Our class went to Horn Field Campus on Monday. Horn Field offers different activities to help with the environment and sustainability.

Mindy Pheiffer, program coordinator gave us background history on the site and information about what the site offers. It was a great experience.

Pheiffer said that in the 1800s Horn Field's property was apart of the first land grant deed from the war of 1812.

"This land was granted to Lieutenant Colonel Bacon," Pheiffer said, "Bacon's grandson was the first doctor in Macomb and he used to breed horses on this land."

Horn Field replanted plants to show what the property used to look like.

In 1945 Bacon sold his land to Frank S. Horn. Horn was a philanthropist and Coke bottle distributor. He took care of the land for 20 years and in 1965 he donated half the land to Western Illinois University and WIU bought the other half. Hence the property name "Horn".

"The intent of the property is to be used for recreation, out door education, and agriculture," said Pheiffer.

She said an example of outdoor ed would be people coming out building fires and learning how to roast marsh mellows. She said someone came and didn't know how to do it so people at Horn were willing to teach her.

Horn operates from self revenue. They get no state operating dollars but if there is a problem like pluming the WIU Physical Plant has to come and fix it.

She said that students from all different majors come out here and help plant and keep the property up. The agriculture department helps keep up a part of the property as well.

A person cannot just come to Horn Field and walk the trail or anything, they have to call Pheiffer first and let her know they are coming.

Pheiffer said that Horn has a five point full value contract to their visitors. Number one is safety. They always wants to make sure everyone is safe while visiting. The second step is commitment. Third, Horn employees will not disrespect anyone and visitors should not disrespect each other either. No put downs is fourth which ties into no disrespect. Lastly, everyone at Horn will be positive.

Barefoot Gardens

On Monday, our class was able to explore three of Macomb’s nature conservatories: Horn Field Campus, Barefoot Gardens, and Finks Conservancy. All three had different aspects to offer Western Illinois University students and the community.

Barefoot Gardens is a local garden that raises 300 varieties of vegetables and some fruits. According to John Curtis, the owner and operator, the garden’s mission is to revitalize local economies with wholesome and healthy foods grown by local farms.

This garden, and others like it, are considered to be Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA. This concept was first developed in the mid-1980s in Japan. Women in a Japanese community were saddened to find that certain plants were not being sold at their local market anymore. The group decided to hire a farmer to plant the produce for them to enjoy once again.

This same policy governs Barefoot Gardens. The farmer is paid up front and receives a share of what is harvested at the end of the season. There are now approximately 10,000 CSA’s in the United States. Curtis calls the CSA’s an “alternative force” to combat against the increasing number of large commercial farms.

Over the past 60 years, the number of large commercial operations has increased, while small, rural farms continue to decrease and disappear. Farming was once based on solar means. Farmers only grew or raised whatever plants or animals they needed to feed their families. They were able to “break-even,” and were able to produce wholesome foods that did not need to be sprayed with chemicals. The animals were raised on pasture or grass and were not fed mass quantities of grain.

In today’s economy, Curtis feels that feedlots raising cattle for slaughter, hog confinements, and corn and soybean fertilizer are responsible for the decrease in food’s nutritional value. He also claims that there are half as many farmers as 10 years ago. One day, maybe soon, he feels that farming will be a strictly corporate operation.

Barefoot Gardens’ goal is to “pick your own” food. Curtis and his staff plant year round and harvest all of the vegetables by hand. They are grown in typical gardens or in “hoop houses.” Hoop houses are structures similar to greenhouses, but they have no heat or electricity and are covered on the sides by plastic (which can be adjusted) and wheels on the bottom to move it from place to place.

“It’s like having two greenhouses,” said Curtis about the ability to move the hoop house.

The hoop house allows Curtis to keep greens throughout the winter (even in -10 degree temperatures!).

Once ready, the gardens are opened up to the public and customers can go to the gardens and pick the food themselves. They can come inside the screened porch and socialize and meet new friends at what Curtis calls a “third place,” or a place to converse with people on a weekly basis. Curtis, a board member of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, says that many lobbying acts and conversations about the gardens have been started on the porch.

Barefoot Gardens provides a nutritious and more environmentally friendly way to grow and buy food. By deciding how to spend our money on food, we can make the change back to this simpler way of production. As Curtis said, “Every dollar spent on food goes toward what you want to see in the future.”

By Chelsea Crawford

Local CSA Helping Macomb.

Local harvester, John Curtis, owns a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), but certain factors may prevent him from doing what he loves in the future.
CSA’s first started in Japan in the mid 80’s; as people were complaining that their favorite vegetables weren’t available at the market. Farmers in local communities started to harvest these crops, and sell them for a profit. With the CSA the customers will pay the farmer up front before the season begins. Then customers will come throughout the season and pick what vegetables they want. Curtis has added a new wrinkle to his CSA though. He recently added lawn furniture to his screened in porch area so when customers come they can meet with friends and just relax. As Curtis says “I added the lawn furniture, because people would just stand around and talk to each other when they came to pick up their order. I realized that you catch up with friends in a social setting so I created a third place.” He also added that Macomb’s strong rural community allows him to have a successful CSA.
To protect some of the crops instead of using a green house, Curtis uses a hoop house. A hoop house is like a green house without the heat; they do use the sun to help harvest, but the doors are open also with air ways on the side. The hoop house is usable year round as it is placed on tracks. Curtis is able to move the hoop house in the winter down to another set of crops so the weather doesn’t adversely affect the crops. It also makes it easier to go outside and harvest in the cold “This past December it was about 10 degrees, but I went in the hoop house where it was 55(degrees) which made it a lot easier to work.” Curtis said about the hoop house.
Curtis has and will be encountering problems with keeping his CSA safe. There have been troubles with industrial farms opening up that use chemicals to improve plants and livestock. While the CSA uses no chemicals; these industrial areas give a toxic waste run off that makes its way into the water and affects the crops.
Curtis knows as long as he is able he will be harvesting, because this is what he loves to do. He loves bringing people together, and giving them fresh vegetables that he knows are safe.