Farm Indiana | September 2016

September 2016

Rural Living & Local Food

Oil Bloom

Miami County farmers turn sunflowers into a blossoming business Also inside

Risin’ Creek Creamery Indiana Local Food Summit Country Chalet Farm

Contents September 2016

Sweet Potato Apple Galette

37

8 Vaughn Family Pecan Farm 12 Country Chalet Farm 16 Mary McConnell 18 Healthy Hoosier Oil 22 Risin’ Creek Creamery 26 From the Field

Local Food Section

30 Indiana Local Food Summit

31 Food News

32 ClusterTruck

34 Column by Jolene Ketzenberger

36 Chef Q+A: Neal Brown

37 Recipe: Sweet Potato Apple Galette

Columns by growers

ON THE COVER

30 Local Food Section 38 Continuing Education

Cover photo by Josh Marshall

Sunflowers photographed at Boyer Farm. Read more on page 18.

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

PUBLISHER Chuck Wells EDITOR Sherri Lynn Dugger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nate Brownlee, April E. Clark, Katherine Coplen, Katie Glick, Cheryl Carter Jones, Jolene Ketzenberger, Shawndra Miller, Jim Poyser, Jon Shoulders, Ryan Trares, Twinkle VanWinkle, Marcia Walker COPY EDITOR Katharine Smith SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST Margo Wininger Advertising art director Amanda Waltz ADVERTISING DESIGN

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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@aimmediaindiana.com.

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Editor’s Note

Field of Dreams

M

My role is changing at work, and for a while now I have been contemplating how to go public with it. I guess this is it. I will write it out. This, as you may have guessed, is how I roll.

I currently wear many hats for AIM Media Indiana. At present, I am the special publications editor. In this position, I oversee a team of magazine and special pubs editors, designers, freelance writers and photographers.

We produce dozens upon dozens of worthy publications each year that are distributed throughout southcentral Indiana. It sounds like a lot, but this is the easiest part of my job.

Each editor, designer, copy editor and freelancer who works for me is seasoned, talented and easy-tomanage. The special publications department, if you ask me, is a welloiled machine.

I also serve as the editor of South magazine. I am an Indy southsider at heart. I grew up there, and much of my life still revolves around the southside. My family is there. Many of my friends are there. My favorite hair salon. My dentist. My doctor. My church. My favorite coffee shops and boutiques. They’re all there. And it makes sense to me to keep editing South. I love the people, the spirit and the ever-evolving community there.

6

Farm Indiana // September 2016

I’m also the editor of Farm Indiana.

This publication has my heart, a great big sweet-potato-sized space in my heart (if you can imagine a really, really big sweet potato). As I dive further into a homesteading lifestyle, I have brought more of what I’ve learned in my personal life about agriculture and local food into the pages of Farm Indiana. I am passionate about supporting the local food scene, about telling the stories of our Indiana farmers, about creating change in our communities in as many ways as I can.

In the journalism business, we create publications with revenue garnered through advertising.

And somewhere along the way I realized I needed to help keep Farm Indiana healthy. If the publication is going to stick around, if it is truly going to grow in the way I wanted to see it grow, I realized we needed to sell more ads. And one day I saw the light. In order to keep Farm Indiana strong, I needed to go after the advertising myself.

This is a stretch for me. I’ve never been one to ask for money. I don’t like to ask for help. As an editor, I prefer to stay out of the advertising end of things. But I decided I needed to learn the business ... the business of selling ads. I approached a few potential advertisers. Within minutes, I had buy-ins for the publication. These advertisers knew about Farm Indiana, and, like me, they believed in it. They

were ready to buy. So I went to my boss, told him what I’d done and offered myself up as the company’s newest advertising salesperson.

Now, here I am, wearing yet another hat.

I will remain the editor of Farm Indiana. In my new role, I will sell advertising, too. It makes perfect sense to me, as my husband and I further involve ourselves in the local food scene. As owners of a new little farm store at our Dugger Family Farm, we are suddenly customers of dozens of local farms and food producers, and we are Shelby County’s newest agricultural advocates for change. We continue to develop relationships with local farmers and food producers, and each person we meet offers a new reason (and opportunity) to grow Farm Indiana. If our grant proposal goes through this fall, Randy will be restoring a vintage Model A truck to turn it into a mobile food market, and with that, we’ll delve deeper into the local food community.

My mission includes wholly supporting Indiana farmers and locally grown food and helping others have access to that food. This change makes sense. It also allows me to take full responsibility for whether Farm Indiana succeeds or fails. If it dies, I have no one else to blame. And if it succeeds, it seems to me, there truly are no limits.

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Virgil Vaughn cuts open a pecan.

GONE NUTS

O

The Vaughn family proves growing pecans is a viable farming operation

By Marcia Walker Photography by Josh Marshall

8

Farm Indiana // September 2016

On a visit to Scott County during the 1970s, Virgil Vaughn walked into a local nursing home and asked to speak to the three oldest residents who had been farmers.

Vaughn, who was born in Evansville and raised on a farm in Missouri, had noticed that pecan trees grew wild in southern Indiana, but most people he talked with didn’t know what they were. “(I wanted) to ask them (the farmers) what kind of trees grew here when they were kids (and) if pecans were one of them,” he said, explaining the reason behind his nursing home visit.

Vaughn, 73, who now lives in Scott County, is out to prove that commercial grades of pecans are a viable crop for southern Indiana. “I thought if native pecan trees can grow here, why wouldn’t commercial pecans grow here if it was done right?” he explained.

He and his wife, Nedra, established Vaughn Family Pecan Farm in 1995, planting the first 100 pecan trees the following year. Today, there are ap-

proximately 350 pecan trees growing on the farm.

These trees are not the wild variety that still grow in parts of southern Indiana, most often in river bottoms. Vaughn is experimenting with varieties suitable for commercial use, convinced that Indiana can be added to the list of states that produce the nut.

“I wanted to get a commercial grade pecan ... just like you’d buy in Georgia or Texas,” he said.

He purchases seed nuts, saturates them with water to stimulate growth, then plants them in sand where they

Pecans on the tree.

Below, a converted truck the family uses to harvest pecans.

southern Indiana have to be cold hardy and vigorous, he pointed out, adding that a plus for Indiana is that the state’s climate has changed over the years. “It’s warmer than 50 years ago,” he said.

One variety that Vaughn has determined works well here is Pawnee; that’s the variety that most often shows up on grocery store shelves in time for the holiday season, when pecan pies are a signature item. Pawnee, he explained, is the No. 1 selling pecan in Texas. Texas is one of the top three pecan producing states in the country; Georgia holds

down the No. 1 spot, according to the USDA website.

“We can grow it (Pawnee) and produce it here in Scott County,” Vaughn said, adding that there are three or four other commercial grades that will grow in Indiana as well.

His trees begin producing nuts three to four years after being grafted; the number of nuts produced increases each year. He estimates that by the time a tree is 20 to 25 years old, it is in full production. Trees in Georgia, he said, produce 2,200 pounds per acre, and he believes

A Pawnee pecan tree.

form roots. From there, the young trees are moved to a seed bed where they grow for three to four years. Vaughn then grafts the trees, a process that involves taking a twig or bud from one variety and attaching it to another.

“The reason we do grafting is to get a uniform size nut,” Vaughn explained, adding nuts from his tree are thin-shelled and cream colored, and his trees consistently produce 52 nuts to the pound.

Vaughn is a cooperator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which means he works as a partner with representatives of the department and Texas A&M

University to breed new varieties of pecans. “I don’t get paid or nothing; I get recognition,” he said.

Vaughn has tested 24 different root stocks, narrowing the field to five that work best in Indiana’s climate, and has 13 varieties of pecans growing on his farm. There is no doubt in his mind that pecans can be grown commercially here, provided the right root stock is used.

“Down South, the root stock they use doesn’t work here at all,” he explained.

When selecting varieties, Vaughn learns all he can about the tree, including its growing season. Varieties planted in Farm Indiana // September 2016

9

UPCOMING SEMINAR To introduce others to growing pecans in Indiana, Vaughn is planning a one-day seminar on Sept. 17. It will be held at Scottsburg High School and includes a tour of the Vaughn farm. One of the speakers is Bill Reid, who works with the USDA Pecan Experimental Station at Kansas State. Vaughn said Reid was initially skeptical about growing nuts in Indiana.

“He can’t believe the nuts we’re raising here,” Vaughn said. For information and to register, visit vaughnfamilypecanfarm.com.

Vaughn Family Pecan Farm 1208 W. Craig Road, Scottsburg (812) 752-4929 vaughnfamilypecanfarm.com

Vaughn walking among his pecan trees.

10

Farm Indiana // September 2016

that is possible here. During a peak year, his trees have produced 2,000 pounds.

Vaughn charges $4 a pound for nuts, selling in the retail market to customers in his area. “You make good money once you get started,” he said.

When people see him harvesting nuts, the orders pour in, and he quickly sells out. He said he sets 30 pounds aside for himself, but often ends up selling half of that. “When they see me pick nuts, by the time I’m done picking nuts, I’m sold out,” he said.

He admitted that many people are skeptical. “I do recommend that anyone interested in putting out an orchard come see what we’ve done before they do anything,” Vaughn said.

Even when he initially encountered setbacks — of the first 100 trees planted only 32 survived — he has steadfastly clung to his belief that commercial varieties are an option for growers willing to invest the time. “It’s a long-term investment, no doubt about it,” he said.

While Vaughn lost many trees that first year, he said it was successful in that

A patch that has budded and will develop next spring.

Below, a pecan fruit crosscut to show the layers.

it demonstrated the viability of growing commercial varieties in Indiana.

“We could see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We did prove our point. You could grow commercial grade pecans here.”

Vaughn learns all he can about pecans, gathering books, magazines, pamphlets and anything else he can find with information about the nuts. He keeps meticulous handwritten records in spiral-bound notebooks. “Any place they grow pecans, I get information,” he said.

