by Shane Smith, Outreach
Coordinator
The fields at Middle Branch Farm in New Boston have been continuously
farmed since the 1700’s. The farm has
served over the decades as a dairy, apple orchard, vegeatble, poultry and meat farm. The farm was in the possession of the Colburn
family from its inception to the point where Roger Noonan bought it in 2000. Noonan and his family continues in that tradition of a
diversified sustainable family farm. The
100 acres at Middle Branch include woodland, pastures and fertile fields.
Noonan has been farming organically at Middle Branch Farm for over ten
years. His farming philosophy and methodology
was shaped in part by his time at Marlboro College in Vermont, which Roger has
described as “full of farmer/back-to-the-land types.” One of the books he read in college was, Plowman’s
Folly by Edward Faulkner. Noonan credits this book as a major factor to the style of farming he employs today. The book, written in the mid nineteen- forties, outlined
the missuse of soil by conventional plowing and soil management practices. Noonan believes that building healthy soil is
the most essential aspect to successful organic farming.
Roger has a much larger scale to
his farm than most of the farmers we visited, with 40 acres in vegetable
production alone. That is an amazing
amount of fields to contend with especially considering how much of the work
needs to be done by hand! He may even be
the largest certified organic farmer in the state.
Roger (center) and Midle Branch Farm crew |
Roger has recently become politically active on the national farm scene. The Co-op works with him on national farm issues by sending action alerts to our members. Most recently several action alerts were created and sent to Co-op members urging their support of the 2012 Farm Bill. He is currently the Vice-President of the New England Farmers Union where he fights for the rights of New England farmers and fisherman.
For more information about Middle Branch Farm click here
For more information about the New England Farmer's Union click here
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