Blythe Battram

What does a healer look like? Is it a professional in a white coat? A nurturing elder passing down folk remedies? Can it be a farmer?

How do they heal? Do they consider the body alone or the systems in which the body lives – environmental, economical, nutritional?

We met with Roger and Mary Winstead, whose daily work broadens common perceptions of both healing and farming. 

Roger and Mary each have backgrounds in agriculture. Growing up in Warrick County, Roger grew up on a family farm and was active in 4-H. As an adult, he became a landscape architect. Mary grew up around the corner from Roger on her parents’ plot of land, from which they grew and sold strawberries.

In 2015, the Winsteads were ready for a change and moved back to the remaining two acres of Roger’s childhood homestead to be closer to family. “We left careers and are seeing a dream come true, coming back to southern Indiana,” says Mary.

That dream involved a connection to local food – borrowing, aggregating, and growing what they needed to thrive. Forming a CSA – in which customers invest in a share of the season’s harvest, agreeing to accept the risks and benefits along with the farmers – allowed the Winsteads to support this lifestyle for themselves and their members. Their website now offers CSA shares, delivery options, and mushroom subscriptions, with even more exciting growth to come this year.

Always present has been a commitment to make farming organic and sustainable year-round. Caterpillar tunnels help control climate and moisture, allowing for a longer and more consistent growing season, but the Winsteads also rely heavily on the land’s natural gifts. “We do everything as regenerative as we can,” says Roger, “We’re stewards to soil health.” To attract pollinators, the Winsteads grow edible flowers, which also benefit crop rotation cycles.

Another asset to Beautiful Edibles is their mushrooms. Started as a hobby, the Winsteads quickly became passionate about the benefits to the soil, the high nutrient content, the wide variety, and the ability to grow year-round. The Winsteads now grow their mushrooms on an “urban farm” – a 1930s-era parking garage that also houses the growing system for APE Aquaponics, another local grower producing lettuces.

Back outside on the farm, a neighbor offered another mutually beneficial opportunity in the form of a former livestock pasture. The Winsteads planted squash there and yielded 400 pounds! The results were both delicious and improved the soil quality for grazing livestock.

When asked why the average consumer should care about the sourcing of their food, the Winsteads have many thoughtful reasons. For starters, food sourced closer to home is less likely to be affected by the supply chain issues that have become more common in recent years. The less food has to travel, it retains more nutrient density while maintaining a far lower carbon footprint. There’s a level of trust in being able to know one’s farmer and see where the food is grown. Rather than paying a large corporation, profits benefit family farmers, giving a leg up to those who have lacked the advantages of massive acreage or subsidized commodity crops. “You’re creating jobs. You’re creating an economy,” says Mary.

Many people are surprised at how productive smaller farms can be when properly managed.. “You can provide for your community on a one acre plot.” Another misconception is that local food can only be found during market season. Roger points out that even Chicago, for example, has indoor markets that operate throughout the winter. While selection varies from month to month, many favorites are still available year-round.

Restaurants have already become hooked on the benefits of Beautiful Edibles’ offerings. Because the Winsteads don’t pick their crops until they have a buyer, their items are extremely fresh and store well. “We hate food waste!” says Mary. Buyers have reported greens that stay fresh for weeks in the refrigerator – a stark contrast to how quickly bagged greens from the grocery store often turn. That freshness ensures more nutrients stay in the food, as well.

How can you enjoy Beautiful Edibles’ products in your own kitchen? Their website, www.beautifulediblesgrow.com/ offers a variety of products and ways to order – from pick-ups or deliveries to subscriptions. An even more exciting option is set to launch in April 2022 with a local food hub – Local Source! This farmers cooperative will allow consumers to shop from many local farms on a single website. Similar to Market Wagon, a national online outlet for local items which discontinued service to Evansville last December, Local Source promises to be even more advantageous for farmers and shoppers alike by keeping the profits circulating in the local economy. More effort will be invested in helping farmers be successful in producing and marketing quality products. A collaborative effort between several southwest Indiana Farmers and Urban Seeds secured grant money for a physical location for food hub items to be picked up; and the hiring of a value chain coordinator is in the works, to connect farmers and consumers with one another and with a network of food hubs throughout the state. While farmers may have different approaches or products, all are supported. Says Mary, “We lift up all of us together.” 

The Winsteads say many of their customers have sought them out after getting “a second chance at life.” Roger points out that our area has a high incidence of autoimmune disease and cancers, widely attributed to a combination of environmental and lifestyle factors. Some of their own friends, family members, and customers have experienced common health issues like diabetes, but since eating a diet rich in homegrown plants and mushrooms, they have seen a reduction in symptoms and improvements in health regardless of age. While nutrient density works to heal bodies from within, the Winsteads’ commitment to organic, sustainable growing methods heals the air, soil, and water that surrounds us. What began as a dream for Roger and Mary offers hope to our community as a whole. “We feel very strongly that we’re healing this community and ourselves.”

