Farm Indiana | October 2015

OCTOBER 2015

Rural Living & Local Food

Hump Days

A northern Indiana camel farm offers tourists a unique experience

ALSO INSIDE

»Silverthorn Farm »Dark Horse Hops »Poseys and Pumpkins

A monthly publication of Home News Enterprises, Farm Indiana offers the local news and views of Indiana’s farming world, including features about local families and their farms, agriculture businesses, equipment and technological advances, educational outreach programs and more. Farm Indiana promotes and celebrates Indiana’s rich history and tradition in farming; serves as a conduit of information among growers, producers, farmers, retailers, farming organizations and local food consumers; educates readers about the nutritional, social and financial importance of local food support and consumption; and highlights Indiana local foods and agritourism.

PUBLISHER Chuck Wells EDITOR Sherri Lynn Dugger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Rural Living & Local Food

Cissy Bowman, Nate Brownlee, Katherine Coplen, Katie Glick, Jen Janicijevic, Cheryl Carter Jones, Jim Mayfield, Jon Shoulders, Ryan Trares, Twinkle VanWinkle, Marcia Walker, Catherine Whittier, CJ Woodring COPY EDITOR Katharine Smith SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST Margo Wininger ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Amanda Waltz ADVERTISING DESIGN

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

Contents OCTOBER 2015

5 Field Notes Tips and advice

6 Silverthorn Farm 12 Angel Lange 18 Dark Horse Hops 22 Dallas Bender’s Camels 26 Fair Farms & Produce 30 Poseys and Pumpkins 34 Beech Grove FFA 38 Douglas Hurt 42 Metamora’s Canal Days

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44 Indiana State Egg Board 46 Continuing Education 48 From the Field

Columns by growers

53 Local Food

Greenfield Chocolates, Hoosier Sugar Daddy

ON THE COVER

Read about Bender’s camels on page 22.

Photo by Josh Marshall

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Happily Ever After

H

“Hey, love! If you’re still at the Story Inn, ask them for the turnip mash recipe!” This was a text message I received on a recent Sunday morning from my friend Stevi, who was eager to replicate a side dish we’d enjoyed the evening prior.

I had spent the weekend in Story, where — as a bridesmaid — I stood in support of another girlfriend, Michelle, marrying her ever-lovin’, a lucky man named Ross. And thanks to Ross and Michelle, as well as the kitchen talent at the Story Inn, I’d also had the chance to eat some amazing food.

During our rehearsal dinner, we were served filet mignon and scallops on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes out on the back patio.

A crusted dark chocolate pot de creme and multiple bottles of wine finished the warm autumn night’s meal. The next day’s wedding buffet offered more goodness by way of the aforementioned mash, as well as macaroni and cheese, pulled pork and Cajun slaw. There were Indiana craft beers on tap.

And, of course, more wine.

The weekend was delicious all around — not to mention lovely because of its charming and naturally beautiful setting in the middle of Hoosier National Forest. But this was all to be expected. This was the Story Inn, after all.

The beautiful aspect of this story — outside of the scenery in Story and the sight of that dark chocolate pot de creme being set before me — is that there are so many other places like Story.

Drive in any direction on any given weekend, and you will stumble across a quaint little town with a gem of a restaurant (Joseph Decuis in Roanoke,

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Red Geranium in New Harmony or Valley Kitchen & Bar in Valparaiso), a farm with an agritourism bent (Apple Works, Fair Oaks, Stream Cliff Herb Farm), a winery with live music (Huber, Mallow Run, Oliver, Simmons) or a brewery with local eats (Taxman, Upland, Flat 12 Bierworks).

Then there are the food trails (the tenderloin trail, the Hoosier pie trail, the southern comfort food trail), and the lists could go on and on.

There are hundreds of tasty and, especially this time of year, scenic destinations around the state to enjoy. In 2014, Mark Newman, the executive director for the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, noted that 78 percent of people were choosing leisure travel destinations that involved food in Indiana. Tourism in the state is a more than $10 billion industry.

That accounts for a lot of delicious food.

More and more, the focus on all this food is going local. If you’re a small farmer, now is the time to break into the business of raising pigs, cattle, dairy cows, specialty crops and the like to feed the hungry Hoosier masses. And if you go organic and sustainably raised, all the better. Key data findings from a recent Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s Food Hubs Feasibility Study showed that “over 90 percent of Indiana’s food is sourced from out of state, yet it has the 7th largest market value of crops — with over $7.5 billion in 2012.” We don’t have enough people producing the foods we want to eat. That’s good news for wanna-be farmers.

The happily-ever-after ending to this story for the rest of us is that, in the meantime, there are already plenty of wonderful options of which we can partake. Each weekend in October features festivals and fairs to celebrate the season. And if I have to accept that the temperatures are dropping — as each year I must — I am best to do it with a warm Indiana grown meal in front of me.

FIELD NOTES

BY CATHERINE WHITTIER

Saving Seeds

»Thirty years ago, when Amaryllis Dougherty tasted her first beef heart tomato, she fell in love with the flavor.

Dougherty immediately began saving the seeds of the heirloom Tomates Coeur de Boeuf, or beef heart tomatoes, so that she could grow them to sell, as well as to enjoy at home.

Dougherty saves her seeds by laying a paper towel on a paper plate. She then cuts the tomato into sections and “rakes” out the seeds with a fork or a spoon, spreading whatever pulp may come with them, across the paper towel.

The seeds are left to dry on the paper towel and plate, then stacked and stored until planting time. When it’s time to plant, the whole paper towel is laid over 2 to 3 inches of growing medium in an open tray and then covered with an additional ¼ inch of growing medium. Dougherty lightly waters the paper towel. When seedlings are 4 to 5 inches tall, they are separated and moved into individual cells.

Amaryllis Dougherty (pictured with her granddaughter) and her husband, Joseph, were full-time farmers who raised livestock in Johnson County for 50 years. Amaryllis can be found selling produce, flowers, eggs and baked goods at the Greenwood Farmers Market on Saturday mornings through the second week in October.

ANOTHER SEEDSAVING METHOD

Becky Haveman of Whiteland Orchard has been saving the seeds from her heirloom tomatoes for many years. She chooses large, mature (even overripe), heirloom tomatoes and cuts them from stem end to blossom end into sections. She then scoops out the seeds and drops the seeds in a widemouth jar, which is half full of water. She allows the seeds to soak for several days before pouring off the debris and immature seeds that will float to the top.

Haveman explains that she keeps a lid on the jar, as the water can develop an odor or a covering of mold during this process. She then begins to pour off the old water and add clean water daily for

a week or so until the water is no longer cloudy and the seeds look clean (seeds will look dark because they are wet).

Haveman then pours the seeds into a fine mesh strainer and rinses them once more, before spreading them out to dry on paper towels. After several days have passed, she breaks the drying seeds apart (they stick together as they dry) and lets them dry another day or two. The seeds are then stored inside bags in the freezer until planting time.

Whiteland Orchard has been providing apples, produce and plants to Johnson County area residents for 40 years.

Whiteland Orchard products can be found at the Greenwood Farmers Market on Saturday mornings through the second week in October and at their storefront market in Whiteland during the week. For more information, visit whitelandorchard.com.

spoiled

SOIL » Adam Phelps, of Ghostwood Farm in Bedford, claims he has terrible soil.

While the Phelps family composts everything they possibly can, they don’t accumulate enough composted material to sufficiently amend all of the soil in their 17 8-by-100-foot garden beds. Since purchasing additional amendments would be cost prohibitive, Phelps works with what he has “to target crops that need the extra nutrients,” he says.

Phelps says that in the spring, when mowing season starts, he covers his tomato, pepper and cucumber beds with a thick layer of wet newspaper, followed by a thick layer of fresh — not dried — grass clippings. “That wet, heavy grass on top of the newspaper smothers all annual weeds (though the occasional perennial gets through, particularly horse nettle),” he explains. He plants approximately 200 plants through the layers around Mother’s Day, then continues to utilize a dry grass mulch around his plants throughout the season.

Phelps plants his cucumbers, squash and watermelon in “hills in the center of 8-foot beds,” he says. He forms his hills with “fresh chicken litter, about 6 inches high and 18 inches in diameter. He then covers each hill with approximately 2 inches of soil. “I plant the seeds into the soil on top, and the roots get down into that chicken litter within a few weeks,” he says. “The plants get a huge dose of chicken-related fertilizer without having to cover the whole bed in it.” Ghostwood Farm is a small family farm that sells vegetables and eggs as they are available.

Adam Phelps can be reached at ghostwoodfarm.com.

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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A sample produce basket that is sent to crop share members.

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SILVER LINING The future of farming for Nathan and Emily Parks is rife with possibilities

BY RYAN TRARES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

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Employees help Nathan Parks clean and prepare produce

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EMILY PARKS HAD NEVER thought much about the 120 acres of farmland in northern Clinton County that her family has owned since 1864. For the past four decades, it had been rented to area farmers to grow corn and soybeans. There was no house on the property, no barn, nothing but a field. “I didn’t have any personal attachment to this piece of land,” she says. “For most of my life, I didn’t even know who farmed it.”

But together with her husband, Nathan Parks, Emily has cultivated something more permanent from the family plot. Approximately six years ago, the couple took over 25 acres of the Rossville property, where they would eventually raise mixed greens, sweet corn and other produce for their Silverthorn Farm operation.

Focused on organic growing practices and sustainable living, Nathan and Emily

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now maintain a community supported agriculture co-op with more than 300 members, operate 18,000 square feet of greenhouse space and sell produce to 20 area restaurants.

A PUSH FOR SOMETHING ELSE Nathan grew up in an agricultural family in Darlington. His grandfathers, father, uncle and cousins all farmed. As a boy, Nathan learned to steer a tractor, plant corn, soybeans and melons and care for the family’s purebred cows and hogs.

But the summer before his senior year of high school, Nathan’s grandfather sold the farm. “So that (farming) option was gone for me,” he says.

He attended Purdue University and, once out of school, formed his own construction company to build and refurbish houses.

For nearly 10 years, Nathan was focused on buying, repairing and building houses, with the goal of returning to agriculture as soon as he could.

Nathan Parks. Top right: A view of the growing fields from the processing facility at Silverthorn Farm. Bottom right: Delicata winter squash. Inset: Employees wash and clean produce.

“This whole time, I was trying to build and sell all of these houses so I could buy a farm,” he says. “All I wanted to do was farm again.”

Throughout his life, Nathan had always been told that he wouldn’t find success in farming unless he had at least 1,000 acres to cultivate. But he felt there were other options.

Nathan met Emily while at Purdue, and the couple purchased their first 30 acres in Montgomery County in 2005. That first year they went in with a neighbor to plant hay on the land, agreeing to split the profit.

Nathan invested $1,600 in alfalfa seed, expecting a significant return once the crop grew into a beautiful stand of hay.

Once it had been cut and sold, though, he only received $285. “That was my push into something else,” he says.

So the next year he plowed the field. On eight acres, he and Emily planted pumpkins

and watermelons by hand. The summer of 2006 turned out to be ideal for growing melons and gourds. The wet weather and the sandy, gravel soil of their land produced a bumper crop. “You could walk across that farm on these perfect, huge pumpkins.

Same with the watermelons,” Nathan says.

“Everything worked out for us.”

That taste of success hooked them. Nathan still worked in the housing industry, but the couple continued to dabble in farming. When the housing market crashed in 2007, Nathan suggested they commit fully to growing food. It was Emily who pushed for organic produce farming, after noticing a growing consumer trend toward sustainably raised products.

Over time, the couple learned the intricacies of vegetable and fruit farming, as well as how to produce diversified crops without overworking the soil. Once the farm was

“It’s hard to find that (agricultural) legacy anymore, so it’s pretty special for us to be able to pass it on. It’s going to be a cool thing to see what our kids have.”

— NATHAN PARKS

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SILVERTHORN FARM WHERE: 4485 W. Road

1000N, Rossville

OWNERS: Nathan and Emily Parks FOUNDED: 2012; the land has been in Emily’s family since 1864.

PRODUCTS: About 40 types of vegetables and more than 300 varieties ACREAGE: 120 total on the farm; produce is grown on 25 of it.

FARM STORE: Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

FARMERS MARKETS: Broad Ripple Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday through November, 1115 Broad Ripple Ave., Indianapolis.

INFORMATION: silverthorn-farm.com

large enough, they started looking for a more permanent place to call their own. That’s when Emily’s heritage came into play.

The farm, located north of Rossville, was originally settled by William Silverthorn, Emily’s great-greatgreat-grandfather. At the time, he was farming 280 acres. Eventually, the acreage was sold off to its existing size of 120 acres.

Though the land had been rented for as long as she could remember, it was now on her mind. “It was my grandma’s, and she was so passionate about it,” Emily explains. “It was her dad’s and his dad’s and his dad’s.”

The couple hoped to pass on a piece of that land to their children. “It’s hard to find that (agricultural) legacy anymore, so it’s pretty special for us to be able to pass it on,” Nathan says. “It’s going to be a cool thing to see what our kids have.”