He has set up his business to hand off to his son, Roger, and then to the third generation, his grandchildren. “I talk to people all over the United States,” he said. “I’m no expert, but I know what I’m doing.”

He pointed out that pecans are now grown in New Mexico and Arizona, states where growing the crop began much as it has on his farm, with growers experimenting with different varieties to determine what works and what doesn’t.

“They are putting out pecans all the time,” he said.

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White Sebastopol geese

just call her Kathleen Bowen of Bartholomew County’s Country Chalet Farm

has a way with wildlife

By April E. Clark Photography by Josh Marshall

w Kathleen Bowen

12

Farm Indiana // September 2016

When Country Chalet Farm co-owner Kathleen Bowen was a little girl, she could have been called the cow whisperer.

Bowen’s mother, Janet Andrews, remembers her daughter always having a knack for interacting with animals. Especially when their family’s two cows would escape from their yard.

“She grew up in the country, and she had a horse. We had a couple of cows.

Kathleen was always the one sent out to get them,” Andrews said. “She had some way where she could always catch them. It was nothing we could exactly point to; she could just do it. When we would say, ‘Oh, the cows got out again,’ she would hop right up and do it.”

Bowen was raised in northern California, near the Nevada border, where wild horses are common. She quickly grew to care about their welfare.

A 10-day-old Huacaya alpaca. Top right, Bengal kitten. Bottom right, Icelandic sheep.

“She adopted wild horses, maybe five or six, and she had a baby wolf. She’s always had a thing for animals,” Andrews said.

“Kathleen was born with the capability of interacting with them.”

Bowen and her husband, Bill, opened Country Chalet Farm this past spring as an interactive petting zoo and year-round, educational venue for field trips, birthday parties, reunions and special events. Her 82-year-old mother, who is selling her home in Reno to come live on the Colum-

bus farm, said Country Chalet exemplifies her daughter’s lifelong passion of caring for animals.

“She specializes at a thing people often comment about — the friendly interaction of the animals with each other,” Andrews said. “She has a pair of miniature donkeys, and they keep the sheep company.

She has an older pig that will follow you around like a dog and a baby kangaroo that will follow you around, hopping. It’s just a baby but knows its name and eats

gently from you.”

Australian Bennett’s wallabies, goats, Icelandic sheep, pigs, horses, guinea pigs, Angora rabbits, exotic birds, including a South American macaw, and domestic Asian leopard Bengal cats are a sampling of the 224 animals and 25 different species on the farm. Bowen works with Johnson County animal rescue groups and individuals who may know of animals needing homes to provide a safe, clean environment conducive to public interac-

tion. She recently had two baby goats, just a few days old that were abandoned by their mother, in her care.

And a cute goat named Skippy who moved on to another home.

“I always wanted to be doing what I’m doing. I wanted other people to have the experience of loving on the animals.

I wanted to learn breeding and wanted babies at the farm,” Bowen said. “But I wanted to learn how to breed slowly and carefully enough that I could re-home the Farm Indiana // September 2016

13

Bowen keeps her goat, Rockstar, from diving in, along with her two donkeys.

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animals. Skippy the goat was here, and we loved him, but I can’t keep everything.

The food bill is expensive. My mom is 82, and she does a lot of my research for me. She found that there used to be many more petting zoos in Indiana, but many of them have closed. And I know why — the food bill. The babies end up paying for the feed for the other animals, and the admission helps pay for the facility’s utilities.”

Bowen said she enjoys taking care of the baby animals, as well as watching children of all ages see them for the first time. A visit to Country Chalet is often 14

Farm Indiana // September 2016

their only hands-on experience with handling and feeding such a variety of animal species.

“It’s a good experience. Many kids come and are afraid of the animals, but by the time they leave they are comfortable.

There’s such a flood of them like that,” Bowen said.

She hopes to work more with children and adults, including those with special needs, specifically autism, since animals can have a positive effect on outcomes.

“I’m really patient, especially with helping the mentally and physically chal-

lenged,” Bowen said. “We’ve had about four or five kids with autism here so far, and I stress that you don’t have to be an angel when you come here. We had the kids go on horse rides, and at the end the parents said, ‘Wow, we had no idea they would react so well in working with the animals.’ When I get tired from working on the farm, or doing feedings in the middle of the winter, these kids and the idea of helping them keeps me going.”

Bowen said she plans to follow Germany’s lead in using llamas as therapy animals for kids and adults. She also has

seen firsthand the impact of handling and feeding guinea pigs on those in the autism spectrum.

“People may not know guinea pigs are therapeutic,” she said. “They take their time to eat. That can be really fascinating for someone with emotional issues, who may always feel they’re doing something wrong, as they feed them and make them happy. It makes them feel good.”

Bowen helps a local teen with autism as she volunteers with the animals and is also happy to accommodate youth groups looking for civil service opportunities.

Rio, a 30-year-old macaw parrot.

Bottom left, an 8-month-old Australian Bennett’s wallaby.

Right, a covered walkway to the Country Chalet entrance.

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“It’s a perfect place for Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts to come earn a badge for caring for animals. You can learn how to care for the different animals,” Andrews said. “Feed the chickens and help gather the eggs, and Kathleen gives you the eggs you help collect. She has Russian geese and white doves. There’s just an interesting variety. It is absolutely enchanting to see the animals wandering around and interacting with each other.”

Along with a host of animals and birds, Country Chalet Farm is also

home to nearly 300 feet of model railroad. The meticulously crafted train set is complete with a working Ferris wheel and oil rig, 13 bridges and 11 tunnels.

“People can come into the house and look around and look at the train when they’re not petting and feeding animals.

There are many things to do on the farm,” she said. “A lot of times the direction and routine of the day really has to do with the age group and interest of the kids. What I’ve really tried to do, no matter what the weather, is for people to be able to visit any time of the year.”

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Mary McConnell’s

Big Idea A new state park ‘owned’ by children

By Jim Poyser

It’s

a beautiful, sunny day in June and I am at a press conference in the middle of the woods. Sunlight penetrates the canopy, dappling the ground with tiny pools of light. There’s a makeshift dais, with five folding chairs and a podium with a microphone. Dozens of fold-up chairs are facing the dais, some straddling trees’ root systems. Numerous children are in attendance, sprawled on blankets near the podium placed on the path that bisects the forest. Casual summer dress is sported by some, but there are suits and ties as well, visiting dignitaries at this auspicious occasion.

Today is the announcement of the launch of the Children of Indiana Nature Park, the first of its kind in the country. Among the dignitaries are first lady Karen Pence and members of Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources. Speeches are delivered, and smatters of applause and laughter add to the bird songs above us. At the end of the conference, actual land deeds are handed out to the children, who take them to a special table to be signed by calligraphers.

This deed is real, issued to children throughout Indiana, to have a piece of land to call their very own.

Whose big idea was this? Who navigated the complexities, brought all the players into the mix, who went straight to the top, the governor of Indiana, to make this happen?

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

Mary McConnell, state director for the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, that’s who.

A confluence of milestones

One month later, I visit Mary McConnell at The Nature Conservancy office in downtown Indianapolis. This is arguably Indy’s greenest building, the Efroymson Conservation Center, having attained a LEED platinum designation. From geo-thermal heating and cooling, to a green roof, to passive solar, this is a living, breathing example of sustainability and a frequent destination for those exploring examples of green infrastructure.

McConnell and I meet in one of the building’s conference rooms. She’s a tall, thin woman and today is dressed in a light blue dress. I am sweating profusely from my bike ride to this building, but she claims not to — and surely doesn’t seem to — mind.

I ask her to tell me the story of the Nature Park and how it came to be.

“One of my favorite things to do,” she replies, “is sit around and try and figure out how to solve big hairy problems. So I talk with a lot of people; I like to brainstorm ideas with folks. I like to see things that have worked and how I can tweak things that work into something that can work in Indiana.”

For McConnell what finally coalesced into the current Children of Indiana Nature

Park had its precursors in bits and pieces.

She was the one who put the puzzle together into this innovative conservation project.

She tells me about TNC’s long-running program, Adopt an Acre. She cites the example of Frankton Elementary School, that has for years been doing a program called Jar Wars where they challenge each other’s classes to put nickels and pennies into jars.

McConnell says they then give the money to TNC to buy land in the rain forest in Central and South America.

“And so I was seeing kids for 20 years,” she says, “really rising to the challenge, and dedicated teachers and schools that were working on that. While you’re never going to raise enough money in nickels and dimes to do what you want to do, could you leverage what they are doing into something that’s even bigger?”

Along with the idea of Adopt an Acre was the fact that the state’s bicentennial was fast approaching. The year was 2011, and McConnell was wondering if there was a way to utilize the power of a big event like the bicentennial to do what she calls “something transformational.”

Not only was it the bicentennial, it was also the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Indiana state park system. And, McConnell adds, it is also the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.

Think of it: All three milestones happening simultaneously in 2016.

“Part of me,” she says, “is always thinking about how I can influence conservation at a scale that’s going to make sense, and influencing conservation in Indiana is often about leveraging resources and money to help protect the most important places in our state. Most people in our state don’t understand there’s only 3 percent of Indiana that’s in any kind of protected state at all.

“It (land) is not being made any more,” she adds. “And it’s being developed and plowed under and logged and subdivided, and if you want to save big, intact natural areas you have to have the money to buy them. We can raise money as a private organization and a not-for-profit, but we’re never going to get the kind of donations from private individuals that’s needed. It really needs to be a public priority.”

This confluence of milestone anniversaries, along with the Adopt an Acre program, coincided with an Indianapolis Business Journal story McConnell read about the Indiana Horse Racing Commission’s annual boost from the state to the tune of $30 million a year to promote horse racing. A good portion of the funding was going away, according to the IBJ story. And what McConnell read into that story was, as she recalls, “Oh my goodness there is potentially $30 million on the table! Could it be redirected away from promoting horse racing to doing something for conservation?”

