Farm Indiana | Jan. 2015

JANUARY 2015

Rural Living & Local Food

Full hearts

For Genesis McKiernan-Allen and Eli Robb, the farm is a perfect setting for their family

ALSO INSIDE: ESKENAZI HEALTH SKY FARM | CASTAWAY COMPOST | FRANKLIN COMMUNITY FFA

2 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

Editor’s Note

Remaining Resolute

H

Happy January. It’s that time of year again … when we’re supposed to correct our bad habits, set new goals and reshape our lives into something better than they were the year before. I’m going to leave that all to you this year.

I can say with some bit of certainty that if I change one more thing or add another lofty goal or project to the Dugger to-do list, my husband just might wring my neck.

This past year was a good one, though. A great one, really.

If you’ve read my previous editor’s notes, then you know we have accomplished a lot in our short time on our new property. In 2014, we had our house insulated and resided. We also installed a new electrical panel and furnace, new gut-

ters, new soffits and probably some other new things that I can’t spell, nor remember. My husband built a combination goat barn and chicken coop, and then we promptly brought in the chickens, barn cats and goats to live there. Early in 2014, we also acquired bees.

I love to hug on all fur-bearing creatures (well, the ones that don’t want to eat my face, anyway), and the feral cats and goats have slowly become accustomed to such attention from me. The chickens aren’t so eager for my touch, but even they get picked up and petted daily. They will cave to my ways someday. Just wait and see.

In December, I kicked off a little side project selling homemade jams, which went a little too well,

maybe, and my husband and I spent nearly every free moment sourcing jars and filling orders.

This past month I also turned in an application to add alpacas to our mix. And let’s not forget the worms. In this issue of Farm Indiana, we feature a profile of Castaway Compost, an operation out of Fishers, which you can find on page 24. I was so intrigued by the whole idea of using worms to create compost that I quickly purchased a kit from Castaway for what may very well be one of the weirdest Christmas gifts I have ever given to my husband. He always talks about how we need to be better at creating compost, and so I figured he might get a kick out of such a gift. I write this note just

days away from handing over his trash can filled with worms and … yes … trash. I will have to let you know how that one goes over.

So as for all those New Year’s resolutions? I’m going to have to pass.

This year I resolve not to change a thing. For a little while, at least.

Until the next good Farm Indiana story comes my way.

Thank You to Our Valued Customers.

Wishing you a Healthy and Prosperous 2015!

6672 East 650 South | Edinburgh, IN 46124 812-526-5574 | 800-284-2676 | kokomograin.com FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 3

Contents JANUARY 2015

32 42

18

24 50 6 Farm Tech 8 From The Field

PROFILE 14 Umbarger Show Feeds

FARM TO SCHOOL 40 Manchester Community Schools

PROFILE 42 Kuehnert Dairy Farm

18 Eskenazi Health Sky Farm

PROFILE 46 Full Hand Farm

PROFILE 24 Castaway Compost

50

IN THE CLASSROOM 28 Franklin Community High School’s FFA

PROFILE 32 Don Poynter

Sustainability 36 at Indiana’s colleges 4 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

LOCAL FOOD Henry Social Club, Frog & Toad Bakery goat cheese, hot sauce

JANUARY 2015

Rural Living & Local Food

ON THE COVER

Read more on Full Hand Farm on page 46.

Photo by Josh Marshall

Full hearts

For Genesis McKiernan-Allen and Eli Robb, the farm is a perfect setting for their family

ALSO INSIDE: ESKENAZI HEALTH SKY FARM | CASTAWAY COMPOST | FRANKLIN COMMUNITY FFA

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.

At First Farmers Bank & Trust, we’ve been cultivating Agricultural growth in the Midwest since 1885. In the process, we’ve become the largest Ag bank east of the Mississippi.

What sets us apart in your area? With over 300 combined years in Agriculture, our Ag team provides a level of agri-business experience no one else can match. First Farmers Bank & Trust has a proven ability to provide customized programs to meet just about any financing need and a solid commitment to agriculture since 1885.

PUBLISHER Chuck Wells EDITOR Sherri Lynn Dugger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jen Bingham, Rachel Brandenburg, Nate Brownlee, Cheryl Carter Jones, Jessica Ervin, Katie Glick, Jessica Hoopengardner, Garrett Kelly, Shawndra Miller, Jon Shoulders, Clint Smith, Ryan Trares, Catherine Whittier, CJ Woodring COPY EDITOR Katharine Smith SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST Margo Wininger ADVERTISING DESIGN

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All rights reserved. Reproduction of stories, photographs and advertisements without permission is prohibited.

Comments, story ideas, events and suggestions should be sent to Sherri Lynn Dugger, The Republic, 333 Second St., Columbus, IN 47201, call (812) 379-5608 or email farmindiana@hnenewspapers.com.

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Farm Tech

There’s a Map for That

BY GARRETT KELLY

Purdue professor creates technology to help farmers evaluate their soil » MAPS CAN HELP lead users to a desired destination, whether a favorite vacation spot or a buried treasure. A Purdue University professor recently created functional soil mapping technology that may one day help lead farmers to higher yields.

Phillip Owens, an associate professor of soil science at Purdue, has developed a new way to map soil characteristics from field to field.

According to Owens, there are currently only two options for farmers when it comes to soil mapping.

One is the USDA Soil Survey, which is what most people use.

The other option is to pay someone to grid sample a field and then run geostatistics on the plot.

The USDA Soil Survey maps, he says, are bubblePhillip Owens shaped maps that essentially describe a soil type based on how a soil looks. Owens’ maps use information from the USDA maps in conjunction with his new models, which allow the user to map how a soil actually works. “No one cares if a soil looks different,” Owens says. “What they’ll want to know is how it works differently.”

Owens’ functional maps factor many characteristics that make up the soil. He says these maps measure the soil texture, which is affected by the amount of sand, silt and clay present. There are also maps that keep track of the

organic matter in the soil, the depth of the soil and the plant’s rooting zone, as well as maps that trace the amount of water that’s available in the soil. And there are maps to measure carbon and nitrogen levels. “By making all of those individual maps, we can combine them together to make a crop suitability index, a productivity map or a risk-management-zone map,” he says.

Owens takes the information from the soil survey maps and uses a digital elevation map to run algorithms that divide the terrain mathematically. Then, four or five samples of soil are collected from various points in the field to be analyzed. “These (samples) help adjust the values so that they’re properly predicted,” Owens says. “People want to know as close as they can what’s actually there.”

The idea to create the functional soil maps came to Owens when he realized there was a void in mapping technologies that needed to be filled.

Funded by a grant, he started with a geostatistics project, which he soon found would be cost-prohibitive to farmers because samples are needed every 90 feet across a field. He determined that he could use the information already available, use the knowledge of soil principles and create a map that shows how soils change across a field.

More funding — this time from Purdue and later from the USDA — helped him further cultivate his idea. “Once I got some prototypes of how it would work, I got funding from the USDA Soil Survey program to further develop the research,” he says. “I’ve gotten several grants from USDA since then to be at the stage I’m at now.”

According to Owens, he relied on a team of former students to help bring his idea to fruition.

The students, now graduates, who helped Owens are named on the patent, which is still pending. “These are all people that I feel like had some creativity,” he says. “They created something new to actually answer the question.”

If the patent is approved, which he expects to know around April, Owens says he has several companies interested in licensing the technology for use in crop models. One important element missing in precision farming is good information about the soil, he explains, and these companies see the value in obtaining trustworthy data.

Owens sees the future of farming as a practice in managing risk. An overall yield in a field may be fairly stable, but there are spots where the yield can vary drastically from year to year depending on precipitation. “Those areas that are extremely variable are your areas of risk,” he says. “And that’s where you need to focus the management because that’s where you make or lose money.”

While all the details aren’t ironed out, Owens says the idea is for the companies that license the technology to sell the information to farmers. He says the farmer will take four or five samples from his field and then send it into the lab to be analyzed.

The software currently requires a scientist to use it, but Owens is hoping to make it more user-friendly. “We’re trying to automate it a little more now so that it’s something that can be potentially online someday,” he says. “You could put in your locations of your points and automatically update your map. We’re not there yet, but it is certainly functional now.”

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From the Field

Repurpose To Give Purpose » WITH MY FARM WORK on track and the intensity of my schedule winding down a bit, I decided it was high time for a little fun. I embarked on an adventure through my buildings and a look about the property to see what wonderful treasures I might discover. Keeping in mind that I am going to put the property where I currently live on the market next spring, these are the things that immediately captured my attention: a lot of volunteer trees (cedar, maple, cherry, walnut, oak, sassafras, poplar) where I do not want them, more tires than I care to admit, a pile of untreated, weathered old lumber, tons of leaves at the edge of the woods, and a stack of newspapers in the garage.

The quest was then to determine how to use these items in a productive manner that also rids them from the property in preparation for its sale.

Let the fun begin.

Table »T ables are so practical, and I like something different — a conversation piece.

I began with three very thick, wide pieces of well-aged and weathered old lumber. Here’s what I did with them. » Saw off both long edges (¾-inch) of each board and set aside the ¾-inch pieces to use as a finish molding. » Cut the boards so they are the same length. The length of your table is a personal preference or based on the space you have available. Same for the width; you can make it as many boards wide as you like. » Lay the boards side by side. Make sure you have wiped off any excess sawdust.

This is where an air compressor is great, if you have one. » Glue the boards together and use clamps to hold them firmly together while the glue dries. I used good old Elmer’s wood glue. If any glue seeps out once the boards are clamped, wipe off the excess glue with a damp rag before it dries. » Before removing the clamps, I screwed in several mending braces, available at any hardware store, to the underside of the table top for reinforcement and to ensure the boards do not pull apart over time. » To give the table a finished look, cut the ¾-inch moldings to go on the outer edges of the table. I suggest mitering the corners. » At this stage, you can then determine what kind of legs you want on your table and what height you want the table to be. I originally planned to use my table in my potting shed or laundry room, and opted to use pipe for legs.

You could certainly go with wood legs.

I want to thank Andy Riddle and the guys at Circle R Mechanical Contractors in Columbus for making the legs for my table so quickly.

Jones’ repurposed table and candles.

»F inally, determine whether you want to add a finish to the tabletop for protection or leave it as is. Because my wood is so dry, varnishing required several coats. My gray-tan weathered boards quickly turned to a rich dark brown when varnished. The tabletop could be stained as well. My preference was not to do it.

SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS

»F or a potting bench, I would have only used two boards (about 24 inches). I also would have mounted an old metal garden gate permanently to the back of the bench to use to hang supplies on and add a little charm. » For a small table to sit around (work table or dining table), 36 inches is a great width. » A shelf can be added between the legs for extra storage space, if you like.

This would be done more easily if using wood legs.

Cheryl Carter Jones is an Indiana farmer and a board member 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.

8 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

By Cheryl Carter Jones

Candles » I cut various lengths of logs from the volunteer trees. On each one, I decided to leave at least one little branch. I carefully perused each one to determine if I liked the log better horizontally or vertically. Then I determined if I wanted to leave the bark on the log or remove it with my woodworking chisels. I did some of each. »D rill holes for candles. This takes a wide bit. If you do not have one wide enough, you can drill small holes in a circle and then chisel out the wood, but that takes substantially longer. »D etermine if you want to leave the bark or remove it. » I f removing the bark, you will need to do some sanding once the bark is off. The amount of sanding you do is optional. The more you sand, the more even appearance it will give to your wood; the less you do will result in a more rustic look. Staining the wood is optional; be sure to wipe off all the dust and debris prior to staining.

»Y ou can then either apply a handrubbed finish or varnish. Adding a finish is not necessary, but it will make it look richer, and the wood will not dry out and crack in the future. » If you are leaving the bark intact, then you may apply varnish directly to the bark. It gives it a shiny look and helps it to last longer. » Place a candlewick in the hole(s) and pour in candle wax. I used soy wax.

You may also scent or color the wax. » Cut a piece of felt slightly smaller than the bottom of the log and glue it on to the bottom to prevent the log from scratching tabletops.

