A sea of green will produce delicious sweet corn in about three weeks.

By Lorn Shaum
InkFreeNews Columnist

In 1986, Chuck and Tami Mohler started their produce farming operation on the Mohler family farm. Since then, their sons have become a part of the operation.

The majority of the growing techniques used on the 160 acres east of Millersburg was learned in Israel, including shemita, the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated in the Torah. These growing and land rotation techniques allow the farm to provide produce earlier than others while nurturing the land for future use.

The farm’s specially engineered, gourmet, bicolor sweet corn is started from seed inside, transferred to fields in April and covered to protect from late frosts. Corn arrives at their markets in late June — more than a month earlier than conventional sweet corn.

The Farm

Plant grafting technique.

Besides the acreage, the family farm has nine green houses. Two are for germinating and grafting (another practice learned in Israel) and seven are for growing. Tomatoes, kohlrabi and bell peppers are all ripening nicely in their cozy environments. Sammy’s tomatoes are available in early June.

Grafting is an interesting technique where you splice a plant into the stem of another plant. This technique provides a heartier, disease resistance plant resulting in superior produce.

The farm is an education in sustainable land management! Growing fields are abundant with fresh plantings that will soon start producing for their markets. At this visit, the corn fields are a sea of green.

To keep the produce growing, Stoney Creek meanders through the farm offering a vibrant water source.

The Mohler’s are passionate about improving their unique corn species. Over the years, they have continued to test for sweetness and flavor improvement. When ready, corn pickers arrive at 6:30 a.m. each morning to fill bins for transporting to their markets. The first trucks roll-out before 9 a.m. each day the markets are open. Corn is then bagged at the markets. The farm works like a clock through the summer and into early October, when the last of the corn arrives.

The farm also produces pickles, cucumbers, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, cabbages, green beans, beets, summer squash, asparagus and kohlrabi. In 2014, they expanded into selling Sweet Corn Charlie’s brand of bottled vinaigrettes, jams. Jellies, relishes and salad dressings.

Sammy is also the bee keeper. Bees are extraordinarily important to farmers for pollinating’ so hives are maintained both on the farm and in the surrounding areas. Honey is harvested and bottled for the markets.

The Markets

The market at the farm is now open and offers rhubarb, asparagus, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce and watermelons. Later in June, the markets will have Michigan strawberries and blueberries.

Peppers ripening on the vine.

The yellow striped tents are now open in Middlebury and Goshen. Warsaw is coming the week of June 6 and Syracuse will soon follow. Charley says: “Price increases are staggering. For some items, we now pay more than what we sold the item for last year!”

I first became friends with the Mohler’s when interviewing them for my book, Farmer’s in Lake Country, where the farm story is told. Since then, I have come to admire how this family carves out a living through dedication and grit. For their efforts, the Mohler’s were awarded the 2013 Family Farm of the Year for Elkhart County.

Sweet Corn Charlie also contributes heavily to the local economy by employing over 100 people during the produce season, but all is not perfect. Their biggest problem is maintaining workers after school starts. The farm loses their teacher help around the first of August and students follow a week or two later.

It would be a tremendous benefit for framers if Indiana would mandate the school year to start after Labor Day and end at Memorial Day weekend. This mandate is now in effect in Michigan, so why not here?

If You Go

The farm: 11003 CR 42, Millersburg.

Granger: 14108 Cleveland Road.

Warsaw: 3010 Frontage Road

Syracuse: 203 E. Pickwick Drive.

Dunlap: 23224 Elkhart Road.

Middlebury: US 20 across from the Essenhaus Restaurant

Goshen: US 33 near Tractor Supply Co.

North Webster: 705 S. Main St.

Market hours vary until the corn is available, then the hours will be posted at each location.