To whom did she turn? Then-Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Beyond random acts of conservation

“I had a really good relationship with Governor Daniels,” recalls McConnell. “He was very approachable. When I read that IBJ story, I thought since the bicentennial was coming up in a few years, could we use that as a funding mechanism to … create a funding source that could protect natural areas in Indiana?

“At the time,” she says, “I wasn’t linking kids and the Children’s Park. I’m just thinking we need a funding source. The environmental license plate, while it is great, only generates about a million dollars a year.”

Children of Indiana Nature Park McConnell had worked with Daniels on conservation projects like Goose Pond, and when she sent an email to him to ask for a meeting regarding his bicentennial conservation idea, he responded immediately. The first meeting soon followed, and it led to Daniels’ creating the Bicentennial Nature Trust, a signature project of the bicentennial.

McConnell says she had initially asked Daniels for $20 million a year for 10 years to equal $200 million for Indiana’s 200th birthday. Daniels found the first $20 million from different state funding sources.

McConnell convinced him that the next funding step was Lilly Endowment. ThenLt. Gov. Becky Skillman and McConnell approached Lilly, and this Indy-based philanthropy responded with a $10 million match.

Ultimately, through other contributions and matches, by 2015 almost $75 million was permanently invested in natural re-

What: 30 acres of land other pieces of the puzzle sources in Indiana for the for kids to celebrate together. bicentennial.

Indiana’s bicentennial And thus the idea of “Part of my vision,” Where: Centerville in the Children of Indiana McConnell says, “was not Wayne County, 4910 Shoemaker Road Nature Park was born. just what I call random Host: Cope Environmental From there, more acts of conservation.

Center includes over pieces fell into place, I wanted to see some 100 acres of land such as the location for money be concentrated in How: Go to ilovemyland. org to learn more, the park, the Whitebig focal areas where you download a deed, etc. water River Valley, and could build out things. (At If you can’t visit the park the resident host for the the time) my mind is still directly, visit your nearest park, Cope Environmenspinning and thinking … library or nature center. tal Center in Centerville, how can we do some focus near Richmond. Other current and area? How can we get lots of people enactive partners include the Children and gaged? How can we get kids engaged? How Nature Network, the DNR, the Indiana can we really use the bicentennial and the Department of Education, Indiana’s pubNature Trust as a way to leverage children lic library system, along with the state’s wanting to get engaged in conservation at a rich network of nature centers. scale that would be meaningful?”

“The future of conservation has to lie in Anna Jetmore-Vargas, a friend of what our kids do,” says McConnell, “and McConnell, told her about a program in our kids aren’t getting outside anymore.

Peru where children are actually deeded They are losing that connection. That just land. This Peruvian model brought all the

kills me. If you don’t know what the species are, or what the flowers are, the trees are, you don’t care that people are cutting them down or plowing them up. When you see the birds and the flowers and you understand the links and how it all fits together … it’s the kids that have to carry that message forward.

“We’re not teaching environmental education in schools any more,” she adds.

“And kids want to be on their computers and phones. Kids are scared of being in the woods, and it just drives me crazy.”

This park, McConnell hopes, will inspire Indiana kids to want to learn more about conservation. But her vision goes beyond that. “I’d like this to start in Indiana, but I don’t want this to be just one children’s park. I want this to be the catalyst for the creation of children’s parks at every scale across the state, across the country, across the world.”

Now that’s a big idea.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

17

Sunny

Outlook

Boyer Farm creating healthier oils for Hoosier consumption

By Shawndra Miller Photography by Josh Marshall

18

Farm Indiana // September 2016

T Opposite page: Sunflowers facing east at Boyer Farm.

The past few summers, people driving on State Road 18 north of Kokomo have been treated to an arresting sight: vast fields of sunflowers in bloom. Black oil sunflowers, to be specific — all facing east as if about to march straight into the sunrise.

Though this crop is intended to be made into oil, the blossoms are as beautiful to look at as any gardenvariety sunflower. “You see where people have been stopping to pick them,” says Mark Boyer, who makes cold-pressed culinary oil out of both sunflower and canola seeds. He points out the stub of a stem near the road and laughs. “That’s all right. We got plenty.” This particular sunflower patch stretches three-quarters of a mile, and it’s just a portion of his crop.

In fact, Healthy Hoosier Oil, based right here on the sixth-generation Boyer Farm near Converse, grows 350 acres of sunflowers and canola for its virgin oils. Mark and his father, 81-year-old Craig Boyer, run the operation together from a lean-to built onto a 1940s-era corn crib. (Mark’s mother, Nancy Boyer, also helps out.) The air-conditioned facility boasts a small storefront/office, a bottling station, and behind that, the processing equipment that turns seeds into high-quality oils.

The rest of the Boyer family — two more grown children, 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren — all live within five miles of the land that has stayed a family farm since 1848. Mark and his brother, John, grew up farming alongside their father. That was back when the operation included sows, dairy cows and beef cattle in addition to corn, beans and wheat (which they still grow).

“We raised all our own crops, our corn and silage and stuff,” recalls Craig as he takes a seat behind the desk in the shop. “But that was my retirement, to quit livestock.”

Mark quips that his dad is far from retired, though he did sell off the livestock in 1998 after sustaining a major heart attack. Doctors recommended that Craig slow down and change his diet.

A decade and a half later, those health concerns motivated the Boyers to experiment with producing healthier alternatives to cooking oil.

“He likes fried food, and he likes to eat,” says Mark.

“When he had to change his diet, he had to give up so many things that he missed.” Mark and John had been growing sunflowers and canola for biodiesel, but they

Mark Boyer pulls sunflower seeds off the head. Below left, a bottle of sunflower oil and, below right, Craig Boyer.

took the challenge of shifting to foodgrade oils. After they started experimenting with culinary oils, the price of biodiesel fell, so turning their crops into table oils made good business sense.

“This was his vision,” Mark says of his father.

With zero chemicals applied either on the fields or in the processing, Healthy Hoosier Oils’ products live up to their name. Unlike typical vegetable oils, which are extracted with solvents, these oils are extracted using pressure, not chemicals.

Mark explains chemical extraction this way: “The oil crop, whether that’s canola,

sunflower, soybeans, or whatever the oil crop might be, is blended with a solvent,” he says. “In most cases (that’s) hexane, which is a byproduct from making gasoline. Hexane removes oil from the crop, then it’s brought back up to high heat, and the hexane is boiled off to be repurposed.”

After the solvent boils off, the oil undergoes further chemical treatment.

It’s bleached and deodorized and finally treated with an antifoaming agent.

It’s a completely different story here in the processing room of Healthy Hoosier Oil. A low-heat press and multiple filtration stages produce the unadulterFarm Indiana // September 2016

19

Top row: Sunflower facing east.

Sunflower cake or sunflower meal that will be sold to local farmers as food for cows.

Brady Bolen, employee. Center row: A press that filters the oil before bottling. Mark Boyer lifts a plate to show the oil as it is extruded out the top of the cold press. Bottom row: Sunflower meal storage. Canola seeds. Healthy Hoosier Oil storefront. Inside the store.

20

Farm Indiana // September 2016

ated, flavorful, sunny liquid that will be bottled in the next room. Cold-pressing oils allows more nutrients to be retained, resulting in a high level of vitamin E, among other antioxidants.

Seeds stored in the repurposed corn crib are fed into the presses through tubes in an automated system. The presses extrude long black pencils of compressed black shells onto a conveyor belt, while oil drips into a covered trough.

The byproduct is shuttled up the conveyor belt to a bay where it will later be bagged as a non-GMO protein source for livestock feed, ready to be sold to other farmers. A nearby neighbor purchases

all the canola byproduct for his pastureraised pork, and the sunflower shells go all over the state.

Meanwhile the “fines” in the oil (bits of hull and solids) settle to the bottom of the trough to be turned out by a special auger. The unfiltered oil is pumped into a tank and from there through a stainless steel line to a filter press with multiple plates. Under constant low pressure, the oil travels through the 1-micron filtration system, which is a bit like “grandma’s cheesecloth,” as Craig puts it.

By the end of the filtration process, the oil is ready for bottling and labeling.

Between batches of canola and sun-

flower, the equipment is steam-sterilized.

“We use no chemicals, even in cleaning our equipment,” says Mark.

The Boyers’ commitment to healthy methods starts well before the processing of their crop. Farming practices are also geared toward health and sustainability. Minimal tillage and careful crop rotation help protect the soil, and the oil crops are never sprayed. Both canola and sunflowers form a canopy that shades out most weeds.

Because sunflowers are reliant on honeybees for pollination, they’ve partnered with Knightstown’s Bastin Honey Bee Farm to install beehives on the land —

“We use no chemicals, even in cleaning our equipment.” — Mark Boyer another incentive to avoid chemicals on the oil crops.

“Our ancestors cleared a lot of this land,” says Mark, “so sustainability is very important to us.”

Canola gets a bad rap from some healthconscious critics because the Canadian government developed the plant in the 1970s. Its name stands for Canadian Oil Low Acid. However, despite these origins and concerns about genetic modification, Mark notes that the canola seeds he plants aren’t treated to be herbicide-resistant.

And it turns out to be great for the soil because of its large tubular root. The big equipment used in farming row crops tends to compact the soil, but canola’s roots combat that effect. With minimal tillage, the roots stay under the soil, reducing compaction and aiding drainage. Eventually the roots decay and become humus.

As a winter crop, canola is planted in the fall and harvested in early summer.

That schedule makes way for short-season soybeans to go into the same field, another benefit.

While not as much of a showstopper as sunflowers, canola’s blooms are also lovely, though short-lived. “Canola is bright yellow when it’s blooming,” says Mark, “and it’s absolutely beautiful. Then it dries out and gets ugly. It sort of turns into a dead bush.”

Neither crop is typically seen in Indiana, and the Boyers had no models for the foodgrade pressing process they’ve created.

