Mockingbird Meadows sells a healthy lifestyle with no compromise

By Matt Reese

Dawn Combs wanted a quaint farmstead in the middle of 100 acres of herb gardens, grazing livestock and buzzing bees. Carson Combs wanted to rehab an old home in Italian Village in the heart of Columbus. Their marital compromise landed them just outside of Marysville on 3.5 acres with a population density somewhere in the middle of either extreme. The quality of the products on the resulting Mockingbird Meadows Honey and Herb Farm, though, is no compromise.

Their herb infused honeys are loved from coast-to-coast as the growing notoriety of the farm’s products has landed the couple in San Francisco to hand out samples and on the pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post.

“It all started with a lie. I told him, ‘I just want to try bees for a hobby,’” Dawn said.

It did not take long for those first few bees on the farmstead to develop into a small business. Dawn started selling her honey at a local farmers market and began making lip balm, skin cream and other products. The honey is harvested only once a year to maximize flavor and benefit to those with allergies. Carson handles most of the honey duties around his full time job as a city planner in nearby Dublin.

Along with bees, Dawn has always loved working with herbs for their flavor, health benefits and medicinal properties. It was only natural, then, for her to blend herbs and honey, resulting in honey infused with lavender, rose petals, lemon/ginger/garlic, peppermint and other herbs.

Around 40 types of herbs are harvested for commercial uses and dozens more varieties are grown for display for tours and workshops held at the farm. Dawn works hard to educate her customers on how to use herbs on their own.

“We’re trying to educate family herbalists with the knowledge and the herbs that they need,” Dawn said. “I do a lot of speaking engagements and workshops through the year to educate people about the herbs we use. And when people come here to our home just outside of Marysville on 3.5 acres, they are not intimidated. This is something they can relate to and see themselves doing.”

For the production of her plants, Dawn adheres to the principles of biodynamics that combine old herbal knowledge, folklore and science. Her methods are deigned to get the most out of agricultural production while eliminating commercial fertilizers and pesticides to more closely work in concert with nature.

She uses composted manure (from chickens, sheep and goats on the farm), herbs and table scraps, along with biodynamic soil “starters,” for fertility. She also makes compost “tea” by putting nylon stockings filled with compost and herbs and molasses or kelp into 50-gallon tanks of water with a bubbler. The resulting “tea” is used for treating plants for pests and diseases and adding fertility.

“If your soil is healthy, your plant is healthy and healthy plants are less susceptible to pests and diseases,” Dawn said. “We do things a lot differently than the farmers around here, so people are always watching us to see what we’re doing.”

Dawn also practices companion planting techniques to control pests and weeds. For example, garlic attracts the aphids that plague roses, so planting the two beside each other keeps aphids off of the roses. The properties of nettles allow nearby tomatoes to stave off spoilage for a longer duration. Spearmint deters mice and mites, so that herb is planted in abundance around the beehives for healthy, pest free colonies. Comfrey is planted around many crops because it falls over and makes an effective, natural mulch.

The farm is intended to operate in a closed loop that works with nature rather than fight it. Dandelion, lambsquarter and chickweed that plague fields and lawns, for example, can make an extremely nutritious and delicious salad fit for fine dining establishments around the country, Dawn said. “Don’t pull your weeds, eat them and use them. We spend so much money and time fighting these plants rather than trying to use them.”

All of the herbs are harvested at their peak of phytochemical potency for maximum flavor and health benefit. The proper harvest time depends on the particular herb and the part of the plant that is being used. For roots, the best harvest time is in spring right before the plant emerges from the ground or in the fall just after it goes into dormancy. For the leaves of a plant, it is best to harvest just prior to flowering. The flowers should be picked just as they are opening.

“We are going for very high quality and the work is meticulous,” she said.

Once the herbs are harvested, they are immediately incorporated into the various products from the farm. The more than a dozen types of high quality infused honey products are only a small part of the herbal offerings of the farm. Dawn also handcrafts skin creams, tinctures, bug repellant cream, first aid items, and an extremely popular poison ivy relief kit.

The full diversity of these items, along with bulk herbs, recipes and information in a regular newsletter, is available this year through a new Community Supported Agriculture program. For an up-front fee, Dawn provides monthly installments of her handcrafted items at various pick-up locations for subscribing customers.

“Starting in mid-June and ending in February, shareholders receive a box containing appropriate herbs and health aids for that time of year,” Dawn said. “The newsletter will feature a monthly herb profile, at least one herb recipe, a honey recipe and a section on a common ailment featuring the traditional way herbs have been used to support healing.”

The ultimate goal is to get more people harnessing the benefits of the herbs.

“We want people to learn to use these herbs so they’re not intimidated,” Dawn said. “I want people to know how to use herbs and teach their children how to use herbs. I think people are looking for that. Our motto here is: ‘Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.’ And really, what we’re selling is a healthy lifestyle.”

The farm was a stop on last year’s popular Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour Series. For information about the 2011 tour, stay tuned to www.ocj.com.