Nathan and Emily have two children, 5-year-old Jensen and Macy, 3. Their third child is due in November. Part of the joy of owning their farm operation has been watching their kids adapt to an agricultural lifestyle.

“They’ve been able to be born and raised in this situation, which has been a whole new dynamic here,” Nathan says. “If Jensen wants a carrot, he goes and pulls it out of the ground. That’s a pretty cool thing for a 5-year-old kid to do.”

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The home that the family moved onto the property. Below: Parks with 7-week-old piglets.

A NEW BUSINESS MODEL THAT WORKS Though the family land had no infrastructure — no water, no electricity, no shelters — Nathan and Emily used their creativity to carve out a farm. “We didn’t know how we were going to do this,” he says. “Our business was just starting; it’s not like we were raking in money hand over fist.”

The couple found a house down the road that had been sitting empty for years. They contacted that property’s owners and asked to have the home at no cost if they moved it off the property. The deal was accepted, and the house was towed to its current location at Silverthorn Farm.

The couple then salvaged and refurbished trusses from former construction projects and milled their own wood to build outbuildings and barns.

Nathan and Emily moved onto the property and established the Silverthorn Farm business in 2012. The first official crop for the Rossville farm was planted in 2013, and the following years have been about settling in, perfecting their growing styles and learning best practices.

In the beginning, they only sold their produce at farmers markets. Now, community-supported agriculture members can go online each week, view what produce, meat, cheese and honey are available and make their selections there. Those orders are then dropped off at 14 locations through-

out central Indiana, from Indianapolis to Lafayette to Wabash College. “We’ve really learned what to do and figured out how to stay relevant to how people shop today,” Nathan explains.

Crops at Silverthorn Farm grow nearly year-round, from salad greens and strawberries in the spring to potatoes, onions, beets and carrots in the fall. Silverthorn is now the main supplier for Cafe Patachou and its family of restaurants throughout central Indiana, and Nathan and Emily feel that everything is lining up the way they envisioned.

At present, 40 acres of land is in use, and they are in the process of taking control of 60 more acres. The extra space will give them greater flexibility when rotating plantings and pastures. Pigs and chickens currently roam the farm, and Nathan and Emily plan to start raising beef cattle as well.

They hope their experience serves as an example for other young farmers in the area. The old mentality of solely growing row crops on thousands of acres is not the only business model that works in agriculture, they say.

“If you want it, you can get it,” Nathan explains. “If I had this information when I was 18 years old, that you could do this, I would have never got out of farming. Hopefully, we can get a few more of these young farmers involved in it.”

4814 W Old State Road 46, Greensburg, IN 812-663-4020 • 800-241-4020 www.obermeyeragrigroup.com FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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Robert “Angel� Lange stands in one of the locations where he releases rehabilitated animals.

Opposite: Lange hand feeds a deer, one of the animals that he has nursed back to health.

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Knox County man helps injured animals return to the wild

BY JIM MAYFIELD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

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Lange’s pet buffalo.

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THIS PAST SUMMER, Robert “Angel” Lange’s wildlife inventory was down. There were wild baby raccoons hissing and snarling from their station in a box. There was a big barred owl swooping back and forth in its pen, before settling on its roost to stare with wide, blinking eyes. And there were a couple of young bobcats who signaled another step toward their den would invite an unpleasant encounter.

A month prior, the owl had had an unfortunate run-in with the side of a semitrailer as the two were on perpendicular paths.

Knocked senseless and sustaining a nasty concussion, the animal was brought to Lange’s 38-acre homestead and wildlife rehab facility just outside Vincennes in Knox County where it joined the ’coons, the cats, deer and a variety of other creatures to recover.

“I’m supposed to be the wildlife guy for Knox County,” said Lange, who completely looks the part of Hoosier animal handler, shirtless under his overalls, wearing a pair of old Crocs

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and peering down from beneath the brim of a white straw cowboy hat. “But I get calls from all over the state.”

He’s noticeably tall with a look somewhere between Grizzly Adams, Charlie Daniels and ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, an easy smile parting the full, white beard that is now shorter than it used to be but still formidable and nothing, by the way, to be tarried with.

He wanted to be a state conservation officer when he was younger, but his beard got in the way. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said the

beard had to go, and that was a bit too much for Lange. He opted for a stint in the Navy, a turn at a battery plant, a 31-year career with the U.S. Postal Service followed by a full-time maintenance gig on heavy trucks.

It was during his time in the Navy that Lange went from Robert to “Angel.”

Juggling the letters of his last name, Lange’s doctors and hospital staff referred to him as Angel after repairing a near-fatal knife wound. He doesn’t like to talk about that incident these days.

But in between alternative careers, or

A bobcat waiting for its release.

An injured turtle.

A 1929 Model A Roadster restored by Joanne Lange.

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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perhaps despite them, the 65-year-old Knox County native has always been there for the animals, most of them anyway.

After three decades delivering mail and an equal number of dog bites, he lets his wife, Joanne, handle the canines.

“Dogs scare me, and I don’t like to do canines,” he said. “It’s not the dog’s fault.”

Lange’s easy Hoosier drawl and laidback nature belie the intricacies of getting an injured animal back to health and into the wild.

There’s a significant amount of veterinary knowledge in play along with enough rules, regulations and permitting at the state and federal levels to keep a lawyer busy for weeks, not to mention the records that need to be kept.

The Lange operation needs to be licensed just to maintain possession of the animals, as anything less amounts to taking an animal out of season — otherwise known as poaching.

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A Tin Lizzy go-kart that Lange is in the process of restoring.

Indiana DNR Conservation Officer Ryan McIntyre, who’s worked with Lange for about three years, cautioned residents against picking up an injured animal. Apart from the animal-handling knowledge and skills required, transporting wildlife might well put one on the wrong side of the law, good intentions notwithstanding.

“You’re better off to call us,” McIntyre said. “We’ll pick it up and take it to Angel.”

Some 90 animals of all stripes have been taken to Lange’s facility this year. That’s about average, though he’s had as many as 150 a year pass through the pens in the past.

Regardless of the numbers, however, the goal is always the same: Get the creature back to the wild.

“Ninety percent of the animals are released back to where they came from,” Lange said.

For some critters, where they came from or where they belong can be a long way off.

There were a couple of bears that were transported to bear sanctuaries out West; two cougars ferried to Florida, all at Lange’s expense. One of the bear trips alone cost him nearly $3,000.

“Angel is the main guy we go to,” McIntyre said. “We really appreciate everything he does, and you wouldn’t believe the time and the money he puts into it.”

Lange finances the operation from his own pocket. There’s no state funding, and he can’t solicit donations.

“We’ve had people drop off animals that have given us money, but if we can’t afford to take care of them, we can’t take them,” Joanne said.

In addition to the feeding, nursing and maintenance, Lange does most of the medical work himself, though he does have two veterinarians to help with the tough cases.

“It’s a full-time job,” he said. He says he’s only gotten away about five days over the last five years.

“It’s like being a doctor; you’re always on call.”

Which is not to say Lange doesn’t have his distractions, most of which are as unique as the man and his calling.

He has a couple of pet buffalo that he claims will warm up to a visitor once they get to know you, “but if you can’t run 35 miles per hour all day long, you don’t need to go in there.”

The bison are “a piece of American history,” and he is big on history.

Knox County’s last known pay telephone booth is perched outside his garage, a 1929 Model A Roadster and a 1930 Model A sedan are parked inside. Plus, there’s his collection of some 60 hand-painted saw blades and murals Lange created, which record the significant events witnessed through a lifetime, ranging from family on the farm to the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Then there are the rows of hand-crafted wooden race cars he takes to Indianapolis to get autographed by the big-time racers.

Sleep is clearly not one of his priorities.

Armed with adjustable wrenches, Lange transports a visitor back to a truck that inexplicably went belly-up and dead-in-the-water at a fast-food joint just around the corner from Lange’s house. He also managed to coax a heavy-truck mechanic he knows out from under a rig at a nearby repair shop to join the effort.

He’s the kind of guy that simply gets things done.

“People ask me why I do this,” he says on the way to rehabilitating the truck. “Maybe I’m just trying to work my way to heaven.”

A few minutes later, the truck cranks, the big man bids farewell with hands marked by teeth and talons, and heaven’s gates swing open just a bit more.

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HIGH HOPES With more than 100 craft breweries throughout the state, Indiana’s demand for hops has growers Ryan Hammer and Josh Martin perfectly poised

BY JEN JANICIJEVIC

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

A hops plant on the Hammer farm.

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ON A QUARTER-ACRE PLOT of land tucked far off a county road in Knightstown, Ryan Hammer and Josh Martin of Dark Horse Hops stand proudly in a dusty pile of weeds. Flanked by rows of wooden poles and a country mile of twine, the dirt here has a story to tell. Just a few weeks earlier, this once-lush field was stripped of its bounty, which was divvied up among a handful of eager Indiana breweries, every bine of hops claimed as in a proverbial gold rush.

As the doors swung shut on the delivery truck, years of research, months of work and weeks of sweat all culminated into one strong message for the pair: If you grow it, they will come.

From the moment hops are harvested, there’s a carefully choreographed dance that happens to ensure their success. Just as freshly picked flowers would wilt if left on a counter, hops have a very narrow window of opportunity to either meet their fate in a boiling grave or be dried and stored for another day. The process of drying, grinding and pelletizing hops has become the industry standard; it’s a means to preserve the flavor of the hop while extending its shelf life.

However, the growing number of hop farms in the U.S. means that brewers now have a saucier option, and Dark Horse Hops has what they’re looking for. Wet-hopping, a method of brewing previously reserved for those who either lived in extremely close proximity to a hops source — or were willing to pay the steep shipping prices to overnight a hops supply — uses the crop within hours of harvest.

“It’s kind of like using dry herbs versus fresh herbs,” explains Hammer. “It definitely imparts a different flavor into the beer. You get a greener, fresher flavor.”

On a typical morning of a Dark Horse delivery to Sun King Brewing Co., for example, a 10:30 a.m. delivery time means a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call for the harvesting team. The workers collect Chinook and Cascade, two popular varieties of hops, before the sun comes up, then sort and deliver the crop to Sun King, where the hops go straight to the tanks to create Wet Hopped & Sticky, an India Pale Ale with a golden, citrus bite.

A longtime aficionado of the beer-making craft, Hammer’s introduction to growing hops wasn’t until 2012. Working as a production assistant for WISH-TV in Indianapolis, he was introduced to several local beer crafters like Josh Hambright, then of Flat 12 Bierworks, and Clay Robinson, owner and founding brewer of Sun King. Realizing that there was a big interest in locally grown hops, Hammer took the idea to grow hops to his family. Under the name Three Hammers Farms, he got down to business planting his first crop. “We had 40 plants at first, and it was just a lot of fun working with my grandpa,” he recalls. “We sold that first harvest to Sun King, and I decided I wanted to take it full time.”

Three Hammers’ first crop featured two varieties of hops. “The first sets, I kind of picked at random,” he says. “I did the opposite of what I should have done, which is go to the brewers first. But I did some quick research online and saw what other people had tried. I picked Nugget and CTZ, which are both what are called high alpha hops. They’re mainly just grown for bitterness, not aroma or flavor characteristics, which are used a lot, but not highlighted in craft beer like (IPA hops) Cascade and Chinook.”

Ryan Hammer

With three harvests now under his belt, Hammer’s confidence in his growing skills is steadily rising. Earlier this year, Three Hammers welcomed Josh Martin, a local with an extensive background in farming and solid ideas regarding the future of the farm. With the new addition came a new name: Dark Horse Hops. The pair made the decision to expand their operation, with a new look and a new location that included 10 acres of land. Focusing on fan favorites, they’ll initially be splitting the crop down the middle into five acres each of Chinook and Cascade.

“We’re just starting with a couple varieties that have been proven on these kind of soil types, in these conditions,” explains

Martin. The new land is already being farmed by Martin’s family, and it offers several outbuildings that will hold hops processing equipment — an aspect to hops farming that Hammer and Martin wish to capitalize on in the future.

Helping to maximize their yield — and likely maximizing their investment, as well — is Dark Horse’s plan to bring in German picking, harvesting and drying equipment.

Just as community kitchens offer homebased vendors an option to prepare food in a well-equipped, inspected and legal environment, having the facilities to process hops will allow smaller hops farms, like Dark Horse, the ability to more efficiently bring their product to market.

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Hammer looks at what crops remain after harvest. Inset, a handful of hops.

But for now, the property has all that the duo needs … good soil, and plenty of it.

In the U.S., over 75 percent of hops are grown in Washington’s Yakima Valley, a high desert region of the Pacific Northwest with an average annual rainfall of less than 8 inches.

With a sandy soil that requires massive amounts of irrigation and fertilizing, Hammer is happy with the jackpot of rich, fertile loam right here in Indiana. “It just seems like we have the perfect mix,” he says. “You’ve got that balance of holding nutrients and moisture, while still being drained enough.”

When Hammer and Martin hit the road to research how others were growing hops, they were surprised to find such diversity in growing conditions that somehow managed equal success. On a visit to Michigan, the pair met with Jeff Steinman of Hop

Head Farms, a 30-acre hop farm in Hickory Corners with an on-site processing center. “I was kind of surprised,” Martin says. “They grew corn in that field the year before, and I asked if (Steinman) did any soil testing or sampling.”

