Member Spotlight: OEFFA Authors

Originally published in the Winter 2025 edition of the OEFFA newsletter.

As rich as the lands we grow on, the OEFFA community is also an abundant source of education and inspiration. We are fortunate to have members who share their expertise in myriad ways, including through the written word. For this member spotlight, we connected with three OEFFA authors.

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Deborah Fleming, Ashland County

Deborah Fleming is an important voice for Ohio agriculture and our environment. The first essay she wrote was inspired by an interaction that many of us could likely relate to. After telling someone she was from Ohio, she was met with their grimacing face. Ohio has a bad rap, just ask Gen Alpha, who use “Ohio” as slang for weird or cringe.

But our state is a wondrous, incredible place to call home, as Fleming’s Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape so beautifully articulates. The collection of meditations touches on farming, mining, horseback riding, and all the other ways Ohio’s inhabitants connect with this land—for good or bad. The beloved OEFFA Conference even makes an appearance in the book,

“Spending two days among more than a thousand people interested in organic farming and gardening inspires me for a new year of planting and harvesting and makes me wish I had majored in agronomy.”

While agronomy hasn’t been a focus of Fleming’s life, writing has. She always considered herself a poet and her poetry collections include Earthrise, Into a New Country, and Morning, Winter Solstice. She was a professor of English at Ashland University and editor/director of the Ashland Poetry Press until 2022. 

After the essay that painted a different picture of Ohio, Fleming alchemized her interest in Johnny Appleseed into another essay. Her life’s journey has followed a similar path to the famed nurseryman. Like him, she was raised in Jefferson County, lived in Licking County, and moved to Ashland County.

Only six miles away, Malabar Farm and its founder, Louis Bromfield, served as further inspiration for her essays. Once these and more were compiled, it took Fleming 50 different publishers to find one that would bite; but it was worth her wait. The collection of essays won the PEN America Literary Award in 2020.

“To get the juices flowing, I read,” Fleming shared. “Like an artist looking at someone else’s picture, reading is one of the best ways to get ideas.” 

Stay tuned for Fleming’s forthcoming book, inspired in part by a local fracking plant, Ghosts of an Old Forest. It can be pre-ordered at kentstateuniversitypress.com.

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Drausin Wulsin, Pike County

When asked about how he became an author, Drausin Wulsin simply replied, “By becoming a farmer.” 

Wulsin was an English major in college, but he did not expect he would ever be writing stories, or selling food. But he transitioned from the financial to the agricultural world when he was middle age, on the land his father bought some 50 years earlier. Then, he did it all. He raised cows, sheep, chickens, hogs, and hens—tirelessly moving his herds daily, harvesting weekly, and making the lengthy commute to farmers’ markets—while also working on a delectable line of prepared foods. It is untenable to produce so much, especially as one approaches retirement, so Wulsin re-envisioned what could be produced on his family’s 1,100 acres. 

Now, Wulsin is in the business of selling carbon credits through the Red Stone Farm Wetland Mitigation Bank (RSFWMB), something he laid the groundwork for decades ago. Mitigation banks are sites where wetlands have been preserved, restored, or newly established. Once they meet rigorous standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, credits can be sold, providing a diverse income stream for farmers like Wulsin. He may sell the credits to strange bedfellows, but said “at least they’re having to pay for their bad deeds.” 

“Making money selling commodities is a difficult proposition for the average person,” Wulsin said. He shared that farmers are guardians of their landscapes, and programs like this help them get paid for it. 

Along with a team of five, Wulsin has planted more than 135,000 trees and shrubs across three of RSFWMB’s four stages. Witnessing the changes in biodiversity is rewarding, as is escaping from the technology many of us find ourselves addicted to. “The best antidote is the kind of work we’re doing,” he said. “Our salvation is right out here.”

In a world that is becoming increasingly fragmented, Wulsin deepens his connection to the land. While he and his RSFWMB team gather data, Wulsin also gathers disjointed thoughts and takes photos. Then, he reviews what he’s collected to see if there is a story. And often, there is.

Drausin Wulsin is the author of three volumes of A Farmer’s Almanac: Stories about Land, Food, and Life. Volume one deals with the ‘Fascination of Discovery,’ volume two with the ‘Wonder of Actualization,’ and volume three with the ‘Virtue of Adaptation.’ His fourth, A Wetlander’s Almanac, is in the works. Find a copy through many local book retailers, or on Amazon. Learn more about RSFWMB at redstonefarm.org.

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Debra Knapke, Franklin County

After two other careers, in 1992 Debra Knapke turned her avocation of plant study and gardening into her full-time career.  Known as “The Garden Sage,” Knapke is passionate about gardening, sustainable garden design, and the natural world, and enjoys sharing knowledge through her writing, public speaking, and garden coaching and consulting in the private and public sectors. 

She has served on various local and national committees and boards that focus on education, the environment, and sustainability. In addition, she has mentored the future of the landscape industry at Columbus State Community College for 24 years (1995-2019). Her current passion is to foster awareness and love for the Earth and her water and land by working with OEFFA as a soil health advocate.

Knapke began writing because she was offered an opportunity to create basic-to-intermediate reference books. As a teacher, she embraced the opportunity to share information so others could build their own experiences. “My books are guides for choosing and growing plants; a place to start and a place to come back to when you have questions,” she said.

Books penned by “The Garden Sage” include Perennials for Ohio, Annuals for Ohio, Gardening Month by Month, Best Garden Plants for Ohio, Herb Gardening for the Midwest, and Heartland Gardening: Celebrating the Seasons. Knapke’s books are mostly older, so they can be found in garden centers, libraries, and through online retailers. 

“Not all books are meant to be bought by all people,” Knapke said. “In the name of sustainability, libraries are a way to lessen our carbon footprint caused by ownership of stuff.” 

Learn more about Knapke and her books by visiting debrathegardensage.com.

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Are you an OEFFA member with a food or farm story to share? Contact newsletter@oeffa.org for a chance to be featured!