June 2019 - 19

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Coneflower Farm also grows apples,
pears, strawberries, raspberries and
rhubarb. Honey, popcorn and freerange
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.
Friends of Dennis and Ellen's 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.
" Many of our customers
have known us for a long
time and know how we
grow our vegetables. "
− Ellen Zehr, 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 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. VGN
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VGN | JUNE 2019 | 19

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June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019