VARIATIONS AND AFTERTHOUGHTS

» I nstead of pouring candle wax into the holes, you could make your holes the size to hold a purchased candle. » I plan to make more of these for gifts, and I do not think I will leave the small branches on many of them. Most are fragile, but in my case, with no

little children at home, it is not a problem, and I like the look. I am attaching little birds on the limbs, or you could embellish with spray-on snow. » You can mount the wood candle to a round of wood or a piece of metal.

Then, glue on nuts or pine cones. Using a spray varnish will give a wonderful shine to the nuts or pine cones. » If using a horizontal log, you can drill a small hole on one end or both and glue a small branch in the hole to create the appearance of a tree. However, be careful to place it far enough away from candles that it will not be a fire hazard. » As an added bonus, I used cuttings from the cedar trees and added some fresh cut holly, pine branches and boxwood to create a holiday arrangement.

A few fresh flowers can be added for a splash of color.

» Next, I am ready to start working with those tires, leaves and newspapers. This will be a purposeful activity near and dear to my heart.

Giving new purpose to items you already have is a great way to clean up your property and buildings, save some money, and create something new and useful. And let us not forget the benefit to our planet.

My initial intent was to repurpose what would otherwise be deemed junk and would need to be trashed into something purposeful, yet whimsical and save a good deal of money.

Somewhere along the way, the weekend’s experience became much more. The candles turned out better than I

imagined, and the table totally surpassed my quality expectations. More importantly, it will forever be a remembrance of a very special weekend with someone very dear to my heart — my father. These are quick little projects that can bring some family fun and lots of endearing memories.

Cost of supplies: $32.17.

Conservative value of finished products: $250, and I have enough supplies leftover to make another table or bench, and many more candles. A memorable weekend with Dad: priceless.

All four brAnds under one rooftop

e t i s b e W

Seymour • bobpoyntergm.com FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 9

From the Field

away from

HOME

BY JESSICA HOOPENGARDNER

2015 IS FINALLY HERE. This year brings a different story than those in the past. I go to college this year. I don’t know where, but it could be as close as Bloomington or as far as Tempe, Arizona. I know so little of my future, but I know one thing — I’ll be separated from the farm for the first time since I was 4.

We’ve always had animals. I’ve grown up with cats; we acquired two goats when I was 4; the llamas came very soon after that.

Those numbers have increased exponentially, so I’ve always had at least one animal by my side. I won’t have cats, goats or llamas in college.

I won’t know what to do with myself when 5 p.m. rolls around. At the farm, that’s when the goats and llamas get fed. This has been a fact of my life for as long as I can remember.

When I was much younger, I “helped” my dad do chores

by picking up feeders and mostly petting the goats. As I grew, my responsibilities grew, too. I filled waterers, fed hay and grain, and closed pens. At the farm, 5 p.m. means heading out to the barn. At college, who knows?

After chores, I generally go inside the house, make dinner and then head back out to help milk. Farm chores take an hour, and I help with milking for an hour. What will I do with those two hours I normally spend on the farm? With a plan to double major in biology and English, I can only assume those hours will be filled with doing homework and studying, but it will still be odd to stay inside, instead of being in a barn.

And how in the world

will I exercise? My only form of exercise is the walking and lifting I do on the farm. I understand that college will offer plenty of opportunities for walking, especially since I’ve only applied to large schools. But what will be the equivalent of carrying hay bales and bags of feed? I may have to go to the gym. Or I can just be honest with myself and accept the fact I’m just not going to exercise without the farm forcing me to.

I may only know about farm life, and that’s a huge reason why I’m excited for college.

It will give me experiences I could never expect the farm to give me. Despite this, I know that when I go to college, a piece of me will be missing. It will be at home in Spiceland, filled with 200 goats, 20 llamas and an innumerable amount of barn cats.

Jessica Hoopengardner, pictured on her family farm, is a senior at Eastern Hancock High School in Hancock County. Very involved in 4-H and FFA, Hoopengardner is the vice president of her 4-H club and the president of her FFA chapter. She plans on going to college outside Indiana and majoring in English and biology.

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FAMILY RESTAURANT 10 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

Organic Trends AROUND THE WORLD

BY JESSICA ERVIN “IF TAKA YAMAGUCHI (executive officer of Organic Japan) has his way, athletes competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will be eating organic — an ambitious plan that more than 100 of Japan’s top grocery retailers, food importers and distributors learned about at a recent Organic Trade Association (OTA) sponsored seminar in Japan,” an OTA press release states.

The growth of organic foods continues to accelerate, surpassing all other food categories worldwide. The possibilities for Indiana to participate in this growth are becoming increasingly evident. Indiana farmers are experiencing a growing demand for certified organic crops produced using the USDA National Organic Program.

The USDA NOP has equivalency agreements with Japan, Korea, the European Union and Canada for products certified under the U.S. organic program. These trade agreements are designed to encourage increased domestic production, while eliminating barriers to trade.

Opportunities exist for U.S. producers to export their products Jessica Ervin, with over 15 years in organic to any of these countries. For a certification and ISO auditing, is the deputy helpful resource covering the general manager of Ecocert ICO (formerly export requirements around Indiana Certified Organics LLC). Ecocert the globe, visit the International ICO, a subsidiary of Ecocert Group, is the only Organic Trade Resource Guide USDA National Organic Program accredited certification agency in Indiana and operates at globalorganictrade.com. You across the United States and beyond. For more can also choose to list yourself information, visit ecocertico.com. as an international exporter on OTA’s Organic Export Directory, a searchable database directed at foreign buyers at usorganicproducts.com/list-your-products.

For currently certified organic producers and processors wishing to export organic products, please visit ecocertico.com/trade-importexport-documents.html to request a Certificate of Import to accompany your shipments or requirements under the specific equivalency arrangement.

“Exports are increasingly important to U.S. producers and handlers.

The organic industry is invested in building the relationships and U.S. organic brand awareness required for long-term export growth,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of OTA, in the press release.

“The industry is poised to fully utilize the much-welcomed grant assistance from USDA provided through its Market Access Program.”

For more information, contact Amber Fischvogt (812) 376-7772 or afischvogt@heritagefundbc.org

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 11

From the Field

THE VIEW AT NIGHTFALL

The Starting Line

I

“I WOULDN’T WISH the first year of farming on anyone,” said my friend Racey, never one to pull punches. She and her three farming partners were winding down their first season when Liz and I visited. In the two days we were on their farm, I could see how much work they had put into their new place.

Racey’s words were ringing in my head as Liz and I started pulling together plans for our new farm. We had gained experience working on farms, and we knew we had more to learn. But we also knew that it was time to put our energy into building our own farm. Believe it or not, Racey’s words ended up being the encouragement we needed to lay the foundation for our farm.

Racey highlighted the difficulty of getting a farm and small business off the ground, and that perspective helped get us through our first season. We definitely had those days that we wouldn’t wish on anyone. However, on the overwhelming majority of days we realized that we were doing exactly what we wanted to be doing: running our own farm. I am proud of our first year on Nightfall Farm.

Perhaps the most important lesson I gleaned from our first season came from

BY NATE BROWNLEE

the business end of the operation. We have written about our excellent support and welcome, but not from a sales perspective. We have already sold almost all of the meat we raised this year.

Being sold out is awesome and a “whoops” at the same time. We started small in order to gauge customer interest, and we know there is a market for our meat now. But because of the great interest in pasture-raised meat, we have a limited supply, and we cannot attend many farmers markets this winter. Fewer markets mean fewer chances to meet new friends and customers. For me, this is another reason to look forward to this next year and to count the days until spring.

We have no shortage of projects in mind for this coming year. Hopefully, before mid-season, we will have put in a fence, as well as a new well, for the pasture. How nice it will be to have hydrants and running water in the field. In order to get water for our animals this past year, we resurrected an old hay wagon that had not moved in 30 years. We repeatedly pulled that wagon up to the farmhouse, taxed the family well by filling a 200-gallon tank and hauled the water wagon down to the animals in the pasture. The water sometimes lasted a week. I will not miss doing it that way.

This coming season, we will plant our permanent pasture. I loved the crazy height of our summer annuals this last year. I loved going out to the pigs and only knowing where they were by the swaying tops of plants as they passed by them.

But I will not miss scything through plants taller than I am in order to cut new fencerows for our electric nets. And how nice it

will be watching the density of perennial grasses thicken as we manage our grazing over the coming years.

We also plan to build a walk-in freezer here on the farm. This season we have been renting locker space for our meat. At the locker, they know Liz as “the chicken lady” because of all of her trips to retrieve chickens for our CSA members or for the farmers market. As our inventory has dwindled, now we mostly have pork at the locker. When the pork runs out, we hope to have taken our last trip to the locker. How nice it will be to skip that extra trip to town and load our truck for market right here on the farm.

And, of course, we will raise more animals. I do not want to sell out of meat next year. Or maybe ever again. We need a consistent supply of meat for our customers. Which means more pigs to fall in love with. We will have to build more chicken tractors and turkey shelters. And we might add sheep to the mix. For us, more animals is better, not just for the bottom line; raising more animals will help us improve our pastures and farm.

The new year is exciting for Liz and me.

We are past that first year of farming, and I cannot be happier about that — but not because it was awful. When you boil it down, first year or not, it is just another year of farming. And farming is just what Liz and I want to do. So while Racey helped prepare us for the trials of starting a farm, I am not sure I agree with her. If you want to farm, that first year is a pretty exciting place to start.

After years of gaining experience on other farms, Nate Brownlee and his wife, Liz, recently 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 new family business. For more on Nightfall Farm, visit nightfallfarm.com.

12 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

From the Field

O

There’s No Burnin’ Daylight

BY KATIE GLICK

“OK, Katie, it’s time to get up. There’s no burnin’ daylight,” my dad used to say. Every morning of my childhood, that’s the phrase I woke up to.

And my response? “Five more minutes, please.” Over and over and over again.

My dad has been gone for over five years now, but that phrase is still part of my life. I married a man who is also a farmer and has a lot of things in common with my dad. My farmer just says what my dad used to say in a different way, “Hey! Are you up? It’s time to take on the day!”

But guess what? I am still not a morning person and usually not ready to take on the day. I seem to be OK with burnin’ some daylight. However, I have realized in my short 28 years that maybe I should get up with the sun and appreciate the time

and moments the daylight brings and be prepared to take on the day.

Farmers have something in them that many of us don’t. They have an “early riser” gene that seems to come with the love and passion they have for their work. Many of them have animals to care for in the early morning hours or equipment to prepare for a full day’s work. A lot of them have to catch up on the weather and current crop prices at the local coffee shop.

So here I am at the start of a new year, and now it is really starting to hit me what my dad meant every morning of my childhood and what my husband now means each morning when we wake. There really is no time to burn daylight and waste the

precious day away when there is so much work to do in this short and precious life. We have to take on the day and rise before the sun to care for others, and even ourselves, as we prepare to do a full day’s work. As a farmer’s daughter, I hope to have at least gotten half of that “early riser” gene, and I hope it kicks in after we give thanks for 2014 and celebrate the start of 2015.

I believe the sunrise is God’s reminder of the light of a new day and that it’s bright and we shouldn’t burn it away. Which is just what dad taught me. This was a lesson from the farmer who rose with the sun and never burned any of it away.

As we continue to celebrate his life and work for the land he once appreciated and roamed, I will try to get up with the sun and watch it rise across the horizon, giving

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thanks for him and the many blessings in my life. I will try to wake up with my farmer husband each morning so that we can take on the day together.

I no longer need “five more minutes,” but instead hope to find the strength to wake up with the sun and celebrate each new day.

I wish you the same in this new year: an appreciation for the sunrise and the light of a new day.

Katie Glick grew up on her family farm in Martinsville and now lives with her husband on their family farm near Columbus. She is a graduate of Purdue University and has worked in Indiana politics. She now works in the agriculture industry. She shares her personal, work, travel and farm life stories on her blog, Fancy in the Country.

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 13

Feed First Umbarger family has found success through diversity

By Jen Bingham Photography by Josh Marshall Martin and Rowana Umbarger

D

URING THE LATE 1980s, Roy Umbarger & Sons Inc. weathered the agriculture crisis that rocked the nation with grace. Interest rates were rising, and many small farm operations were getting out of the business. At the time, the company had a diverse offering of agricultural goods and services.

But something needed to change.

