Marantha Farm, LLC ^{New! Featured}

Mary Badiny was 31 when she and her late husband, Skip, purchased 53 acres of land in Rover, near Koshkonong, that would eventually become Maranatha Farm. Initially, it was a barren land with only a few sugar maples and cedar trees. But Mary and Skip shared a passion for horticulture, and together, they transformed the once desert-like property into an oasis.

“Our farm is the best-kept secret in the Ozarks,” Badiny said. “You can ask anyone.” The farm was created with community in mind; the Badinys wanted to provide organic food for their neighbors and a garden paradise for members of the community to enjoy. Following Skip’s death in 2019, Mary Badiny has continued this labor of love, which is evident in the bounty of her produce.

Maranatha Farm raises organic fruits and vegetables and grows wintergreens in a 22-foot by 72-foot greenhouse. In addition to fruit trees, grapes and gooseberries, the operation also offers fresh herbs, perennials, raspberries and vegetable starts.

“What makes Maranatha unique is that we have everything — and every kind of garden,” Badiny said.
Before his death, Skip created a beautiful Japanese garden that his wife continues to maintain, as well as perennial beds and a medicinal herb garden. The farm provides the community with organic produce, bedding plants and agricultural education.

“I make a fantastic herbal tea blend from 12 to 14 herbs I grow here at Maranatha,” Badiny said. “It is very popular.” The blend, eponymously named “Mary’s Herbal Tea Blend,” is concocted with the help of several volunteers who are friends of Badiny’s. The friends help dry and bundle the herb strips for the tea, as well as assist with dividing seedlings and transporting orders to deliver to Meadowbrook on 238 W. Main St. in West Plains.

“I want to emphasize how wonderful Adele Voss [the owner of Meadowbrook] is, because she lets me use her store as a drop-off/pick-up point for produce and plants,” Badiny said. Sustainability is a concept that has always fascinated her; the ability to produce what one needs to be self-sufficient and provide any residuals to those in need is a perfect way for Badiny, who is a Seventh-Day Adventist, to live a selfless life according to her faith. She believes that she is charged with the responsibility of caring for the earth and its inhabitants holistically.

“This concept is not a new one,” Badiny said, “and can be practiced by country and city folks alike.” The first and most important aspect, she said, is to stay local. “This helps you, your neighbors and your entire community economically, environmentally and socially.”