Noting that some neighbors might think they’re nuts, Mark jokes, “I don’t know if they’re wrong.” Marketing locally grown oils is different from selling homemade pies, pastured meats or other consumables that people could purchase on a daily or weekly basis. And it’s a gamble,

developing a crop that has no other use while gauging an uncertain market. But if the recent decision of Kroger to stock the oils is any indication, this operation is poised to keep growing and continuing to blaze new trails.

By blending canola and sunflower oil, the Boyers discovered they could make a cold-pressed oil suitable for deep frying. Unlike the industry standard fry oil, which has an ingredient list that includes three chemicals, this canola/sunflower blend is simply 100 percent oil — chemical-free and containing zero trans fats.

Up the road at Amboy Market, the bustling mom-and-pop grocery that was first to stock Healthy Hoosier Oil, owner Carol Miller says the products are extremely popular with her customers. “That’s what people are wanting,” she says, “a healthier alternative.”

“People are more health-conscious these days,” she says, “and when you learn that this one has chemicals in it” (pointing to a national brand) “and theirs does not, it’s a no-brainer.”

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

21

Nubian goats watch Tim Vanzant as he completes his morning chores.

Rise

The days are long at Risin’ Creek Creamery

By Ryan Trares / Photography by josh marshall

22

Farm Indiana // September 2016

Tim feeds his Nubian goats.

Below: Sheena Vanzant puts grain in the milking stalls.

E

Even over the roar of high-velocity fans, hungry goats could be heard bleating throughout the barn at Risin’ Creek Creamery.

Tim Vanzant stepped through the pens, filling water buckets and adding fresh hay to the feed troughs. When he reached the enclosure of the newly born kids, he offered a special nursing apparatus to feed them pasteurized milk to help ward off disease.

Chore time at a goat farm has always been an intensive process, with feeding, watering and cleaning out stalls. Now that the Vanzants have ventured into making handcrafted cheeses from their dairy goats, the work can sometimes feel unending.

But it’s worth it. Generations of Vanzants have worked in agriculture. It’s a tradition that they’d like to not only continue, but become more fully immersed in.

“If we get in the house before 9:30 p.m., it’s a surprise. It’s not very often we get to sit down and have a meal together,” Vanzant said. “We put in a lot of hours, but it’s a labor of love. And I hope someday, I can walk away from my 40hour job and just be here on the farm.”

Risin’ Creek Farm was founded by Vanzant’s grandfather on a low piece of land between the hills outside

Martinsville. Though the Vanzants have only worked the land since the 1970s, the area of eastern Morgan County has been a hub of agricultural activity for nearly 200 years.

“Where we’re at, it used to be a tenant farm out here,” Vanzant said. “The houses have been wiped out, but you can still see some of the remnants of the old farm.

There’s an old food cellar built into the hillside over there and a spring well in this valley. The farm goes back to the 1800s.”

Vanzant and his wife, Sheena, now live on the farm with their son, 7-year-old Cole. Vanzant’s parents, Dana and Diann Vanzant, live nearby and come to help with planting and harvesting hay, caring for the goat herd and selling goat cheese at the farmers market in Franklin.

“I get to cut the hay, I get to bale the hay, I get to clean the stalls,” Dana said, jokingly. “I get all the good work.”

The farm stretches along a 20-acre tract, where they grow crops and keep hogs and chickens. The chickens are Cole’s responsibility, an attempt by his parents to teach him about money management and running a business.

“We had a dozen chickens, and he thought he could sell the eggs at the market,” Tim said. “He washed the eggs, helped package the eggs; he fed the chickens. It gives us an opportunity for him to learn about buying and selling and handling money.”

But the focus of the farm is on goats.

They breed and raise Nubians, developed in Great Britain by breeding native milk-

Farm Indiana // September 2016

23

Bringing pasteurized milk to the youngest goats.

Sheena milks the goats.

From left: Pouring fresh milk into the cooling tank. Sheena mixes in spices for their roasted garlic and herb chevre cheese. Tim labels the containers of chevre cheese.

ing goats with varieties from the Middle East and North Africa.

Tim has been raising goats for more than 30 years. It started as a 4-H project when he was 9 years old, with his first goat, a Nubian named Amazing Grace.

“I didn’t want Nubians at first. I told my mom they looked like floppy-eared dogs,” he said. “Mom looked for goat breeders around, and the only ones he had were Nubians. I didn’t even want to go look at them, but we did, and I fell in love with this little red goat. That was the end of it.”

To him, the herd is family. Every goat that is born is pure-bred, registered stock, which means that each one has a name.

There’s Khaotic Wende, Banana Split, Playing Trix and Nibbles.

“I know every single one of them. Some of the younger ones, I might forget what I named them, but I can tell you who their mom and dad is,” he said.

That connection leads the Vanzants to take extra steps to ensure the health of their animals. All of the young goats are 24

Farm Indiana // September 2016

raised on pasteurized milk, as a means of disease prevention. Goats are susceptible to a condition known as caprine arthritic encephalitis, or CAE. The viral infection can quickly kill young animals and cripple older ones. Raw milk is the main way to transfer the disease.

There is no cure for it, so the Vanzants have taken every precaution to keep it out of their herd. The kids are hand-fed, and all of the goats are tested regularly. Risin’ Creek has not seen an instance of the CAE virus since 2004.

“If you’ve seen a goat go through that, it’s terrible,” Tim said. “It was a big problem 20 years ago, but there have been great strides made in recent years. More people are aware of it and conscientious of it. You see a lot more CAE-negative herds.”

Vanzant goats have won national show championships, with many reaching reserve champion status. The family has been named premier breeder at the Indiana State Fair 13 times.

The family has traveled from Wyoming to Massachusetts showing Nubian goats.

Risin’ Creek Creamery Where: Martinsville Owners: Tim and Sheena Vanzant Herd size: Depending on the time of year, 75 to 150.

Herd type: Nubians Products: Fresh chevre in plain, bold chipotle, roasted garlic and herb, Jamaican jerk, Tuscany, herbes de Provence, jalapeno and four peppercorn; crumbled feta; goat milk caramel sauce.

Information: risincreek.com/risin_creek_creamery

Where to find it:

Franklin Farmers Market: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Sept. 3; downtown Franklin.

Bloomington Community Farmers Market: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through September, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through November; 401 N. Morton St., Bloomington.

Garfield Park Farmers Market: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays through October; corner of Shelby Street and East Southern Avenue.

Avon Farmers Market: 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through September; Avon Hendricks Regional Health Building, 8244 E. U.S. 36 Brownsburg: 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sept.

8; Brownsburg Town Hall, 61 N. Green St.

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Tim and Sheena Vanzant.

Growers of Fine Fruits & Vegetables

Their current herd runs from about 75 to 150 goats, depending on the time of year and how many baby kids have been born.

Much of their business has been breeding. But in the past two years, they’ve expanded to implement a goat dairy operation.

“We got into this because we love goats.

We wanted to make cheese to try and make a living farming, because we love that lifestyle,” Tim said.

Milk is collected daily and put into a filtration system in a clean room that serves as the milk house. Once the milk is filtered, it is pumped into a bulk tank and stored at 38 degrees. The milk will collect for three to four days, then be pumped into a pasteurizer to be heated at 145 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cheese-making cultures and enzymes are added to the pasteurized milk, and the curds are scooped out to dry. Cheese production starts every weekend so that it’s ready to be packaged for the following week’s market.

“Every time we go to the market, it’s a

fresh batch of cheese,” Tim said.

The chevre and feta are the most popular styles of cheese offered by Risin’ Creek Creamery. A homemade caramel sauce also has been a hit. In the future, the Vanzants would like to offer soft-ripened cheeses, as well as aged versions stored in the old food cellar.

Since starting the creamery in 2015, the family has doubled their business. They sell at five farmers markets throughout the week, Franklin, Bloomington, Avon, Garfield Park and Brownsburg.

Despite their dedication to the process, goats are a side business for the Vanzant family. Tim works full time for RollsRoyce North America, so work on the farm is on top of his 11-hour days commuting to and from Indianapolis.

Sheena spearheads the feeding and cleaning in the mornings, with help from Dana and Diann. The nightly farm chores start around 4:30 p.m. and often last into the night.

“There’s a lot more to it than you think,” Diann said.

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25

From the field

»

Nate Brownlee’s tour group listens to Peter Allen from Mastodon Valley Farm.

The View at Nightfall

A Good Lesson

By Nate Brownlee

This season, a common quote to be heard on Nightfall Farm is “It seemed like a good idea in the winter.” One of those seasonal good ideas found me off the farm for almost a whole week at the beginning of June. I left Liz all alone with two people’s worth of responsibility so that I could go not work on other people’s farms.

Purdue Extension offers many programs and services devoted to agriculture in Indiana, and Liz and I take full advantage of the great events geared toward small-scale farming. One such program is a week of farm tours designed to expose beginning farmers and Extension educators in Indiana to agricultural ideas and happenings in other parts of the country.

I joined one such farm most ways you can interpret it, but the tour trip up north to point is that my trip to Wisconsin remindWisconsin. Our journey ed me about the reasons I got into farming had a dual focus: urban and revitalized me for the season ahead. agriculture and restoraI met an inspirational community tion agriculture. Nightfall organizer who, looking at the commuFarm is about 6 miles nity gardens, saw people and families outside a town of 1,600 instead of squares and plots. There was people, so my interest a farm manager who said that every was predominantly on system has weakness, a direct reminder the restoration agriculof the imperfections and realities of ture side (farming in a farming. We had a tour guide who was way that more closely so excited about what his organization mimics healthy, functionwas doing that he constantly asked us ing ecoif he was talking too fast. systems).