For more information and ordering options, visit www.beautifulediblesgrow.com

The Local Source officially opens for orders April 13th with the first delivery on the 21st. The Grand opening will be in May 2022 with more vendors and items available. You can quickly and easily purchase product by accessing www.localsourceswi.com and becoming a customer. The weekly order cycle ends on Tuesday at 11:55pm and you can pick up your order on Thursday between 12:00 – 6:00 at 111 S.E. Third Street in downtown Evansville.

Photography credit: Kate Jacobson

When you look at Kristi Schulz’s background, you’ll see she’s listed as a “former science teacher,” but it doesn’t take long to realize Kristi is both educating and utilizing science every day in her role as an owner of Countryside Orchard. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Countryside Orchard, you may know it by another name: Engelbrecht’s. Many of the fruit trees on the property were planted by the fourth generation of the Engelbrecht family before they sold the orchard to Kristi’s family. She and Tim, her husband and business partner, operate and manage all facets of the orchard business.

Like teaching, the key to successful farming has a lot to do with making connections: connections with others, with the land, with the community, and more. Kristi is passionate about her work, so sharing it comes naturally; and like any good science teacher, Kristi is a big believer in letting people be guided by firsthand experience with the orchard and the products.

“We’re always happy to show people around and answer questions,” offers Kristi. In our modern world, people are not always as connected to the source of our food, so the Schulzes are committed to offering U-pick opportunities for as many of their crops as possible. There is some magic in watching individuals enjoy their first taste of fruit they’ve picked themselves. “When you take a bite, you have ownership of the flavor and of the effort involved.”

“It’s really important that people understand that everything we do is hands-on and labor intensive. We don’t have machines to pick or sort the fruit. That is all done by hand.” Many customers are surprised at the difference in locally-grown produce compared to what they typically find at the grocery store. Kristi explains that grocery store produce is often picked before it is ripe or kept in cold storage for months at a time so that it doesn’t bruise or spoil before reaching the shelves. Conversely, the memorable, in-season flavors develop while the fruit is ripening on the tree. “We treat them gently and give personal attention to every single tree.”

All this attention requires many hands, and Kristi likes to offer high school students first-time work experience helping at the orchard. Harvesting is a job everyone associates with farm work, but Countryside Orchard also produces larger, healthier fruit by managing the cropload (thinning), so the fruit that remains can soak up more resources. Gleaning is also important; fruit has to be picked before it has a chance to rot, or fungus and disease could put the next year’s crop at risk.

“It’s nice to have plenty and be able to share,” says Kristi. Harvest totals vary from year to year, depending on weather and pest pressures, but the 2021 peach and apple crop was plentiful. In addition to selling to local markets, they’ve been able to donate hundreds of pounds of fruit to the Tri-State Food Bank, Feed Evansville, and a group cooking for tornado victims in Kentucky in late 2021.

Last year, Tom Zeta, the Nourish coordinator for Urban Seeds, made a visit to Countryside Orchard, and a new connection was made. Countryside Orchard is now providing apples for the Nourish boxes, and Urban Seeds hopes it’s the first of many local offerings to be added to the Nourish program.

In addition to offering produce, education is still front and center. “The orchard is like a big outdoor classroom,” so the field trips offered at Countryside Orchard include stations with many elements: information, discussion points, activities, immersive experiences, math, orienteering, and – of course – tasting.

Peaches are the main crop at Countryside Orchard, followed by apples, but they also offer U-pick strawberries and pumpkins when they’re in season, in addition to cider – and the popular cider slushes – applesauce, and creative flavors of jellies and jams. Depending on the weather, they hope to have a crop of cherries this spring, as well. Kristi is proud to have educated the public on “seconds” – fruit that has cosmetic blemishes or is too ripe to travel but is still delicious for immediate eating or bulk preparation – and now sells seconds by the case.

So how does one compare apples to apples? Apples from the grocery store are available year-round, with uniform appearance, but there is a trade-off. Types of fruit from Countryside Orchard change with the seasons; but the attention they have received, their ability to ripen on the trees, and their proximity to home leads to more flavor and nutrients for the consumer, and money invested will stay in the local economy. And if you’re lucky enough to make a trip to the orchard or their booth at a farmer’s market, you’ll have an irreplaceable connection with your food and its journey to your plate.

For more info:

• Website: www.countrysideorchard.com
• Phone: (812) 490-9559
• Location: 16800 Old Petersburg Rd, Evansville, IN 47725
  • located north of Baseline Road, just off of I69, Exit 18