Farmer Profiles

"Mark Guenther"
Community Harvest at Tait Farm, Centre Hall, Pennsylvania

"The glory of farm life is no less wonderful when I don't finish what I intended to finish."

Field mailbox at Community Harvest at Tait Farm.

The Farming Operation:   Mark is the manager of the Community Harvest CSA operation located on Tait Farm in Centre County, Pennsylvania. With 170 acres, Tait Farm was known for its apples, raspberries, asparagus, and Christmas trees. More recently, Tait Farm has become recognized for its value-added line of products such as raspberry shrub (a colonial American beverage), fruit preserves, and apple butter. The products are available at a store on the farm, at other retail sites, and through mail order.

Mark began the CSA in 2000 using six acres of land and sharing facilities and equipment with Tait Farm. Asparagus and rhubarb plants were well established when he arrived, and he rents the apple orchard. After getting settled, he began growing a mix of vegetable crops to supply his CSA members.

Mark considers his arrangement with Tait Farm's owners as "cordial." They help with marketing, accounting, and answering the phone. Mark splits the asparagus harvest with them and pays them 10 percent of his gross earnings. He has a full-time, capable assistant and gets about 12 hours a week of help from volunteers.

Some of the land had been cropped, but most was under sod or pasture when he began farming. The farming situation isn't ideal with clayey soils, fields with too much slope, and "giant hedgerows between half-acre fields." Mark is working toward achieving the so-called European rotation - two years in grass and legumes, then a heavy feeder, followed by a light feeder, with cover crops grown between cash crops. He uses pig power to turn his compost mix of municipal leaves (200 tons) and dairy manure (100 tons) that has been biodynamically prepped. He also gets old straw bales (used for seating) from the local ice skating rink to put into his compost. His usual cover crops are cereal rye with hairy vetch or dwarf white clover.

The first year, Mark aimed for 200 members in the CSA, but only signed up 110. He recruited 150 members in 2002. In one strategy to increase membership, Mark offers current members a $10 gift certificate to use in the Tait Farm retail shop if they sign up a new member.

The apple orchard has a total of 360 apple trees in three varieties - Liberty, Jonafree, and Redfree. Mark loves Surroundä, the kaolin clay product that helps protect apple trees and their fruit from insects, diseases, and sunscald. He also likes the Tifoneä sprayer that he uses to apply the Surroundä. Mark is tolerant of the garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata that grows prevalently in the orchard. It's an invasive, exotic plant, but in Mark's view, the garlic mustard displaces more troublesome weeds. It's a minor detail, but an example of Mark's ability to be creative in his approach to farming.

Mark has tried selling his fruit and vegetables to local restaurants, but feels that it's a hassle. He much prefers running the CSA, and markets the excess CSA produce through the retail shop at Tait Farm on a 50% commission basis. He also donates "tons" of excess produce to the local food bank, which also purchases two CSA shares. Mark gets a lot of satisfaction from helping feed low-income members of his community.

The Community Harvest operation is not certified organic, but Mark follows traditional organic farming principles. He hasn't bothered with certification because his customers know him and his farming philosophy - he doesn't need to go to the expense and the trouble of getting certified.

Animals in the Scheme of Things:   Mark advocates the use of animals in sustainable agricultural production systems. Not only do they serve as a food source, but they also provide labor and manure. Since arriving at Tait Farm, Mark added a dairy cow and three Angus beef cows, each of which should provide a calf annually. Mark's assistant in 2001 built a chicken tractor (a moveable chicken coop). Mark now has a flock of free-range chickens to provide eggs for the CSA. He's added pigs to the farm system and uses the pigs and chickens to help turn his municipal leaves and dairy manure into compost. The pigs begin the composting process. Every time Mark feeds them, he makes holes in the compost pile and drops their corn to the bottom of the holes. The pigs root through and turn the compost to get to their corn. When the compost is sufficiently mixed and trampled, the pigs are moved to a fresh part of the windrow. Then the chickens are brought in to continue mixing the compost by traditional chicken-scratching around in it. The farm dogs, Susie and Cisco, help with varmint control and a couple of cats keep the rodent population in check.

The Farmers' Background:   Mark was raised on a "homestead" for the first 10 years of his life, and his family produced much of their own food. That's where he acquired the desire to farm for a living. His father and sister are both involved in CSA production. He credits his mother with teaching him about being at home in nature, and some of that information is getting passed onto his CSA members now.

Mark's studies at Swarthmore College began with an environmental studies major but changed mid-stream to agriculture. After college, he biked across the country and worked at 40 different organic farms over six months. After the trip, he continued to work at organic farms, including one with a 600-member CSA operation, and spent two years at Genesis Farm, which specializes in environmental and spiritual education. Mark then spent six months in India and a year in Venezuela teaching sustainable agriculture before landing at Tait Farm to start a CSA there.