One host baked us mufAfter years However, I fins with berries from the of gaining experience always say farm. One farmer joined on other that every us for dinner after the tour farms, Nate farm I step of his place, and another Brownlee and foot on has something to farmer spontaneously his wife, Liz, teach me, and this proved arranged for us to tour moved back true throughout the week. the headquarters of the to Indiana to start their own family While this article was local farmer cooperative. farm, which they named Nightfall originally planned to be a And those were just the Farm. Here, they share stories of the many trials, tribulations, successes summary of the trip, Liz Wisconsinites! Our tour and failures in running a family helped me realize that the bus was stuffed with interbusiness. For more on Nightfall interesting story to tell esting people, all of whom Farm, visit nightfallfarm.com. about that trip is why it was had different experiences worth it to spend a week and wisdom to share. And off the farm during our busy season. the best part is that they all live here People are the reason I got into farming. across Indiana; everyone reading this You can take that to mean I like to spend article is probably close to one or some my time surrounded by the type of people of them right now. I like that because it that farming attracts. Or you can take it reaffirms the fact that you don’t have to to mean that I like how farming brings leave Indiana to find good things happeople together, whether in the fields or pening in agriculture. This lesson alone around the table. I probably mean it in makes my week off the farm worthwhile.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

The Moments In Between

Formulated for Genetically Superior Cattle

by Katie Glick

I

woke up on a recent morning to the sounds of the evening crickets and the morning birds. I had never really heard that sound before, the sound in between the night and the morning, probably because I have always been asleep at that time. However, with the arrival of our firstborn, I find myself in between a lot of things lately.

When I was little, we played in the woods and made up various names for the rolling hills and valleys behind my childhood home. We set up different forts just in case we got too tired and had to rest along our treks on our various adventures. The life of a child in between reality and imagination is so charming, yet we often forget to allow children to have those moments.

I live a life in the country but work in the city, and the time I find myself in between the two places is the time I take to reflect on my passion for both where I live and what I do. It’s a time when I try to remember where I came from while I’m trying to get to where I’m going. However, many times I am so rushed that I forget the moments in between the two places are treasured. I need to remember when my wheels are hitting the pavement, my thoughts are only my own.

And now that we have our first little baby, I am really trying to slow down because the moments I find myself in between are too precious to let go and

forget. I’ve found motherhood to be a lot more calming than I realized because it has taught me to slow down, relax and just be. I have to sit down for a good portion of the day to feed my child, and after I do that I just want to watch her.

Her eyelashes grow longer overnight, and each time I pick her up I think her legs are chubbier than before. The nursing, trying to eat with my non-dominant hand, changing diapers, keeping us up-to-date with the daily news and communication with friends, and taking care of myself are exhausting, but the moments in between are worth every minute of it. She changes daily, and if I don’t slow down and pay attention, the moments will be lost forever.

As a farmer’s wife, I live in between seasons, and each one brings its challenges and its thrills. From the outside, it may seem like the planting and harvest are the only seasons a farmer works. And yet it’s in between those moments that farmers take time to reflect on the past and work toward the future, along with doing all the other chores you may not see. It’s a time they may stop hitting the pavement and dirt to have a little adventure and slow down to reflect and care for themselves and their land for the next generation of young farmers.

And during those moments, I bet they still wake up to hear the crickets and the birds. I hope you take a moment to hear them, too.

Katie Glick grew up on her family farm in Martinsville and now lives with her husband on their farm near Columbus, where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat, raise cattle and have a private seed company. She is a graduate of Purdue University and has worked in Indiana politics. She now works in the agriculture industry within our state. She shares her personal, work, travel and farm life stories on her blog, “Fancy in the Country.”

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From the field

The Raising of a Greenhouse

By Cheryl Carter Jones

As a child, I heard my grandparents reminisce about barn raisings of the past. It was the coming together of friends, family and neighbors as a community to build a barn in short order. People brought tools and supplies, whatever was needed to pitch in and accomplish the task at hand.

A barn, used for storage and the keeping of animals, was a critical structure for every farm. Building the barn was a large and costly undertaking, the construction of which required more labor than a typical family could provide. Barn raisings addressed that issue by enlisting members of the community, unpaid, to assist in the building of their neighbors’ barns. Typically, these events culminated in a large meal shared by all and focused on the reflection of a day of fellowship. It was not only an important solution to constructing a barn, but was also a social event.

We seldom hear of barn raisings occurring in today’s world, except in Amish or Mennonite communities, but there is a rebirth of the basic principle occurring with greenhouses. My greenhouse still has a

ways to go, but we have made great strides in the past weeks toward its completion.

Friends pulled together to help make this happen for me. They dropped whatever they had to, even when they should not have, and some traveled several hours over the course of three days to help. I experienced that deep heartfelt appreciation that I am sure those of generations gone by felt when so many came to their aid. And at the end of the three days, I am sure as pictures were being snapped of the work we did, that each person felt a sense of ownership, as they well should have and deserve.

On the day that the large exhaust fans were installed, we got 2.7 inches of rain, and we all stayed out in it, drenched.

That day followed with one of those big meals that I prepared for the guys with everyone sitting around the table, laughing and sharing. As I looked around that table, I realized we were family. It was overwhelming.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

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completed, the task of laying out the beds still a major undertaking. inside and further amending the soil beMost of those helping had gins. There’s clearly another month or two never been around a greenof work ahead, but the end is in sight and house, let alone helped to the greenhouse will come to life. build one. They came for one reason: to help me. I am still The final task will be to build rocket reeling from their generosity mass heaters. I should be able to heat my and kindness. And the work greenhouse at no cost, which is the goal, continues with two indiand the cost of building these heaters viduals still putting the final is minimal. Even better, the exhaust is touches on everything. nearly pure steam with less CO2 than Doors will be hung in the natural gas or electric heat. They are next week, and then work extremely efficient, reducing the amount begins on the north end. Capitalizing on of wood needed by design methods now 80 to 90 percent. We being used by the Cheryl Carter are planning on one Chinese to reduce the Jones is an or two workshops so amount of heating Indiana others can learn this needed during the farmer and method of heating, winter months, the the president as mine are being final wall will be slip of the Local constructed. straw. I had planned Growers’ Guild, My vision is on straw bale, but a cooperative of farmers, retailers quickly becoming a in light of moisture and community members dedicated to strengthening the local food reality; my dream is and mold concerns, economy in central and southern coming to life. While we determined slip Indiana through education, direct no one particularly straw would be the support and market connections. relished in the work best all-around alFor more information on the guild, we did, and a few ternative for me. Slip visit localgrowers.org. even commented straw, also referred “never again,” at the to as light straw or end of the day, the act of joining together clay straw, is a mixture of clay and straw, was a memorable one done for a greater compacted into forms until it is tight and purpose. It was a humbling experience for strong and stable, and then the forms me that these individuals were willing to can be removed. Slip straw is somewhere step forward to help bring the next phase between cob, which is mostly clay with of my new farm to a reality, not because chopped straw as a stabilizer, and straw they enjoyed it, but simply to help me. I bale, which is mostly straw with clay (or am truly blessed. other stucco) as a covering. Once that is

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Local Food

Local Focus Indiana food summit offers educational and networking opportunities

By Jon Shoulders

Civic leaders, food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, food hub organizers and anyone else throughout the state interested in the topic of local food will have a chance to network and share ideas on Oct. 6 during the first Indiana Local Food Summit in Indianapolis, hosted by Purdue Extension.

Jodee Ellett, local foods coordinator for Purdue Extension and summit organizer, says the event will feature detailed discussion touching on local food in five specific areas — food councils, farm-to-school

Indiana Local Food Summit programming, food hubs, food business development and healthy food access.

“Local food is such a huge topic, and so we’re trying to bring forward this set of five topics for this year, and maybe next year we’ll have this five plus others like food and health,” Ellett says, adding that the summit will kick off with a keynote speaker in the morning followed by two and a half hours of networking and advanced learning in each of the five chosen areas. The afternoon will consist of concurrent sessions on topics related to each area, such as creative purchasing of local food for restaurants and cooperative business models.

The event is part of the Purdue University College of Agriculture’s Agricultural Science and Extension for Economic Development (AgSEED) grant initiative funded by the Indiana Legislature to support local food, and Ellett says anyone involved or who wishes to be involved with local

food in their community can attend. Members from several organizations, including the Indiana Farm to School Network, the Indiana Cooperative Development Center, the Healthy Food Access Coalition and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s Indiana Grown Initiative, have partnered with Purdue Extension to bring the summit to life and will be present to share information and answer questions.

“We want people to come together. Say someone in your community is working on farmto-school, but you’re working on a food hub, then maybe get in the car together and come to Indianapolis and you can deal with whatever it is you’re working on at the conference,” Ellett says.

“People from different regions or different initiatives within towns are sort of assembling to network with people from across the state. The beauty of building networks is it really strengthens the entire food system and food economies for Indiana.”

What: A day-long, statewide

networking event, including local and regional speakers, centered on local food topics such as food councils, farm-to-school programs, food hubs, food business development and healthy food access.

When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6 Where: Ivy Tech Corporate College and Culinary Center, 2820 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis Ticket information: Early registration is $30 and includes summit materials, beverages, snacks and a lunch of local food provided by Ivy Tech. Registration after Sept. 15 is $40.

For additional details and a link for registration, visit extension. purdue.edu (click on “Events” to locate summit info).

For information on the Purdue Extension Local Food Program, go to ag.purdue.edu/extension/localfoods.

Contact Jodee Ellett, local foods coordinator for Purdue Extension, at (765) 494-0349 or jellett@ purdue.edu with questions or requests for more information.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

FOOD NEWS

Ben Hardy in The Gallery Pastry Shop kitchen

By Jolene Ketzenberger

» If you thought maybe the craft beer business had reached its peak, consider that Indiana has more than 120 craft breweries, with more on the way, and even its newest are quickly gaining fans.

Byway Brewing Co., which opened earlier this year in Hammond, took the Grand Champion Brewery of the Year Award — as well as Indiana Brewery of the Year — at the recent Indiana State Fair Brewer’s Cup competition. And set to open soon is Cannon Ball Brewing Co., a small craft operation from longtime home brewer Mark Swartz, which will be located at 17th and Byway Brewing Co. Bellefontaine streets in Indianapolis.