Steinman’s answer? ‘Nope.’ I mean, this guy is a master horticulturist, growing in clay … and his crop looked great.”

One factor to growing that can’t be left to chance is securing a generous water supply.

Needing 4 to 6 gallons of water — per plant, per day — hops require some forethought into irrigation methods.

So far, Dark Horse has been able to meet its needs by utilizing a combination of rainwater collection barrels and a small lake on the property. In addition to keeping the plants hydrated, the soil must be kept in check with a nitrogen drip to make up for the loss of nutrients during the growing season.

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Clockwise: Hops on the vine.

Sun King Brewing’s Dave Colt (black shirt) and a member of his staff examine the hops at delivery.

Brad Hammer checks hops before they are dried.

“And that’s another area where I think I’ll be beneficial,” says Martin. “We’ve got these new technologies, where we can go out there if we were wondering why a particular plant isn’t growing properly, take five minutes and get a little sample, and we can tell what the nitrate level is. We (the Martin family) farm enough acreage where we either say, ‘We’ll spray everything’ or ‘We won’t spray anything.’ This’ll be a bit more intimate; you can do it on a smaller scale and have more control.”

Recognizing that acres of towering poles covered in greenery aren’t a common sight around central Indiana, the guys at Dark Horse are anticipating a healthy dose of curiosity from the community once the new farm is fully operational. Just a few miles west of State Road 109, their property is visible from U.S. 40 and a prime candidate for agricultural rubbernecking. Hammer is excited to connect with his Knightstown PHOTOS SUBMITTED.

neighbors and hopes to welcome visitors to the farm for tours and questions. “We’re going to have a lot of people driving slow past the property. They might as well come on in and see what we’re about,” he says.

Aside from forging strong friendships with brewers, Dark Horse is a member of the Indiana Hop Growers Association, a support community with the means to advocate for the longevity of Indiana’s hops farms, both large and small. And with a three- to fiveyear goal of expanding its operation to 100 acres, Dark Horse Hops is ready to put down strong roots in Henry County.

Serious about the future, even its growing equipment has an extended shelf life.

“When we looked at where we were going to purchase our poles, we found out that they had a 15- to 20-year warranty,” says Hammer. “A pole warranty. I didn’t know that was a thing … but it is.”

For more information, visit darkhorsehops.com.

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Monday thru Friday 8am to 5pm FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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CAMELOT

In one northern Indiana town, Dallas Bender is king of his animals

BY CJ WOODRING | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

Camels in the stables and roaming the fields on Dallas Bender’s Shipshewana farm.

S

SHIPSHEWANA IS A SMALL TOWN, even as small towns go, covering less than one square mile and with fewer than 600 residents. But that’s not including the 18 camels.

Since 2011, visitors to LaGrange County’s Amish countryside have spotted the denizens of the desert, many taken aback to find the iconic mammals browsing in Hoosier fields. Nevertheless, camels are becoming a common sight across America as an increasing number of farmers join Dallas Bender in raising the animals, domesticated more than 3,000 years ago.

A former welder, Bender grew up on a dairy farm in Kalona, Iowa, a small town that bears a striking resemblance to Shipshewana: It is home to the largest Amish settlement west of the Mississippi. In 2008 he moved to the Shipshewana farm, where he lives with his wife and four children.

Bender says he’s worked with animals all his life. “I was looking for a small occupation I could do at home because I wanted to be with my family,” he says. “I also wanted to do something different from the others, because there’s so much competition. So I visited a camel farm in Pennsylvania and then got my first camels from Missouri.”

Other quadrupeds were shipped from Wisconsin, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Although he began his herd with both Bactrians (two-humped) and dromedaries (single-humped camels also known as Arabian camels), Bender now has only one Bactrian, which he’ll eventually sell.

“My long-term goal is to focus on all dromedaries,” he says, noting that Bactrians are more expensive to buy and more challenging to raise. “Plus, I just prefer a dromedary personality.”

As personalities go, camels are more The camels are at home on their desigdocile than cows and get more attached to nated 20-acre setting, thriving on pasture people, which makes them perfect candigrass with a 16 percent protein feed, as dates for tourism attractions. Farm visits, well as a minimal amount of grain added initiated about two in winter, Bender years ago, have been says. “They browse working well, Bender more than a cow and “I was looking for a small says, noting that a buseat leaves off the trees occupation I could do at home load of 52 guests had and will even eat arrived the morning of thistle. I also have to because I wanted to be with his interview. keep an ample supply my family. I also wanted to Sonya Nash, of salt and minerals do something different from Travel Trade marketon hand.” the others, because there’s so ing manager for Amish Except for a deCountry of Northern worming every few much competition.”

Indiana (amishcountry. months, he says, the — DALLAS BENDER org), says the farm has animals require very enhanced tours for little maintenance. the Elkhart County “For the most part, Convention & Visitors Bureau, which she camels are a healthy and hardy animal, schedules through Karleen Richter’s agency, and most work I can do myself, including Down the Road Tours. deworming,” he explains. “The situation “A visit to the camel farm is an unusual, would have to be really, really serious before unexpected farm experience,” she says.

I’d need to call a vet.”

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

23

Clockwise: A dromedary camel. Camel hooves.

Goldendoodle puppies with their golden retriever and poodle parents. Camels in the field. The family buggy.

“Visitors never think they’ll see a camel in the United States, much less in Indiana’s Amish country.”

Tours are both entertaining and educational, she adds, and the camels are very interactive. “They’re used to being around the public and are very friendly. They like getting their necks rubbed and giving kisses and getting their photos taken. It’s definitely a fun, quirky and educational stop.”

As owner of Down the Road Tours (downtheroadtours.com), Richter conducts about 150 tours within the eight- to nine-month season. This is the first full summer she’s included farm visits, which can be incorporated into the Brown Bag, Backroads and Real Indiana Amish Country Housewives tours of Elkhart and LaGrange counties.

“This is the highlight of the day for them (tourists),” she says. “People love being able to get right up close with the camels, see how gentle and how big they are, and take selfies. Except for (with) a dog or cat, you just don’t get that experience with most animals.”

Tourists, who have visited from as far as California, Texas and Louisiana, are in awe of the animals.

Guests are surprised to hear that Bender milks his camels. “They ask questions like, ‘How do they get through the winter?’ and ‘Why do you milk them?’ and ‘What do you do with the milk?’” Richter says. “It’s entirely new to them.”

In addition to enjoying the camels-inresidence, visitors stock up on soaps and lotion.

“Camel’s milk soap is very moisturizing, with a milk composition of about 20 percent, unlike regular bar soap in which water is used in place of milk,” Bender says, adding that palm, coconut and olive oils are also incorporated with the lye. The mixture is then cured for about six weeks.

Camel’s milk lotion, a product Bender recently began offering, has a milk content of 80 percent. Both products are proving to be very popular he says, noting that “people come back for more.”

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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GOT CAMEL’S MILK? If you’ve ever tried to ride a camel, and failed, you may not want to take your chances at milking one. This is not your grandpa’s dairy cow.

Although camels are productive for about 20 years, they can be milked only when nursing, for an average of 12 to 16 months after giving birth.

Milking time most often is limited to about 90 seconds. And because camels can turn off a milk “spigot” on their udders at will, a would-be milker may be left high and dry.

Nor is a camel willing to let just anyone milk her. Camels are notorious one-man gals, preferring someone with whom they’re familiar and who is familiar with their unique temperaments and personalities.

Yet it’s all in a day’s work for Bender, who says the average camel produces 1.5 to 2 gallons of milk per day.

Bender says most of his milk products are distributed through Desert Farms (desertfarms.com). Products include raw and pasteurized milk, as well as kefir, a cultured product that contains beneficial yeast and probiotic bacteria found in yogurt.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of camel milk in 2014. However, while other countries have gotten over the hump of legalizing raw milk sales — the Middle East has embraced it for centuries, and vending machines with unpasteurized cow’s milk are installed throughout Europe — the FDA has a hard time swallowing the concept of raw milk consumption from any source.

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In the meantime, raw milk must be labeled “not for human consumption.”

Nonetheless, folks in Indiana, as elsewhere, regard drinking raw milk as a personal choice, even if it’s expensive — the average cost of camel’s milk is $16 to $18 a pint.

As visitors to Bender’s farm become acquainted with camels and learn the benefits of milk products, they spread the news. The result? About 50 tour groups have visited thus far this year, he says.

Because Bender has no regular operating hours for tours, he prefers that individuals visit along with planned group tours rather than on their own.

“Opening up my farm to individuals or carloads of people isn’t my long-term goal, but if there are groups that would be interested in visiting, I’d be glad to have them contact me,” he says.

“I talk to them about the operation we’ve got going on here, let them interact with the camels and sample the milk if they want to,” he says. “They’re absolutely loving it!”

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Jim Fair

FAIR TRADE

One Greenfield couple cultivates a family legacy

By Jim Mayfield // Photography by Josh Marshall

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

S

SEVERAL KEY WORDS AND PHRASES describe Fair Farms & Produce, a small, family-owned farming operation in north central Hancock County.

Attachment is one of them.

Jim Fair openly admits he gets attached to the bottle calves that are part of his farm. The 44-year-old has been raising bottle calves since he was a sixthgrader, and it hurts when he loses one.

Standing in the barn with Fair is his wife, Vicki. The two have been attached since they were at Greenfield-Central High School together. They say they were two country kids who never knew what they didn’t have.

“We didn’t know we were poor as dirt when we were young,” Vicki said.

“We always had each other, and by the time we were 20 we had a girl, a home, and we decided to do whatever we had to do to keep what we had.”

What they now have is some 400 acres in grain, close to 300 acres of custom hay work, 10 acres of vegetables and a cattle herd that will run from 100 to 200 head at its peak. A small part of an agricultural legacy that has been in the family for 150 years.

Prior to 2012, Jim was a part-time farmer, holding down a day job at Irving Materials Inc. and farming on the side. In 2012, he took the leap into fulltime agriculture and running his own operation.

A sign hangs over the garage of the Fair Farms market stand on State Road 9 north of Greenfield.

“There just weren’t enough hours in the day,” he said.

Since that time, the Fairs have made their way in a tough business, experimenting, adjusting, not afraid to venture into new markets, and all the while keeping the common core of family and farm firmly attached.

Their son, Jacob, is currently following his dad’s footsteps at IMI, operating heavy equipment. He also intends to come back to the farm when he can.

Their daughter, Tera, works for a Minnesota-based agriculture marketing and public relations firm. Though she may or may not return to the family firm, her years as a farm girl instilled a love for the life that she won’t shed anytime soon, her parents say.

“Farming gets in your heart and your blood,” Vicki said. “Because we worked together, we’re close. We did everything together.”

Like most farm families, the Fair family worked closely as the kids were growing up, something many families don’t experience, and Vicki said it’s been nothing but good.

“They both are better for it; they have a huge work ethic,” she said of her children.

After purchasing land, Jim opted not to reinvent the wheel, leaning instead on the wisdom and experience of other local farmers and his banker, who oftentimes gave as much sound financial counsel as farming advice. Jim has been with the same bank for 16 years, and he has no present intention of fixing something that ain’t broke.

Black Angus calf

Jim and Vicki Fair with a Brown Swiss calf.

ANOTHER ATTACHMENT. MORE BONDS. Today the farm is hitting its stride, and it’s quite the menagerie. Cattle, calves, chickens, pigs, soybeans, wheat, corn, vegetables, flowers, sunflowers and enough dogs that there’s always a tail wagging somewhere.

The Fairs have a vegetable stand on State Road 9, hit the farmers markets regularly, and this fall will launch a Community FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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Vicki holds black oil sunflower seeds. Right: Hogs raised for meat.

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

Supported Agriculture effort for the spring crop so locals can receive a weekly bounty from the farm.

“We like to try to do something new and fun every year,” Vicki said. “It keeps you in the game.”

And though the farm is a business and has to sustain itself financially to survive, it’s not all about the money for Fair Farms.

“We strive for quality, healthy production on our produce and livestock,” Fair said. “It’s worth what it’s worth. I just want to sell at a fair price.”

Equally as important, the Fairs say, is passing on the art, craft and wisdom of family agriculture, something Vicki says is vitally necessary for the future of farming.

Cultivating crops and a taste for homegrown food, helping consumers navigate the now confusing labels and strata of farm products from certified to industrial, and helping people understand why it’s important to know where their food comes from and how it gets to them are just some of the things new farmers need to highlight, she explained.

Jacob, Jim and Vicki Fair.

“We need to educate the public about what we do and don’t do,” she said. “As ag people, we have got to educate people.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS. BUILDING BRIDGES. GETTING ATTACHED. Over time, the Fairs have tried a little bit of FAIR FARMS everything. Some & PRODUCE of it worked, some 3490 E. Road 900N, of it didn’t. Some Greenfield (765) 635-7974 turned out OK; other efforts were frustrating. It’s old news that last year most farmers took a thrashing on grain prices, and it is sizing up to be another slim year, though not as bad as last season’s crop, Jim said.

