By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

COMMISKEY, Ind. — Stream Cliff Farm had agritourism before agritourism was the buzzword it has become now, said Betty Manning, who with her husband, Gerald, owns the land, billed as the oldest herb farm in Indiana.

“Primarily we view this as a family farm,” Betty Manning said. “We have the tearoom and the shops; we have lots and lots of plants. Our major focus is always gardening – plants and herbs.”

Visitors to the sixth-generation farm can stroll through the beautiful display gardens which are done in quilt pattern designs. Water splashes in pools and fountains in many of them. Perennials bloom everywhere; many are from plants that Betty’s grandmother grew when she lived on the farm.

Hundreds of varieties of herbs, perennial flowers, everlastings, old-fashioned roses and more are for sale. The Manning’s’ son, Greg, is the horticulturist. Their daughter, Elizabeth, manages the Twigs and Sprigs Tearoom, which serves herbal gourmet fare; most of the herbs are grown on the farm.

A winery is the newest addition. When Gerald had a heart stent put in, the doctor advised drinking wine. Though the Mannings were not wine drinkers, Gerald was familiar with winemaking.

“We were very careful about that because we’re in a very conservative community and we didn’t want to offend anyone – some of the family has lived here since the 1830s,” Betty said. “We gradually thought about it and talked about it. Then, we decided to do the winery, and that has been a nice addition.”

The winery offers 20 vintages. The rustic-looking labels feature a horse theme. Currently the grapes are bought elsewhere, but that may change.

“We have good limestone ground, grape growing ground,” Betty said. “But we grow all of our own plants and it is the human resources that become difficult.”

The winery is housed in an old blacksmith shop; most recently Gerald used it for his decorative blacksmithing.

The farm features three garden/art and craft shops which also are in historic buildings.The building used as a conference and classroom was built as a boardinghouse for railroad workers in 1868.

The first occupant on the land was Jimmy Harmon, who came to Indiana to claim his father’s land grant given as payment for fighting in the Revolutionary War. While Harmon was building the house and barn he lived in a hollow tree with pigs under the floor to help him keep warm. Harmon deeded the property to a church, and Betty’s grandmother’s family bought it from the church.

Gerald and Betty opened the farm to the public on weekends in 1973, with mostly handcrafted items – Betty made cornhusk dolls and Gerald did blacksmithing. Most of the acreage is still in crops. The name comes from an 80-foot cliff on the property along Graham Creek.

“We have a very loyal following,” Betty said. “We’ve met some wonderful people over the years. We regard those customers as very special people. They have helped an old family farm stay in the same family, and this is a difficulty that a lot of farms face – how do you do things that allow that to happen? It is not easy.

“I look at the future for our children and I think my husband and I will be fine, but a major concern is if everything escalates as it has the last number of years, it is going to get harder and harder.”
Stream Cliff Farm is on the Indiana Wine Trail, the Artisan Trail and is a Historic Civil War Site on the John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail. For hours and information visit www.streamclifffarm.com or phone 812-346-5859.