“It’s a two-barrel system, a very small commercial system,” said Swartz. “It’s basically the same system I have at home for my home-brew system, only on a larger scale.”

The brewery also will likely gain attention for its food, as well-known chef Erin Kem, formerly of R bistro in Indianapolis, will handle the seasonally changing menu.

“I don’t want the food to be an afterthought,” said Kem. “I want people to come for the beer and stay for the food.”

Expect to see a variety of cuisines on the Cannon Ball menu.

“I love ethnic food,” Kem said, “so we’ll incorporate a lot of different ethnicities. I’m already thinking about empanadas and curries and things like that that would go well with beer.”

A new hard cider company has opened in Indianapolis as well. Ash & Elm Cider Co. offers a variety of hard ciders at its tasting room and production facility at 2104 E. Washington St. Owners Aaron and Andrea Homoya also serve a small menu of sandwiches, salads and snacks.

Adjacent to the tasting room is Neidhammer Coffee Co., named for the historic building that houses both.

What type of food business might be the next big thing? That’s what the Hottest Kitchen Entrepreneur Challenge aimed to find out.

The competition, sponsored by Ivy Tech Community College and Reliable Water Services, took place this summer at Ivy Tech’s culinary facility and looked for promising food-related businesses in two categories: early stage and start-up.

The grand prize winner in the early stage category — for companies in business five years or fewer — was Zach Rohn of Indianapolis-based Batch No. 2 mustards and ketchups, who saw a niche for his artisan condiments.

“When I was having chefs ask me how you make mustard,” he said, “it became apparent that this was something that nobody did anymore.”

Avon resident Michelle Twaddell of Indiana Craft Jerky took home the people’s choice winner in the start-up category.

With flavors such as raspberry chipotle, Caribbean lime and ghost pepper, Indiana Craft Jerky is currently available online and at local farmers markets.

In the start-up category for businesses that have recently launched, Ed Baun of Primal Delights Kombucha won the grand prize, while Robin Willis of Robbybaby’s Kitchen won the people’s choice prize for her jams and jellies.

Grand prize winners took home $2,000 in seed money as well as a $1,000 scholarship from Ivy Tech and also received a $250 gift certificate from Zesco restaurant supply. People’s choice winners received $1,000 from Shapiro’s Delicatessen; all participants gained valuable business advice from local judges.

“Each year, we are so impressed with the creativity and passion among these challengers,” said contest judge Jennifer Rubenstein, “and we can’t wait to see the level of energy that each food entrepreneur brings to our finalist competition.”

»

Former Chef’s Academy pastry instructor Ben Hardy will be sharing his pastry skills with the public at The Gallery Pastry Shop. Hardy’s and partner Alyson Keefer’s new bake shop is located near 54th Street and the Monon Trail in Indianapolis. Prior to the Aug. 5 opening, Hardy began offering classes at the spacious shop, which features an open kitchen that allows customers to watch the pastry-making process.

In addition to a regular menu of pastries such as macarons and eclairs, Hardy also will serve plated desserts and a few salad options, as well as beer, wine, champagne and locally roasted coffees from Bee Coffee Roasters.

Look for a creative take on classic pastries, with bright flavors and colors of macarons and eclairs that are more than just cream-filled, chocolate-glazed pastries.

“I’m going to take that and do a variety of flavors,” Hardy said. “The pastry’s not going to be bland. But I think the most exciting thing is going to be the local approach to seasonality.”

You can also expect a cozy and comfortable décor at the shop, said Keefer.

“One of our big focuses was the style, but it’s very comfortable, too,” she said. “We sat in each chair about 100 times because I hate going somewhere and it’s not comfortable.”

The Gallery, which is tucked away at the end of a long building of shops and businesses, also features an outdoor patio, and Hardy and Keefer hope it will become a destination for pastry fans.

“It’s kind of hidden and romantic and comfortable,” said Keefer. “So I think people will really enjoy that.”

After 10 years of training aspiring chefs, The Chef’s Academy in Indianapolis is no longer accepting students.

Harrison College announced recently that it is no longer enrolling students in the culinary arts and pastry arts programs at The Chef’s Academy.

Current students, however, will be able to finish their programs.

According to the announcement, “Harrison is committed to providing career-focused degree programs that deliver strong outcomes for our students. We continually evaluate these programs for relevancy in the markets we serve and to ensure our students have gainful employment upon

graduation. Through recent evaluations, we have decided to suspend enrolling new students in culinary arts and pastry arts at The Chef’s Academy in Indianapolis, effective immediately.”

Several of the city’s high-profile chefs attended The Chef’s Academy. Carlos Salazar, executive chef and co-owner at Rook, was a member of the first graduating class and remains a fan of the school and its instructors, many of whom became mentors, he said.

“I loved every second I was in that school,” said Salazar, who credits the chef instructors at the school for helping guide his career. “Without TCA, I don’t think I would be where I am right now.”

Farm Indiana // September 2016

31

Local Food

PICKUP TRUCKS Serial entrepreneur Chris Baggott hits the road with his latest local food concept

By Jolene Ketzenberger

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

What happens when you combine the fun and variety of food truck menus with a high-tech, data-driven approach to delivery? You get ClusterTruck, a new concept in food delivery, one that has completely changed the food delivery experience — at least in downtown Indianapolis.

Food delivery has come a long way from the pizza guy who appears at your door with a large pepperoni and an order of breadsticks. A lot of companies have jumped into the delivery market recently, providing carryout items from a wide variety of restaurants, well beyond the typical pizza or Chinese. With names like GrubHub, Total-Takeout and Door Dash, most simply connect consumers with existing restaurants and try to make the ordering and delivery process easier.

But ClusterTruck has taken a different route, one that has been called “the Uberization” of food, in reference to the car service that allows customers to use a smartphone app to get a ride and see just exactly where their driver is. Like Uber, ClusterTruck customers order food online or with a phone app that keeps them posted about the process of their order and lets them know when their food will arrive. Food is prepared in a central kitchen rather than in individ-

ual restaurants, so food quality and timing can be controlled. Delivery is free, but customers must meet the driver on the street. Payment, including a tip, is handled online, and drivers simply hand a bag to customers. They then head back to the kitchen where they pull up to a door to pick up another order. There are no parking hassles, no offices to find, no change to be made.

ClusterTruck founder Chris Baggott says it all starts with the driver.

“When Uber has a rush, they call all the drivers,” he said. “And everyone gets frustrated because all the drivers come, and there’s not enough work for them all. So the way we do is rapid-fire ping where it goes, driver A, driver B, driver C, driver D. Driver D takes the job, so then we stop. So now we’ve got one job and one driver locked together.

Where is that driver? Is he five minutes away? Is he six minutes away?

Ten minutes away? And then, algorithmically, how long does all the food take to make?”

Put that way, food delivery does, indeed, sound like a software equation, one that Baggott seems uniquely prepared to solve.

A founder of digital marketing firm ExactTarget, which sold to Salesforce for $2.5 billion, and the business blogging platform Compendium that was acquired by Oracle, Baggott turned his attention to the food industry when his companies sold in 2013. A fan of “The Omnivore’s

Dilemma,” a book by Michael Pollan, Baggott had bought land in Hancock County to raise pastured beef, pork and chicken, and his Tyner Pond Farm products were already popular with consumers when he opened The Mug, a “farm-to-curb” drive-in restaurant in Greenfield in 2014.

“I got into the food business to support the farm,” Baggott said.

“When I went out and started calling on restaurants for Tyner Pond, there’s so few restaurants doing local that I would have to take business from somebody else, which I did not want to do. So that just meant the pie has to get bigger, so we started with The Mug, and that worked really well.”

The Mug’s ordering system was software driven, not surprising given Baggott’s tech background. And that led to the ClusterTruck concept.

“This whole idea came to me as just part of the software,” Baggott

Customers use an app to order food.

said. “We’d been talking about this for more than a year. When GrubHub went public, pieces of it came together.”

During a meeting with Indianapolis pizzeria owner Neal Brown, Baggott said, “We started talking about the idea of customer proximity.”

If you knew where customers were, Baggott explained, and you knew a pizza took seven minutes to make, then you could start making the pizza when a carryout customer was seven minutes away.

“I remembered Neal being really excited about that,” Baggott said, “so I made sure I didn’t forget that as a good idea. It was just all these little puzzle pieces.”

Food trucks were another part of the puzzle.

“As I was thinking about GrubHub,” he said, “that made me think about who are the best food marketers. Well, food trucks are the best food marketers, because they have to be. They move every day. So then it started to come together.”

Food truck owner Matt Kornmeyer of Scratch truck and the Indy Food Truck Alliance introduced Baggott to the already established concept of a ClusterTruck — a gathering of food trucks. The original idea, Baggott said, was to use actual food trucks,

to license their recipes and prepare their food for delivery. But the ephemeral nature of food trucks made that challenging; trucks tend to come and go, and he couldn’t count on finding actual trucks that offered all the types of food a delivery business would require.

So Baggott and his ClusterTruck partners settled on a plan to make all their own recipes. Plus, they would offer some items from established restaurants, such as breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches from The Mug and burgers from Bru Burger Bar in Indianapolis, owned by partner Mike Cunningham of Cunningham Restaurant Group, who oversees food operations.

Sales have grown steadily since ClusterTruck launched in late March.

Construction is underway for an outpost in Cincinnati, where Cunningham also has restaurants, and a site has been selected in Columbus, Ohio. Negotiations are in progress in Boston, Charlotte, N.C., and Nashville, Tenn., as well, Baggott said.

Tapping into talent has been key to the success of ClusterTruck, he said. Co-founder Dan McFadden, formerly of Compendium, is chief technology officer, while Tim McIntosh serves as executive chef. Erin Till, formerly of Neal Brown Hospitality Group in Indianapolis, is director of operations.