Though there’s nothing like a little success, the real reward comes from understanding what you have and appreciating the connections established over the years.

“You have to be content with what you have,” Vicki said. “Everything we’ve done has worked out.”

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Poseys and Pumpkins in North Vernon keeps the Shatto family MARCIA WALKER in business BY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

N

NEARLY 18 YEARS AGO, Kim BeesleyShatto made the daily trip to a local day care to drop her daughter, MacKenzey, off before heading into work. Kim and her husband, Ralph Shatto, each had full-time jobs to provide for their growing family and their new home in North Vernon. But the routine wasn’t without its hardships.

Kim hated leaving her daughter at day care. She remembers 5-year-old MacKenzey holding on to her leg and screaming, “‘Don’t leave me; don’t leave me,’” she says. And so one day, Kim made the decision not to leave MacKenzey anymore. She ditched her day job to chase a long-held dream: to start her own small farm. Poseys and Pumpkins was born in 1998.

Kim began her business on just ¼ acre, which she planted with 1,000 mums. About three years into her venture, she added a small A-frame greenhouse to the property and supplemented her offerings with 50 hanging baskets. That little greenhouse is still there today, but it’s now dwarfed by 15 greenhouses that encompass approximately one acre. Poseys and Pumpkins is no longer a seasonal business; the greenhouses are in production year-round, and the farm houses about two acres of outdoor crops as well.

Sipping a soft drink, Kim shares the story of Poseys and Pumpkins from her dining room table. Her husband is perched on a stool close by. Their son, Ethan, now 14 and a freshman at Jennings County High School, plays with one of the family’s cats while waiting for brownies to bake. MacKenzey, 23, and her fiance, Daniel Pinnow, are lounging in overstuffed chairs.

The Shattos appear to be a typical American family spending down time together on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Only this family, which includes another daughter, Mikaela,

19, has already put in a full day’s work, which began well before sunrise.

In the Shatto household, Saturday is market day, when family members fan out in all directions to sell produce at five farmers markets in southern Indiana: Columbus, Bloomington, Greenwood, Franklin and North Vernon.

There are markets during the week as well.

You’ll find Kim at the State House Market in Indianapolis on Thursdays. And two days a week, MacKenzey delivers cut flowers to several local greenhouses.

The days before market days are equally busy. Friday is “pick day” for the Shattos, when each takes to the fields and greenhouses to harvest crops for the markets. Some of their customers have learned that Friday is a good day to stop by to make purchases on site. “Last night at 10:30 (p.m.), we were still picking sweet corn, with a flashlight and cellphone (for light),” Kim says.

Ralph Shatto applies liquid shade to help reduce the greenhouse temperature in the summer sun. Above from left: Daniel Pinnow, Kim, Ralph and MacKenzey Shatto; Bret Bradley; Mikaela and Ethan Shatto.

A LEAP OF FAITH Kim and Ralph are Jennings County natives and have farming backgrounds. Kim’s parents and brother farm about 5,000 acres of row crops, corn and soybeans. But her family also grew some produce when she was growing up, and her green thumb developed naturally. Ralph grew up on a hog farm in Hayden.

As their Poseys and Pumpkins business flourished, Ralph decided to leave his job at Decatur Mold in 2002.

“That’s called a leap of faith when someone leaves a job,” Kim says. “Giving up retirement, giving up vacations, giving up insurance.”

Ralph began working for the family business during the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, one of the busiest times of FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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Poseys and Pumpkins 500 E. County Road 850N, North Vernon, (812) 346-8164 FAMILY: Ralph, Kim, MacKenzey, Mikaela and Ethan Shatto EMPLOYEES: Bret Bradley, Daniel Pinnow WHAT THEY SELL: Corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers, lettuce, kale, cabbage and other cold weather crops

The Poseys and Pumpkins farm, with rows of mums in the foreground. Below from left, Produce and plants ready for purchase in the cooler; Kim Beesley-Shatto.

year because of all those hanging baskets for sale, the number of which has grown to 8,500 this year.

Kim remembers Ralph commenting that he was working harder on their farm then he ever did at his factory job, joking that he was going to go back to his off-farm shift. But Ralph hung in there, and these days it takes all five Shattos, along with help from friends and family, to keep the business going.

This time of year, mums take center stage; the Shattos sell about 25,000 of the colorful plants. They also grow hibiscus, zinnias, asters, sunflowers, gladioli and a wide variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, squash, lettuce and more.

The greenhouses are always in production.

If something isn’t growing in one, it’s because the house is being readied for the next crop. “It’s continuous,” Ralph says. “Something is coming out as something else is going in. We’re never finished planting here.”

Life does slow down somewhat in December, although Kim makes Christmas wreaths and greenery for several flower shops.

Ralph jokes that they loaf in the December through January lull, although much of his time is spent cutting wood to heat their home. They do allow themselves the luxury of a vacation in Florida around Christmas time.

MARKET PERKS Beyond a means of making a living, the markets hold special significance for Kim. They are where she found refuge, a place to escape, when the family came close to losing Ethan, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010.

Kim explained that during his illness, everywhere she went in their small Jennings County town, well-meaning people would ask about Ethan. The only break she had from answering all the questions was at the market, where they chose not to share what the family was going through.

“That was my getaway for a few hours,” she says.

Kim says that experience helps to define who the Shattos are as a family. “We are a different family from Ethan being sick,” she says. “It makes us appreciate everything more. We know how close we came to losing him.”

The markets have shaped the lives of Kim and Ralph’s children as well. They

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

Mikaela and her boyfriend, Bret Bradley.

have grown up meeting new people each week at the markets. Making friends comes naturally.

“Ever since they were little, they’ve been hauled everywhere with me and Ralph and were never left with a baby sitter,” Kim says.

“They have grown up in the business … they are still people persons.

“Every market is a different set of people … (but) it’s like one big family,” she says. “It doesn’t matter what market you are at, they are all that way.”

Although MacKenzey and Mikaela are pursuing other careers, the two are still very much connected to the farm. MacKenzey, who has a business degree, grows perennials and bushes. She met her fiancé at a farm stand in Columbus where he was working.

“They met over a bag of sweet corn,” Kim says with a laugh, adding that sweet corn will be on the couple’s menu for their wedding.

Mikaela, who is studying nursing, has started raising bees; she has five hives and intends to increase that number to 15. The license plate on the front of her car reads “Bugs that sting are my thing.” Ethan plans to raise free-range pigs.

Mikaela’s boyfriend, Bret Bradley, and Daniel help as time and their jobs allow.

Daniel has started a landscape business, which is a natural fit for the farm. Bret runs the family’s stand at the Franklin farmers market.

The Shattos marvel at how far they have come. “I never figured we’d be this big and cover this much ground,” Ralph says.

Kim says the hours can be long and the work can be hard, but she loves every minute of it. “Not everybody gets the opportunity to chase the American dream,” she says. “We have done that and made it work.”

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In the Classroom Local FFA chapters

From left, Caroline Cathcart, 16, Jenna Yeary, 17, Desiree Thomas, 17, Avery Solomon, 16, and David Tolan, 16.

Accelerated Science

Beech Grove’s FFA program is a growing force in the field

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By Catherine Whittier Photography by Josh Marshall 34

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

THOUGH MARION COUNTY’s Beech Grove City Schools is said to have one of the fastest-growing FFA chapters in the state, none of the agriculture students in its middle and high schools has ties to the farm, says Chris Kaufman, Beech Grove High School’s agriculture teacher and FFA adviser.

The Beech Grove Applied Life Science – Agricultural Education Program was started just three years ago, but it already has an enrollment of 485 students. The FFA chapter currently has 160 FFA members with numbers growing daily, according to Kaufman. Four full-time teachers are required to run the Beech Grove program. There are only two other programs in the state, (Jay County High School and Lebanon Community Schools) requiring as many teachers to run an FFA chapter.

The Beech Grove chapter demonstrates the versatility of FFA and provides an opportunity for those outside agriculture to see

its potential value in any setting, urban or rural. At Beech Grove, students study science, as it relates to agriculture, and are being prepared to take ag-related jobs, which constitute 45 percent of the job market, Kaufman says.

A BIG IDEA It was back in 2011 that the idea for an agriculture program at Beech Grove was first conceived. Paul Kaiser, superintendent for Beech Grove City Schools, wanted to enhance the science program by creating a “science academy.” When he shared his idea with Bruce Bye, Beech Grove community leader and former Elanco employee, Bye was enthusiastic. “I told him that was a great idea, and to make it even better, he needed to consider including agriculture science: animal science, plant science, food science, natural resources and have an FFA program,” Bye says.

Bye and Kaiser had close ties to FFA and understood the excellent opportunities that an FFA program would bring to Beech Grove’s students. Together, they went to work to make their vision a reality.

Bye turned to Jerry Peters, in the agricultural education department at Purdue University, who made foundational suggestions. Bye then scheduled a meeting to take place in January 2012, which would bring together Beech Grove community leaders, key staff from the BGCS system, leaders in agribusiness, along with representatives from colleges and universities and the state and national FFA organizations. “Two task force groups were formed, one focusing on publicity and student recruitment, and the other on facilities and staffing,” recalls Bye. Kaufman presided over the initial meeting “because at the time, he was with the Indiana Department of Education, and one of his many responsibilities in that position was to help start new agricultural education programs,” says Bye. It wasn’t long before Kaiser recruited Kaufman to teach agriculture at Beech Grove.

Kaufman is passionate about the Beech Grove program. He grew up in Cloverdale, where he, his mother, brother and sister lived in poverty. Kaufman insists that FFA greatly impacted his life and led to many opportunities. “By the time I left high school and went to Purdue, as a firstgeneration college student, I had been to Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Georgia and Denver,” he explains. “I got to go to all those places because I was in ag ed and FFA. “We have more than 70 percent poverty rate in Beech Grove City Schools, so most of our students will be first-generation college students,” Kaufman adds.

The agriculture program introduces and prepares students to consider the broad spectrum of careers available in agriculture. “We’re hoping to get our kids … into sciences — get them working for Lilly and Dow and Elanco, and other life science businesses that we have here in Marion County, central Indiana and the Midwest,” he says.

Kaufman feels confident that the Beech Grove FFA chapter will continue to grow.

“We went from zero to where we are now

Solomon works with his albino garter snake (right).

Cathcart, Yeary, and Thomas work with their mice.

Left, Chris Kaufman, Beech Grove agriculture teacher, helps with a soil porosity test.

The Beech Grove FFA mice.

Right, Tolan holds his rabbit that he’s raising at Beech Grove High School.

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

35

in three years,” he says. “People helped us; we had State FFA here with its state officers selling our program to our kids. Every year, when it’s time to enroll in classes, I go and talk to every single class when they are filling out their schedules. We continue to push like it’s our first year every year, because we want to make sure that we don’t lose anybody through the cracks.”

Kaufman assigns much credit for BGCS’s strong agriculture program to Bye, Kaiser and the advisory board, which evolved out of that first meeting in 2012. “Not every FFA chapter or ag program can say they have someone from Dow Agroscience on their advisory board or representatives from Purdue, Ivy Tech, Elanco and Eli Lilly,” Kaufman says. “National FFA also has a representative on our board.”

He adds that the support provided by the school administration, teachers and community is critical. “They really see the value of the program.”

Tolan, Solomon, Cathcart, Kaufman, Thomas and Yeary

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example, members do not pay dues. Instead, they are required to sign a contract and uphold a set of standards. “We’re just asking the kids to be honest, to be respectful and to try to do good in class,” says Kaufman.

FFA members travel to competitions and go to leadership conferences at no cost to the student, thanks to the support of generous corporate and private donors. And rather than requiring that students purchase attire for competitions, the agriculture department has been able to stock FFA jackets, white shirts and black skirts, which are made available for students to borrow.

Beech Grove FFA also is trying out a new way for students to assume leadership roles within the chapter. Rather than taking office for an entire year, students are accomplishing tasks through committees, which are led by different individuals based on their availability. This model allows highly committed students to lead as they are available. Freshmen — considered to be some of the most excited, most active and most available members, according to Kaufman — are also qualified to serve on Beech Grove’s FFA Council.

Cutting-edge renovations also have been made in the BGHS ag science department in order to create an integrated lab.

In Kaufman’s classroom, each student sits at a desk that is equipped with a sink and electricity, and every student is assigned the use of a Chromebook laptop. “Everything we do is online,” he says. “My kids took a quiz today, and they submitted everything to me electronically. I never saw paper shuffle today.” The ag program has plans for further renovations and hopes to add more elements that will allow the scientific research aspects of the program to grow.

Students are excited about many aspects of the agriculture program and explain that there is much diversity in the interests among students.

“We’re very urban,” says Desiree Thomas, a senior at Beech Grove High School.

She explains that there were some feelings of insecurity among members when the program first started. “A lot of people live on farms; a lot of them actually do the stuff we talk about,” she says. “We do more of a science approach as it correlates with our daily lives, and I really like that. We

get to have kind of a whole double-sided experience. We get to have insight into how they (production farmers) live, but we also get to live it our own way.”

