Family farm becomes green burial pioneer (PHOTOS)

What began as the Wilkerson family farm has become hallowed ground.

 “Me and my brother got this place the old-fashioned way … we inherited it,” said John Wilkerson, co-founder for the Glendale Nature Preserve.

When John and Bill were youngsters, the 350-acre farm produced cotton, peanuts, corn and blueberries. These days it is best known for being one of the nation’s first green burial sites.

The destiny of the swath of land, nestled in the woods of DeFuniak Springs, evolved from a promise made by the Wilkerson boys to their parents that the family farm not be broken up and sold off.

The two boys turned their birthright into their legacy when the bold step was taken in 2002 to set aside 70 acres as a burial ground, thereby turning the control of the property to a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Written into the organizing documents is the provision that the two brothers can live their lives out — and beyond — on the land, John said.

“From Eden we come ... to Eden we shall return,” John says.

According to its brochure, “Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve is the home of the nation’s second cemetery to return to the original tradition of the inexpensive and ecologically sound burials.” It goes on to say, “The park’s beauty inspires all to ponder how they want their earthy remains to be returned to the nutritive cycles that perpetuate life.”

For John, that pondering has led to the conclusion that the creation of Glendale has been providential.

“At some point all this started, but the goal was to preserve the family farm,” Wilkerson said. “People helped us with no good logic to explain it; people with certain skills and for nothing they gave their time.”

Since then, people from all over have been drawn to the green burial ground. The preserve is the final resting place of more than 40 people, many farm animals and pets, as well as countless cremains.

The only rules are no plastic flowers allowed and leave no trash behind. Families pay for gravediggers, but there’s no charge for the plot.

Survivors can choose to mark graves with a tree. But all plots are marked with a metal post and number.

While the preserve does not direct funerals, the Wilkersons willingly work with families who choose to bury their loved one themselves.

They “explained to us how they have found that family participation and physical involvement with the burial helps in the grieving process,” said Tobin Paliath, who recently buried his daughter at the preserve. “We experienced first hand the kind hospitality and generosity of rural farm folk.”

Other than eco-friendly burials, the preserve offers eco-tours on a 1950s-era water-powered bus that Wilkerson calls his “rust-a-bus.” The preserve also has a small gift shop that provides locally produced treats and an “All Faiths Chapel.” 

"The time was ripe, so to speak, for learning how to educate and entertain," John said in reference to the tours. And the chapel can be used for “deaths, weddings, class reunions, divorce…”

They added a small sawmill in the ’70s as a way to keep busy during the slow season and avoid going into town. And when they took the property over, they pursued their own interests by planting bamboo and the turkey hunting bait crop, chufa.

In addition to ashes, there are artistic scrap-metal creations scattered around the grounds that John calls his “Rust-a-farians.” They have even garnered the preserve some international acclaim.

“Four years ago I couldn’t draw a stick man,” he said, then last summer a German photographer came out to take pictures of the band-of-merry metal men that were handcrafted by John.

To the lighthearted John, the preserve represents the circle of life.

“Pick and watch a tree grow, turn it to lumber, make a closet, take it home and put your clothes in it,” he said. “When you’re ready for it, they can take your clothes to Caring and Sharing, roll you in it and put you back to where the tree came from.”

To view photos of the preserve, click here.

Want to learn more about the nature preserve? Go to http://www.glendalenaturepreserve.org.