Till, who also has worked as a chef at local restaurants, says she has been learning “nonstop” since joining ClusterTruck.

“As geeky as it may be, my favorite part so far is being able to analyze the immense amount of data we have at our fingertips,” she said, “and then be able to make tweaks and changes on the fly. I mean, what a complementary combination of industries: tech, food and logistics.

My team is making me look at food service in a new light — data-driven and efficient. At the same time, I’m challenging them to let hospitality and service continue to guide us.”

“My team is making me look at food service in a new light — data-driven and efficient. At the same time, I’m challenging them to let hospitality and service continue to guide us.”

— Erin Till

Chris Baggott in the ClusterTruck kitchen.

Farm Indiana // September 2016

33

Local Food

Real Life Recipes

L

By Jolene Ketzenberger

Like most people who enjoy local food, I like to cook, and I’ve collected quite a lot of cookbooks over the years. And you know what I’ve decided? Cookbooks are like photo albums. They capture snapshots of what life is like in a particular time and place.

I’m not really thinking of big, general, massmarket cookbooks, although it’s certainly interesting to see how images of Betty Crocker, for example, have changed over the years. (You can take a look at the various portraits of Betty here: bettycrocker.com/ menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/parties-and-gettogethers/vintage-betty/the-betty-crocker-portraits).

What I’m really thinking of are the smaller, niche cookbooks, those by a celebrity popular during a specific time period or those that tackle a particular topic, and especially cookbooks put together by community groups.

Now these aren’t the kind of books typically found in big-box stores and maybe not even in small bookshops. Before the days of Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, I’m guessing that a lot of us relied on libraries for our access to cookbooks. I know that when I was a kid in the 1970s, the central Indiana town where I grew up didn’t have a real bookstore. The drugstores carried romance novels, Kmart had the latest paperback thrillers and the local print shop offered a small selection of hardcovers, but where would I have found “The Complete Galloping Gourmet Cookbook” in 1970?

To be honest, I wouldn’t have been looking for Graham Kerr’s cookbook in 1970, since I was in first grade at the time. But when I spotted it in an antique shop recently, I couldn’t resist buying it. “The Galloping Gourmet” was one of my sister’s favorite daytime TV shows, and I definitely remember the dapper host, wine glass in hand, cooking and flirting with the studio audience. Even

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

a first-grader could pick up on that.

He always seemed to be preparing something that would have been exotic in the kitchens of my childhood, where everyone I knew ate pork chops and pot roast and hamburgers and fried chicken.

But Kerr, well, after all, he was cooking with — and drinking — wine, which I never saw anyone do when I was a kid.

As I paged through that cookbook, I noted instructions that various appetizers should be served with cocktails or a

dry Riesling or sherry. His book definitely offers a snapshot of a time, one of cocktail parties and canapes and freshly ground coffee, a time when the red cans of Folger’s (or maybe the blue of Maxwell House) were all that I ever saw — unless your mom drank instant and bought little jars of Sanka. Those “Galloping Gourmet” recipes are snapshots that wouldn’t have been in my photo album, which is why they’re so interesting to me now.

And speaking of instant, another

who submitted the recipes, and you cookbook caught my eye while antiquing, know that people wouldn’t hand over a one that focused on all sorts of instant, recipe to be published that wasn’t one frozen, canned and packaged ingredients. of their best, most requested dishes.

It’s titled “The Busy People’s Cookbook,” But I also like those recipes because but it was the cover illustration that got they show what people really ate at a my attention. It is so clearly of its time certain time and place. And in this case, period — truly a snapshot. Published in it was the 1970s in Brown County.

1971, the book’s orange and magenta pop Now I found these books, including art-influenced cover illustration depicts this particular community cookbook, a woman holding a baby and cooking, while on a recent vacation in Michigan, but she also has a pencil tucked behind so even though it’s an unassuming little an ear and has just turned away from spiral-bound book, the title jumped out a typewriter. The book’s subtitle says at me. “Brown County that “if you are hectic, Cookin’” was published in active and involved, these 1978 by the Nashville Tri timesaving recipes will Kappas, and it includes put delightful dishes on Cookbooks are recipes from members the table and free time like photo albums. as well as from local in your busy schedule.”

They capture artists and restaurants It’s odd today, com(including, of course, mitted as many of us are snapshots of the ubiquitous Nashville to cooking fresh, local what life is like House fried biscuits). and seasonal food, to in a particular There are recipes for read recipes that call for time and place. quick casseroles that canned luncheon meat use cans of soup and for (do they mean Spam?) or “salads” made with Jell-O. rice and vermicelli mix But the book also features (do they mean Rice-arecipes with a definite ’70s influence, Roni?). And do canned biscuits pressed dishes that call for snow peas or white together into a loaf really bake up into wine or wheat germ. There’s a granola something resembling French bread? recipe from the late Brown County potter I can’t help but wonder. But, again, John Mills that I was particularly happy it’s a snapshot of a time when cooking to see, not just because granola was once was a chore and convenience was king. such a hippy-dippy ’70s kind of thing, but I have to admit that I often prefer also because I have two beautiful coffee community cookbooks, the ones I tend mugs I bought at his pottery studio. to think of as “church lady” cookbooks.

By the time I bought those mugs, I have a lot of those in my collection, alprobably around 1988, I was grown up though, to be fair, not all of them are from and married and living in Indianapochurches. Many were created by various lis, a time that felt completely distant civic groups, such as Tri Kappa or the from my childhood in the ’70s.

Junior League. I find that cookbooks from And that’s why I like those old recithose groups provide some of the best recpes, because, like a photo album, they ipe snapshots. They show us how tastes, bring another era to life. And I just trends and topical references change might make a few of them and enjoy a — or don’t change — over the years. taste of the past. Maybe even the RiceI like them partly because they usua-Roni. But definitely not the Spam. ally include names of the real people Jolene Ketzenberger covers local food at EatDrinkIndy.com and hosts the weekly public radio program Eat Drink Indiana Radio on WFYI and WFYI.org.

You can find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @JKetzenberger.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

35

Local Food

Chef Q & A with Neal Brown Owner/executive chef of Neal Brown Hospitality Group

By Twinkle VanWinkle

Neal Brown is a champion in the Indiana food scene.

The James Beard Award nominee and owner of Pizzology Pizzeria + Pub and Libertine Liquor Bar has changed the role and purpose of a chef by pushing himself creatively throughout his career and embracing the gifts that Indiana agriculture has to offer. Brown may grasp a trend, but he sees past the temporary and strives for sustainability when it comes to all things culinary.

»

How did you get started? What made you say, “Hey, I want to be a chef”?

I was feeling pretty restless about my career path coming out of IU in 1994. I was bound to be a pharma rep, and that didn’t sound very rewarding. My mother reminded me that I had always shown an affinity for cooking. I literally applied for Johnson & Wales (University) before graduation at IU and left the day after graduation to begin my professional culinary career. I never really looked back from there.

I know you have talked a lot about chefs who go to culinary school and chefs who don’t. What is your short answer for someone who wants to pursue a career in food?

There are no shortcuts, and there is no substitute for the practical experience of working under a chef who values teaching as much as she values the craft.

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Farm Indiana // September 2016

What is your food philosophy?

With Pizzology, it’s very simple: to provide local foods to those who think (local foods are) out of reach.

underrated because everyone I know loves one. I do think we should all start taking a closer look at lake and river fish as a viable alternative to seafood.

You’ve been in restaurant creation for a while. How did the Libertine evolve?

It was a way for me to scratch my creative itch. I’ve never really wanted to be the chef/ CEO of a multi-unit restaurant operation, but that has happened over time. I am significantly happier in a kitchen than I am in an office. I’m still trying to strike that balance, but I’ll never give up the creative portion of being a chef.

What are your thoughts on the Indiana food world and its place in the larger scheme of things?

I think it’s a really fun and prolific time that is seeing unprecedented growth, which is great. People have become hyper-aware of where their food comes from, and that is never a bad thing. As most people know, I fall on the more liberal side of agriculture conservation and prefer transparency.

I think most chefs do.

So we are in this weird time when you have chefs being really outspoken about the need to support small agriculture. Chefs have never had more responsibility to voice their opinions about sourcing.

What local sources do you use to supply your ingredients?

We use so many that it’s hard to list. A few of our current favorites are Gunthorp Farms and Growing Places Indy.

Why are the ingredients in what you serve so important?

Simple. Fresh wholesome food tastes better. We change our menus to offer the freshest possible ingredients when they are in season.

Pizzology Pizzeria + Pub

What would you say to local farmers who are looking to work with restaurants?

Be patient and know that we already have very long-standing relationships with other farmers. As much as it’s about the product that you are growing, trust is equally important. The chef-farmer relationship is truly a partnership.

What’s something Indiana has to offer food-wise you may feel is underrated?

While I love the fried pork tenderloin of our home state, I’m not so sure it’s

608 Massachusetts Ave. Indianapolis (317) 685-2550

13190 Hazel Dell Parkway Carmel (317) 844-2550 pizzologyindy.com

Libertine Liquor Bar 608 Massachusetts Ave. Indianapolis (317) 631-3333 libertineindy.com

Photo Submitted by Neal BRown, Photography by Polina Osherov / Food photo from Facebook.com/Pizzology

»

Fall Favorites

By Twinkle VanWinkle

A staple of the fall dinner table, sweet potatoes are perfect for desserts and sweet side dishes.

Galettes are one of my favorite ways to make a quick, sophisticated after-dinner delight. A galette, a round or flat crusty cake, is a rustic take on a more-refined tart or pie, and it requires less work. Spend a quiet afternoon in the kitchen to prepare this provincial delicacy, then fall into this galette with fork in hand.