“Through FFA opportunities, I’m able to learn more about science and take it back to the classroom and relate it,” says Jenna Yeary, a senior who hopes to study biomedical engineering or biology at the college level. “When I go to competitions, I’m getting an opportunity to expand my knowledge outside of the classroom.”

Beech Grove High School is also a host site for the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Institute.

“Every summer we bring in teachers from across the country, and they learn about the curriculum here at Beech Grove High School,” Kaufman says. The training is very science heavy, and teachers “go through the entire curriculum and do every assignment, so that we can understand it and present it to the students in a scientific and educational way.

“We are very serious about keeping our students at the front of science education as it relates to agriculture.”

“We do more of a science approach as it correlates with our daily lives, and I really like that. We get to have kind of a whole double-sided experience. We get to have insight into how they (production farmers) live, but we also get to live it our own way.”

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Douglas Hurt in his Purdue office

Purdue University’s Douglas Hurt

BY JON SHOULDERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL 38

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

D

DOUGLAS HURT says he can still hear the clack of a binder that was used to harvest grain on the farm where he worked during his high school years in western Kansas.

While hauling hay bales, stocking feed and digging postholes to earn pocket money, Hurt not only learned a few lessons about the value of a hard day’s work but was able to experience firsthand the kind of setting that would form the basis for his career as an author, scholar and professor.

“We had three grocery stores and a couple car dealerships in the town I grew up in, and the multiplier effect of the farm

economy made all the difference in the world,” Hurt recalls. “In a small agricultural town like that, when people ask about the weather it’s not just a pleasantry. People’s lives and income depend on the weather. So that probably had an influence on me early on and an unconscious influence toward what I ended up studying.”

A fruitful career in agriculture would follow that fateful summer job, but Hurt would go on to toil in the classroom rather than on the countryside and cultivate knowledge rather than soil. As a graduate student at Kansas State University, he read

Hurt with his book “Agriculture and the Confederacy.”

about the United States Populist Party revolt of the late 19th century and became intrigued by the larger topic of agricultural history throughout the United States. After finishing his doctorate at Kansas State in 1975, a successful career in academia ensued, during which Hurt has authored more than 20 books since the early 1980s, touching on agricultural topics including “Agricultural Technology in the Twentieth Century,” “The Indian Frontier, 1763-1846” and 2015’s “Agriculture and the Confederacy: Policy, Productivity, and Power in the Civil War South.”

“It’s a subject that hasn’t been dealt with since 1965, so I thought it needed reconsideration and re-evaluation,” Hurt says of “Agriculture and the Confederacy,” which was released in March. “I wanted to look at not just agriculture during the war but specifically how agriculture related to the conflict. … It was an important time to examine, because much of Southern agriculture didn’t recover until the early 20th century.”

Prior to 2003, when he became a profes-

sor of U.S. agricultural history at Purdue University and began serving as head of Purdue’s department of history, Hurt spent 14 years as director of the graduate program in agricultural history and rural studies at Iowa State University. From 1994 until 2003, he also served as editor of Agricultural History, the quarterly journal published by the Agricultural History Society, a national organization formed in 1919 to promote the study of the history of agriculture.

“No one knows more about the history of American agriculture than Doug Hurt,” says Jim Giesen, an associate professor at Mississippi State University and the executive secretary of the Agricultural History Society. “He’s personally written more books than some entire history departments can claim. He has written the go-to overview on farm history in the United States, the book on farm technology, the book on the Great Plains. As editor of Agricultural History for 10 years, he shaped a generation of scholarship on farmers and farming around the world.”

Hurt, who continues to serve as a professor and department head at Purdue, finds FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

39

Indiana’s agricultural past as worthy of close study as anywhere else in the country, from as far back as the 1840s when the Indianapolis area served as a congregation point for farmers leading cattle eastward toward markets in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. “Central Indiana was essentially the equivalent of Texas back then — it was cattle country,” he says. “Then you have a long history of transformation once you start getting some settlement here, and the corn aspect comes out of the South Branch of the Potomac and into the Ohio River Valley and westward. So you find farmers here in the 19th century really applying the corn, livestock and feeding aspects, which was very profitable to them.”

In 2012, Hurt’s comprehensive understanding of U.S. agricultural history earned him a spot as a program adviser, script consultant and on-screen interviewee for a documentary directed by American filmmaker Ken Burns titled “The Dust Bowl,”

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which took an in-depth look at the series of dust storms in the 1930s that occurred as the result of severe drought and inadequate farming methods, and damaged large swaths of farmland in the Great Plains region of the U.S. and parts of Canada.

Hurt, who authored the 1981 book “The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History,” says the 1930s Dust Bowl events serve as an illustration of the importance of learning from historically significant issues. “If the past is prologue, it’s extremely important that we as a society learn when critical issues arise and act accordingly in the future,” he says. “A good example is genetically modified crops. When you hold a grain of GMO (genetically modified organism) corn in your hand, what you’re looking at is not just something that produces calories but a very highly charged political issue, socially and culturally.

There are economic issues with it, and there are health debates with it. Certain other

countries, for a number of reasons, aren’t buying our GMO corn anymore, and that’s a multimillion dollar loss.”

As agricultural technology continues to advance, Hurt says, farmers throughout the country will structure their operations less like farms from the periods of U.S. history he has spent his career examining. “The thing that’s very interesting to me today is that you can drive down almost any highway in Indiana and the Midwest, and you look at farms, and they’re very different from what they were a hundred years ago,” he says.

“Today you’ll just see a house and a machine shed, and you don’t generally see a barn and livestock and cattle. Those things are gone.

Highly capitalized farmers are focusing on one or two things, and you don’t have that diversified mix. I think because of the incredible productivity of farmers based on science and technology, we’re probably going to continue to have fewer farmers and fewer small farms for the foreseeable future.”

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Hurt is currently tackling some of the causes of this trend for a new book that will be titled “The Green Revolution: Science, Politics, and Unintended Consequences,” in which he plans to explore the driving forces behind the Green Revolution — a term used to describe a period of increased global agricultural productivity due to advancements in technology and farming methods in the mid- to late-20th century — and its economic, social and political ramifications.

“I’m trying to give an overview of what the Green Revolution was supposed to do and some of the consequences of it,” Hurt says. “No one argues that less food is better than more food, but at the same time when you can increase production substantially but you also have to have certain package inputs like high applications of fertilizer and irrigation, that does something to the environment, and it also means that you’ve got some social consequences like labor

changes. So I’m taking a global approach and looking at this in a very sweeping sense, and I hope that if anybody wants to know something about the Green Revolution, they can read it and it’ll meet their needs.”

Giesen recalls a brief email exchange that he feels is a fitting example of Hurt’s passion and dedication to his area of expertise.

“As executive secretary of the Agricultural History Society I once got an email from someone in northern Europe who wanted to know about the history of electric tractors, meaning tractors with actual cords running behind them,” Giesen remembers.

“I thought the idea was preposterous, but I forwarded it to Doug thinking he’d get a laugh out of it. Instead, I received an email back from him five minutes later that had about 400 words on which American companies had tried corded electric tractors, where, and what level of success they had.

I was floored that he could pull that off the top of his head.”

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The Future Is Bright Long a destination for history buffs, Metamora emerges as a mecca for art and music

BY CJ WOODRING

42

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

A

A VISIT TO METAMORA is a journey in the past lane, a return to the 1800s when the Franklin County canal town bustled with commerce and enterprise.

Although much has changed since those early days before the railroad replaced the canal, historic Metamora (metamoraindiana.com) remains the same.

But tourism is now the primary enterprise.

Local residents roll out the red carpet beginning with Memorial Day ceremonies and culminating with the annual Christmas Walk. But it’s Canal Days (facebook.com/MetamoraCanalDays), held annually the first full weekend in October, that draws the most visitors — about 100,000 on a good weekend.

Connie Wendel is a member of not-forprofit Historic Metamora, which sponsors Canal Days. A Metamora native, she’s serv-

ing as incoming chairwoman for the 47th annual event, which will be held Oct. 2 to 4.

Wendel replaces longtime front man Al Rogers, who stepped down from the position after nearly 50 years.

She and her committee are shadowing Rogers this year and will oversee the event beginning in 2016, she says.

Canal Days was first held in September 1969. The autumn festival initially was celebrated for two days and extended to three a few years ago. “That seemed to take relief off the weekend as far as crowds, because it’s extremely crowded during the event,” Wendel says.

Canal Days is Historic Metamora’s primary source of income, which is derived from rental booths set up along the canal and in Tow Path Park. Both areas are rented from the Indiana State Historic

Site and contracted out to antique dealers, crafters and food vendors, she explains.

HISTORIC PLACES, PUBLIC SPACES Although small in size — the population is fewer than 200 — Metamora boasts unique landmarks worthy of a city many times its size. And each carries state and national significance.

In 1973 the Duck Creek Aqueduct and Metamora Grist Mill were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Covered bridges can be found throughout Indiana and the United States, many still carrying hikers, bikers and limited vehicular traffic. Duck Creek Aqueduct, however, is considered the only surviving covered wood aqueduct in the United States, carrying canal water 16 feet over Duck Creek.

In 1992, the aqueduct was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and, in 2014, was named a National Historic Landmark, one of just 2,544 among more than 1 million properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

Whitewater Canal is a State Historic Site (indianamuseum.org/explore/ whitewater-canal_), one of 11 in Indiana, and part of the Indiana State Museum system. The canal, a project funded by the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836, runs 76 miles from Lawrenceburg to Hagerstown with a spur route from Cincinnati to Harrison, Ohio. Although it carried boats only from 1839 to 1855, the canal continued as a source of hydraulic power for several mills.

In 1946 the state of Indiana assumed management of a 14-mile section of the canal. Today, it operates a horse-drawn replica canal boat, the Ben Franklin III, and the grist mill, where site manager Jay Dishman occasionally serves as miller.

A Laurel resident, Dishman is somewhat of a fixture himself, having taken on duties in 1988. His job description ranges from management of administrative duties to supervision of employees, while also making sure water is running in the canal and the grist mill is working.

The iconic water-powered grist mill was built in 1845 as a cotton mill. The original three-story structure was converted to a flouring mill in 1856 and burned down circa 1882 to 1890. When the three-story brick replacement burned in the early 1930s, it was replaced by the current two-story mill, which still grinds corn meal and flour visitors can purchase.

“I’m a hands-on manager, and we’re a small enough site that I can’t just sit

in the office and administer,” Dishman says. “I like to see what we’re doing and anticipate what might need attention.

“If something breaks down, I’m the one making sure it gets fixed. I wouldn’t claim to troubleshoot somebody else’s mill,” he quickly adds, “but I just know our equipment.”

Dishman says the canal is the focal point around which the town built itself to become an attraction. Yet despite the aqueduct, canal, railroad and shopping destinations, he says, Metamora “lost a bit of luster over the last few years, and we’d like to get it back.”

Organizers have been working hard to promote music and art, he says, in an increasingly competitive tourism market. “Anything that can help promote Metamora will be better for us, too.”

A SOUTHERN INDIANA ITALIAN COFFEE BAR Platted in 1838 and once a stop along the Whitewater Canal, Metamora boasts historic attractions, unique shopping destinations and a potpourri of culinary choices that await seasonal visitors. In short, there is plenty to do and see during Canal Days.

And even as the town is steeped in history, Metamora’s forward-thinking entrepreneurs are committed to 21stcentury progress.

Steve and Brenda Collier are owners of The Smelly Gourmet European Coffee Bar (smellygourmet.com), where the only thing old-fashioned is their customer service.

In what little spare time he has, Steve Collier, aka Mr. Smelly, is a volunteer firefighter and the town blogger (metamoraindiana.blogspot.com), his friendly, informative banter keeping townsfolk up to date while introducing Internet users worldwide to the southeast Indiana town.

The Colliers first visited Metamora as crafters. And they fell in love with it.

After commuting daily for two years, they rented the Odd Fellows Building and moved in on the top floor.

Eventually, they bought the house next door, opening a gift shop in 2003.

“Things still were pretty slow,” Collier recalls. “Then we noticed people were

coming in, wanting to know where to eat.

“One day we said, ‘There’s something wrong with this picture.’ Here we were, with time on our hands — and I like to cook — and we were sending people out to get something to eat elsewhere.”

Thus, the restaurant and coffee bar were born, the latter an outgrowth of Collier’s seven-year residency in Italy and desire to serve Americans the best European coffee.

His wife sells bath and body products — putting the smell in “smelly” — and they offer a rental suite that includes a continental breakfast.

Collier says the town boasts about three dozen retail businesses, purveying an eclectic array of goods, basically from June to December.

Metamora is a fascinating place, he says, noting the restaurant draws more than half its guests from outside the area.

A guest book reflects addresses from Alaska to Arizona and Anderson, Indiana, and from Canada to Connecticut.

A portion of that recognition may have been generated by pop culture: “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” once featured the iconic aqueduct, while Grannie’s Cookie Jars and Ice Cream Parlor was awarded the Guinness World Record for owner Eva “Granny” Fuchs’ collection of more than 2,600 unique cookie jars.