“Those (companies) that remained in livestock were very large, and so a lot of

14 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

the services that we were providing in the ’60s and ’70s they (the larger companies) were doing, and the (Umbargers’) feed business began to decline,” says R. Martin Umbarger, co-owner and president of the operation.

Martin traveled around the Midwest, visiting specialty feed businesses to explore the market landscape. What he found was a process for creating a steam flaked grain, a higher-quality feed that is more digestible for animals.

Creating the grain was more difficult and expensive and is therefore often fed to show or high-end animals.

Though he is no longer involved in the day-to-day management of the business, Martin was a key player in helping to rebrand the business with Umbarger Show Feeds, a line of these specialty feeds. “I felt like there was a demand and need for a high-quality, specialized feed,” he says. “Not for masses, not for big herds, but for specialty (animals).”

Umbarger Show Feeds today is primarily known as a cattle feed business, though Martin’s original intention was to focus on horse feed. At the time, Walter Umbarger, Martin’s dad, served as a board member for a local bank.

When Walter mentioned the new feed process his son was working on to a fellow board member who raised specialty cattle, a deal was quickly made to produce cattle feed instead.

Over the years, the Umbargers have

branched out into producing feed for pigs, lambs and goats.

Some customers come to Umbarger Show Feeds for their production stock, rather than for specialty animals.

Among them is Mike Hoopengardner, co-owner of a working goat dairy called Redbud Farms and Caprini Creamery in Spiceland.

“We’re milking 45 goats twice a day,” Hoopengardner says. “When they (the goats) come into our milking parlor,

“I felt like there was a demand and need for a high-quality, specialized feed, not for masses, not for big herds, but for specialty (animals).”

—MARTIN UMBARGER

their coats are all nice and shiny. It looks like you put a car wax on them. This nice shiny coat means they’re getting the nutrients they need. Their weight looks good; their muscle looks good; they’re making great milk. Umbarger is a big part of (all those things). Umbarger truly is a partner in our business.”

GROWING THE BUSINESS Jackson Umbarger, Martin’s son, now runs the day-to-day business and retains

the family interest in exploring new options. Umbarger Feeds recently started working with spelt (a type of grain with a high fiber content) because it has a specific physiological effect on cattle that is currently prized on the 4-H circuit.

Jackson says the company is one of only a few currently using spelt for show feed because it’s so expensive.

“Two years ago, there was a really wet fall, and they didn’t get all the spelt planted. We ended up having to buy FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 15

food grade to put in our cattle feed. It got so costly, and it was so hard to get,” he explains. Despite the cost, people were still buying the feed, and now that he sees the success record of the grain, Jackson has begun to raise it himself.

Making these types of decisions is only one aspect of the business that he enjoys.

“What I love about this business is that we’re so diverse,” he says. “It’s never dull; there’s always something new.”

Jackson began working for the family business when he was 16 years old and stayed on, learning the feed side of the business thoroughly. Umbarger also has an agronomy arm, which provides fertilizers, seed and services to local farmers.

When he was 24, Jackson had to learn that side of the business rather suddenly.

“When Dad left in 2002 to go full-time military (Martin serves as adjutant major general for the state of Indiana, a position from which he will retire in early 2015), our next in line,

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“Most people would think we’re more of a feed company, but our agronomy is a very close second.” —JACKSON UMBARGER

who was my dad’s right-hand man, took another job,” Jackson says. “So they both left within a couple months, and we really didn’t have anybody on the agronomy side.

“I was just a laborer in the feed mill, stacking feed, and I started getting some phone calls and trying to answer them and work with our different reps,” he says. “It just kind of stuck.”

This sudden elevation at a relatively young age isn’t a first in the Umbarger family. Jackson’s grandfather, Walter, had to take over the business suddenly from his father, Roy Umbarger, who died in 1947. Walter, at that time 26, and his wife, Jackie, ran the company successfully for almost 40 years, adding grain storage, agronomy and many other facets to the business, which Roy had started in 1939 as a feed mill.

And the agronomy side of the business keeps Jackson busy. “Most people would think we’re more of a feed com-

pany,” he says, “but our agronomy is a very close second.”

Umbarger Show Feeds has 90 feed dealers in 16 states; the company ships feed all across the country. The agronomy business is much more local, generally focused in Johnson County.

“We’re just in about a 60- to 70-mile radius, very local,” says Martin. “We really value that in agriculture.”

Working with customers and being part of the community are all a part of the grand plan for Umbarger Show Feeds. “I like the community,” says Jackson. “That means a lot … being a part of that and trying to be the best neighbors that we can. It’s been so humbling to know these people who are my dad’s age.

I came in, and they gave me every benefit that they could; they allowed me to learn; they allowed me to make mistakes; they stayed loyal to us. And that’s because they were all part of the community. You know, we’re just friends together.”

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18 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

The sky is not the limit at the Eskenazi Health rooftop farm

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AS RACHEL WHITE STROLLS AMONG ROWS OF kale, turnips, baby greens, fennel, arugula, carrots, currants and gooseberries she has grown and cultivated for over a year, some of the concerns that enter her mind do not apply to a typical produce farmer. White has been tasked with taking a one-of-a-kind approach to cultivating produce, namely because she’s not growing her crops directly on solid ground. She’s growing them on a seventh floor rooftop west of downtown Indianapolis.

Throughout the fall of 2013, White stayed busy prepping 5,000 square feet of growing space on top of the Outpatient Care Center building within Indy’s Eskenazi Health hospital campus and since then has overcome some unique obstacles in the process of creating a thriving produce farm. “I’ve learned a lot over the first year,” she says. “The wind has been a constant issue with being so high up, and we’ve tried to use Agribon (row covers) for crop cover, but one blew away, so we’ll have to come up with a better system for that. But overall I’d say it’s been a success so far, given that it’s such a uniquely challenging project.”

In 2013, spearheaded by CEO Lisa Harris, Eskenazi Health partnered with Growing Places Indy, a nonprofit organization whose members promote urban agriculture, to plan a rooftop garden that could supply produce for the

hospital’s various eateries and serve as an educational tool for the Indianapolis community. As a member of Growing Places Indy’s team of farmers since January 2013, White was assigned managing duties for what would be known as the Eskenazi Health Sky Farm. Before the new Sydney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital (formerly Wishard Hospital) was officially opened for patient admissions on Dec. 7, 2013, west of downtown Indy between 10th and Michigan streets, many of her crops were already developing.

The farm’s 18 crop beds sit at varying heights, several of which are approximately waist high to allow wheelchairbound patients to examine the crops at eye level. Open spaces, benches and walking paths between the beds allow visitors to relax on the 30,000-square-foot space while enjoying a rooftop view of the city. “A lot of times people like to come up here just to sit and calm down,” White says.

“It’s a hospital, so a lot of times you’re not here for a calming reason, so it provides a little break. Employees come up here, too, for their lunch break or for meetings, and we also have gardening classes twice a month.”

To bring the rooftop farm concept to reality, White installed an irrigation system, four inches of insulation around each bed to prevent freezing in the colder months and clover walking paths on many of the beds, which she says serve several purposes. “I need to be able to get into the middle of the beds, so I put those in for accessibility,” she says. “Also, clover is a way to fix nitrogen in the soil within the roots. It creates little balls of nitrogen to help retain the soil.” Hospital employees use several beds near the rooftop entrance to experiment with their own veggies, and a row of wood-framed storage cages for compost sits in the southwest corner.

White says the farm, which is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is an expansion of an idea

Rachel White of Eskenazi Health Sky Farm

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 19

Above, White tends to the lemon tree in Sky Farm’s workspace.

that took root at Wishard Hospital, where several employees were allowed to plant flowers and veggies on a small plot of land within the hospital complex, eventually naming the space the Wellness Gardens. “As the new hospital was being planned, that garden was something that a lot of employees wanted to continue with, and it snowballed into the Sky Farm idea,” she says. “They’ve integrated it into a greater focus on overall wellness.”

Part of that focus includes education, and portions of the Sky Farm’s produce yields are devoted to free, month-long nutrition classes that are open to the public and run from May through October. Class sessions are held in the lounge area at Café Soleil, which is a sit-down restaurant located in the Fifth Third Bank building within the Eskenazi Health campus and in the teaching kitchen at Eskenazi Health West 38th Street. For each hour-long class, White selects four produce items that are distributed in bags to attendees, and Eskenazi Health nutrition experts lead group activities, cooking demonstrations and lectures on vegetable nutritional values with tips for proper storage.

20 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

Amy Carter, manager of outpatient clinical nutrition and programming at Eskenazi Health, says both staff and patients attended this year’s classes, which were held during lunch hours to facilitate staff attendance. “The Sky Farm allows us to truly fulfill the farm-to-table philosophy and share that with our employees and patients,” she says, adding that there are 20 open spots per monthly class.

“From growing, harvesting, preparing, serving and teaching, we have the ability to dramatically impact the quality of food that our participants receive. Some of our participants who sampled certain produce items for the first time were visibly surprised at how well they liked (them).”

“The Sky Farm allows us to truly fulfill the farm-to-table philosophy and share that with our employees and patients.” —AMY CARTER After each rooftop harvest, White hauls her produce into a small indoor workspace next to the farm, which she decorated with a 16-year-old lemon tree given to her by a neighbor. “It smells amazing, and it makes it nice because that’s where I clean and package everything,” she says. “I take it all down to the cafeteria, and it gets integrated into the menus either at Café Soleil or the Marketplace hospital cafeteria, where they’ll use it for hot meals or the salad bar, depending on what kind of items I have at the time.

Then the rest goes to the classes.” Since her first harvest, White has provided approximately 100 pounds of food per week for the hospital’s eateries and nutrition classes.

An additional component of the Eskenazi staff’s focus on health and wellness is The Commonground, a large courtyard in front of Eskenazi Health’s main entrance that was unveiled in July and is now the location of a farmers market every Tuesday from May through October, which features local produce and fresh baked goods.

“It’s another element to help people get outside in the sun and the fresh air, with two fountains, seating areas and trellises with ivy,” says Todd Harper, public affairs manager for Eskenazi Health. “Dr. Harris puts a huge emphasis on eating well and prevention, and giving the hospital staff and the public exposure to the Sky Farm and The Commonground is a big part of that. It’s great for patients, too, getting that fresh air to help with the recovery process.”

White says the Sky Farm’s initial growing stages were not without challenges unique to its setting, the most daunting of which continues to be strong rooftop winds.

“I transplanted some of the plants throughout this year, and they immediately snapped in the wind and died,”

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 21

Produce from Sky Farm is integrated into food production at CafĂŠ Soleil or the Marketplace hospital cafeteria. Right, an overhead view of the garden rows on the roof.

22 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

she says. “Chard I had the hardest time with. It has a beautiful stem but it’s very watery. As soon as I planted it, the wind immediately knocked it out, and I replanted it three times. We’ll do more direct seeding in the future and less transplanting. When a plant comes up directly from the ground it has to handle the wind, so it knows to bulk up immediately.”

Organizing her crops in optimal accordance with the rooftop area’s existing architecture is another challenge White will continue tackling next season. “There’s a trellis area that provides a lot of shade, and maybe in the warmer months I can grow lettuce and cilantro and similar things that need more shade,” she says. “I know for sure that having a kale plant or a tomato plant that has a longer season and needs a lot of sun and a lot of water cannot be planted there.”

White’s plans for the farm in 2015 also include interactive events such as scavenger hunts to get visitors more familiar with what their veggies look like as crops, as well as a beehive and a sample bed with at least one of each crop that is grown in a particular season. “People will be allowed to touch the sample bed and dig in the dirt if they want,” she says. “We’re trying to do as much education as we can and talk to everyone who is curious, because when you have decisions later about health, chances are you’ll remember a conversation with somebody you had at the Sky Farm.”

For more information and enrollment inquiries regarding Eskenazi Health nutrition classes, contact Amy Carter at (317) 880-5625.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 23

Inset, Keith O’Dell, owner of Castaway Compost

One Man’s Trash

Keith O’Dell capitalizes on well-fed worms to fertilize the soil

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BY SHAWNDRA MILLER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

WITH HIS JAUNTY GRIN, ponytail and beard, Keith O’Dell would make a convincing pirate. Though he’s really just a mild-mannered Fishers resident, he lives out his alter ego as the owner of Castaway Compost, a vermiculture business. Motto: “Yer trash be treasure.”