Recipe

Sweet Potato Apple Country Galette

Makes 8-10 servings

For the crust: ½ cup diced, chilled butter 2½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons raw sugar ½ cup ice water (you won’t use all this)

For the dough:

For the filling: 1 large sweet potato 2 medium Honeycrisp apples ½ cup maple syrup ½ cup wildflower honey 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground sage ½ teaspoon kosher salt ¼ cup melted butter 6-7 fresh sage leaves ½ cup turbinado sugar 1 egg plus 2 teaspoons water, whisked briefly ½ cup warm honey for drizzling

Dump out mixture into a large bowl, adding the leftover ½ cup of flour. Sprinkle some ice water over the flour mixture and blend together with a fork or your hands until the pastry just begins to come together.

In a large food processor, combine 2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and butter.

Process in bursts until the ingredients come together in a coarse meal texture.

Knead briefly into a ball and turn out the dough onto a clean work surface dusted with flour.

Shape it into a disk and roll out dough about 1/8 -inch thick.

Trim dough into a large circle, about 12 to 14 inches wide.

Move the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

To complete your galette: Preheat oven to 350 F. Rinse apples, core and cut in half. Trim off the uneven part where the core has been removed and then slice into very thin halfmoon slices, about as thin as a quarter or nickel.

Rinse and scrub sweet potato, cut in half and slice very thin, into half-moon shapes, like the apple.

Place apples and sweet potato slices into a large bowl.

In a small bowl mix together the honey, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, dried sage and salt. Whisk for about a minute to incorporate well.

Pour the honey/spice liquid over the sweet potato and apple slices and gently toss, making sure not to break

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

Needless to say, her family is very well-fed.

PhotoS by Twinkle VanWinkle

edges just enough to cover the very edge of apples and sweet potatoes and do a criss-cross pattern with a fork. If you use this second method, make sure the edge is no more than ½-inch wide.

any of your slices. You might break a few since they are so thin, but you will have plenty for your galette.

Take crust out of the refrigerator and place an 8-inch cake pan or plate on top. Draw a circle very gently with a toothpick or fork tine. This will be your guide as you place apples and sweet potatoes inside.

Drizzle a little of the warm honey over the top.

Begin layering apple and sweet potato slices in a circular pattern inside the circle you drew on your dough, alternating between apple and sweet potato slices, and spiral them into the middle of the pie.

Once you have gotten to the middle of the galette, start over on the outsides, brush with melted butter and then make a second layer, spiraling in, alternating apple with sweet potato slice. You’ll have two layers. Brush the top layer with melted butter as well.

At this point you can either just fold the edges of the crust over the outsides of your filling or roll up the

Whisk the egg and water for the egg wash and dip the sage leaves in it. Place your sage leaves decoratively across the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Brush the edges of the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle turbinado sugar all over edges and the top of the galette liberally.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check galette, turn in oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove galette when fruit/ potatoes have begun to brown and sugar begins to caramelize and bubble.

Drizzle warm honey over the top. Cool on wire rack.

Serve warm with a warm honey drizzle and fresh sage as a garnish.

Farm Indiana // September 2016

37

Continuing Education

Sept. 8

Agronomy Field Day

September Events

Lots of demonstrations are planned for this field day, including an aerial vehicle demonstration, cover crop seeder demonstration, sprayer demonstration, soybean management topics, weed management, herbicide classification and resistance management. Time: 9

By Katherine Coplen

a.m. Location: Agronomy Center for Research and Education, 4540 W. U.S. 52, West Lafayette. Information: (765) 884-0140.

Sept. 7

Sept. 9

Pinney Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training

This diagnostic workshop is geared toward agribusiness professionals, consultants and farm educators who want to learn to identify crop problems in the field. Nutrient, pest and environmental factors that impact crop growth will be examined. The workshop is $50 for participants and will include late season plant disease ID and management, corn and soybean growth, development and harvest issues, and cover crop establishment.

Time: 9 a.m. Location: Pinney Purdue Agricultural Center, 11402 S. County Line Road, Wanatah. Information: (219) 324-9407.

Sept. 7

Forage Management Workshop

Topics covered at this workshop include potential animal disorders with forages, forage quality and preservation, problematic weeds, disease problems and their management, value-added traits, and more. Time: 8:30 a.m. Location:

Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education, 4540 W. U.S. 52, West Lafayette. Information: (765) 494-4783.

Sept. 8

Beginning Farmer Tour

This tour — a continuation of the yearlong program for beginning farmers — examines multispecies grazing systems and food production for livestock and poultry. Organizers will provide lunch, and the tour is free. Time: 9 a.m. Location: Becker

Farms, 7392 N. Wilbur Wright Road, Mooreland. Information: (765) 496-2161.

38

Farm Indiana // September 2016

Law and Tax Workshop

This workshop for farmers, farmland owners, attorneys and farm families will feature presenter Gerald Harrison, a Purdue agricultural economist and member of the Indiana State Bar Association. Lunch will be included, and topics include farmland lease law, farming liabilities, property rights, the Right to Farm law, real estate transfer taxation, land trusts and conservation easements. Time: 8 a.m.

Location: Room 117 of MHP Administration Building, 2325 Intelliplex Drive, Shelbyville.

Information: (765) 494-8415.

Sept. 14

Venison Processing Workshop

This workshop includes a demonstration of complete deer processing, including skinning, butchering and packaging techniques.

There will be quick and easy venison recipes on display, plus food safety and deer health topics discussed.

Time: 6 p.m. Location: Perry County High School, 18677 Old State Road 37, Leopold. Information: (812) 547-7084.

Sept. 14

Big Red Eats Green

This festival features local growers and restaurants who are committed to sustainable practices, as well as campus and community organizations that are working to improve the food system every day. Entertainment is provided by local musicians and artists. The mission of BREG is to increase awareness of the benefits of eating local, emphasize the availability of local food, especially for students at IU, and support the

local food community. Time: 11 a.m. to

7 p.m. Location: Front lawn of the IU Art Museum, 1133 E. 7th St., Bloomington

Sept. 16

Wabash Sampling Blitz

Want to help healthy streams? Join the sampling blitz, alongside many Purdue students and staff. Volunteers grab their waders and spend two hours wading in four streams and collecting samples, which will be tested for turbidity, nutrient levels, pathogen concentrations and more.

Approximately 250 volunteers will help this effort. Time: 8 a.m. Location:

Wabash River, Wildcat Creek, Deer Creek. Information: (765) 420-8505.

Sept. 17

Venison Processing Workshop

This workshop includes a demonstration of complete deer processing, including skinning, butchering and packaging techniques.

There will be quick and easy venison recipes on display, plus food safety and deer health. Time: 6 p.m. Bass Pro

Shop, 951 E. Lewis and Clark Parkway, Clarksville. Information: (812) 218-5500.

Sept. 17

Fixing Up Barns

A discussion on fixing up barns and outbuildings will be held at Sobremesa Farm. Duncan Campbell who served on Bloomington’s Historic Preservation Commission from 1992 to 2008, and co-authored the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, will speak.

Cost: $5. Time: 4 p.m. Location: 4781 N. Mt. Gilead Road, Bloomington. Information: facebook.com/sobremesafarm.

Sept. 18

Wise Women and Weeds: An Ancient Tradition Herbal Medicine Series

Learn about the medicine outside our door and between the cracks in the sidewalk. We will harvest and learn how to prepare, dry and store herbs. We will take fresh herbs home to prepare, dry and store for use. Cost: $75, all materials

included. Time: 2 to 5 p.m. Location: Ezra’s Enlightened Café, 6516 Ferguson St., Indianapolis. Information: (317) 255-3972

Sept. 24

IndyGrown Harvest Ride

The IndyGrown Harvest Ride, presented by Purdue Extension – Marion County and Flatland Kitchen, offers a chance to spend a Saturday cycling Indianapolis, eating treats from local businesses and touring several urban farms—before topping the day off with an on-farm dinner prepared by a local chef with farm fresh ingredients. Various routes start throughout the day. Tickets: $50.

Information: eventbrite.com/e/indygrownharvest-ride-tickets-26475361519

Sept. 27

ISA Tree Risk Qualification Course and Exam

This two-day course and assessment will allow participants to expand their knowledge of tree risk. The course promotes the safety of people and property by providing a standardized and systematic process for assessing tree risk. The results of a tree risk assessment can provide tree owners and risk managers with the information to make informed decisions to enhance tree benefits, health and longevity.

Time: 8 a.m. Location: Holliday Park, 6363 Spring Mill Road, Indianapolis.

Information: (765) 494-3625.

Sept. 29

Ginseng Field Day

This field day is all about the American ginseng, including an intro to laws relating to ginseng harvesting and marketing, sources of seed and plants, site selection and proper planting. This event is free and will include dinner.

Time: 5 p.m. Location: Richard G. Lugar Forestry Farm, 555 N. Sharon Chapel Road, West Lafayette. Information: (765) 494-2153.

Sept. 29

Beginning Farmer Tour

This month offers two beginning farmer tours hosted by Purdue Extension. The event features River Ridge Farm, and participants will learn about four-season veggie farming, operating an on-farm store and farm-to-school programs. Lunch is provided, and the tour is free. Time: 9

a.m. Location: River Ridge Farm, 9559 N. Road 250W, Roann. Information: (765) 496-2161.

(317) 477-7550 117 Apple St., Greenfield The Mug serves fast-casual beef burgers, hand-stuffed hot dogs, fresh-cut garlic fries, and specialty sandwiches like The Cuban and pork tenderloin -- all with ingredients sourced in Central Indiana. We purchase meats from local farmers who never use antibiotics and raise their cows, pigs and chickens the “old-fashioned way” -out on green pastures. With locally grown ingredients, we deliver delicious “farm-to-curb” food to your car, your table, or your home or office. * A SECOND MUG LOCATION IS COMING SOON TO IRVINGTON ON INDY’S EAST SIDE! * Visit www.themug.com or find us on Facebook for details.

Pull Up. Eat In. Carry Out. Or Have It Delivered.

You Decide.

*For commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC or CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. See your participating Case IH dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Down payment may be required. Offer good through September 30, 2016. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC or CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. standard terms and conditions will apply.

Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in suggested retail price. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice.