LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) – Shifting from Los Angeles to Logansport, Indiana could seem unusual to some, however returning to their hometown and household farm was the logical alternative for Jordan Zehner and Danny Serna.
They needed to broaden the large-scale gardening they began in LA. They’d chickens and traded eggs and citrus fruits with neighbors who did comparable farming.
“We tried to make a residing on the land in LA,” mentioned Serna.
However they needed to get into farming on a human scale and work intensively on a small piece of land.
Now they function the Ten Household Farm close to the Cass County Fairgrounds on about 0.2 acres of land they leased from their grandparents, who nonetheless run the household farm utilizing the extra widespread trendy strategies.
“The group was very hospitable,” mentioned Zehner.
They promote their merchandise at Logansport Farmers Market and to native companies, together with Judy’s Good Life Emporium in Logansport and The Sunspot Pure Market in Kokomo and Lafayette.
Your meals will even go to the just lately opened Bonus Pints at 422 E. Broadway in Logansport. Proprietor Katya Swisher mentioned she plans to make use of merchandise from the Ten Household Farm for her seasonal menus.
Zehner likes the modifications within the atmosphere by which she grew up.
“It appears a number of issues are taking place and we’re excited to be part of it,” she mentioned.
The couple moved right here final July and that is their first yr in Indiana.
Harvests for 2021 embody zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, melon, outdated tomato varieties, 4 forms of bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, candy peas, and greens like arugula and kale.
Your Trinidad scorpion peppers have already got a purchaser in Indianapolis, Steel Honey Meals, which sells pepper-infused honey.
Additionally they have dozens of chickens that produce eggs that they use in alternate with different farmers.
They’re planning a pumpkin patch, pumpkin gross sales, and public actions for the autumn, and so they plan to incorporate radishes and lettuce leaves for winter rising.
Sooner or later, they hope to have a beekeeping enterprise and lift bees for honey, though it will begin with honey for household use.
Their enterprise shouldn’t be an authorized natural farm, however they observe natural practices.
“We observe lots of Eliot Coleman’s practices,” mentioned Serna.
Coleman is an agronomist and advocate for natural farming. The couple’s practices embody rotating vegetation and the usage of catch crops.
The couple met in Madison, Wisconsin, when she was doing her Masters in Spanish and he was finishing his bachelor’s levels in Spanish and French Language and Literature.
He grew up in Madison after his household moved from Mexico when he was 14.
Her sister lived in Los Angeles, and Zehner had a number of jobs in faculty city after commencement.
“I assumed LA sounded fairly good,” she mentioned.
After seven years in Los Angeles, he labored as a translator within the emergency room of a youngsters’s hospital and he or she taught at a non-public elementary college.
So the couple began in search of a spot. They appreciated the Pacific Northwest, however it had its downsides.
“We actually had a number of issues about water as a result of everybody out there may be vying for water,” she mentioned.
Serna mentioned they beloved Los Angeles due to its proximity to the mountains and forests, however it would not simply enable them to do what they needed.
“One of the vital essential issues that drove us right here was the water – water and land,” he mentioned.
Coming right here additionally brings her nearer to her two households, hers in Cass County and his in Wisconsin.
Lengthy earlier than they moved right here, they obtained married within the yard below the massive airplane tree in 2016.
“It additionally felt cool and engaging to do that within the nation I grew up in,” she mentioned.
She was in a position to make contacts rapidly, for instance with Swisher of Bonus Pints and Vibrant Occasions Catering.
“We need to eat wholesome, and we would like the group to eat wholesome,” mentioned Zehner. “We actually deal with the group facet. In LA you actually do not feel a part of the group. “
Along with farm work, the 2 are additionally out and about locally.
She teaches Spanish at Landis Elementary College within the twin language immersion program. He’s an authorized part-time medical interpreter at Logansport Memorial Hospital.
They need to proceed rising and experimenting on the farm, however whether or not the couple will finally take over their grandparents’ farm continues to be open. She thinks so, however he is undecided.
“Should you do every little thing by hand, it turns into exhausting,” she says.
At the moment, one of the simplest ways to get in contact with the Zehner Household Farm – and Serna and Zehner – is thru the corporate’s web site at www.zehnerfamilyfarm.com.