He estimates that over half a million red wiggler worms have passed through his hands on their way to customers over the last five years. He keeps dozens of worm bins in his basement and garage, cycling paper and vegetable matter through the digestive systems of these small invertebrates.

And at Raytheon, where O’Dell works as a facilities engineer, he manages a waste reduction program that relies on the same process.

24 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

But before the pirate jokes and wiggly helpers, there was Africa. About six years ago O’Dell’s buddy, Ned Campbell, founded a nonprofit to help a Kenyan village’s agricultural efforts.

Intensive farming practices had depleted the soil to a lifeless dust. O’Dell agreed to research solutions.

He’d grown up in a rural area north of Lafayette, where his first jobs involved detasseling corn and baling hay. So although he didn’t grow up on a farm, he knew a few things about agriculture. He’d already begun gardening and composting on the small suburban lot where he lived with his wife, Shelly, and their two daughters.

When he hit on worm composting, he knew he’d struck gold with a potential

solution for both Kenyan and American problems.

Or maybe he’d found the proverbial pirate’s treasure. It turns out that feeding waste to worms creates gardener’s gold: a natural fertilizer that improves soil structure and boosts plants’ overall health. Loaded with microbes when fresh, vermicompost is commonly used as a top dressing throughout the growing season and can be applied at one pound per 100 square feet on crops.

He passed the information along and two weeks later took his newfound knowledge into the workplace.

There he began turning coffee grounds, café waste and shredded office paper into a fertile soil amendment. “We’re not saving a ton of money,” he says, “but nine tons will stay out of the incinerator this year.” Some 10 gallons of kitchen waste gets diverted to worms’ hungry mouths each day.

Worm composting is usually thought of as an indoor endeavor, with bins holding kitchen waste and some form of bedding, from shredded paper to coconut coir. But it can just as easily be done outdoors, O’Dell says. Many compost piles already benefit from free agent wigglers if conditions are right. And contrary to popular belief, worms are perfectly capable of surviving a cold winter outdoors, if they have space to burrow.

That’s how the Raytheon worms live, and if their population explosion is any indication, they’ve been happy with the arrangement.

At home, O’Dell added worms to his outdoor compost bin, where they’ve continued to multiply, chewing up layers of compostables and freeing him from the need to turn the pile.

He also obtained his wife’s blessing to give indoor worm composting a try, as long as the bins didn’t smell.

Soon every possible bit of trash from home and office was on its way

to being treasure. Now he markets his worm bins, along with everything associated with them: the worms themselves, finished vermicompost and aerated worm compost tea. (This “tea” is not for human consumption; the mix allows the benefits of vermicompost to stretch further when used in lawn applications, which he also offers

as a service, as well as the installation of custom raised beds for clients.)

O’Dell also offers a workshop on the topic, according to Maggie Goeglein, executive director of Fall Creek Gardens/Urban Growers Resource Center.

“Keith’s a really friendly guy,” she says, “and he’s very knowledgeable about his topic. He’s an instructor that I know is

going to give great information and be able to answer questions.”

His passion for waste reduction, coupled with worms’ high reproduction rate, gives the project seemingly unlimited expansion potential. At times he is working 20 tubs of worms in the finished basement, with more in the garage, and as long as he keeps his promise about the smell factor, domestic peace is maintained.

To O’Dell, worm composting is an obvious choice. “I don’t understand from a logic standpoint why everyone wouldn’t be doing this,” he says.

His list of potential worm food includes the detritus of much of modern life: shredded newspapers, office paper and junk mail, except for glossies and plasticized envelopes; Q-tips and cotton balls; toilet paper and paper towel holders; tissues and napkins; pet fur and

animal hair; and kitchen waste from eggshells to most veggie scraps. (In keeping with his stink-free pledge, he avoids putting things like onion skins and cabbage scraps in the indoor bins.)

Over the years his worms have devoured all kinds of things: droppings from rabbits and alpacas; old jack-o’-lanterns from his neighbors’ front steps; and a guacamole-maker’s avocado scraps — even the pits, which sprout into a worm-worthy snack food.

Once he plunked an old moldy textbook, cover and all, into a bin, where the worms consumed most of it.

Even the pizza boxes from his church youth group’s meetings go through the shredder to become worm food.

Padding about barefoot on a warm early November day, O’Dell gives an overview of his indoor and outdoor homesteading projects. Like most

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 25

subdivision lots, the yard started out a blank canvas: green grass planted on clay subsoil. In the 21 years since moving there with his family, O’Dell transformed it to an urban gardener’s oasis, collecting water, composting waste and raising vegetables.

In an indoor aquaculture experiment, he raises fish and plants using an integrated closed system. Just off the back deck, he combines rainwater catchment with habitat creation, as a rainwater-fed pond harbors goldfish year-round. He’s an avid researcher and dreamer, tinkering with techniques like hugelkultur, which involves planting a garden atop a mound of wood. This scant quarter acre gives him room for ongoing experimentation. Next year he hopes to try growing mushrooms on wood chips from felled ash trees.

“I’m a little too Clampett sometimes,” he admits with a grin.

Always one to be a little bit “out there,” he’s started experimenting with black soldier fly larvae, which are

soil amendments, voracious eaters of but also potenall things rotten. tially serving as Meat and maa food source for nure are among chickens or fish. their delicacies, In permaculture although he parlance, that’s hasn’t gotten that called “stacking far yet. “My wife’s functions” — creating not home, so I can A red worm egg. multiple positive results say the word ‘maggot,’” from a single project. he jokes, standing in the “If you have this thing that garage and digging through a takes care of waste,” he says, “turns it bin’s half-decomposed compost to find into soil and also becomes a food for a white larva. your chickens? OK, that’s stacked three Lacking mouths, adult black soldier times. That’s a good thing.” He himself flies can’t bite humans, so there’s no has no desire to keep chickens (and danger of them spreading disease. The even if he wanted to, Fishers residents same fly could be used in a compostare prohibited from keeping a backyard ing toilet, though so far O’Dell has flock). But if all goes well, he might refrained from setting one up. soon offer the larvae to other urban Instead of purchasing larvae, he chicken farmers. creates conditions that attract these And what about the Kenyan villagers flies in hopes of using their natural who inspired this quest? Well, they’ve affinities to the fullest. He considers begun cover cropping, mulching, their presence a triple win, not only rotating crops and planting at a more reducing waste and producing usable

efficient seed rate, but they still aren’t practicing vermicomposting. O’Dell doesn’t mind; he’s traveled there a few times and has seen incredible progress even without this innovation. “Baby steps,” he says.

Closer to home, customers like Maureen Keen like the way worms get busy on kitchen waste while producing a potent — and free — garden product.

The northside Indy resident purchased a Castaway bin as a Christmas present for her husband, David Feinberg. Though some might consider worms an odd gift to put under the tree, she knew her mate would be thrilled.

“He was so excited,” she says. “That was the best present ever.”

Feinberg and Keen had already shifted to a greener lifestyle: A compost pile, rainwater catchment and vegetable garden are prominent features of their yard. But vermicompost takes their urban homesteading to a whole new level.

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Keen appreciates O’Dell’s soft-sell approach, noting “you have to be ready for (vermicomposting)” — even though in practice, worm composting turns out to be fairly foolproof.

“Keith kept telling us how easy it was,” she says. “I didn’t quite believe him. ... But he just gives his customers such a good setup with the worms that it’s really easy.”

O’Dell would like to see the A compost bin. waste of every single home and workplace cycled through a worm bin or compost pile of some sort. “If everybody did it,” he says, “I’d cut prices in half and still be happy.”

As the pirate in him might say, “What a barrrrrgain.”

» Keith O’Dell’s workshops demystify vermicomposting and regular composting for gardeners. Whether a gardener goes in for hot composting, cold composting or worm composting, he tells them to include “four colors”: • Green (nitrogen-rich items like food waste, manure or grass clippings) • Brown (carbon-rich items like leaves, straw or paper) • Blue (water for moisture) • White (air for oxygenation) In hot composting, a gardener speeds up the process by mixing these regularly and sizing the pile at least one cubic yard. The result is compost in as little as three months.

In cold composting, it’s a “mix and wait” scenario; the

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pile size is “whatever you have room for.” The result is compost that can take up to a few years to finish.

In worm composting, the four colors are augmented with red wigglers, and greens are tucked under the browns as food for worms. O’Dell advises feeding a handful a week and observing the response, but that can go up to nearly daily, depending on the feeding rate of your “herd.” The result: roughly a gallon of compost per month, per pound of worms.

“You can have all the elements in the right proportions and get compost fast, or you can have them in the wrong proportions and get compost slow,” he tells his classes. The line brings a laugh of self-

recognition. Most gardeners are unlikely to follow the rules of composting to a T, and many end up feeling vaguely guilty about a neglected pile.

But O’Dell takes a relaxed (and realistic) view of things.

This process is going to happen, with or without gardeners’ ministrations. It’s just a matter of time.

The important thing? “Start doing it,” he urges. “It’s easy and makes all the sense in the world.”

“If you don’t want to do it, find somebody who does and give your trash to them.” Then you, too, can have your trash transformed into treasure.

For more information, visit castawaycompost.com.

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 27

In the Classroom Local FFA chapters

28 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

LEARNING

BY DOING Franklin Community FFA chapter provides students plenty of chances to get involved

T

By Catherine Whittier | Photography by Josh Marshall

OPPOSITE PAGE | FFA students at Franklin Community High School.

ABOVE | Heather Dougherty, FCHS’s FFA adviser.

production farm working alongside a student that has never stepped foot on a farm,” Abney explains.

Heather Dougherty and Ashley Langreck, FCHS’s agriculture teachers and co-FFA advisers, say that the Franklin chapter enjoys the involvement of active parents as well as the interest and participation of a tightly knit community.

Both teachers have a special connection to the chapter as they are both FCHS graduates who were active in FFA during their middle and high school years.

Dougherty has known some of her students since they were babies.

The Franklin chapter has approximately 100 members, not all of whom are actively involved because of jobs and a wide variety of other commitments, but those who are able to participate in the full FFA experience reap the benefits of all that it has to offer.

The Franklin chapter is endowed with the strong support of an alumni board that operates like a booster club.

For instance, Dougherty explains, “We went to National Soils Contest the past two years in Oklahoma. It costs a lot of money to go, and we were able to go through donations. Local businesses funded our whole trip.”

Though the Franklin FFA chapter regularly completes community service projects, the Molly Gibson Breakfast, which takes place during National FFA Week, is a special event that chapter members look forward to hosting every year. This year’s breakfast is expected to draw approximately 250 guests. On the day of the event, students and FFA advisers will begin their school day at 5 a.m. in the kitchen of the agriculture

»

The Franklin Community High School’s (FCHS) sprawling, contemporary campus sits at the edge of thousands of acres of rural farmland, yet is also only two minutes from nearby subdivisions and bustling commerce.

Allie Abney, 2013 FCHS graduate and former 2013-2014 Indiana FFA state president, feels that the Franklin FFA chapter is unique because it’s located close to Indianapolis, but is still in the country, which results in good diversity among its members. “There may be a student who grew up on a grain

Molly Gibson Breakfast WHEN 6 to 8 a.m.

Feb. 26 WHERE Franklin Community High School agriculture shop 2600 Cumberland Drive, Franklin INFORMATION (317) 738-5700

department, where preparations will be made to offer hearty breakfast casseroles, fruit and drinks to the community. The annual breakfast serves to support Pooh Bears for Molly, a program of the Johnson Memorial Hospital Foundation. The program, which provides stuffed toys, games and books to infants and children who visit the hospital, began as a memorial campaign to honor former Franklin FFA member Molly Gibson, who died in a car accident in 1998.

“There is no fee for the breakfast, but we encourage people to bring a Pooh Bear or a monetary donation,” Dougherty says. “Then we donate it to the Johnson Memorial Hospital’s Pooh Bears for Molly program.”

Other community service and fundraising projects include fruit and

plant sales and road cleanup. This year, the chapter hosted its first Franklin FFA Truck and Tractor Wash. Students helped farmers wash their implements before putting them away for the winter. “It’s a way of saying thank you to our local farmers,” Langreck explains.

