Seldom Seen Farm is a small-scale, family run farm east of Danville, Indiana. We grow all manner of vegetables, flowers, and herbs on 50 acres of crosby and brookston clay loam. The farm is run by Kelly Funk and John Ferree. Kelly is the farm’s flower guru, welder, organizer, and everything in between. John serves as spreadsheet monkey, mechanic, electrician, with a focus on the vegetable side of things. Neither grew up farming, but both have come to love the farming life we’ve created.

Some of our crops include: Arugula, Beans, Broccoli, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Fennel, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Asian Greens, Bok Choy, Kale, Collards, Lettuces, Salad Mixes, Onions, Shallots, Cipollinis, Scallions, Peas, Peppers (sweet, green, hot, red), Potatoes, Tomatoes, Radishes, Swiss Chard, Rutabaga, Spinach, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Winter Squash.

Herb crops include: Bee Balm, Catnip, Chervil, Basil, Chives, Garlic Chives, Cilantro, Cutting Celery, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Parsley, Oregano, Mint, Thyme, Shiso

Currently, we are calling ourselves transitional organic. The USDA requires a three year waiting period between the last application of a prohibited substance and when the fields can be certified organic. Half of our acreage was taken out of corn and beans in the fall of 2004, the other half was taken out in the fall of 2007.

Why Transitional?

We feel that direct contact with customers is more important that a 3rd party certification. We will likely continue to be transitional for a while longer. A strong organic fertility plan requires a 1:1 ratio of cover crops to cropped ground. Cover crops are legumes (clover, alfalfa, vetch, field peas, soybeans) and cereal grains (wheat, rye, oats). Legumes fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of bacteria. This allows for a net gain on nitrogen with no effort outside of mowing and ground preparation. Cereal grains mop up what nitrogen exists in a field after a vegetable crop is finished. The two can also be used in combination, but that is beside the point.

As we have scaled up the farm, we have continued to take an increasing amount of land away from corn and beans. That growth has been incremental and will likely continue to be. In the past, we simply have not had the resources to mow large areas in an efficient manner. It is simply a matter of practicality that we have not certified. When we started growing an acre for market in 2004, we had no way of knowing that we might need an additional 19 acres by 2008. Back in 2004 a tractor was a distant dream, but here we are in 2009 considering the purchase of our 3rd. In other words, we are building a farming system, and that system isn’t always ideal to start, but by the end it looks like a well laid plan (hopefully).

How We Grow

So, the farm is transitional organic. . . what does that mean? It means that we adhere to the list of prohibited, allowed, and restricted materials for organic production. We do not use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides. It means we rely on shallow cultivation for weed control rather than a sprayed cocktail.

Where We Grow

This section is no longer available due to WTHR, Channel 13.   Go chase a different ambulance.