MASON, Ohio — A Purdue Extension tour of a farm in Ohio will showcase the organic vegetable production and fertility management practices of urban farming. The tour will be 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 5 at EcOhio Farm in Mason, Ohio.
Attendees will learn about evaluating soil health and the effects of different composts on fertility, nutrient release, pathogen incidence and vegetable productivity in organic crops.
EcOhio managers Ben Nava and Ben Nash will speak on organic vegetable production in general, based on their experiences at EcOhio.
"EcOhio is a partnership between my company and the Cincinnati Zoo," said Green BEAN Delivery owner Matt Ewer. "We were looking for a place to farm here in southwest Ohio as we already have a farm just north of Indianapolis.
"The overall mission for this facility here in Mason is to showcase a rural-urban farm, one that is accessible for those in urban areas but yet is rural enough to produce a lot of food from it."
Ewer’s property encompasses 400 acres and has an agriculture easement on it, meaning it can only be used in an agriculture capacity. On the land is a projected 25-acre wetland preserve that will be constructed by the Cincinnati Zoo. In addition, 50 acres is being cultivated at this time.
"Phase one of this farm was the wetland preserve and setting up the vegetable farm, along with the post-harvest production facility," Ewer said. "Phase two is working on the nutritional content, to include the food that the zoo animals will eat. We will be growing hay for animals like elephants and giraffes to eat. In addition, we’ll have romaine and kale for animals that are on this farm. We’ll be cutting down that carbon footprint from farm to zoo."
According to Ewer, phase three for this farm is working with "zoo poo."
"This is our compost facility that will use radiant heat to produce a greenhouse effect inside the greenhouse, and it will enable us to produce vegetables inside the greenhouse using complete off-the-grid energy, which will come from one of the greatest natural resources that the zoo can provide."
Crop management practices and on-farm research will be discussed. Lori Hoagland, assistant professor in the Purdue University department of horticulture and landscape architecture, will discuss how this form of research is useful and demonstrate techniques for measuring soil health in such trials.
Also presenting will be Brad Bergefurd, an extension educator from Ohio State University. EcOhio has an ongoing on-farm experiment that will be used as an example for tour participants.
EcOhio Farm is located at 2210 S. Mason-Montgomery Road in Mason, Ohio. There is no cost for the tour, but registration is encouraged. For more information, contact Lori Jolly-Brown at 765-494-1301 or contact Liz Maynard at emaynard@purdue.edu
