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Fragrant Farms
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No, this is not going to be an article about manure. The fragrance at Fragrant Farms is of a much more pleasant nature. When asked what he does better than anyone else, Mark Trela's answer was, "We grow the finest peonies in the country." In fact, in the past year they have sold over 21,000 fresh flowers to florists, wholesalers and individuals. Located in New Harmony, Indiana, a stones throw from the Wabash River, the farm encompasses 25 acres, nine of which are presently under cultivation. The vineyard takes up six-plus acres and the remaining cultivated land grows cut flowers along with some vegetables and herbs. The prize flower on Fragrant Farms is the peony. Mark Trela was introduced to Steiner Agriculture, (referred to by Spiritual Food as Sattwic/Organic) in the early 1980's by Peter Dukich in California. His ten years as a landscaper in New Harmony gave him the opportunity to see how well peonies respond to Rudolf Steiner's method of agriculture by the time Fragrant Farms was born in 1994. Mark's early introduction to Steiner Agriculture has been enhanced by the opportunities he has had to learn from the likes of "Hugh Courtney, Hugh Lovel, Harvey Lisle, Jeff Poppen and a host of others." Perhaps having had the opportunity to learn from these masters is what has given Mark the desire to do more teaching and sharing with other farmers and gardeners, something he looks forward to in the not too distant future. Fragrant Farms is not a typical self-sustaining farm but they are employing some innovative ways of coming as close to self-sustaining as possible. For example their compost comes from the immense quantity of leaves that the town of New Harmony vacuums up in late October and November. All of these leaves are then windrowed in Fragrant Farms' fields. What this means is that, using a modified silage wagon with chutes off the front and side, the vacuumed leaves are deposited in a distinctively shaped mound alongside Mark's fields. Mark describes the "almost primitive looking mounds" as being about 6-8 feet high, 10-12 feet across at the bottom, 4 -5 feet at the top and about 350 feet long. He states that the special shape of the mound actually seems to give it a certain energy and suggests that anyone who is interested in learning about such phenomena read Christopher Bird and Peter Thompkins' Secret Life of Plants and Secrets of the Soil. Although they do not have domesticated animals at Fragrant Farms, as Mark puts it, "We do have an abundance of creatures: deer, moles, birds, rabbits and many, many insects." When asked whether this wealth of wildlife had caused any major problems on the farm, Mark responded that this past season had been particularly difficult due to the dryness. The deer were thirsty and even deer netting did not keep them from getting into the grapes. Japanese beetles were also a problem this year, particularly on the grapes and roses. But nature's cohabiters are not what Mark considers the greatest challenge of his farming career. The really big challenge he says is, " To balance the repetitive nature of the work and the economic pressures with the spiritual striving and healing nature that naturally comes with [this way of farming]." When asked whether he had any suggestions on how to achieve this balance, Mark's unhesitating response was, "Regular spiritual practice - do it every day." What about the weather? Mark states, " The weather calls forth different responses with each day. Our climate here in southwest Indiana is warm and humid and this is very difficult on grapes and their growers as well." Nevertheless, Mark states, "Relating to the weather and the seasonal cycles deepens one's awareness of the workings of nature within the farm organism." He finds that the most amazing thing about his farming career is that realization of "what an integrated system nature is and how it is an honor and privilege to work with nature." And nature has repaid Mark's compliments. Despite her challenges, she has allowed him to grow incredibly beautiful peonies which can be viewed in beautiful color on the School of Life website (www.schooloflife.org - click onto Spiritual Food for the New Millennium link and page down to Fragrant Farms Peonies). She has also allowed him to experience firsthand the energy generated by Steiner's agricultural practices. "While checking out a pit of buried cow horns, thirty cow horns with their tips toward the center," Mark relates, "myself and another fiend experienced a definite vibration emanating from the spot. It was like a heartbeat, a rhythmic pulsing." When asked what is the most beautiful thing on his farm right now, Mark's response was. "The most beautiful thing on our farm is everything!!!" |