Mulberry Creek Farm CSA

If you were looking for our Virtual Retreat Center, here's the link.

We have a great deal of respect for local grocers who try to provide the very best produce for their customers. However, we also realize that most consumers have no idea of the origin of their veggies. We got tired of not knowing (for a variety of reasons) and think there might be at least one like-minded person out there. If you are that person, if you want to know where your veggies originated or what happened to them from the garden to the grocery, we have locally and sustainably grown, heirloom (and standard) varieties of common vegetables, as well as some fruits.  

If you are interested in locally and humanely raised meat and eggs, we have pasture raised, cage-free heritage broiler chickens for your table as well as heritage turkeys and duckling. Our flock of heritage breed laying hens lives on pasture to produce nutritious, great-tasting farm fresh eggs! We also have heritage pasture-raised Mulefoot hogs and will be offering pork in the near future.

If you are interested in other local products, we have raw honey as well as a wide variety of jams and jellies. At some point we hope to add a web store for homemade natural jams and jellies and whatever else comes up. In the meantime, browse through the pages here and if you see something here that interests you, drop us a line.

We hope to introduce goats and sheep in the not too distant future. (We do not currently have goats or sheep or goat/sheep products.)

Don't forget to check out the multitude of links.

Glenn grew up on a dairy farm in Southwest Indiana and has been growing things his entire life. Our interest in CSA evolved over time. We've always gardened both out of enjoyment and as a way to improve our grocery bill. In recent years, we've added to our garden in a concerted interest in healthier eating. It's great knowing where our food originates! With these combined interests, we found ourselves growing more and more produce and varieties every year.

In 2008 we found that we had enough to fill our pantry for the winter and lots left over to share. We also found that there was a market among our friends and acquaintances for fresh produce. We decided to take the next step and move toward an actual plan toward supporting our community as well as ourselves through this shared endeavor.

All that said, we were a brand new CSA in 2009! It was a great year and we look forward to many years yet to come!

With the increased interest in genealogical research, we thought it would be beneficial to someone to post the history of our farm.

We purchased our property in the summer of 2001, 5+ acres and the original farmhouse, out of a subdivided 95-acre farm. For Glenn's birthday in 2005, we asked Betsy Wilson, local house historian, to research the history of the house and farm. Here is the basic document in PDF format. What follows is a summary. See photos in our gallery.

Joseph Rohrer, the first European settler, sold the property in 1915 to Daniel Raser, Sr., a Revolutionary War veteran from Pennsylvania, whose wife's name was Barbe. Daniel's daughter, Sarah AKA Sally Raser, married Jacob Swank in 1816. Several of these persons are buried in the family graveyard on the original farm within walking distance.

The Swank family included: Jacob, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jacob, Levi, Samuel, and Sarah; Jacob's second wife was Mary. The Swank family lives on in the name of the 40/49 intersection as Swank's Corners or Swankton that is still seen on local maps.

Prior to 1842, structures were apparently log or wood. In 1842 a stone house was added to the property. We believe that the bottoom level of the current house may have been this original 1842 house.

In 1864 Jacob Swank sold 122 acres to Jesse Kinsey, a local farmer, and his wife, Christina Wolf Kinsey. The Kinsey's raised four orphans, Samuel Graybill, William Danner, Christian Wolf, and Emma Wolf. Jesse Kinsey was a minister in the Salem  Church of the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkers).

The current brick house was built by Kinsey in 1877. We believe he built the top two levels onto the pre-existing stone house built by Swank in 1842.

After Jesse's death in 1899, Christina remained on the farm until her death in 1910. Additional names listed in this period include: Jacob Heckman, Ezra, Mary and Ruth Sibert, Ruth Boomershine, Christina (Mrs. Daniel) Boomershine, and Amie Westerman.

In 1911, 95 acres were sold to Levi Arnett, wife Frederica, and children Bertha, Harold, Dorothy, Wilbert and Imo. In 1932, Harold and Wilbert inherited the farm. Wilbert died in 1964, a member of the Brookville EUB church. Harold died in 1985. Other names in this period include: Mary Jane Arnett Denlinger, Robin Layne Arnett Dickey Siford, and Donald Siford. Mary Jane Denlinger died in 1989 and the property passed to Robin L. Siford, Randall Dickey, Rene Morris, Donna Siford, and Richard Siford.

As it is our desire to restore the house and farm to a period appearance, we have long been interested in photographs of the house and farm as it was prior to the deterioration of age. What was the appearance of the porch? Where were the outbuidings exactly, how were they constructed and was was their plan and appearance?

The text provides more detail about the persons and events surrounding this property and we also have several appendices including maps, Raser family papers, Kinsey family papers, Arnett family papers, federal census records from 1830 on, and some brief correspondence concerning the farm outbuildings. Contact us for more information.

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Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

In our opinion, a true CSA is a destination market - the customer comes to the farm and has a working knowledge of the farm, often participating in the work to varying degrees. The 'C' is important - community. It cannot be a community if the citizenz od that community never come into contact with one another or the farm/farmers. Because we live in a consumer driven society, we at Mulberry Creek Farm CSA do offer a couple pick-up locations in addition to the farm but we encourage all shareholders to visit the farm from time to time to see their produce in its natural habitat.

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Our poultry are all cage-free. They live within a large fenced-in area (protecting them from near-by traffic and the tomatos from them) but within that area they are free to roam. In fact, several of our hens fly over the fence during the day to wander freely. (This may pose a problem come vegetable season!) We have a number of chicken tractors (small movable laying houses) where they can find shelter year-round. 

We are in transition from conventional farming practices to natural/sustainable practices. Unfortunately, some of our uncontrollable surroundings will prevent us from becoming truly organic in the forseeable future. However, on the farm we use practices that might have been common a century ago (we do rely on tractor power) and are chemical free.

This means that vegetable and fruit products may have a blemish here and there and may even contain free wildlife samples from time to time.

We primarily have heirloom varieties of both plants and animals, although there are some hybrids pre-existing. Please see the relevant pages for more information.

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What's the big deal? Why not continue to purchase my fresh fruit and vegetables from the local grocery chain? It's fresh. Why not continue to buy plump juicy birds with pop-up "done-o-meters" in them?

As quoted by from Sustainable Table, Within the past 15 years, 190 breeds of farm animals have gone extinct worldwide, and there are currently 1,500 others at risk of becoming extinct. In the past five years alone, 60 breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry have become extinct.  This is a bad thing!

Why does this matter? Elsewhere on this site, practically every page in fact, we've already answered the "So what" question particular to each area. We'll be adding more from time to time, particularly in the blog.

Aside from biodiversity, we're also very concerned about the health of our potential food. Take a look at these picture of factory raised chickens:

The Matrix, chicken style!

Would you want to eat something raised in these conditions?

If you're still not convinced, check this out.

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