The agriculture mechanics class does a variety of building projects, she adds. “They built picnic tables that were donated to the FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar,” she says, and chapter members also built a wooden platform for the rabbit cages in the animal science area that Langreck oversees.

The project served the purpose of getting the cages off the floor, which was an exercise in problem solving.

“They do a lot of projects to help FFA while in class,” she explains.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 29

IN THE CLASSROOM

Dougherty says that the Franklin agriculture teachers/FFA advisers are striving to stay true to FFA’s ThreeCircle Model, which incorporates classroom/laboratory instruction, FFA and Supervised Agriculture Experience programs (SAE). This approach results in hands-on learning that leads to problem solving and critical thinking, which Dougherty says students find challenging. “It requires collaboration with classmates, and it requires digging in and working independently to find answers,” she says.

In January of each year, high school students from the Franklin FFA chapter host an Agriculture Day for the eighthgraders at Franklin Community Middle School. This event serves to introduce students to the world of agriculture.

FFA members at the high school pack up the plants from the greenhouse and the rabbits from the animal science room, as well as other materials to put on display. Students also contact local farmers and ask them to haul in small

livestock animals. The school gyms are filled with booths in preparation for the younger students to tour and learn about various topics, such as agronomy, wildlife, forestry and more.

Throughout the day, FFA members share what they love about their agriculture classes and how they benefit from their participation in FFA, and the event has proven to be an effective recruiting tool. For Gregory Murr, now a junior at FCHS, it was an important day that influenced his choices in high school.

When Murr attended Agriculture Day, he went to sessions on various topics, learning more about the blue jackets and about what FFA has to offer. He had no farm background but was always interested in farming. “I wanted to know things about farming — six-row combines and 12-row combines, etc. — I was like, ‘Hey, how does this

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work?’ We learn from history class that people used to go out with just a hoe and plant each seed individually — and what got us from there to here? That always kind of fascinated me, so that was the field I wanted to go into.”

Murr’s family owns just under 30 acres, which had never been cultivated, so he decided to learn how to grow hay, which he now sells to local farmers. He also has an active Supervised Agriculture Experience, which consists of raising poultry. Murr, who serves as the

Franklin FFA chapter vice president and the District VIII Sentinel, sells live ducks and chickens and eggs to his customers. He plans to study agriculture communications at Purdue University but will take a gap year to continue his SAE. “It’s going really well, and I’d like to see just how well my business does, and then after a year of not worrying about school or anything else, after seeing how profitable that (SAE) is, I’d like to go study ag business and ag communications at Purdue University.”

Abney began her FFA career at FCHS in 2009. She was familiar with the world of agriculture — her parents own a first-generation beef cattle operation in Johnson County — but she explains that even she fell prey to common misperceptions about FFA when she entered her middle and high school years. “I thought it was only for people who wanted to farm, but it’s not,” she says. “It’s a chance to learn by doing, it’s collaborative and service-oriented, and it kept me coming back year after year.”

Abney was involved with the leader-

D I D YOU K N OW? Corn, wheat, milk – even tiny tots in America know that some products come from farms. But how many people realize that detergents, X-ray film and crayons wouldn’t be here without farmers and their crops? How about tar paper, ink and tires?

Here’s a list of common, everyday products that come from plant and animal byproducts produced by America’s farmers and ranchers:

Printing Paper, ink (soybeans), film

Education Crayons (soybeans), textbooks, chalk paper and pencils

Health Care Pharmaceuticals, surgical sutures, ointments, latex gloves, X-ray film

Transportation Ethanol, biofuels, antifreeze,

These are just to name a few.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service This has been brought to you by:

“I thought it was only for people who wanted to farm, but it’s not. It’s a chance to learn by doing, it’s collaborative and serviceoriented, and it kept me coming back year after year.”

—ALLIE ABNEY

ship training aspect of FFA and enjoyed participating in Career Development Events (CDEs). During her tenure as the 2013-2014 Indiana FFA president, she traveled all over the state, visiting more than 75 chapters to serve in a leadership capacity. Now, as she studies for her

double major in agriculture business and agriculture communications, she finds that the time she spent participating in CDEs during high school has been beneficial to her in college.

Erin Bush graduated from FCHS in 2013. Her involvement in the Franklin FFA chapter also greatly impacted her life. “It got me to where I am today,” she says. “We were extremely successful in a lot of our events. I have a lot of gratitude for my hometown chapter.”

Through FFA, she developed the leadership skills that have enabled her to approach people as an advocate for agriculture. Bush is currently studying agronomy at Kansas State University and is on the Soils Judging Team. “I want to be a soil scientist, out in the field taking samples and working with farmers,” she says.

Overall, the Franklin FFA chapter has catapulted many bright students into the field of agriculture. “There’s a job to be done, and our generation can do it,” Abney says. “We can do the job of taking care of the 9 billion in 2050.”

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Don Poynter rehabs a Morgan County house.

“I just couldn’t bring myself to tear the place down. The house was too old; it’s a landmark.” — DON POYNTER

Steward of the Past

Don Poynter preserves a tradition with each piece of property he purchases

By Catherine Whittier Photography by Josh Marshall 32 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

D

DON POYNTER didn’t buy the property at 1787 S. Morgantown Road in Morgan County because of the house. Instead, he bought the property in 2014 because of the 80 acres of farm ground it sits on.

The small brick home, which was built in 1940, was practically buried in neglect. The property was littered with dilapidated buildings, rusted machinery and an accumulation of junk, which was partially obscured by overgrown weeds. The curtains in the upstairs windows hung in stained shreds, and the inside walls were thought to have not seen a fresh coat of paint since the house was first built 73 years ago.

Poynter initially resolved to tear the place down, as it really played no part in achieving his goal of farming the land, but when push came to shove, his soft spot for preserving old things, particularly as they relate to farming, strongly influenced his decision. “I just couldn’t bring myself to tear the place down,” he recalls. “The house was too old; it’s a landmark.”

That’s the way he operates. His business decisions are subject to the heart that drives him.

Poynter doesn’t like to talk much about himself, but his rugged hands, tan skin and muddy boots begin to tell the story of a man who has worked hard to acquire what he owns. For as long as he can

After

remember, he dreamed of being a farmer, but because he started off with no money, no land and no equipment, he was forced to choose another direction to concentrate his efforts — though he was always driven by the hope that he could earn enough to pursue his true passion.

In 1956, Poynter’s parents bought a small 50-acre farm located not a mile away from the house he is revitalizing on South Morgantown Road. They farmed corn and hay, kept about a dozen milk cows and about the same number of beef cows, as well as some hogs.

“We always had meat in the freezer,” he says. “We were poor, but we always ate well.

We always had pork, beef, and we had some chickens. I remember Mom whacking their heads off. Then she’d boil ’em and pluck ’em. My dad had two gardens every year.

He grew potatoes, corn, green beans and, of course, tomatoes and cucumbers and all that. My mom did a lot of canning, so we ate well.”

In high school, Poynter says he and his brothers didn’t do anything but work and go to school. They were up at 4:30 a.m. to milk the cows and would come home after school to do it again. “It was a way of life — it was no big deal — it was just all we knew,” he recalls.

When the time came for Poynter to consider higher education, lack of funds and the desire to farm once again influenced his decisions. “A guy introduced me to sheet metal and told me how much money a sheet metal worker could make, and I said, ‘There’s nobody that makes that kind of money,’” he says. “He said a journeyman could make $10 an hour. I said, ‘There’s no way!’ Of course, that was back in 1969.”

Poynter entered the sheet metal trade.

He went from apprentice to superintendent and then to small business owner when, in 1988, he ventured out to start Poynter Sheet Metal on State Road 37 in Bloomington. He grew his business, while simultaneously farming 250 acres, operating two feed mills and raising 100 calves and 750 hogs.

His desire to farm never diminished, but sheet metal became his bread and butter.

“I was put in a position to do not what I wanted to do, but to do what I thought I had to do at the time,” he says. “I eventually converted some of that to the farm. I

Before

did that (worked in sheet metal) thinking that I could earn enough money to invest to become a farmer. But it didn’t work that way because I couldn’t afford the ground (or equipment and expenses), and I had to have an income for my family, so I just kind of diverted over the years and bought a little bit as I could.”

Nearly a decade later, Poynter found himself working 18 hours a day, and the demands became too great. He leased his acreage to local farmer Roger Hickey under a 50 to 50 crop share agreement. He also sold his feed mills and his livestock. This allowed Poynter to focus on his sheet metal business, which had become too formidable to ignore. The bittersweet fact: His successful business allowed him to purchase more of the farmland he so desired. “I was able to buy farm ground because I was in

the sheet metal business, and that’s not right,” he says. “You ought to be able to buy farm ground because you’re a farmer.”

It’s not just the art and physics of farming that Poynter loves, it’s also what farming represents. It’s the strong work ethic of the resilient men and women who rise before dawn to work until dark, day in and day out, for something more than just a paycheck. It’s the fact that farmers will drop everything to help one another. It’s that farming is a way of life that’s tied to something that can’t be tamed.

Poynter believes in farming and wishes he could do more to protect Indiana’s farmland. He sees prime farmland being lost to the pursuit of profit. Residential and commercial projects are sweeping south, and as farmland disappears Poynter is concerned for the future. He also laments the

“I was able to buy farm ground because I was in the sheet metal business, and that’s not right.

You ought to be able to buy farm ground because you’re a farmer.”

—DON POYNTER

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 33

fact that a young man who really wants to farm can’t possibly get a start unless he inherits the opportunity. He insists that farmers are misunderstood. Those who farm, while working with a wealth of resources, make very little money in exchange for the time and risk invested.

“I know people see this big fancy equipment rolling down the road and in the fields, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that,” he explains. “These guys are putting it all on the line.”

Young people who begin with nothing more than a passion to work the land don’t stand a chance, according to Poynter. Not without land, machinery and money. That’s a reality he has lived.

He now owns about 450 acres, which Hickey continues to farm. Hickey has worked on many projects with Poynter, and the men have mutual respect for one another. “I’ve never met anyone more fair,” Hickey says of Poynter.

“When he does something, he does it right, as if he were doing it for himself.”

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Poynter eventually sold his sheet metal business in 2007. Since, he has concentrated on other projects, purchasing and flipping many homes as a way of earning money to buy more land, land that he vows to keep in agriculture until he dies. He likes to preserve old things; farmhouses and barns are safe from demolition in his hands.

Roger Hadley has worked alongside Poynter on some of his restoration projects for the last six years; Poynter offered him a job when Hadley’s roofing and remodeling business was struggling during tough economic times.

“That (going to work for Poynter) was one of the smartest decisions I’ve made in my life,” Hadley says.

Poynter would say that he’s not a farmer. “I’m not a full-time farmer by any means,” he explains. “I’m a small-time operator; it’s not even worth printing what I say.” But somehow, his life story proves the point that farming is about more than just working a large quantity of land. It’s about the

Don Poynter and his wife, Vikki, reside in Morgantown. They have three sons, a daughter, five grandchildren, four horses and eight barn cats. Poynter has served as a member of the FFA Leadership Center Steering Committee. He currently serves on the board of directors for Brown County Water Utility Inc.

heart of a man who loves the ground.

It’s about his commitment to hard work and his connection to the sunrise and the sunset. It’s about his faithfulness to keep tilling and planting through good times and bad. It’s about his unwavering commitment to lend a hand to his neighbors, and it’s about his dedication to pursue work that will pay in more than just dollars and cents.

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Learning Environments Indiana colleges offer hands-on education in sustainability

BY JON SHOULDERS

Butler University

Not many small universities can boast their own campus farm. Butler’s one-acre plot of carefully tended land and greenhouse, which sits next to the campus intramural fields and is overseen by the school’s Center for Urban Ecology (CUE), currently serves as a learning tool for sustainable agricultural methods through student internships and group tours available to fellow schools and the public.

The farm is one of several ongoing CUE projects in which students can participate.

In 2009, the center was awarded a grant from United Water to implement its Rain Barrel and Cistern Project, for which rain barrels were installed in various locations around Indianapolis to collect water that is examined for purity and used for irrigation.

