Organic For Life

MASARYKTOWN - Joe Lemieux emerged from behind the corn stalks cradling four ripe cantaloupes.

He was used to buying produce from the farm and stocking his organic grocery store. Today, he was gleefully taking some fruit for free.

"How cool is it to go out and pick your own food and not have to worry about pesticides?" he beamed. "That's the way it was 50 years ago."

Lemieux has been a vegetarian for 35 years. He has owned two organic markets in Hernando County. The one he currently runs, Green Bean Organic Market, is getting much of its produce from an expanding farm in Masaryktown owned by Dan Ebbecke.

Ebbecke has a U-pick blueberry farm, which he grows organically. He is adding more and more to his 67-acre property, including yellow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, blackberries, herbs, corn, watermelon, onions, peppers and potatoes.

The enormous size of his property means he must get in his truck and drive to get from his blackberry garden to his cornstalks. Along the way, he passes his cow pasture.

As soon as they see his truck roll along the dirt road, they roam toward the fence. They are ready to feed.

"Oh, moo," Ebbecke said as a black cow cried out for the corn and watermelon in the bed of his pickup. "I'll throw some stuff out there and make them happy."

Lemieux followed him in his car. He sported sandals and colorful socks. He had gray hair that still came down to his shoulders. He looked the part of an organic food enthusiast - or at least someone who has attended a few Grateful Dead shows.

Ebbecke is harder to pigeonhole. He harvests several tilapia on his property and he also owns some livestock.

He wears an old dirty baseball cap and drives a Dodge pickup truck. He has slapped several stickers onto his back bumper over the years. One reads "Organic 4 Life" and another reads "My boss is a Jewish carpenter."

Ebbecke's love for organic farming dates back to when he was barely old enough to ride a bicycle.

While growing up in New Jersey, his great-grandfather used his own compost for his garden. The local fishermen would come by and pull worms out of his piles to use for bait.

Ebbecke took to that organic lifestyle. He laments the methods of conventional farmers who "deplete the biodiversity of the soil" by using nitrates and pesticides.

Since 2002, the federal government set guidelines for organic farmers, which Ebbecke follows closely. He uses a variety of natural insecticides, namely pyrethrum, which comes from the chrysanthemum flower.

Now that more and more people are becoming health conscious and there is more diversity in the market for all-natural products, Ebbecke simply made one more step to become a full-fledged organic farmer.

"I had been using organic principles largely before becoming organic," he said. "I just decided to take the plunge."

Even though the farm is in its "nascent stage," Ebbecke is confident his 21 acres of crops will expand to cover most of his property.

Lemieux wasted no time becoming a repeat customer. Last week, he bought 320 pounds of yellow squash from Ebbecke's farm. He was walking along the rows of crops and noticed several more large and ripe squashes, but his friend, Helen, who also works at his store, playfully told him she would hurt him if he bought one more squash.

"I grow it and he sells it," Ebbecke said about Lemieux. "It works out pretty well for us."