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May 27, 2004
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May 27, 2004 |
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Farmers work with nature for a healthier food, future
In Ohio May is the month when asparagus, spinach and lettuce come alive, and this spring organic farmers in the area have been coaxing their seedlings into fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables to supply local residents with homegrown “edible gold.” For many growers, doing things naturally is simply the right thing to do. Back to nature At the top of the swale that divides the 168-acre Orion Farm on East Enon Road, a modest greenhouse and two small vegetable fields are beginning to yield green shoots and stalks for the summer harvest. The garden, started two years ago, is only a few acres and produces just enough to supply the Winds Cafe and several other restaurants in the Dayton area with seasonal vegetables. For its owners, Jon Paul Rion and his mother, Barbara, the farm isn’t as much a job as it is a model of the way they think things ought to be done. Rion, a criminal attorney in Dayton, and Barbara bought the farm three years ago and realized the three creeks that cross their property create a wetland in their backyard, which they wanted to preserve. They purchased a conservation easement through the Tecumseh Land Trust and watched the land flourish back to its natural state. Without the chemical sprays that had once been used on the farm, native pheasants and quail returned to nest, mink and turtles began to thrive, and the bluebird population nearly tripled. But the Rions didn’t stop there. They wanted to create an entire ecosystem where food was produced right next to a wildlife area and a hardwood tree grove. So last year they planted 20,000 oak, paw paw, hickory and black tupelo saplings to donate for urban reforestation in the Dayton area. And they started planting from seed onions, garlic, peas, carrots, spinach, strawberries and lettuce to create a local source of fresh organic food. The organic foods that most grocery stores carry come from California and Mexico, Rion said, and sit around for one to three weeks before they are purchased. According to Rion, though the food is labeled organic, the land where much of it is grown tends to be highly unbalanced toward nothing but agriculture. And it’s hard to know what is really happening to your food when it is grown across the country, he said. The Orion Farm is the only farm in Miami Township that is certified organic by the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), Ohio’s certification body for the National Organic Program, according to OEFFA inspector Alan Carney. OEFFA standards require farmers to use land that has been free of inorganic substances for at least three years, employ a five-year crop rotation plan to restore nitrogen to the soil, avoid genetically modified seeds, irrigate with contaminant-free water and harvest and deliver using chemical-free materials and packaging. Herbicides and pesticides may seem indispensable, but there are endless natural secrets to growing viable healthy plants, Rion said. Mulching and hand weeding are the basic weed remedies that, when coupled with a natural garlic pepper or Safer soap spray for bugs, can yield a field full of healthy, organic food, according to Cathy Speece, who lives on the property and manages the Orion Farm with the help of employees Alberto and Maria Balli. Speece also follows the planting charts in T.E. Black’s “God’s Way,” which relies on astrology and the pull of the moon to choose the days best suited for planting, weeding and harvesting. “Taurus and water signs are the best to plant in,” said Speece, who swears last year’s green bean crop came up strong with barely any weeds. The labor involved with any kind of farming is intense and requires constant attention and care. But Rion said that his farm is managed by people who are committed to the tradition of connecting to the land and its environment. “If you understand that, like Cathy, Al and Maria do, it’s not hard labor — it’s taking part in history,” he said. ‘A stewardship thing’ Tim and Laurel Shouvlin, who grow organically at Bluebird Hills Farm on Derr Road in Springfield, seem to understand that the production on their land is also part of a larger ecosystem. Driving up the hill to their OEFFA-certified 500-acre farm, the wide open fields and abundant trees give way to just 14 acres of farmed land. They are holding the rest for the herons, the killdeer, and the cycle of natural life their four children can learn from by just watching, Laurel said. “Growing organically is a stewardship thing,” Laurel said. “Could we make money off the field from conventional farming? Yes. Is it right? No.” The Shouvlins participate in community-supported agriculture by growing for a set of prepaid customers in the Greater Dayton area. From June through September, Bluebird Hills supplies around 260 families with weekly boxes of vegetables for $350 a season. Bluebird Hills has around 30 Yellow Springs customers, and also supplies boxes to Urbana, Lebanon, Kettering, Centerville, Dayton, Clayton and Springfield. Tim, a former attorney, and Laurel, a former physician’s assistant, left their professions to farm full-time in 1992, after inheriting family land. They generally grow anything they can, including radishes, beets, melons, squashes, eggplants and some lesser-known produce such as kohlrabi and Chinese and Japanese greens. By rotating crops every year and planting just past a bug’s larval stage, the Shouvlins said they can control the pest population and encourage beneficial insects, such as bees. The balance alone will make the crops stronger and less susceptible to the slightest threat, Laurel said. Though Laurel and Tim work by themselves most of the year, in the past they have been able to hire two Mexican workers with temporary work visas to help from April to September. The migrant workers are much more reliable than local labor, they said, and they get paid the going rate of $8 to $10 an hour. Calculating the year by watching the weather, the bugs, the weeds and the deer, Laurel said, puts the Shouvlins in touch with what’s going on around them. When they see the first red-winged blackbird and turkey vultures they know spring is here. “The kids were late to school today because an alpaca was being born. How cool is that?” Laurel said. “We know it’s a great way for the kids to grow up.” Roll with changes Doug Seibert and Leslie Garcia have a similarly sized OEFFA-certified operation that includes 18 acres in Spring Valley and 19 acres in Caesar Creek. Their farm, Peach Mountain, survives mainly on sales at the Yellow Springs farmers’ market and business with the Winds and flower shows. Seibert relies principally on Growing for Profit, written by Peter Henderson in 1888, a book he considers to be “the bible for old-time growers.” Henderson’s advice must have worked because in the decade since Peach Mountain first started, gross sales have grown to about $90,000 annually. If that sounds like a comfortable living, consider that Garcia once watched nine months go by before she took a day’s rest. Consider also that business costs, insurance, taxes and utilities still have to be paid every month. Garcia said she and Seibert are “professionally poor” because they both work harder and earn less than they ever have in their lives. The only reason they get by, she said, is because they have no debt and they never buy things they can’t pay for now. Seibert and Garcia grow more than 100 different vegetables and flowers, including all manner of tomatoes, culinary herbs and salad greens, snapdragons, sweet peas and zinnias. For some, long-range planning for the growing season is essential, but Garcia insists the element of chance can sabotage even the most seasoned farmer. Peach Mountain has expanded over the years by diversifying and growing in excess of 13 tons per year in anticipation of losing a portion to pests, rain, weeds, and the limited amount of time and energy two people have to till, fertilize, plant, weed, harvest and sell their products. The ethics of organic farming are different from conventional farming but the issues are the same, Garcia said. “I don’t know why banks ever loan farmers money or why farmers ever borrow,” she said. “Haven’t they ever heard of hail?” Seibert and Garcia love what they do, and that makes the risk and hard work worth it, they said. When Garcia thinks about taking a day off, she thinks about gardening. “That’s sick,” she said. They are committed to their farm because of the increasing threat to agriculture. From their perspective, the countryside is becoming a pastoral backdrop for cities, offshore agriculture is growing, pollution problems are increasing and non-genetically-modified and heirloom seeds are becoming harder to find. All around the message is, “farmers aren’t important,” Garcia said. Even on a day when she was sick, Garcia was out mowing, and she stayed to talk about the farm for nearly two hours. She and Seibert roll with the challenges that come their way because that’s what farmers do. “That’s agriculture, you got to go with it and do the best you can,” she said.
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