CUE also partnered with Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability in 2013 to launch Make Change, a program that allows participants to exchange environmentally friendly practices, such as planting

36 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

A career dedicated to sustainability and environmental stewardship, whether as a farmer, scientist, engineer, anthropologist or even political lobbyist, presents a unique set of challenges. To better equip students for such career paths, several central Indiana colleges are offering practical, hands-on learning opportunities — both in and out of the classroom. “Sustainability and the environment are at the forefront as cities deal with pollution, water usage, food access, infrastructure and housing,” says Kevin McKelvey, environmental sustainability program director at the University of Indianapolis. “Indianapolis gives us many places where we can engage our students in these issues in classes or internships.”

a tree or biking to work, for special coins redeemable at several local businesses, including Good Earth Natural Food Co., Agrarian Urban Homestead & Supply and Broad Ripple Brewpub. In September CUE received a $10,000 SustainIndy Community grant from the Indy Office of Sustainability to expand the Make Change program.

While the university doesn’t offer agricultural or environmental studies as specific majors, students can specialize in ecology or sustainability while working toward a biology major. “It’s great because the internships at CUE tend to be interdisciplinary,” says Tim Dorsey, who manages the Butler CUE Farm and oversees three farm interns per school semester. “At the farm we’ve had education majors and a really good mix from art, English and business. It brings different areas of study together in a unique way.”

More information at butler.edu/ butler-goes-green.

Indiana University

In 2010, the IU Bloomington Office of Sustainability developed a “2020 Vision” plan that laid out 20 goals for the university to achieve by the end of the decade. The plan’s objectives, such as deriving 15 percent of total energy use from renewable sources and purchasing 20 percent of food served in universityowned facilities from local growers and producers, are indicative of the university’s commitment to sustainable solutions.

In keeping with the 2020 Vision plan’s objectives, the Office of Sustainability’s Hilltop Garden, an 8,500-square-foot campus growing space, provides a means by which students, interns, work-study participants and community visitors can learn about urban gardening methods. The department also co-organizes a Big Red Eats Green local food festival every September to support farms and restaurants located in and around Bloomington. As a demonstration of its willingness to practice what its faculty teaches, the Office of Sustainability’s campus headquarters, dubbed the E-House, is itself a study in environmental conservation, complete with solar panels, LED lamps and a geothermal heating system.

Indianapolis’ IUPUI campus also houses two urban gardening sites, founded by DIGS (Developing IUPUI Gardens Sustainably), a student-run organization, and used to educate students on organic gardening techniques. The gardens produce vegetables and herbs that are served in the campus cafeterias.

For students interested in more technical, left-brained pursuits, IUPUI’s Bachelor of Science degree in energy engineering combines courses in chemistry, mechanical engineering, physics and electrical engineering to equip graduates with specialized knowledge needed to tackle issues like green building, hybrid and electric transportation, and alternative energy systems.

In an effort to generate stimulating and topical course material, IU Bloomington’s Office of Sustainability awards an annual interdepartmental Course Development Fellowship grant of up to $8,000 to a faculty member or joint members interested in proposing timely course subjects related to sustainability principles. Winning course topics for the 2014-2015 academic year include “Water Security and Sustainability,” proposed by Majed Akhter and Darren Ficklin of the university’s geography department, and “Nature and the Narrative ‘I’: Reading, Writing and (Re)Connecting With the Environment,” proposed by Stacey Brown of the English department.

More information at sustain.indiana.edu.

University of Indianapolis

Purdue University

The University of Indianapolis’ environmental In the spring construction is scheduled to begin sustainability undergraduate major is much more on a new sustainable building project within Ross nuanced than the title might convey. The degree Biological Reserve, a 92-acre forest located along adds specialized, cross-disciplinary courses, such the Wabash River that has served as a natural as ecoliterature, writing for nonprofit organizations study environment for Purdue University biology and social problems, to more traditional courses like and ecology students and staff for 60 years. The ecology, environmental science and geography. The structure will not only serve as an educational program is described on the university’s website as center and meeting space, but also as a function“an alternative for students interested in environing model for energy efficiency and ecological mental issues but less interested in scientific work.” conservation, with reclaimed structural beams, McKelvey, who is solar panels, a geothermal an associate profesheat pump and landscapsor of English at U of ing that will include edible “What’s great about being in Indy, feels the degree’s gardens. The building also Indianapolis is that so many nonprofits, requirements reflect will house an ecologist-incommunities, neighborhoods and the comprehensive residence, which is typically businesses can host our interns approach needed to a Purdue graduate student tackle complex enviwho facilitates research and and provide them with valuable ronmental issues. “We community outreach. experiences as they develop into want to prepare our “Sustainability is a pressprofessionals.” — KEVIN MCKELVEY students to work with ing concern in today’s world the people affected by and will be even more so the environment or by in the future,” says Sarah policies, either here in Indianapolis, in smaller towns Vaughn, assistant to the director of university in Indiana where many of our students are from or in sustainability at Purdue. “Thus, having an Office countries across the globe,” he says. “Our students will of Sustainability introduces students to these real be able to work with scientists to implement change.” world concepts and begins to teach them how Student internships are offered in conjunction they can operate in a more sustainable world. As with local groups like the Citizens Action Coaliour office grows and expands its scope, students tion and Friends of the White River, and national are getting more involved, and the university is organizations such as Greenpeace USA and The continuing to thrive.” Vaughn says fundraising Nature Conservancy. “What’s great about being in is currently underway for the Ross Biological Indianapolis is that so many nonprofits, communiReserve sustainable building project. ties, neighborhoods and businesses can host our Purdue’s Office of Sustainability has several interns and provide them with valuable experiences programs in place to maximize energy efficiency as they develop into professionals,” McKelvey says. and reduce and reuse campus waste, including More information at cas-orig.uindy.edu/env-sustain. a partnership with the city of West Lafayette to

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convert the university’s fats, oils, grease and food scrap waste into energy for electricity at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The plant’s in-house digester system heats and breaks down waste to convert it into energy for the plant itself.

The Ross Biological Reserve is not the only location where Purdue attendees can study their natural surroundings in a structured, handson manner. Full Circle Agriculture at Purdue (FCAP) is a student organization responsible for maintaining the school’s five-acre student farm and community supported agriculture (CSA) program. Students can engage in summer farm internships to learn about sustainable agriculture and organic methods for growing produce.

Purdue students can choose from a selection of core study areas within the ecological science and engineering (ESE) interdisciplinary graduate program, such as ecological and biological sciences, biogeochemistry or hydrological sciences.

Students pursuing a sustainable food and farming systems undergraduate major learn the basic principles of sustainable and organic agriculture necessary to design and manage a small farm.

Staff members at the Office of Sustainability partner with Greater Lafayette Commerce to organize an on-campus farmers market, which runs on Thursdays from May through October and features in-season produce, meats, crafts and prepared lunches. “Purdue is one of the world’s leading agricultural schools, and the farmers market serves as an avenue for student organizations from the College of Agriculture like the Full Circle at Purdue to showcase their hands-on learning approach by selling the food they produce at the Purdue student farm,” says Vaughn.

More information at purdue.edu/sustainability.

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Franklin College

Alice Heikens. Right, Franklin College students work on the urban forest.

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38 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

Alice Heikens, a professor of biology at Franklin College, says students attending the four-year private liberal arts school have plenty of opportunities to get their hands dirty while immersed in environmental studies. “We’ve always had very small but active student organizations and faculty practices that promote and educate on ecological and environmental consciousness,” she says.

In 2011, Heikens applied for grant money from the Department of Natural Resources to plant several species of native Indiana trees in Grizzly Park, the college’s outdoor athletic facility. Heikens teamed with a group of students and fellow faculty members to construct the forest, which consists of 22 tree species and acts as both an ecological learning tool for students and an aesthetic asset to the local community. Last December, the urban forest was awarded Tree Campus USA status, a recognition bestowed by the Arbor Day Foundation to promote healthy trees and student involvement.

“The idea was to plant a forest that looks like what central Indiana would have looked like before European settlers arrived,” Heikens says. “We have started something that will be here long after my lifetime and that the students can use and the public can enjoy.” She adds that ecology and conservation and environmental

studies are both options for tracks of study within the college’s biology department.

Heikens underscores Franklin College’s long-standing commitment to addressing environmental issues and sustainable living. “Even when I first came here about 25 years ago, environmental studies was a required course where we talked about greenhouse gases, the human population and a lot of issues that we see happening in the world today,” she says.

In 2007, the college signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, lighting fixtures have been updated, covered bike rack stations to promote bicycle transportation have been installed, as well as plug-in stations for electric cars, and a student program to convert used cooking oil from the campus cafeteria into biodiesel fuel for campus lawn mowers has been implemented. “We also got a grant several years ago to make our own compost on campus, and we now compost our lawn waste,” Heikens adds. “There is currently some interest in starting a community garden, which could work well if you have people who don’t have space at their home and want to work on that with us together. We’re very open to trying new ideas.”

More information at franklincollege.edu/about-fc/ sustainability.

Ball State University

In 2001, Ball State University Provost Warren Vander Hill founded the Ball State University Council on the Environment (COTE), a committee with members from each of the university’s colleges charged with leading sustainability initiatives for the school and surrounding community. Since then, the university has garnered numerous awards and recognition for its efforts toward campus sustainability and environmental awareness, including a STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) gold rating in 2012 by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Currently, all Ball State campus construction is required to meet certification standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a set of rating systems developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

In 2009, construction began on the Ball State campus for what is projected to be the largest ground source, closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system in the U.S. The first phase of the project was completed in 2012, and water heated by the earth began flowing through an underground vertical piping system, allowing Ball State to reduce its reliance on coal-fired boilers. According to Jim Lowe, director of engineering, construction and operations at the university, the project is scheduled for completion in the early fall of 2016 and will result in $2 million per year in energy cost savings as well as a 50 percent reduction of Ball State’s carbon footprint. “The project is allowing us to switch over from burning 36,000 tons of coal a year, which results in around 85,000 tons of CO2,” Lowe says. “It’s a unique system, and we’re excited about it.”

Ball State students can pursue a minor in sustainability, which includes coursework on natural resources, climate and socio-cultural topics. Specific course options include environmental health, climate change and modification, environmental law and policy, and creating a sustainable future.

More information at cms.bsu.edu/academics/centersandinstitutes/cote/sustainability.

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Farm to School

A Fresh Movement Eating locally at Manchester High School | By Rachel Brandenburg

Knowing where your food comes from and supporting the small farmer have increased in importance, but what about in our public schools? In North Manchester, a farm-toschool program is thriving. For the past six years Becky Landes, food director of Manchester Community Schools, has partnered with Nate Fingerle, owner of RiverRidge Farms in Roann, on an innovative plan to get quality foods to students.

How did this effort to get local produce to school start?

LANDES: Nate approached me. He said that he’d like to start

providing (food to the school) and that he was going to do tunnel greenhouses that would extend the growing season.

And I said sure.

What is the process of getting local food to school?

FINGERLE: They send us an email order on Friday.

We harvest and pack it on Monday, then deliver it to each kitchen on Tuesday.

LANDES: When it first started, Nate asked what (he needed to

do), and I said I really don’t know. It really wasn’t a movement.

I said well the only thing I know is that you probably have to go through the local health department, and it’s going to have

» Writer’s note: As a senior at Manchester High School I’ve learned what it means to have community in school. I know that the food I eat not only benefits my health, but it also helps to build a better community.

to meet whatever (requirements) they say. He did what he needed to do to get it done, but now there are more rules.

Now they have to go through a training program called GAP (good agricultural practices) to be certified and also be on the Indiana Wholesale list. Also we must define what’s local and get quotes and bids from farms in order to get the best price.

It’s really becoming a movement. … The interest is all across the nation, but there are not many people that do it yet.

The tunnels at RiverRidge Farms

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BECKY LANDES 40 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

How does this compare to most Indiana public schools?

LANDES: I went to the Gordon (Food Service) food show, and

there were people from all over Michigan, Indiana and Ohio there, and one person said that only 40 percent of their high school students eat school lunch. In contrast, on the first day of school, 89 percent of ours did.

Manchester is fortunate to have their own kitchen in school.

Some other schools satellite their lunches from a central kitchen, so the school has little control in what is served and the level of quality.