MIDWEST MUSIC MECCA Visitors to Metamora will find several forms of transportation of a nostalgic type. Embark on a half-hour excursion on a horse-drawn canal boat or ride the rails aboard the Whitewater Valley Railroad (whitewatervalleyrr.org). Options include a five-hour run that departs from Connersville and includes a two-hour layover in Metamora, and the Metamora Shuttle, which carries passengers farther south on a two-mile run along the canal.

Or try a horse-drawn carriage ride, the perfect way to explore historic Metamora.

Museums speak of culture and history, and the Metamora Museum of Oddities showcases a treasure trove of artifacts.

Owner Paul Hendricks’ unique and rare collection, begun while he was in the Peace Corps (1967-68), includes clothing,

Metamora Canal Days Festival OCT. 2-4

jewelry, artwork, figurines and weaponry from Central and South America, Panama, Africa, Nepal and the Philippines. As “Indiana Joe,” Hendricks, a former professor, acts as museum director and interpreter.

An adjacent display features the Healing Cross of Metamora. The cross was discovered by four U.S. soldiers in 1946 in eastern France and acquired by the museum in 1994.

Dating from the 1400s to early 1800s, the 5-foot wooden icon features motherof-pearl inlay. The front portrays carvings of Christ, the Four Evangelists and biblical scenes; the back depicts holy relics associated with the 14 Stations of the Cross.

The Odd Fellows Building, in which the museum and cross are housed, is also a local treasure. Built in 1853, the brick building is the only threestory structure in Metamora. The third floor’s original tin ceiling showcases more than 20 different designs.

Other attractions include a gem mine, where visitors can indulge their inner Pegleg Smith as they pan for semiprecious gems and fossils, and the canal boat horse stable, which houses draft animals that power the canal boat.

For those seeking entertainment, the Metamora Performing Arts (facebook. com/metamoraperformingarts) presents a variety of musicians — Acoustic Final Friday is held the last Friday of each month — while The Cat & the Fiddle Event Center at the Blacksmith Shop (facebook. com/thecatandthefiddleeventcenter) hosts nearly weekly events ranging from comedy to open mic night and Girls Night In. Visitors seeking outdoor activities will find them in a 2.6-mile hiking and biking trail along the historic Whitewater Canal (whitewatercanaltrail.com).

Privately owned Salt Creek Ranch (saltcreekhorseranch.com), one mile west of Metamora in Laurel, offers horseback riding, hayrides, camping and cabin rental.

Collier says he figures the town is heading toward its fourth incarnation, echoing Dishman’s sentiments about music and art perhaps leading the way.

Citing the fact that Metamora Performing Arts sells out for nearly every performance, he wonders if the scenario isn’t reminiscent of the early days of Branson, Missouri, an Ozark Mountain town with fewer than 11,000 residents that welcomes more than 7 million annual visitors.

“I don’t know,” Collier says. “But I study this kind of stuff and think there’s a good future for Metamora.”

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

43

A Shell Of Protection

BY JIM MAYFIELD

The Indiana State Egg Board works to safeguard the industry and the consumer

W

hen it comes to the egg, glorious and amazing symbol of birth and new life that it is, there’s no shortage of proverbs, adages and epigrams: Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow; you can’t have an omelet unless you break the egg; eggs and oaths are soon broken; and of course, we all know the folly of placing all our eggs in one basket.

However, if you’re selling eggs in Indiana, there’s another egg maxim with which one best be familiar: Know thy state egg board.

The Indiana State Egg Board, created by the Legislature in 1939 to enforce the Indiana Egg Law and provide a statewide regulatory and permitting scheme for those who sell the incredible egg, has no small task.

44

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as reported by the American Egg Board show Indiana as the country’s third-largest egg producing state behind Iowa and Ohio.

The Hoosier state currently has somewhere near 26 million hens contributing to the 7.67 billion American eggs laid in July at an average rate of 78 eggs per 100 hens, the USDA numbers show.

That’s a lot of eggs for five people to inspect, admits Mark Straw, Indiana State Egg Board executive administrator, who helps with the field work.

“Last year we performed more than 9,000 retail and wholesale inspections,” Straw said. The inspections run from

examining eggs at small farmers markets to large distribution points for major grocery stores and food chains. The latter inspections can involve looking at between 15,000 to 18,000 eggs, checking for broken shells, blood spots, quality, grade and packaging or anything that would be considered a loss, he said.

One bad egg in a 100-egg sample indicates an out-of-compliance status that requires another sample to be taken.

The state follows the U.S. Standards, Grades and Weight Classes for shell eggs established by the USDA that grades eggs from AA to B in sizes ranging from “Jumbo” to “Pee Wee,” and then there are the packaging, labeling

and handling requirements along with disease prevention and testing protocol that have to be looked at as well.

If monitoring Hoosier egg producers alone wasn’t enough of a task, the board’s field staff also conducts contract work for the USDA, checking shell egg grading stations and packers for regulatory compliance and overseeing the federal Country of Origins Labeling program within the state.

The COOL audits ensure that consumers know where their meat, fish and shellfish, produce and certain nuts come from, Straw said.

The executive board is composed of nine members appointed by the governor for three-year terms representing

What licenses do I need to sell eggs in Indiana?

It all depends on who you are, your point of sale and the eggs’ final destination, but unless you’re a farmer selling on your property, you’re probably going to need something, and all egg sales remain subject to state requirements pertaining to packaging, labeling, health, handling and temperature. Here’s a quick look: Farmers selling eggs from their own flock on site are exempt from state licensing requirements.

Retail permits are available to any person who sells eggs for human consumption and not for resale.

Farmers market permits are available for $20 to any producer who sells eggs they produced to consumers at a farm market.

Other retail permits are available and priced based on volume sold, ranging

from a $30 permit for five or fewer cases sold per week to $100 for weekly sales of 50 cases or more. (A case equals 30 dozen eggs.)

Wholesale permits are required of any person who buys eggs for resale or any producer who sells or delivers eggs to retailers, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, schools or federal or state institutions.

Wholesale permits are also necessary for operators of multiple-unit retail outlets that distribute eggs to their own retail stores. Sales volume determines price and whether the wholesaler is subject to reporting requirements and deposits.

At a cost of $50, a combination permit allows a farmers market retailer to wholesale five cases of eggs from their own production per week to wholesale end users with the same report requirements as a regular $50 wholesale permit.

For more information, contact the Indiana State Egg Board at (765) 494-8510.

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(Source: Indiana State Egg Board Licensing Guideline for the sale of eggs in Indiana)

the various interests of Indiana’s egg industry from the poultry association to retail grocers and researchers.

“It’s a very unique situation in the state,” Straw said. “When it was established, the board was designed to represent the whole (egg) industry.”

The fact that the overseeing board is composed of representative segments of the industry it regulates does not cut against its overriding mission to protect the industry and the end consumer, Straw said.

“It’s a really great system because of the wealth of knowledge (members have) about the industry you’re trying to regulate,” he said.

Though the vast majority of the state’s

egg-producing machine is geared toward the commercial retail and wholesale markets, the farm market sector has seen a significant amount of growth in recent years.

Hancock County farmer Earl Smith of Blue River Natural Foods sells his eggs at farmers markets where the permitting process is straightforward enough; however, “wholesale is a whole different ballgame,” Smith said. “But they’re (Egg Board administrators) very easy to work with.”

Straw encourages producers or those thinking about getting into the business to call the board with any questions about entering the egg market.

“We’d much prefer they give us a call and ask for information beforehand,” he said.

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45

CONTINUING EDUCATION

October’s Educational Opportunities A new Purdue cooking series highlights the transformation of local produce into tasty dishes. Plus, save the dates for webinars, farm tours and Winemaker Wednesdays, which take place this month.

BY KATHERINE COPLEN

OCT. 1

“Soil Building and Cover Crops” Learn techniques to build fertile garden soil. Focus will be on good use of various cover cropping methods to build soil fertility and improve aeration. Learn how these techniques can not only lead to better production in your garden next year, but how these practices can play a part in addressing climate change. Cost: $14 in-city; $16 non-city. Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Location: Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University, 2367 E. 10th St., Bloomington.

Information: bloomington.in.gov/parks

OCT. 3

“Adventures in Gardening 2015: Possibilities of Structure” Looking into vertical gardening? No yard to speak of? This event, hosted by the Hendricks County Master Gardeners, features lectures on structural gardening, container gardening and innovative solutions for unconventional gardens.

Speakers include Frederick Rice, Broch Martindale, David King, Elizabeth Garvey, Dan McCord and more. This event is open to master gardeners and non-master gardeners. The workshop fee of $40 includes all supplies. Time: 9 a.m. Location: Hendricks County 4-H Complex, 1900 E. Main St., Danville.

Information: hendricksgardeners.com

46

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

OCT. 5

“Fall Ed Night” The Herb Society of Central Indiana hosts a variety of informative and relaxed programs open to the public.

This month’s class highlights fall dishes that can be accented with herbs.

Participants will have dishes to take home. Time: 6:45 p.m. Location: Clay Township Center, 10701 N. College Ave., Indianapolis. Information: herbsocietyofcentralindiana.org

OCT. 6

Purdue Department of Nutrition Science Cooking Course This course runs for a few weeks and is organized with input from chefs, registered dietitians and local food experts who will highlight the health benefits of one type of food per week.

Each week will cover proper selection criteria, preparation and cleaning methods, and seasonal availability of each food. Expect to taste and cook four or five different recipes, plus take some home. Classes are $20 each and open to the public. Time: 5:30 p.m. Location: Lyles-Porter Hall Demo Kitchen, Room 1107, Purdue University, West Lafayette.

Information: (765) 496-0184

OCT. 6

“Scent and Sentimentality: Growing Fragrant Heirloom Roses” If you miss the incredible fragrance and romantic beauty of the old garden roses, learn to incorporate spectacular and aromatic blooms into your home landscape. The class covers site selection and soil preparation, plant selection and sourcing, disease and insect pest prevention, fertilization and pruning. Co-sponsored by Bloomingfoods and Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University. Cost: $16 in-city; $18 non-city. Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University, 2367 E. 10th St., Bloomington.

Information: bloomington.in.gov/parks

OCT. 7

Greenhouse Education Conference Do you grow in a greenhouse or nursery? This day-long conference will cover a wide variety of topics relevant to your production. Expect talks on marketing, pesticides, growth regulators, water and nutrition. Speakers include Purdue Pesticide Programs professor Fred Whitford, Purdue horticulture associate professor Roberto Lopez and University of Florida horticulture professor Paul Fisher. Time: 8:30 a.m.

Location: Beck Agricultural Center, 4540 W. U.S. 52, West Lafayette.

Information: (765) 494-1296

OCT. 11

Beginning Farmer Tour The third of several farm tours geared toward new farmers stops at WE Farm in Spencer. A tour of Wayne-Egenolf Farm will showcase the operator’s beef, pork and egg production. This event is free, but registration is required. Time: 9 a.m.

Location: Owen County Fairgrounds, 180 S. Washington St., Spencer. Information: mdc.itap.purdue.edu/Workshops.asp

OCT. 13

Purdue Department of Nutrition Science Cooking Course This course runs for a few weeks and is organized with input from chefs, registered dietitians and local food experts who will highlight the health benefits of one type of food per week.

Each week will cover proper selection criteria, preparation and cleaning methods, and seasonal availability of each food. Expect to taste and cook four or five different recipes, plus take some home. Classes are $20 each and are open to the public.

Time: 5:30 p.m. Location: LylesPorter Hall Demo Kitchen, Room 1107, Purdue University, West Lafayette.

Information: (765) 496-0184

Farm Indiana highlights classes from the Purdue Extension calendar every month, but there are many more to be found online. Log on to extension.purdue.edu for more information.

OCT. 13-27

“Designing Your Home Landscape” Home landscaping design contributes both to the comfort and happiness of residents (and neighbors) and to property value. Learn how to plan and create an aesthetically pleasing landscape that is easy to maintain.

Whether you wish to design and manage your own landscape or rely on professionals, the class helps you make sound decisions that will save money and create outdoor space in which you can feel at home. Cost: $42 in-city; $48 non-city. Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Location: Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University, 2367 E. 10th St., Bloomington.

Information: bloomington.in.gov/parks

OCT. 14

“Winemaker Wednesday: Bouquet of the Red Wine” The 10th session of Blackhawk Winery’s Winemaker Wednesday course gives a crash course in identifying various red wines. Light fare offered. Time: 6 p.m. Location: Blackhawk Winery and Vineyard, 28153 Ditch Road, Sheridan. Information: (317) 771-2814

OCT. 15

“Identifying and Managing Common Invasive Plants in Your Yard and Garden” Invasive plants are ubiquitous in Bloomington and present many challenges to gardeners and homeowners. Learn to identify invasive plants in an outdoor setting and how to manage them with cultural controls, by mechanical means, and through the safe application of herbicide. Feel free to bring samples of your problem plants to the class. Participants should come prepared to walk over moderate terrain. Rain date is Oct. 22. Cost: $10 in-city, $11 non-city. Time: 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. Location: Winslow Woods picnic shelter on South Highland Avenue.

