By Karen Parr-Moody
CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. – Steve Nagy was in the restaurant business for 30 years and then opted, 5 years ago, to “get out of the rat race,” he says. That was when he went to work where he lives, at Nature’s Promise Farm in Cheatham County.
Nagy’s farm is one of a handful of farms in this area that operates in an organic fashion.
“My basic philosophy is to try to keep everything in harmony with nature,” he says.
He doesn’t do a lot of excess cultivation or weeding and he doesn’t use chemicals or pesticides.
Nagy’s wife, Trish, sells the fruits of this all-natural labor at Clarksville’s Downtown Market, which takes place every Saturday, through October, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at One Public Square.
During the hot summer season Nagy sells green beans, cucumbers, peas, okra, corn, berries, melons, zucchini, mushrooms, Asian pears and various types of squash and tomatoes. During spring and fall he sells cool season crops including kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, sugar peas, lettuce and spinach.
The crops of Nature’s Promise Farm currently include green beans, cucumbers, peas, okra, corn, berries, melons, zucchinis mushrooms, Asian pears and various types of squash and tomatoes./Karen Parr-Moody
Nagy’s farm occupies 25 acres; he farms about six or seven of these in what he calls “a low-stress environment.” He doesn’t use heavy machinery, but instead picks everything by hand.
“I don’t overburden them with heavy equipment and trauma,” he says.
He also encourages a natural ecosystem, which includes beneficial insects and birds that eat the non-beneficial insects (he has 15 birdhouses).
Then there are the 80 chickens, which are truly free-range.
“They scour the property and they’re really good for eating the bugs and insects and, of course, for fertilizer,” he says. “It all kind of goes hand in hand.”
Nagy was raised on a sustainable, all-natural farm back in the ’50s and ’60s.
“Farming has always been in my blood,” he says.
But, he admits, farming by his methods is hard work.
“It’s easy to spray,” he says. “But that just doesn’t jive with me. And customers are always saying my food tastes better than anybody else’s.”
To learn more about Nature’s Promise Farm visit the Downtown Market on Saturday mornings or call Nagy at 615-308-9634.