Why do you care so much about local food?

FINGERLE: We (at RiverRidge Farms) feel that local food is one

part of building a healthy local economy.

LANDES: We (at Manchester School Corp.) felt like we knew

where it (the food) came from. (In North Manchester) we have very little industry, and it’s a great community. I’ve raised my kids here, and I’d like to give back to the community. It seems to me that schools are community-based, so what we serve

Nate Fingerle

should also be community-based. I want to spend my money buying the best product.

What does local food even mean to you?

FINGERLE: I would consider local to be within easy driving

distance from consumer to farm.

Do you believe good food can improve the lives of the students you feed?

LANDES: I buy from Nate, and … I also buy from Piazza

FINGERLE: Absolutely. Good nutrition has been shown to

Produce, which is a fruit and vegetable company out of

increase student attention and comprehension while at the

Indianapolis. Freshness is important when defining local.

same time supplying their bodies with needed nutrients that will improve their overall health. By being grown organically,

Do you believe there are any health benefits of eating local?

we are confident that we are not poisoning their bodies with

FINGERLE: The fresher your produce is the higher in nutrient

or other illnesses later in life.

chemicals that are harmful and could possibly lead to cancer

content it will be, so if it isn’t spending time in transport from

LANDES: Oh yes, definitely. If you’re healthier, then you

one side of the country to the other, then it will be better for

won’t be sick and miss school, and you’ll also be more

you. We would also feel that it is best if it is organically grown

attentive in class.

without synthetic chemicals.

Why aren’t more schools getting into this?

Does local food cost more?

LANDES: It’s kind of hard. For one it requires more paperwork,

FINGERLE: Not necessarily. Our prices are comparable

and it’s a little more expensive. If somebody tells me I can’t do

to most local supermarkets.

it, I’m going to try to find a way to do it. That’s the part that

LANDES: It is a little more expensive than corporate farms just

makes my job fun. Kids like to try new things here, and I think

because it’s a small farm. They can’t mass produce. But by

they trust the food here. I talk to all of the students and poll

using commodity products like cheeses and other things, I can

what they like. In the halls, in the grocery store, wherever I go

make up that cost difference. The quality of the produce is

if I see someone I know I ask them what they want to eat for

very important to me.

lunch. It’s more than a 9-to-5 job to me.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 41

Nathan and Sarah Kuehnert inside the main barn at Kuehnert Dairy Farm.

Educating the Public The Kuehnert family hopes to use their farm to teach the community about food

BY CJ WOODRING PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

42 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

O

“OATS, PEAS, BEANS and barley grow/Oats, peas, beans and barley grow/Can you or I or anyone know/How oats, peas, beans and barley grow?”

Once upon a time, grade school students sang this familiar nursery song. Furthermore, they knew the answer to their question about the origins of foods.

Nowadays? Not so much.

Through creative and fun enterprises that draw visitors to its sixth-generation farm, one family is trying to educate kids and adults alike about nutrition.

Sarah Kuehnert is the family spokeswoman at the Kuehnert Dairy Farm in Fort Wayne. Kuehnert’s paternal and maternal grandparents were dairy farmers, and she grew up on a Decatur dairy farm with an interest in food and nutrition. A year after graduating from Purdue University, she married Nathan Kuehnert (pronounced kee-nert), a fifthgeneration Fort Wayne dairy farmer.

As a part-time registered dietitian at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, Kuehnert works specifically with

burn patients and the critically ill, and she has witnessed first-hand how good nutrition can benefit and heal the body. She’s also a wife and mother who believes there is a disconnect in today’s world between the general population and its food sources.

“Our goal is just trying to get people to perceive food in a different way,” she explains. “It’s not just about what we eat, but about how we eat it, and how much of it we eat.”

Along with family endeavors, Kuehnert offers consulting services and has delivered presentations for the Northwest Indiana district of the Indiana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (eatrightin.org). She’s also developing a nutrition blog.

“I’m looking at posting traditional family recipes, modified to be healthier, and fun family things,” she says. “So it will be an educational and family-oriented fun site. That’s my goal right after the first of the year. This is something that’s a passion of mine. I’m just hoping to make a difference, one person at a time.”

NUTRITION 101 Americans, in general, have become the most obese people on Earth. No longer content to live off the fat of the land, we’ve become the fat of the land. This is particularly true in Indiana, home of too many hefty Hoosiers.

In 2013 Indiana ranked ninth highest for incidences of obesity, according to “The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America (stateofobesity.org).” The adult obesity rate for Hoosiers that year was 31.8 percent, an increase from 25.2 percent in 2004 and 13.3 percent in 1990.

The 2013 ranking presents a dismal and disheartening picture that places Hoosiers at risk for higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and obesity-related cancers.

Indiana is blessed with 62,000 farms that encompass 14.8 million acres, ranking it 14th and 19th in numbers of farms and farmland acreage, respectively, according to the 2010 Indiana State Department of Agriculture census.

Thanks to growers, Indiana ranks in the top 10 in national total ag production and in the top five for crop production — corn, soybeans, tomatoes, cantaloupe — according to the same report. The state also ranks first in duck inventories (2007), third in chickens, excluding broilers, and fifth in hogs.

So why is a state so blessed with bounties of food and brimming with year-round farmers markets overflowing with a population of unhealthy citizens?

Kuehnert says it’s all about lack of moderation, along with too little physical activity in an increasingly technological world.

“We need to get up and get to doing things, rather than sitting in front of computers on social networks,” she says. “We need to get back to kids just going outside to play for awhile. But we also must get back to basic principles and eat more fruits and veggies.”

More than that, she adds, “it’s about the things we put on our food,” citing sauces, cheeses, dressings and other enhancements that pile on unneeded fats and calories.

“We need fats in our diet, so we can even justify desserts. But it’s about how much we eat and in what form.”

CLOCKWISE | Sarah and Nathan with their children Bryar, 5, and Allie, 7 and Nathan’s parents, Cindy and Alan, inside the milking room. Sarah tends to their milking cows. The Kuehnert Dairy Farm. Allie watches her dad, Alan, work.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 43

The Kuehnert farm allows visitors to better understand where their food comes from.

GROWING A FESTIVAL In 1895 August Friedrich founded his Cook Road family farm, a 165-acre tract west of Fort Wayne.

Eventually Friedrich’s grandson, Melvin Kuehnert, took over the farm. When he retired, the farm came into the hands of Kuehnert’s sons, grandsons and their wives: sons, Alan and Stan Kuehnert, along with Alan’s wife, Cindy; and Alan’s sons, Nathan, wife, Sarah, and their children, Allie and Bryar, and Andrew and wife, Brittany.

The families live in close proximity to one another, either on the original farm or across the road.

They farm 1,100 acres of soybeans, corn and alfalfa, which are used to feed cattle. (Sarah Kuehnert says the farm currently is home to about 600 registered Holsteins, including 300 milking cows.)

Many of today’s youngsters have

never met a farmer or set foot in a rural farm setting. They have no idea if potatoes grow on trees or in the ground and most often connect their food source with grocery stores, farmers markets or food banks.

“Being so close to the city, but with all of us working in some aspect of agriculture, we’ve seen the disconnect and wanted people to see where their food comes from,” Sarah Kuehnert says.

In an effort to educate the public, and after hosting farm tours for about 15 years, the families introduced the Kuehnert Dairy Fall Festival. First held in September 2013, the agritourism event connects youngsters with food sources through interactive and educational activities and nutritional snacks.

Attendance jumped from more than 4,100 the first year to 12,000 in 2014, not including nearly

Langeland Farms is a Six-Generation Family Farm that has built its reputation on Quality & Service. Approximately 300 acres surrounding the homestead were converted to certified organic production in early 2000. Certified organic grains include yellow popcorn, black beans, food and feed grade soybeans, wheat, corn, and hay. A small cow/calf herd of Augus-crossbreds produce our all grass-fed and Non-GMO corn-at-finish LF freezer beef. We add no additional hormones or antibiotics to assure you get the most pure product.

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2,500 youngsters from schools and youth groups who visited throughout the school year.

Young guests played Kiss the Cow and dressed up as Little Fairies at the Dairy. They played Holy Cow and Cow Tether Ball, rode on a Moogo-Round and were entertained in a newly designed five-acre corn maze.

They also saw cows being milked by robotics at the Nutrition Station.

“Our motto is ‘Experience farm life while creating memories,’ Kuehnert says. “This is a place where kids can just come out and be kids, while also learning. Everywhere they turn is a nutritional and fun fact. I hope they’re having a

Bryar Kuehnert, 5, feeds a calf.

good enough time that they’ll see these facts and remember them.

“Opening our farm up to the community has helped to build consumer confidence in locally grown and produced foods,” she says. “The fall festival has created a totally different type of venue for families to grow, learn and create family traditions. We are trying to do our part to cultivate healthy lifestyles by promoting positive family time and outdoor physical activity in a unique educational environment. Experiencing farm life also provides additional opportunities for individuals to learn about sustainable agriculture.

“We believe that it is our responsibility, as farmers, to share what we are doing, how our practices are safe and environmentally conscious and that we are being good stewards of what we have.”

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The Business Of Farming For Eli Robb and Genesis McKiernan-Allen, life feels good at Full Hand Farm

BY RYAN TRARES PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

46 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

I

IN THE TABLE-FLAT farmland of Hamilton County, rich agricultural soil sits buried under snow and ice.

The fields are in hibernation until the spring, when farmers till, tend and toil in preparation for the next crop.

But at Full Hand Farm, not even winter can stop a bounty of garlic, carrots, collard greens and other vegetables from growing in covered high tunnels.

Husband and wife team Eli Robb and Genesis McKiernan-Allen have created

a year-round agriculture operation focusing on providing fresh, local food to residents of central Indiana. With peppers and tomatoes available during summer months and fresh greens throughout the winter, Robb and McKiernan-Allen have found a willing market for their products at farmers markets and area restaurants.

Four years after abandoning the city life for a more sustainable lifestyle, the couple have discovered that even

Full Hand Farm Owners» Eli Robb and Genesis McKiernan-Allen Where» 3844 State Road 13N, Noblesville Crops grown» Tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, arugula, kale, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, winter squash, onions, garlic and other vegetables Where to find their products» Indy Winter Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at The Platform in Indianapolis City Market, 202 E. Market St., Indianapolis Information» facebook.com/fullhandfarm

if agriculture wasn’t in their blood, it’s who they are now.

“It’s become a perfect environment to allow our strengths to play off each other and balance,” McKiernan-Allen says. “Now … it’s hard to imagine doing anything else.”

On a cold afternoon, Robb and McKiernan-Allen sort through bushels of freshly harvested vegetables. Carrots as thick as tree branches need to be washed, trimmed and cleaned.

Collard greens are stacked on a nearby table. The produce will be stacked in crates and delivered.

The work can be tedious at times, but Robb and McKiernan-Allen, both 31 and new parents to 4-month-old Ezra, have found it is ideal for their lives.

“It feels good,” Robb says. “We work from home; we work together. I can see our son all day long. It’s perfect.”

Robb and McKiernan-Allen were living in Portland, Oregon, when they first became interested in the sustainable, local food movement.

They had started their own backyard garden, and they were increasingly cooking their meals with the vegetables they had grown. Canned and preserved peppers, peas and other crops provided them with food throughout the winter.

“We were in our late 20s, and we were in the mood for a change from the city,” McKiernan-Allen says.

“We were having a hard time feeling settled there.”

Robb was raised in rural Brown County and wanted to return to Indiana. Both wanted to move to a rural setting, but the jobs they held previously — Robb worked in tile; McKiernan-Allen was in the restaurant FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015 // 47

business — were mostly only offered in urban environments.

Their solution: Find work on a farm.

Or start a farm themselves.

McKiernan-Allen, who grew up in Indianapolis, needed to see if country living would work for her. “I was a city girl and had always lived in the city,” she says. “I needed a test run. I wasn’t sure how that life would treat me.”

The pair saved money for more than two years, researched how to get a farm started and planned their entry into agriculture. They were encouraged as they saw the demand for locally grown food increase all over the country, reinforcing their belief that they could find a market for their offerings once they started farming themselves.

They applied for apprenticeships throughout the Midwest, and in 2010, they left Oregon and moved to Hancock County, Iowa, to work on a 10-acre sustainable vegetable farm.

