Something no one else has.
Something with greater variety.
That’s what Larry and Phyllis Duncil are offering at their organic farm.
“We grow everything — legal,” Larry Duncil said, beaming a broad smile at his joke. But the Duncils do seem to grow just about everything else — from vegetables and fruits. They grow tomatoes, Early Glow strawberries, peppers, many types of lettuce, including Japanese, Red and Green and Hawaiian, onions, blueberries, cauliflower, cucumbers, numerous Oriental vegetables, broccoli, thornless blackberries, shallots, leeks and garlic.
They also grow herbs, such as basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary; and flowers, including asters, marigolds, chrysanthemums, impatience, passion vines and nasturtium.
But that’s not all. The farm grows eight kinds of oak, plum trees, Bradford pears and Cleveland pears; and shrubs, like wisteria, junipers and arborvitae. They also have available a field filled with 600 Ricks of hardwood that can be custom-cut to length and split in any fashion they need for camping, fireplaces, smoking meat and other uses. The Duncil farm also has both fresh mulch, used largely for decorative purposes, and 8-year-old biodegradable mulch, used mainly for gardening.
Phyllis Duncil also grows Passion Vines and roses, specifically to please her 90-year-old mom, Mary Christian, who lives with the Duncils.
“They’re just for personal pleasure to make Mom happy,” she said.
The Duncils pride themselves on growing plants that others don’t have such as an oriental radish and a sweet and mild radish. The oriental radishes have been known to grow to 100 pounds.
“I’ve got a whole bunch of new plants,” Larry Duncil said. And everything is grown organically, which he believes, produces a better quality and healthier food. “The American public eats fungicides, herbicides and pesticides. It’s pitiful what they put in commercially available soil.”
Larry Duncil is a seventh-generation farmer. The Duncils, who have been married for 44 years, moved to Bradley County and started farming about eight years ago. Previously, the couple also had a farm in Polk County for 12 years. They have five children, 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In addition to farming, the Duncils also have a tractor with a six-foot tiller that is just perfect to do household garden tilling to prepare the soil.
“I’ve already done six home gardens just this week,” Larry Duncil said. Tilling hard soil can be almost impossible for homeowners with a hand-tiller — as well as more time consuming. “I can do an acre an hour. It’s a major problem for homeowners. It’s too physically exhausting. Easy for me.”
A trencher is also available to create underground water and electric lines.
Particularly unique and environmentally friendly is Larry Duncil’s original and unique greenhouse design which he created about a year and a half ago on his Bradley County farm property. Other greenhouses look more like a quonset hut with an arched roof. The Duncils’ greenhouse is made of a combination of 6x6 wooden beams along with 4x4 beams making a half-triangle shape.
“It’s sturdier than most greenhouses,” Larry Duncil said.
This design, covered with heavy plastic, helps catch and divert rain water to two barrels. This water is then recycled in a new type of gutter system and used to water the plants, vegetables, trees and shrubs.
Duncil plans on building the other half of the triangle-shape to make a greenhouse twice as big as his current structure within a few months. That way, he will be able to run his greenhouse on two different temperatures allowing for greater versatility and helping meet the more specific growing needs of his plants.
And, if you have any questions about plants and how to grow them and want to check out his farm? “Just stop by,” he said. “I’d be glad to try to help.”
