DANVILLE, Ind. — The Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center in northeastern Indiana is experimenting with a process called restoration agriculture, which seeks to mimic on a traditional farm field what’s found in nature.

The center’s farm manager will share his expertise and experiences during next month’s Indiana Small Farm Conference. The third annual event is March 5-7 in Danville in Hendricks County.

On a five-acre field at the center near Wolf Lake, Merry Lea staff has placed a mix of woody plants in rows that are separated into blocks. A given section of a row may have a selection of nut trees, fruit trees, grape vines and asparagus. The field has 20-25 different trees and plants, including chestnut, apple, peach and pear trees, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries and rhubarb.

Last year was the first for the experiment at the center, said Jon Zirkle, farm manager and agroecology instructor. As the plants grow and mature, one goal will be to always have something ready to harvest.

“With time, there will be different layers,” he explained. “It’s a way of managing risk differently because there should be something producing all of the time.”

The field at Merry Lea has woods on its north and western sides, and the plants chosen for the experiment were selected based on how they might grow in the area’s soil types.

“Eventually, the field should represent the diversity nearby,” Zirkle said. “It should fit right in with the landscape around it. You’re planting what would grow in the area. You don’t want something that would struggle to grow there.”

Merry Lea was started in 1965 by a couple with the goal of creating a nature center. It was donated to Goshen College in 1980.

Zirkle, along with Keefe Keeley, of the Savanna Institute, will discuss restoration agriculture the morning of March 6 at the conference.

With the first two conferences under their belts, organizers worked this year to dig deeper into topics covered in the previous events, said Steve Engleking, Purdue University extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in LaGrange County.

“The first year, farmers told their stories,” he noted. “Now attendees want to hear more about the why and the how of what they’re doing. The goal is to establish a network of small farmers around Indiana because there’s no umbrella group at the statewide level. The value of the conference is in meeting other small farmers from around the state and learning from each other.”

The event opens March 5 with pre-conference workshops on hops and market farms. Tours of area farms are also available.

Sessions on March 6 include beekeeping and pollinators, pastured poultry, cover crops, soil health, composting and liability issues for small farms. The beekeeping presentations are the result of surveys done after the previous conferences, as attendees expressed an interest in learning more about the subject, Engleking said.

Topics included on March 7 are solar energy, grant writing, livestock management, aquaponics, organic grain and winter management of vegetable crops in high tunnels. Dr. John Ikerd, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will be the day’s lunch keynote speaker.

The registration deadline for the conference is Feb. 14. The pre-conference workshop fee is $50. The cost for the conference varies for adult attendees, students and children 12 and under.

For more information and to register, visit https:// ag.purdue.edu/extension/smallfarms