“We went from a big city like Portland to this place in Iowa that had one stoplight in the whole county,” Robb says. “There were four times more hogs than people. It was seriously rural.”

But the isolation allowed Robb and McKiernan-Allen to focus solely on the business of farming. Working on the community supported agriculture farm, they learned many skills they eventually would need to run their own operation.

They worked through two seasons, until they felt ready to return to Indiana. Robb’s father had purchased property outside Greenfield. There, he had 10 acres where the couple could work.

Robb and McKiernan-Allen planted a garlic crop in October 2011. They also built two 48-feet-long high tunnels, unheated greenhouses that use sunlight to provide warmth for crops year-round. “(It) seemed like there was no time like now to start making mistakes on our own,” Robb says. “We

could work on other people’s farms for years and learn things, but you still have to have your own first year.”

As they increased production, they worked second jobs to support themselves. But their main focus remained on growing the farming operation.

Winters were spent planning. The couple created detailed maps and spreadsheets that outlined what crops

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to plant, when they needed to plant them and where they would grow, as well as how much they hoped to yield each season. “When summertime comes, you just put your head down and go,” Robb says. “If you don’t have a plan and go in all willy-nilly, you can’t commit to your accounts (customers).”

In 2013, Robb and McKiernanAllen found a parcel of land north of

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Noblesville that they could make their own. They rented the property while continuing their work in Greenfield, before purchasing the land, 25 acres of it, and moving to the farm earlier this year. They named their operation Full Hand Farm.

Now, they grow peppers, greens, lettuce, chard, tomatoes, broccoli, onions and eggplant, and they sell their crops at farmers markets in Zionsville and Indianapolis during the summer, as well as at the Indy Winter Farmers Market during colder months.

They also have grown their customer list, which includes Indianapolis restaurants Recess, Bluebeard and Plow & Anchor.

“We’re trying to grow in a controlled way,” McKiernan-Allen says.

“Just because the potential is there for us to be farming 20 acres with a bunch of equipment and a dozen hired hands doesn’t mean that fits our style.”

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Local Food

SOCIAL SKILLS

I

Chef Gethin Thomas hopes to give Hoosiers a compelling reason to stop in

By Clint Smith | Photography by Chet Strange

IF YOU KNEW the whole story — his whole story — you might interpret Gethin Thomas’ opening of Henry Social Club in Columbus as a noble finale to a lengthy and respectable culinary career. But for him, this impressive project is just the beginning.

Thomas, no stranger to the restaurant game and a 51-year-old father of five, speaks with the culinary confidence of someone who’s been around the block — the butcher’s block. He went to high school in Washington, D.C.; the years that followed found him entertaining executive chef gigs in Kennebunkport, Maine, eventually carrying him as far as Paris and London to work. Until 18 years ago,

50 // FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2015

restaurant is divided into thirds, with a traditional dining area composed of two- and four-tops, a segment dedicated to cocktails and wines and a set of communal tables near the back of the house, not unlike a “chef’s table,” which captures the raw atmosphere of the kitchen. Thomas 423 Washington St. says of the table: Columbus “It’s ‘eatertain(812) 799-1371 ment’ for the henrysocialclub.com evening.”

General Manager Lacey Gobert says that the 15-seat bar area contains “a vast display of wine and spirits, four draft selections rotate seasonally, as well as a variety of bottled beers.”

In his 30 years of food service experience, he has absorbed countless lessons. One of the most critical, he explains, may be this: “The customer tells you what’s on your menu.”

Thomas has a network of foodproducing partners both locally and Thomas had never heard of Codistant, and he plans to continue to lumbus, Indiana. “Cummins (Inc.) align Henry Social Club with nearby made me an offer when I was 32,” he farmers and food-minded enthusiexplains. It was an offer he couldn’t asts. He has even reserved a parcel turn down. For 15 years, he served as of land where he and staff members the corporation’s executive chef. intend to grow their own produce. “In His newest venture, he says, offers the spring we’ll have some spinach, customers the chance to “select a speradishes and kale,” he says. This past cific dining experience.” The 70-seat

Roasted natural chicken with mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots.

summer he and his team tinkered with supplies of corn, tomatoes and eggplant in preparation for the opening of the restaurant. “We have a responsibility to the farmer and the food that they grow,” he explains. “We have to take what Indiana gives us and do the best we can with it.”

Opening in November, Henry Social Club has been in full production for over five weeks. “It’s been wonder-

ful to be welcomed into the community,” says Gobert.

If everything remains on pace, Thomas’s 30-year commitment to culinary arts will pay off for the community. “I’ve been in this business for the last quarter of my career,” he says.

“Columbus is the place I want to live, and I’m going to bring all my training to that part of the world that I call home now.” henrysocialclub.com

Marinated Vegetable Salad PROVIDED BY GETHIN THOMAS | SERVES 8

20 radishes, sliced thin 20 button mushrooms, sliced thin 1 cello cucumber, sliced thin 20 grape-size tomatoes, cut in half 1/2 pound tender green beans, blanched in boiling salted water until tender, then shocked in ice water 1 bulb fennel, trimmed of all green 1 shallot, sliced thin 1 clove garlic, chopped fine Kosher salt and ground white pepper, to taste Juice and zest of one lemon

Chef Gethin Thomas, the owner and head chef of Henry Social Club, goes over the day’s prep menu at their restaurant in Columbus, Ind.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh dill, picked (not chopped) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and lightly mix. Adjust seasonings with kosher salt and ground white pepper. Refrigerate salad for four hours.

Meanwhile, cut slices of baguette or crusty French bread, drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, and toast or grill. Serve crispy bread with marinated spring salad.

TIP In preparation, Thomas offers a few mise en place pointers: Make sure you have a large mixing bowl, a sharp paring knife, a sharp chef’s knife and one fruit zester. (Remember, he says, a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife because, well, a sharp knife goes where you want it to go.)

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Local Food

A Piece Of Cake

S

BY CLINT SMITH | PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BERNIE SMITH

SOMETIMES IT’S DIFFICULT to discern the difference between nature and nurture when examining how the past has shaped our creative endeavors. Most times, acknowledging a mix of both is just fine. Located in Mooresville, Frog & Toad Bakery — which specializes in a wide range of baked goods, pastries and special-occasion cakes — is what owner Bernadine “Bernie” Smith describes as a “natural outcome” of years dedicated to baking for her family.

For 15 years while raising her four children at home, Smith practiced her culinary craft. “Since I enjoy cooking, and eating is a necessary part of living,” she says, that period devoted to raising and cooking for her children was “a win-win situation” for the modest entrepreneur.

“I got to do what I enjoyed … but at the same time it was a necessary chore,” she says.

Now with an official storefront, Smith aims to reach a wider audience in the community. “We make a large variety of cake batters and frostings,” she says, indicating a few client favorites: wedding cake with classic frosting, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and strawberry cake with champagne frosting. All of these pairings and flavors are available as cupcakes, too.

“I think my most favorite thing to prepare is a cake for a celebration that is covered with frosting and decorated with fondant accents,” Smith says.

“I love … customers that give me a theme and just let my creative side go to work. I spend way too much time on them as I enjoy the freedom to design.”

And the catering side of her business has answered a broad spectrum of requests. “Although I find it very important to make every wedding cake with excellence and beauty,” says Smith, “we have been asked to make quite

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a few cakes for relaxed wedding settings. These weddings have often been cupcake weddings with a small, more traditional cake for the bride and groom to cut during the cake cutting ceremony.”

In addition to cakes and more traditional items such as brownies, cookies and bread, Smith’s menu features two products that she describes as unique: cookie dough cakes and s’mores cakes. “These are very different in concept, but they usually have the buyer at ‘hello,’” she says.

Smith’s mother was a dedicated baker, and her father, after retiring from a career in the Army, graduated from culinary school, going on to become a chef at several country clubs and enjoying a brief period as a restaurant owner. “My parents were responsible for exposing me to many kinds of foods and cooking styles,” she says. “The quality of my products is deeply ingrained.”

Reciprocating the food consciousness of her own childhood, Smith took strides to instill similar lessons in her children. “I tried to make cooking pleasurable for my kids and allowed them to make terrible messes cooking,” says Smith, whose plan worked, as all of her children have honed their cooking skills. “My son, Elijah, who helps at the bakery, has recently graduated from the Chef’s Academy in Indianapolis with his pastry arts degree.”

From an order of a dozen simple cookies to an ornately decorated cake, Smith hopes her customers benefit from her years of dedicated baking. “It really means so much to me to put out a product that makes people happy, that brings them a special memory or simply just melts away the day’s stresses,” she says. “Life can be disheartening, and food can be so comforting. Sometimes a smile and a cupcake is enough to turn the day around, if only for a few minutes.” For more information, visit frogandtoadbakery.com.

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Local Food

Say Cheese

By Clint Smith

g

»

“Goat milk cheeses are as individual as the farm the animals are raised on,” says Melody DeLury, co-owner of Solstice Sun Farm, an Anderson-based farm raising purebred Nubian dairy goats. And while the farm produces a variety of goat milk soaps and lotions, Solstice Sun also offers cheese-making classes.

Here, DeLury provides readers with a few tips about purchasing goat milk cheeses. She encourages consumers to study the breed of the goat, which can possess a number of nuances. There’s also the component of diet and the handling of the milk in each batch. “It’s a good idea when selecting a goat milk cheese that you know a little about the flavors that goat milk cheeses are known for,” she says. Goat milk cheeses span a wide range of flavors — from sweet to salty,

pungent, creamy and what DeLury simply calls “goaty.”

“The best way to discover goat milk cheeses is to visit a cheese monger or a local cheese maker for a tasting,” says DeLury. “The freshest cheeses will come straight from the farm. In Indiana, a few farms come to mind for local goat cheese: Capriole

Melody DeLury making cheese. Inset, goats on Solstice Sun Farm.

Farmstead Cheeses in Greenville, Caprini Creamery in Spiceland (and) J2K Capraio in Walkerton.” For more information, visit solsticesunfarm.weebly.com.

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hot

CAPTAIN JIM’S WHITE CHILI Serves 10

STUFF

1 pound dry great northern beans

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

1½ quarts chicken stock

1 teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon minced garlic

4 tablespoons hot sauce

2 medium onions, chopped

4 cups cooked diced chicken

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

8 ounces mild green chilies, chopped 2 teaspoons ground cumin

“I’ve always thought of hot sauce as a condiment, not a way of life,” says Jim Kirk, the

“captain” of Captain Jim’s Sauces. “I don’t care for the extreme heat varieties. I like a nice amount of heat that will complement the flavor of the foods I put it on.”

Kirk began making hot sauce seven years ago, and he has been juried in as a member of the Indiana Artisans Guild. Captain Jim’s Sauces are now available at several local, health food-related stores, including The Good Earth, Georgetown Market and INgredients Field to Fork Market.

Kirk works with Randy Stout at Melody Acres in Bargersville to grow the peppers used in his sauces. “We are an Indiana company,” Kirk says. “We use locally grown, all natural peppers from a farmer right here in central Indiana. (Stout) and I have had a very good relationship since our inception. I want to support the local farmer and the local economy.”

In the end, Kirk says, his mission is simple. “We’re not trying to set the world on fire,” he explains. “We’re just striving to enhance the flavors that are already there.” For more information, visit captainjimssauces.com.

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Salsa, as needed Sour cream, as needed

» Pick through beans, removing bad beans and stones. Soak overnight (for faster cooking). Drain beans and rinse; rinse once again.

Add chicken broth, garlic and only one half the onions to the beans and cook until tender. Add more water if needed. When beans are tender and nearly done, sauté remaining onions, chilies and spices.

Add this and diced chicken to the pot. Simmer one hour longer until flavors have developed and chili has thickened in consistency. » Serve in individual bowls topped with Monterey jack cheese, salsa and sour cream. » CAPTAIN JIM’S RECIPE TIP “For moist chicken, flatten the chicken, put in skillet, cover with water and bring to a boil. When the water reaches boiling point, turn off heat and cover. Allow to sit 20 to 30 minutes.

The chicken is poached and remains very moist. You can also use chicken broth instead of water to intensify the chicken flavor.”

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