By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

LUCAS, Ohio — Malabar Farm State Park is one of 75 Ohio state parks, but it’s the only one that has a mission and vision to protect and preserve the legacy of Louis Bromfield, and the history of his sustainable agriculture and conservation practices.

Bromfield (1896-1956), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, was also a dedicated conservationist. He built the 32-room home, called “the Big House,” and lived there with his wife and three daughters. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married and honeymooned there in 1939.

In August 1972, the state accepted the deed to Malabar Farm. Earlier that year the farm, which had been operated by a foundation, was threatened with foreclosure. The Noble Foundation held the mortgage and agreed to erase the $280,000 mortgage when the state agreed to accept the farm as a gift to the people. It currently has 375,000 visitors a year.

“We spend a lot of time preserving Bromfield’s legacy but it is a double-edged sword,” said Jason Wesley, manager of the farm/state park. “You have the legacy of the farm and the preservation and conservation practices; yet, we want to bring in lots of visitors to see and interpret that, so our best hay ground becomes parking lots for large special events.

“So everything he preached against – soil compaction, contour plowing and soil erosion – we have to modify to bring in our visitors. Today it’s two school groups and two motor coaches. We’re preserving and maintaining this with a shoestring budget.”

Wesley has five full-time employees and four seasonal staff members to operate the 914-acre farm. He often uses interns from The Ohio State University. One worked last summer on the gardens around the house. She received a $500 stipend and “she gets to put on her résumé that she has worked on one of the most famous farms in America,” he said.

The farm uses its products creatively. It has formed a partnership with nearby Mohican State Park and Conference Center and Malabar Farm Restaurant, built in 1820. Farm products – meat, produce, maple syrup, eggs and more – are used by those two facilities and other local restaurants.

This year’s 130-gallon crop of maple syrup was phenomenal, Wesley said. The syrup is bottled in Malabar Farm jugs and brings in $13,000. “We spend a lot of time marketing the Malabar brand and getting it into local restaurants,” he said.
The row crops grown on the farm are used to feed its critters. Crops are planted by the Mansfield Correctional Institute, Department of Corrections. In exchange, any surplus cattle the farm has goes to feed the prison inmates.
The farm’s poultry produces about 1,800 dozen brown eggs a year. There’s also a cow/calf operation, plus pigs, sheep, goats and horses. Obviously, all those animals make a lot of manure. Wesley said he does not have enough staff to handle manure management as it will need to be done.

“That is going to be the biggest thing to hit Ohio agriculture,” Wesley said. “In 2012 you will not be able to do any manure application on the frozen ground. Being a state facility, we will be taking the lead. We will not be doing direct land application during the winter months. It is going to hurt.”

Yet Wesley, who thinks Malabar Farm is “the best place on the face of the Earth to work,” said he spent a lot of time looking at this as a long-term fix. He wants people to see that farming is not always pretty. He also had reservations when a Visitor’s Education Center was built, complete with computers, touch screen and a plastic cow.

“But our hope is after 10 minutes of interaction inside that, we can get them outside to see and feel the dirt, see an animal up close, do a pond study, and we’ve won them over,” he said.

Malabar Farm State Park offers guided tours – there is a fee for tractor rides and tours of the Big House. Primitive camping is available for family campers and equestrians. There are 12 miles of trails for horseback riders or hikers. Pugh Cabin is available for day use for groups of up to 50 people. There’s fishing and a picnic grounds is available. Winter sports take place during appropriate weather.

For information, visit www.malabarfarm.org or phone 419-892-2784.