The Home Monthly Magazine, April 1998
Local Farms Produce In Abundance
Elayne Robertson DembyWith the warming weather, it's natural to start thinking of planting a vegetable garden, with maybe a little plot set aside to grow flowers for the house. But not everyone is that ambitious. The good news is that some local farmers do the work for you and, for a small fee, you can have fresh vegetables for your table, and flowers for your house. Buying locally grown vegetables is also a good way to reduce your intake of harmful pesticides and herbicides since many of these local farms use organic methods.
In growing food organically, says Bill Hill of Warrups Farm in Redding, he's trying to raise people's awareness as to the source of their food. "It's important to know were your food comes from," he says, "and it's important for people to support their local farms because otherwise food gets shipped, making them dependent on cheap energy. And varieties are grown for their shipping capacity as opposed to their taste."
John Holbrook of Holbrook's Farm in Bethel, agrees, and stresses that just because something is labeled a "farm stand" doesn't mean that the produce was grown anywhere near where it is sold. "Many farm stands don't grow the food, so you don't know where it comes from, and what's been sprayed on it," he says.
And, says John, Holbrook Farm has been clean of pesticides and herbicides for at least the last 30 years that he and his wife Lynn have owned the land. While not certified organic, "too much paperwork," John says, he uses organic methods. "We don't spray with pesticides, we try to use beneficial insects and companion plants," he says, "and we don't use herbicides. Weeds have a place in the ecological mix as long as they are controlled."
Nurturing the soil is also important to organic farming says Bill Hill. Warrups has been certified organic since 1991. "We try to take care of the land," he says, "by adding compost and nurturing the soil." Chemical fertilizers, says Hill, makes plants dependent on the "quick fix" they provide and robs the soil of microbial life which in turn makes plants more susceptible to pests.
Bill and his wife Laura, have been farming at Warrups Farm for the last 15 years. In the summer they invite people to pick their own vegetables and herbs including sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, salad greens, beets, dill, basil and cilantro.
In Autumn, they have pick-your-own pumpkins. And in late Winter and early Spring they sell maple syrup gathered from their own trees.
At Holbrook they try to open as early as possible. "We kick off the season with asparagus and rhubarb, usually the first week of May," says John Holbrook. Lettuce is also an early seller, and in the summer peas, beets, tomatoes, basil, thyme and oregano among others are ready to sell. "We also sell corn, picked fresh every day in summer," says John. Another year round treat for visitors to Holbrook Farm are fresh laid eggs from their summer-time flock of nearly 100 free-range chickens.
Flowers are also a big seller at both Warrups and Holbrook Farms where one can go to get huge bouquets of sunflowers, cosmos, black-eyed-susans, salvias, and zinnias. "They've been a surprise in terms of sales," says John Holbrook, "People love to come and cut their own bouquets." Bill Hill thinks that his customers like the loose, country-style of the arrangements they can make with the flowers he grows, as opposed to the stiff formality of most florist stems.
Westport residents who visit Holbrook Farm may recognize a familiar sight. John Holbrook disassembled Rippe's Barn, originally on North Avenue in Westport, and erected it on his property as a stand to sell the produce grown on his farm, along with locally made bread, cheeses, maple syrup, jellies and pickles.
Holbrook Farm, 45 Turkey Plain Road (Route 53 South), Bethel, (203) 792-0561.
Warrups Farm, 11 John Read Road, Redding, (203) 938-9403.