Information: bloomington.in.gov/parks

OCT. 20

Purdue Department of Nutrition Science Cooking Course This course runs for a few weeks and is organized with input from chefs, registered dietitians and local food experts who will highlight

the health benefits of one type of food per week. Each week will cover proper selection criteria, preparation and cleaning methods and seasonal availability of each food. Expect to taste and cook four or five different recipes, plus take some home. Classes are $20 each and are open to the public. Time: 5:30 p.m. Location: LylesPorter Hall Demo Kitchen, Room 1107, Purdue University, West Lafayette.

Information: (765) 496-0184

OCT. 20

Board for International Food and Agricultural Development Meeting Purdue University Distinguished Professor Gebisa Ejeta sits on the BIFAD board, which will meet as a group on Purdue’s campus. BIFAD advises USAID on agriculture and higher education issues pertinent to food insecurity in developing countries.

There will be several opportunities to interact with board members, as well as several presentations. Time: 7:30 a.m. Location: Various locations at Purdue University, West Lafayette.

Information: weiderhaft@purdue.edu

OCT. 24

Indiana State Beekeepers Association Fall Conference and Bee School This conference is one of the biggest bee events of the year. Michael Palmer is the event’s featured speaker.

As manager of 700 production colonies, his bees produce 30 tons of honey a year, in addition to a large queen-rearing operation. Time: 8 a.m. Location: Belzer Middle School, 7555 E. 56th St., Indianapolis.

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

47

FROM THE FIELD

For the Love of Princess

BY CHERYL CARTER JONES

48

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

g

GROWING UP ON A FARM, you quickly grow to understand that baby animals are born, they are fattened up and then someday they go to market. Some of them you even bottle feed and love dearly, but the reality of their fate is still accepted unless they are spared for breeding purposes. While I did not want to see the act, I knew the cycle.

As I planned for my new farm, there was never any doubt that animals would be a part of the big picture. My close friends have admired the detail captured in my to-scale layout of my vision. There was also an order to things. 1) Berry fields laid out at the onset. 2) Fruit orchard and nut grove. 3) A greenhouse, and so forth. Animals were always the finishing touch, after my house and barn are built.

But then one day I was next door tending to donkey and goat hooves when I heard a sound I had not heard for years — kittens. A feral cat, which I assume had once been a pet and was dumped, had given birth to six healthy little babies on the other side of the stall. They had been there for a bit; they were certainly not newborns. Over the next few weeks, we gained the trust of “Princess,” and I fell in love with her. No sooner than the kittens were weaned, Princess left one day with them in search of more exciting places. Two kittens later returned.

I had really wanted to keep her, but interestingly enough she reemerged a couple of months later with seven kittens, which explained her absence. I promptly made a home for her in my pole barn, fit for a royal barn cat and her offspring.

My mother could not believe I was giving her bottled water, only the very best cat food, every amenity a cat could want, etc. She was a magnificent mother, a superb hunter (important on a farm) and a wonderful companion. The plan was to get her fixed just as soon as the new kittens were weaned. This time I wanted her to stay, and it was only the very best for my Princess.

This past week as I opened the door to my pole barn, I quickly sensed that all was not well. One of the little kittens was crying at the wrong end of the building. Things were in disarray inside. I knew something had happened during the night. I had not spent much time with the kittens, feeling that the mother cat deserved the attention,

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT AGRICULTURE

PUMPKIN

More than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced in the United States each year, ranking fourth in the world behind China, India and Russia. Illinois tops the nation in pumpkin production.

Other big pumpkin-growing states are Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, New York and Michigan.

More pumpkin tidbits:

and I wanted to wait until they were a little older. Thank goodness I had held them for a while the prior day.

The instant the little kitten saw me, it got to me as quickly as it could. It was shaking and screaming.

As I approached the kittens’ nest, my heart sank. There were only three other kittens. Something had gotten Princess and three kittens in the night. I had no idea how long these 3-week-old kittens had gone without nursing. They were scared and sensed I was safe.

I searched for my beloved Princess and her other three kittens and enlisted the assistance of some great neighbors. Nothing. So I placed a towel in the bottom of a new bushel basket, and we headed, first to the vet, and then to get bottles and kitten formula.

So much for planning. I would never have thought about a stray cat coming and stealing my heart.

After all, it was not in the plan until everything else was finished. But Princess was just special. I had not intended to keep the kittens. I had farmer friends who were eager to have a good barn cat, and Princess would have taught them well. But in an instant I became mother to four little kittens that look just like their mother. Their eyes said it all; they were frightened and counting on me.

I know that animals live and die, just like people. I grew up knowing it and seeing it. When you take livestock to the market, it is with purpose. In this case, there was no justifiable purpose to the loss. I am struggling to comprehend and accept the loss of Princess. She was beautiful with fur that glistened in the light and was ever so silky soft.

She loved attention and gave it back.

She was just a perfect barn cat.

I cannot believe how quickly the kittens are growing and changing.

As these little creatures wake me up in the middle of the night for a feeding or poop on everything, I sometimes question my sanity. I run on very little sleep anyway, and that is now drastically reduced. I did not want kittens. Frankly, I did not want any animals for another year. While I cannot imagine keeping all four, I am also not willing to break them up any time in the near future. They have endured enough for now.

So why am I hauling around a playpen, kitten bottles and formula, baby wipes and the like? Why did I drive an extra two hours yesterday to drop the kittens off so my mother could baby-sit them for the day? Well, I can only say that it is all for the love of Princess. It is life on the farm. They are her legacy.

• A typical yield per acre is between 800 and 1,200 harvested pumpkins, depending on the type.

• Most pumpkins are grown for processing, not ornamental sales.

• Pumpkin is one of the richest sources of vitamin A and antioxidants beneficial for improved joint and eye health.

• Pumpkin flowers are edible.

• A single cup of cooked pumpkin has a minuscule 83 calories and is packed with 3 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber and a whopping 2,650 IU (international units) of vitamin A. • Pumpkins are a fruit.

• Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

• Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites. Today, they aren’t considered remedies to either.

• Pumpkins range in size from less than a pound to over 1,000 pounds. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.

Provided by Farm Flavor / Sponsored by Bartholomew County Farm Bureau Inc.

Cheryl Carter Jones is an Indiana farmer and the president of the Local Growers’ Guild, a cooperative of farmers, retailers and community members dedicated to strengthening the local food economy in central and southern Indiana through education, direct support and market connections. For more information on the guild, visit localgrowers.org.

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

49

FROM THE FIELD

THE VIEW AT NIGHTFALL

Running Scared

BY NATE BROWNLEE

L

LIZ AND I DO NOT have kids, so this Halloween season got me thinking about what scares our animals. Mostly I was excited to spend some time thinking about our animals dressed up in costumes: pigs with wigs, and so on.

To be clear, we do not spend our time intentionally scaring our animals. But spend enough time with anyone, human or farm animal, and you’ll eventually startle and spook him. We are with our animals a lot, and our goal is to know what scares them so that we can avoid instilling those fears in them. Less fear means happier animals, obviously, but also it means that it is easier to work with and manage our animals.

That disclaimer out of the way, here are four scary things our animals might experience on any given day at our farm.

4. WATER Water is not always scary; the key lies in the surprise. On hot days, when

we fill the pig water trough, we also hose them down. They like the cool treat, but those first refreshing drops sure seem to startle them. They arch their backs and run away, but they all eventually return to huddle under the stream. Picture kids running through the sprinkler. They scream when they first get wet, and then they play until you tell them that it is time to stop. Also, the goats hate the rain, so water is sure to send them running.

3. SHADOWS Chickens and turkeys sure don’t like shadows. When a bird flies overhead of the turkeys or chickens, be it a crow or a hawk, that flitting shadow causes an instant reaction from our birds.

The chickens immediately go silent and still, whereas the turkeys give gobbles of alarm and race for shelter.

2. THE SHAVINGS BAG Our chicks and poults start their lives in the brooder, where we can provide the heat they need until they grow feathers to stay warm on their own. In the brooder we use pine shavings as bedding, and we often add more shavings as the bedding is soiled.

When we add shavings, the chicks all flee from the shavings bag (it is plastic and

After years of gaining experience on other farms, Nate Brownlee and his wife, Liz, moved back to Indiana to start their own family farm, which they named Nightfall Farm. Here, they will share stories of the many trials, tribulations, successes and failures in running a family business. For more on Nightfall Farm, visit nightfallfarm.com.

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crinkly) and the new shavings as we scatter them. The effect is similar to the classic image of people running away from Godzilla.

Their reaction has led us to come up with the name “the Shavings Bag of DOOOOM” (spoken with your best evil/spooky voice).

Fortunately, as soon as the bag passes through, the chicks fill in behind and start scratching in the new bedding, ever hopeful for treasure.

1. FARMER LEGS What could be scarier than a pair of farmer’s legs? We raise Large Black pigs, and they have big floppy ears that sometimes cover their eyes. Combine floppy ears with tall pasture grasses, and it is easy to startle a group of pigs that did not hear you coming to do chores.

One minute they just see ears, and then when they turn their heads there is suddenly a terrifying pair of farmer legs before them. The pig who sees you first gives a bark of alarm, and the whole group starts to attention, before they realize it’s just you and go back to their business of rooting, eating and wallowing, like happy pigs do.

Because it’s fun to think about Halloween costumes and the farm, we challenge you, Farm Indiana readers, to draw the farm animal of your choice in a costume. Snap a picture of your drawing and post it on our Facebook page. We can’t wait to see what you post!

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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A NEW TASK FORCE

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BY CISSY BOWMAN

Recently, 16 members were appointed by the National Organic Program to a task force to explore current hydroponic and aquaponic production practices and how they will align with USDA organic regulations.

The task force will report and make recommendations regarding the NOP hydroponic and aquaponic standards and on whether substances should be allowed or prohibited in organic production or handling. The task force also will assist in developing standards for substances to be used in organic production and will advise the secretary of agriculture on other aspects of the organic regulations.

The National Organic Standards Board is an advisory committee of the organic industry and stakeholder representatives.

The task force, which will meet monthly, will prepare a report for the NOSB about the current state of technologies and practices for hydroponics and aquaponics and their alignment with the USDA organic regulations. NOSB will use its report to assist in making recommendations on organic hydroponics and aquaponics production systems.

The newly appointed members come from all over the United States with different disciplines and expertise, including Jeffry Evard, from Plainfield. Members were chosen from among 65 stakeholders and industry experts who applied to serve. The task force is expected to present its report to the board in the fall of 2016.

Ample opportunity will be given to the public — both industry stakeholders and consumers — for input as these recommendations and standards are created.

Historically, there has been some argument concerning the appropriateness of developing organic aquaponic and hydroponic stanThe founder and program dards. There are those who feel that organic director of Hoosier Organic agriculture must be soil-based. Currently, Marketing Education, such operations that are certified organic Cissy Bowman has been are following system plans that their certigrowing food organically fiers have accepted and interpreted to be since 1973 and on her current farm, Center Valley consistent with the existing NOP organic Organic Farm, since 1983. standards.

For more information on Verifiable and consistent organic aquaHoosier Organic Marketing ponic and hydroponic production has the poEducation, email tential to increase our supply of sustainably cvof@earthlink.net or produced, organic local foods in places that call (317) 539-2753. are not conducive to soil-based production.

The development of these standards will arrive on the heels of the NOP organic aquaculture standards, which should be in front of us for public comment some time in 2015.

For more information on organic standards for aquaculture, hydroponics and aquaponics, and updates on their progress, visit ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/nosb/task-forces.

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

51

FROM THE FIELD

lent and real during this fall month than farmer during the fall months, I forget other times of the year. The some of us I that my mother is a widow who actuspeak of are what I call “harvest widows.” ally lost her farmer during harvest.

As you read this, there are probably farm The air was crisp that night, and I was on wives out there preparing themselves for my way to a campfire when the call came a long day, night or week ahead without about my dad. I don’t remember the leaves seeing their farmer husbands very much. beneath my feet crackling as I raced across There are some of us who make what seem the barn lot and yards that night, but I like endless meals to take to the field. Some know they were there. For some reason, the of us haul our farmers from one field to leaves every fall since that day have been the next, and others help in more beautiful the fields right alongside their and colorful than husbands. We always make the last, probably a Katie Glick grew up on her family farm sure there is enough coffee or sign from my dad in Martinsville and energy drinks around this time to slow down and now lives with her of year and plenty of wine for take a moment husband on their family farm near ourselves. Our countless loads to enjoy them.

Columbus. She is a of laundry and washers full Each year when graduate of Purdue of farm treasures don’t deter fall harvest apUniversity and has worked in Indiana politics. us from supporting our farmproaches, I say a She now works in the agriculture industry. She shares her personal, work, travel and farm life ers. And we won’t truly sleep pray for all of the stories on her blog, Fancy in the Country. until we know they are home farmers and their safe, sleeping beside us while safety. I even say we watch them, ourselves filled with anxia prayer for those who don’t work in agety about what the next day may bring. riculture but drive alongside tractors and I take pride in my role as a harvest widow combines on the road, which can be danbecause I married a man who is working gerous. Please, be careful out there. My the land to produce food for others and thoughts and prayers always include the to sustain a family farm for generations harvest widows, the women who support to come. Working the land is a privilege and care for the farmers, and the women not many of us have, and the farmer takes who have lost their farmers. I’ll be thinkcare of it for his family and for yours. ing about them a lot this month as I sit While I talk about being a haroutside drinking my wine, listening to the vest widow to try to explain to people combine’s hum in the distance and taking what real life entails being married to a a moment to watch the leaves turn colors.

