Not everything here is a ticketed visit. Some of it is just what a working ranch produces — and most of it is available to the public.
Eggs, seasonal produce, raw honey, cut flowers and preserves, sold on site whenever the gate is open.
Whole, half and by the cut as animals finish. Reserved ahead by phone — supply is honest, not endless.
Square bales in season and finished compost from our own animals, sold by the bag or by the truckload.
Vegetable, herb and flower starts grown in our greenhouse for people putting in a garden at home.
Standing programs for school groups, homeschool co-ops and scout troops, built around real chores.
Membership that supports the animals and gets your family through the gate all year. See the tiers.
Family, senior and engagement sessions booked by the hour in the barn, the rows or the pasture.
Open whenever the gate is. Stock depends on what came out of the garden and the barn that week, so it's honest rather than endless — when it's gone, it's gone until the next pull.
Card and cash both work at the stand. Larger orders and bulk produce can be reserved ahead by phone.
Call About Stock
JICO Ranch is family owned and family worked. The animals were here before the visitors were, and the garden went in because we wanted to eat from it. Opening to the public came after — because it turns out most people have never stood next to a cow.
Nothing here is staged for a photo. You'll see feed buckets, mud after rain, and work getting done while you're standing there. That's the point, and it's the part people remember.
The ranch is part of the JICO family of businesses in South Carolina — the same hands that build and manage property here set these fence lines and turned these beds.
Plan Your VisitSeasonal days, workshops and open evenings. Seats are limited on anything marked reserved — the list updates as we set dates.
Real photos go in here as we take them — animals, rows, the barn, and the people who show up.
A working ranch is not a parking lot and a gift shop. Here's exactly what to expect so you show up in the right shoes.
Gates close to new arrivals one hour before closing so you're not rushed through.
We stay open in light rain and the barn is covered. Closures get posted at the top of this page.
General admission during open hours is walk-in — just come. Guided tours, workshops, field trips and private events are by reservation so we can staff them properly and keep group sizes sane.
Yes, and that's most of the point. The barnyard is a hands-on area with feed cups available at the gate. Larger livestock stay behind fence line and get visited with a guide, which is safer for everybody including the animals.
The season calendar in the garden section shows what's growing month by month, and the strip at the very top of this page lists what's actually ready to pick today. That top strip is the one we keep current.
Service animals are always welcome. Pet dogs aren't permitted around the livestock and food crops — it stresses the animals and creates a food-safety problem in the garden.
Yes. The barn and the field host birthdays, showers, reunions, company days and small weddings. Send a date through the contact form and we'll come back with availability and pricing.
At the farm stand during open hours. Stock depends on the week and the season rather than a standing inventory — what's available today is listed at the top of this page, and you can call ahead for larger orders.
One note a month, plus a heads-up when a picking window opens or workshop seats go live. Those fill fast, and the list hears first.
Booking a group, asking about a date, or just checking whether the blueberries are in — call the ranch and somebody who works it will answer.
