A Farm That’s One With Nature
Some of the produce from Turtle's Back Farm. Contributed photos
TURTLE’S BACK FARM OWNER PROVIDES DIRECT LINK BETWEEN FARM & TABLE
When the science of growing food and the art of letting nature “just be” are gently woven together, a unique harmony emerges that benefits both our bodies and the environment.
Just as nature doesn’t waste anything, neither does Turtle’s Back Farm, a harmonious permaculture- style farm in the Town of Mukwa.
“When you go into a forest you know how you feel, like everything is connected,” said farmer and owner Ben Geyer. “I want to do what the forest is doing. That’s really my mission statement. I want to let food hit the forest floor and not waste anything,” he said.
Turtle’s Back Farm looks less like a typical farm and more like a meadow, but with low tracts of marshy land, called swales. Geyer plants seeds but does it in sync with what is already growing naturally.
When you go into a forest, you know how you feel, like everything is connected. — Ben Geyer, Turtle’s Back Farm
“You often hear that if humans weren’t here, nature would be back in a heartbeat,” said Geyer. “And I think that’s a great business model, to ask how we can make the smallest impact.”
As an employee at Wildflower Pizzeria in Appleton, Geyer also has the pleasure of watching some his produce go, literally, from farm to table. “I provide ingredients with unique tastes to local restaurants,” he said.
A few spots where you can get a taste for yourself are The Source Public House, Harmony Pizza and Cena in Appleton.
“At Wildflower, we use the tomatoes I grow for the pizza sauce, the salads and the bruschetta,” said Geyer.
Other unique treats you’ll find grown by Turtle’s Back Farm and served at Wildflower are a radish slaw served with chicken wings and edible flowers, such as dill flower that is used in their Bloody Marys.
“To me, quality produce is health,” says Geyer. “It’s like a piece of art into fruition and that same thing happens here in the kitchen. It’s like being a curious child. What brought me into farming and into the restaurant industry is very similar. You make memories every season. I love color, I love sweet, I love sour and I love hot. I love exploring the spectrum of what I can grow and create.”
Health is about harmony, explains Geyer. He doesn’t have a gym membership but works every day on the farm.
“My farm is about the experience of getting in contact with nature, getting dirt under my fingernails and connecting with the land. It feels infinite.”
A common response from visitors at Turtle’s Back Farm, according to Geyer, is awe or disbelief at its wildness.
“This is about creating an ecosystem that’s in better condition than when found, and I don’t mean just getting rid of old tires. I want to create such nutrient-rich soil that when people dig their hands into it, they find that it’s black.”
With an abundance of young farmers in the state of Wisconsin, Geyer says now is the time and here is the place to revitalize communities with agriculture; not just through fine dining, but with the larger questions of what does healthy food look and taste like, and how can it be woven into our lives.