The Harvest Widow

M

BY KATIE GLICK

MY FAVORITE season is fall with its crisp air, the crackle of a campfire and the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet.

Every year the trees surprise me with their bright, vibrant colors, and they remind me to enjoy the moment and breathe that fresh, crisp air while it lasts.

October is the month when fall becomes real, when these favorite fall things become part of our daily lives. For some of us, the anxiety, rush of emotions and longing to see our significant others are more preva-

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In the peaceful morning hours, before the apron strings are tied, chocolatier Jayne Hoadley sits down to go over her shopping list. Quarts of cream, pounds of fresh butter, bags of sugar and bottles of Windex are all on the list. The cleaner necessary because if you follow your nose to Greenfield Chocolates, a co-workspace of J. Evelyn Confections and Litterally Divine Chocolates, you might soon find your face pressed longingly against the glass cases inside.

The sweet, buttery smell of hot caramel floats through the air in Greenfield Chocolates, situated near the intersection of State Road 9 and U.S. 40 in Hancock County. Carefully stacked rows of fresh toffee line the antique cases, while colorful shelves showcase boxes with elegant ribbon still waiting to be filled with the day’s confections. This is the vision that Hoadley and shop partner, Suzanne Litteral, have worked hard to create, and combining their strengths has resulted in an overall retail experience that draws customers back time and again.

Prior to opening their shop’s doors in 2012, Hoadley and Litteral had catered to different crowds. While Litteral found success with her vegan and organic truffles in several local markets and natural foods stores, Hoadley had carved out a niche by creating indulgent gift options for Indy’s elite businesses and corporations. But when a serendipitous meeting at the Carmel Farmers Market found the two women discussing similar business goals, their entrepreneurial gears started turning.

A casual lunch date turned into a nickel tour of an empty storefront, where they both realized that the idea of a joint workspace might not be such a crazy idea. “I just thought it made sense, because we’ve always reached out to different people,” explains Hoadley. “She (Litteral) does farmers markets, and I do corporate and business-

to-business. She needed a kitchen, and I needed a kitchen, and we thought we could co-exist.”

J. Evelyn Confections came about both through careful planning and instinctive leaps of faith.

After several years in retail management with L.S. Ayres, Hoadley found herself at a crossroads.

Making candy at home for friends and family had made for an extremely popular party trick, and Hoadley’s husband, Carl, had always encouraged her to explore her culinary talents. When a family loss left her feeling a little less “corporate ladder” and a little more “carpe diem,” Hoadley knew what she had to do. “You don’t know about tomorrow,” she says. “No one knows about tomorrow. So why not take a chance today? So, that’s what I did.”

In September 2008, J. Evelyn Confections was born. Hoadley set her sights on making her candies a high-quality example of Hoosier craftsmanship. “It’s hard to go from a 60-hour-a-week job to constructing what your day looks like,” she says.

And this is what Hoadley’s days look like: hours of standing and stirring, stirring and standing, dipping caramels, tempering pounds of smooth chocolate and testing new recipes until they’re perfect.

It was through this that she found her signature candy: a caramel that would earn her a loyal following and a place in Indiana’s handcrafted history. A rich butter caramel with roasted pecans, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with Australian sea salt, her sea salt pecan chews were juried into the Indiana Artisan program, which recognizes exceptional craftsmen and women in Indiana, in 2009.

Carefully sourcing her ingredients and focusing on tailoring the J. Evelyn brand, Hoadley continues to build a strong following of corporate clients who know that great diplomacy starts with a really great box of chocolates.

“Everything we make is handmade,” she says.

“Our specialty is caramel, and we make truffles

and toffee. So within those categories, we take something very familiar and give it a twist.”

Across the kitchen of Greenfield Chocolates in her trademark pink bandana, Litteral of Litterally Divine Chocolates is making quick work of a massive tray of toffee. No stranger to the hustle, Litteral knows exactly how many minutes are left before her table is clear and her interview can begin. In the mid-’90s, Litteral was living in Nashville, Tennessee, and working as a loan processor for a mortgage refinancing company.

“There was this chocolate festival going on, and somebody was passing out booklets of chocolate recipes,” she says. “I found a recipe for brandy chocolate truffles and tried it out on my coworkers. They loved them.” With holiday gifts in the bag, Litteral made the Christmas pilgrimage home to Indiana. Bearing boxes of truffles and buttery toffee, she was met with encouragement from her family to start her own business.

When familial commitments brought Litteral back to Indiana for good, she looked for opportunities to learn more about starting her own business. “I took this Purdue extension course in specialty food businesses,” she explains.

In February 2014, Litterally Divine Chocolates’ line of products was also juried into the Indiana Artisan program. With a full line of vegan, soy and dairy-free options, Litteral’s products have allowed many customers with dietary restrictions to enjoy chocolate once again, and have surprised many customers when they find out that their favorite selections are organic.

Already a veteran vendor of Greenfield’s annual Riley Days festival, Greenfield Chocolates is gearing up to celebrate its fourth festival since opening its doors. With a full schedule of activities including a pageant queen and a mayor’s breakfast, the event takes place downtown from Oct. 1 to 4 and celebrates the life of one of Greenfield’s most famous residents, poet James Whitcomb Riley.

Along with the popular honeycrisp apples dipped in caramel and chocolate, the crew at J. Evelyn will be serving s’mores during this year’s festival. “We make our own graham crackers,” says Hoadley. “Then, we take a homemade vanilla butternut marshmallow, dip it in Swiss chocolate and then sprinkle it with a bourbon barrel smoked sugar.”

Litteral will be slicing and serving fudge this year, which goes to show that you can always rely on a classic. “I didn’t realize there was such a demand for it,” says Litteral, who fielded so many requests in recent years that she decided to have fun with flavors and will be offering concoctions like cookie dough and German chocolate.

Both brands of candies also will be for sale at Chocolate Fest on Oct. 17 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Dallara IndyCar Factory, 1201 W. Main St., Speedway. Greenfield Chocolates

is located at 15 W. Main St., Greenfield. For more information, visit greenfieldchocolates.wordpress.com, jevelynconfections.com or litterallydivinetoffee.com.

FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

53

LOCAL FOOD

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE

TO CROCK

BY TWINKLE VANWINKLE

ONE OF MY MANTRAS during the school year revolves around dinnertime: Set it and forget it.

You can make dinner happen more easily through the week just by dusting off your slow cooker and rocking out some healthy, hearty meals.

I have always equated slow cookers with my mom’s meals or church family night suppers. I knew when I came in from school and mom’s Crock-Pot was out, we could expect one of three things: chili, spaghetti or goulash. Wintertime passed even more slowly when those three meals were the staples.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of a good goulash or a spicy chili, and I’m happy to whip up some simple spaghetti and meatballs on a busy night for the family in a Crock-Pot, but those aren’t the meals slow cookers handle best.

A slow cooker’s higher power is to make a meal that is truly remarkable after six to eight hours of

slow, deliberate cooking with little effort. And to make something cheap — like an inexpensive roast — taste really good. The keys to this success and deliciousness are the ingredients and preparation.

There are millions of recipes for slow cookers out there. To create an easy weeknight meal plan, whether you have kids or not, you must prep your meals on Sunday afternoon. Find five recipes you like, buy gallon freezer bags and fill with your prepped ingredients. Then each day, dump one bag of ingredients into the slow cooker, set it and forget it.

One of my favorite uses for the slow cooker is to cook a whole chicken.

A chicken is cheap and can feed up to six people. Cooking a whole chicken is also a good way to keep chicken on hand in the fridge for tossing into a salad or making tacos on the fly. And the leftovers from the chicken can then be used to create a rich, creamy broth to freeze for later.

When selecting a chicken, make sure to choose one that will fit in your slow cooker, but also has a good amount of meat on it.

Remember to always check inside the cavity because many times the sweet breads and neck are placed inside for those who want to cook those parts. They are usually sealed in plastic and you definitely do not want to cook that. There isn’t really a need to brine since you’ll be cooking the meat slow and low. Choose your herbs, spices and marinades, then set the timer, drop the lid on and several hours later you’ll have a tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken to serve.

POLLERTS’

RECIPE

5 to 6 pound whole chicken 2 cups diced yellow onions 2 cups quartered fresh mushrooms 4 large carrots, cut into 2-inch sections 1 cup dry red wine (preferably a Pinot Noir) 2 tablespoons freshly chopped sage or 1 teaspoon dried 2 teaspoons freshly chopped thyme or ½ teaspoon dried 2 lemons, halved » Place chicken in a six-quart slow cooker. Add vegetables, herbs and lemon. Pour wine over the chicken and add extra water by the cup, leaving about an inch of chicken uncovered. » Cover and set to cook on low for six hours. » After three hours, check and redistribute liquid or add a little more wine if needed. » After six hours, make sure the chicken’s internal temperature has reached 160 degrees F before serving. Serve hot on a platter with vegetables and broth.

Twinkle VanWinkle is an Indianapolis-based food writer and experienced chef with Southern roots. She has more than 23 years of professional cooking under her apron strings and loves to share her unique perspective on food, foodways and culture with others. Needless to say, her family is very well-fed.

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FARM INDIANA // OCTOBER 2015

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A SWEET DEAL About 45 minutes south of Indianapolis, owner and founder of Hoosier Sugar Daddy Eric Enk is giving locals a new reason to rise and shine »Warm, generous glugs of his sweetly spiced persimmon syrup cascading down stacks of whole wheat French toast and buckwheat pancakes ... it’s enough to make any Hoosier stand up and holler.

But don’t be too quick to delegate Erik Enk’s year-round best-selling syrup to the breakfast table. “It also makes a very, very good vinaigrette,” he says.

A native of Martinsville, Enk grew up with an appreciation for the natural resources southern Indiana has to offer.

Living on the family farm that’s been in operation since 1945, he had always enjoyed tapping the maple trees on the property to make syrup for his friends and family. Learning through books and observation, he spent several years perfecting the amber elixir, which then evolved into successful experiments with hickory bark. When a pastime became

BY JEN JANICIJEVIC

more than a hobby, Enk began to carry ing to expand his line bottles of syrup for sale at his window of syrups to include and door replacement business in Morsome Hoosier favorites gantown. But with syrup on the back like sassafras and rhubarb, burner and a full-time business to run, he he quickly found success couldn’t help but notice at a few local the increasing demand festivals. Three for his bottled products. years later, Hoosier You can find Hoosier Sugar Daddy Two varieties down Sugar Daddy syrups can syrups at farmers markets in Plainfield and confident that he’d be found at several local and Bean Blossom, as well as on nailed the production farmers markets and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. process, Enk invested over 25 festivals in the as part of the full-time lineup of more in a second cooker and Midwest. than 80 vendors at the Columbus saw bottles flying off In addition to hickory Farmers Market. Local businesses like the shelves as fast as he and maple, the wellcould fill them. Buildrounded lineup includes Bear Wallow Distillery in Nashville ing a strong following culinary multitaskers and Myers’ Market in Greencastle also 12 ounces at a time, like peach, blackberry carry the Hoosier Sugar Daddy line of he eventually decided and bourbon vanilla. products. For more information, log to close the door on At ease on chicken and onto hoosiersugardaddy.us or find windows and pushed salmon alike, hickory Hoosier Sugar Daddy on Facebook. full steam ahead with syrup pairs well with his passion for syrup apple cider and creole making. seasoning to make a Setting up shop at his local farmers flavorful marinade. Enk also recommends market in Morgantown, Enk had a steady mixing 1/4 cup of hickory syrup into a stream of loyal customers who knew a pound of spicy breakfast sausage and good thing when they tasted it. Workletting the magic happen. “Cook it slow,

on low heat,” he says.

“It’ll actually caramelize the patty.” And if anyone needs another reason to enjoy all the locally raised pork that Indiana has to offer, they’ll find it in a peach syrupglazed pork loin, smoked ribs with a blackberry syrup-infused barbecue sauce or vanilla syrup in a morning coffee.

All Hoosier Sugar Daddy’s syrups are made with pure cane sugar and contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Sourcing quality ingredients is important to Enk, who makes sure that flavors stay consistently fresh. An indicator of Hoosier Sugar Daddy’s success is its presence on social media sites like Facebook, where customers trade recipes and experiences they’ve had while savoring their syrups.

Becoming a local food producer and being a part of the farmers market community have been a gratifying experience for Enk, who enjoys getting to know his customers as they come back to try new flavors. “Having repeat customers, to me ... it means I’m doin’ it right,” he says.

Butters/Preserves Available From Dillman Farm & Baked Goods From Ahlemeyer Farms Bakery Growers of Fine Fruits & Vegetables

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