What's in a Share:   Shares at Community Harvest are unusual in several respects. Mark purchases and barters from organic growers in the area to provide additional variety to the weekly share. He buys organic, grass-fed meat in bulk for his customers to purchase from him to supplement their share. He also offers a variety not seen in many CSAs. Shares might include homemade maple syrup, eggs, popcorn, ground cornmeal, spelt flour, butter - even stinging nettle (with recipes of course!).

Guiding Principles:   Mark is a firm believer in living gently on the land, supporting his community by purchasing locally produced inputs for his farm, and the value of organic, locally produced food. Conducting agricultural research isn't a priority for him. He feels that we already know a lot of what we need to know about producing high quality food. For example, regarding weed management, he feels the technology and techniques are out there and "if weed control is important [to you], you'll have weed control." He would like to know how to make an organized area out of his tool shop and small office area, though. Mark has read up on biodynamics and relates to Rudolph Steiner's description of the "farm as an organism." He views his farming operation holistically and feels that animals are integral to its success and sustainability. However, he sometimes finds it hard to remember "...that the glory of farm life is no less wonderful when I don't finish what I intended to finish."

Goals:   Marks wants to have a year-round CSA that meets virtually all of its members' food needs - wheat, meat, and dairy, in addition to fruits and vegetables. He envisions a membership of 30 as workable, with payments due quarterly.

He would like to eventually use locally produced seed for all of his crops. He has a source for a locally produced spelt seed, which he grows and grinds to provide flour for the CSA share. In 2001, all of his tomatoes were planted with saved seed, and he hopes to increase the amount of seed that he produces himself.

Mark plans to include draft animals in the farm production system in the spring of 2003. Animals fit into his vision of farming and would reduce the amount of non-renewable energy he uses. He looks forward to the day when he starts up his plow "with a scoop of oats and a few flakes of hay." As part of the expanded animal component, Mark is also considering sheep to graze the orchard floor.

Mark wants to farm in a manner that renews rather than exhausts. In 2001, he and his assistant both reduced the hours they worked compared to the previous year. They planned a workload and a schedule that permitted it. Mark knew that adding animals to the farming system would increase again the number of hours he worked, but he feels that how hard and how long he works is a decision that he has some control over. Working smart and reducing hand labor to a minimum is one aspect of the process. (On the other hand, Mark loves to hand-scythe and can do an acre in less than 10 hours!) Mark considers farming his livelihood - more a lifestyle than a job.

Sources of Information:   Mark has found that other farmers are a very good source of information, and he has visited with and worked for dozens over the years. His pig composting method is based on a process learned from Anne and Eric Nordell of Beech Grove Farm. In fact, his pigs in 2001 came from the same litter as theirs - he got the technology and the technicians from them.

Tips:   Mark uses Premier Fence Company's 3D Anti-deer Fencing™ to keep the deer away. This fiberglass three-strand electric fencing is baited every three weeks. Mark feels the three-dimensional aspect of the fencing helps keep deer out of his fields.

Mark tries to follow a master plan for his rotations but often doesn't follow the plan. He does keep detailed records, though, and notes changes made. For better organization, Mark uses different colored paper for different years' plans, and he also puts original plans in one color and revised plans in another. The colors help him to make sense of all the plans when they begin accumulating.

He carries a standard toolkit with him in the field. This minimizes how often he needs to leave the field to get something. The kit contains a tape measure, a "leatherman" (all-in-one tool with pliers, knife, file, etc.), earplugs, microlight, and crescent wrench (he's thinking about deleting this item and replacing it with a mini vice grip). He also wears a Sharpie™ waterproof marker and ballpoint pen on cords around his neck.

Every field has a mailbox at the edge with a field notebook in it. It's an easy way to keep timely notes on what was planted and when, what materials were applied and when, what insects were found during scouting, etc. However, Mark reports that he hasn't used this innovation as often as he thought he would.

Weed control is an important part of farming successfully, and Mark feels the amount he invested in an Allis Chalmers tractor was worthwhile. He also does some flame-weeding. When cultivating, he is careful to adjust the cultivator frequently so it does the job it's meant to do. He does not like to hand weed and has been known to plow a field under if the weeds get away from him rather than spend too much time hand weeding.

He and his crew double-wash the produce to make it more "user-friendly."

Contact:   Mark Guenther, Farm Manager, Community Harvest at Tait Farm, RR 1 Box 329, Centre Hall, PA 16828 phone: (814)466-2386 e-mail: taitfood@earthlink.net

Profiles of Sustainable Farming Systems