June 2019 - 23

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Everything that Coneflower Farm
sells is grown or made on the farm. " We
sometimes have supplied other farmers if
they were starting a CSA - to fill gaps in
what they offered, " Dennis said.
Coneflower Farm also grows apples,
pears, strawberries, raspberries and
rhubarb. Honey, popcorn and free-range
eggs are also available.
CSA participation is about 30 boxes
per week. Most participants pick up their
boxes at the farm, but a few boxes are
delivered to Princeton every week.
There are also a number of regular
customers who place orders that they
pick up. A weekly email tells customers
what's available. Coneflower Farm also
sells at the Princeton Farmers Market.
The journey to developing Coneflower
Farm has been a long one for Dennis
and Ellen.
The path led to a rural village in the
southern Africa nation of Lesotho.
Dennis and Ellen served as development
workers in Lesotho from late 1987
through 1990 through the Mennonite
Central Committee (MCC). The MCC is
a faith-based organization that strives to
foster relief, development and peace.
Lesotho is completely surrounded
by the Republic of South Africa, but is
separated from that country by mountain
ranges. Lesotho is a poor country with
most of the rural population involved in
subsistence agriculture.
" We lived in a rural community and
affirmed the strengths of community, "
Dennis said. " We developed friendships
and pitched in - like helping with
gardening - where we could. "
The final year in Lesotho brought up
the question of what to do next. " We
decided to develop a small, produce
farm, " Ellen said.
" Many of our customers
have known us for a long
time and know how we
grow our vegetables. "
− Ellen Davis-Zehr,
Coneflower Farm
Friends in Illinois were willing to
split a parcel off their farm for Dennis
and Ellen to buy. The acreage included
a house and some outbuildings. Since
Dennis had always been interested in
the prairie plants native to Illinois, the
farm became Coneflower Farm.
Produce is grown on about 3 acres
of the 13-acre farm. There is one
high tunnel, which is used for several
crops, although its main purpose is for
tomatoes. The high tunnel is mulched
with straw for weed control and drip
lines are used for irrigation.
Coneflower Farm uses organic
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FGN | JUNE 2019 | 23
practices, but Dennis and Ellen have
chosen to not to pursue organic
certification.
" We have a long history of selling here, "
Ellen said. " Many of our customers have
known us for a long time and know how
we grow our vegetables. " When asked,
Dennis and Ellen give customers more
detail on their organic practices and how
they control weeds and insect pests.
Biological products are often used. Bt,
for example, controls common green
worm on cabbage and broccoli. " There
is a demand for safer products, " Dennis
said. This is especially important since
Coneflower Farm keeps honeybees.
The list of fertilizers used includes soft
rock phosphate, gypsum, soybean meal
as a nitrogen source, and wood ashes as a
potassium source. " We heat with wood, "
Dennis said, and that's the ash source.
Coneflower Farm also has some laying
hens, dairy goats and sometimes a few
steers, and composted manure is also
used as fertilizer.
Dennis uses a David Bradley walkbehind
tractor for shallow tillage. Tillage
is shallow so it doesn't bring new weed
seeds up to the surface. The David
Bradley comes with different attachments
and uses very little fuel. Dennis
frequently modifies the walk-behind
tractors and recently retrofitted one with
a new Briggs and Stratton engine.
Moldboard plowing is used in the
fall with a rented tractor when hay or
pasture ground is being prepared for
vegetable production.
Oats is the main cover crop used. " Oats
are so inexpensive and also winterkill, "
Dennis said.
Nearly 85% of Coneflower Farm's gross
farm income is from produce; the rest is
from beef, eggs, honey, milk and other
farm products.
Dennis and Ellen's three children grew
up working on the farm. They each had
his or her own garden and sold their
own produce.
Luke, the oldest son, has a graduate
degree in entomology and is doing
entomology research at Michigan State
University. The other son, Simon, helps
on the farm and daughter Anna attends
Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas.
Coneflower Farm has also had interns
from the MCC international volunteer
exchange program. Young adults from
the area have also been hired as needed.
Dennis and Ellen are in their 29th growing
season at Coneflower Farm. It takes a lot of
work and that is bringing change.
" We've made a commitment to have
this much diversity on the farm, " Dennis
said. " But at our age, how do we start to
not work as much? Diversity can be good,
but there can be too much diversity and
you lose efficiency. "
The story of Coneflower Farm isn't
over yet. FGN
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June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019
