By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

LOVELAND, Ohio — Grailville is 315 acres of retreat center, farmland, gardens, constructed wetlands and woodland. It is a place of renewal, yet humming with quiet activity.

Located in the rolling hills of southwestern Ohio, Grailville offers spiritual, cultural and educational opportunities for the public. Grailville’s guests can enjoy the woods, pastures, ponds and creeks. There are hiking trails, labyrinths and quiet spots for meditation and prayer.

But it is also a sustainable working farm. Those rolling hills are dotted with Dexter cattle, pastured pigs, crops and organic vegetables.

 “Grailville does a lot of different things,” said Beth Barr, co-director. “Grailville operates a retreat center, hosts groups, organizations, individuals who want to come for rest, reflection and retreat ... business meetings, programs and workshops.

“We also have farm activities. We are currently doing those in partnerships with other groups. Grailville has been owned and operated by women since 1944 as a farm in some permutation or another.

“Grailville’s goals are to promote social justice, environmental sustainability, women’s artistic expression, spiritual search,” Barr said. “We also obviously have a philosophy of empowering women – women have owned and managed Grailville since 1944.”

One of those women is Mary Lu Lageman, an agricultural economist and Grailville’s farm coordinator. Of the 315 acres, 100 acres are woodland and 150 are farmland, Lageman said. The rest of the land is buildings, ponds and roads.

“We are primarily in partnerships with other people such as Matt DeLaVega and Steve Edwards,” Lageman said. “They have a herd of Dexter cattle, an older breed that comes from Ireland, and is a small breed.

“In addition to that we have Pat Hill, who has pastured pigs. He has two sows, a boar and piglets. We have beef and pork available.”

All the farming practices are sustainable and about half of the farmland is certified organic. The cattle and pigs are not organic but they are raised on pasture in a natural way, Lageman said.
Grailville had the first community supported agriculture (CSA) program in the area.

For 11 years Grailville had its own CSA, but currently partners with a group called Earth Shares CSA, Lageman said. The CSA gardens are organic.

“Earth Shares is renting four acres of land from Grailville,” Lageman said. “They have hired Steve and me as their farmers. We grow about 35 different kinds of vegetables.

“The season lasts May to November. People come here to pick up. This year there are 56 shares.”

Since 2003 Grailville has been cleaning the wastewater and sewage from its four main buildings by means of a constructed wetlands and wastewater treatment system. It started with black goo oozing out of the side of the hill.

“You’re never quite ready for that,” Lageman said.

Grailville’s aging septic systems were failing. Management had anticipated the problem and were looking into solutions. The black goo immediately caused them to get more serious about the issue. They considered the alternatives and settled on installing a constructed wetlands and wastewater treatment system.

The constructed wetland, using native plants, is the only full-scale operating system of its kind in Ohio. It was one of the cheaper options for alternative systems and at the same time has educational value, Lageman said.

Grailville is partnering with the University of Cincinnati and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on research studies. Miami Township inspects the site annually.

“We are keeping the water on-site. So far it is doing what wetlands are meant to do,” Lageman said.

There are booklets and signage provided for a self-guided tour through the wetlands. Individuals are always welcome to visit Grailville and walk the grounds from dawn until dusk. The Grail Store offers unique gifts, specialty and fair trade items. One may stop there for information and a guided tour booklet of the wetlands.

A Permaculture Design workshop will be held Aug. 1-7. This program will offer hands-on training in how Permaculture principles are used to design ecologically sound urban, suburban and rural landscapes yielding an abundance of food, fiber and energy to meet local needs.

For information on programs, phone 513-683-2340, visit www.grailville.org or e-mail Grailville@fuse.net