Middle Branch Farm

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

The Co-op has been carrying Middle Branch vegetables since its beginnings.  This past Thanksgiving the Co-op sold over 600 lbs. of Middle Branch winter squash.

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

The Good Earth Farm

Dave in one of his four high tunnels

by Shane Smith, Outreach Coordinator

Dave Trumble has been a certified organic farmer since 1987.  His four greenhouses sit atop forested hills in Wear NH.  Because of the hilltop location the land is bathed in ample sunlight and receives a constant breeze.  All of Good Earth Farm's seedlings (vegetables, herbs and flowers) are started in the greenhouses in compost based potting soil.

As demand for local and organic food has exploded in recent years, Dave has diversified his business model.  More and more organic farmers are looking to Dave to supply them with their seedlings for the spring growing season, particularly those seedling that are difficult to start.  Dave now supplies at least 10 local organic and some beginning farmers with a diverse mix of seedlings.

Dave has sold to the Co-op for 20 years

According to Dave’s estimates, organic seedlings now account for roughly half of Good Earth Farm’s revenues.  The Co-op carries almost exclusively seedlings from Good Earth in the Spring.  I have used them in my home garden for several years and can attest that they are the best.

"Like a lot of things, the best and hardest parts of something spring from the same root. Farming is both a way of life and a job. Farming is right outside your door and is with you every day throughout the seasons. It is a real blessing to live on a farm and have such good work to do each and every day. The hardest part is treating farming like a job and applying a financial perspective to your work as well." (from Good Earth Farm website)

Yours truly holding an early June tomato

Dave also supplies vegetables to the Local Harvest CSA and to several small natural food stores.  At the Co-op his organic tomatoes are the first to arrive as they have had a big heads-start growing in the greenhouse.

For more information about Good Earth Farm click here

For more information about the Local Harvest CSA click here

Musterfield Farm

by Shane Smith, Outreach Coordinator 

Agriculture is alive and well at Muster Field Farm in North Sutton, as it has been for parts of the last four centuries. The large, flat and open fields, where militias mustered during the 18th and 19th centuries, are used to demonstrate farm operations and equipment during Musterfield Farm Days in August. They also produce a large amount of hay that is used on the farm to winter-over the cows and other animals.

Steve

Today's farm produces vegetables, flowers, hay, eggs, and cordwood. Ice blocks are cut from Kezar Lake in the winter and stored until summer in the farm's ice house. Over 200 of the museum's 250 acres are under a conservation easement with the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, and a program of selective cutting and sustainable forest management maintains diverse stands of mixed hardwoods and softwoods.

Steve Paquin, the farm manager, and seasonal helpers are always hard at work. The farm specializes in vegetable production, with the best fields producing a wide range of vegetables (including Steve's speciality, sweet melons of all varieties

Steve and Paula

The farm enjoys robust produce and cut flower sales from their farm stand during the summer months.  It sells to local visitors as well as supplying neighboring restaurants and food markets, like the Kearsarge Cooperative Grocer, just up the road in New London.

The farm also maintains a small but varied population of farm animals which round out the farming operation. Pigs, cows, and chickens are always to be found on the grounds.

View of the Pillsbury Barn

Brookford Farm

by Shane Smith, Outreach Coordinator

Luke Mahoney and Brookford Farm have a very unique story.   Luke has been farming since he was fourteen years old when he began picking beets on a conventional vegetable farm.  His first internship after college found him working on a bio-dynamic farm in Pennsylvania.  Bio-dynamic farming encourages holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system.  
He stayed on the bio-dynamic train when he moved two years later to farm in Russia where he met his wife, Catarina, from Dresden, Germany, who also worked on the farm.  Although Luke describes their time in Russia as “ad hoc” farming, they stayed on the farm in Russia for four years where they also had had their first son, Oliver.  In October of 2004, Catarina and Luke moved with Oliver to Kattendorfer Hof near Hamburg, Germany. Kattendorfer Hof is a diversified biodynamic farm with a strong concentration on CSA and direct marketing of produce. Catarina took part in the formal biodynamic apprenticeship program with a focus in vegetable production and Luke worked with the cows. This was a formative year for the couple as they took part in farm production on a scale and level of efficiency which they had never previously seen.

In January 2007, the Mahoney family moved with their two sons to Brookford Farm in Rollinsford, New Hampshire. With access to 200 acres of grass it became clear that dairy cows would once  again be in Luke’s future.  Early on, Brookford shipped milk to the cooperative milk processor Organic Valley and sold a small amount of raw milk and cream on the side. The market for their bottled raw milk and other dairy products grew and in the spring of 2010, they could no longer supply Organic Valley. Noticing a local demand for holistic foods Brookford also began producing pastured meats, eggs and vegetables.

With the help of Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm the, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, and family and friends, the Mahoneys found a permanent home for their farm in Canterbury, New Hampshire. Beginning in early 2012, Brookford Farm moved its entire operation to the new 613-acre site.
When we visited in June, the farm was undergoing myriad changes.  Since the Canterbury land in the past few decades had been used primarily as a sod and ornamental plant nursery farm, all of the manure and soil amendments were shipped in to Canterbury from Rollinsford keeping with the bio-dynamic model.  Much of their staff were also retained in the move. In addition to stores such as the Co-op, Brookford products can also be purchased in diversified CSA shares as well as local farmers markets.

Generation Farm

 by Shane Smith, Outreach Coordinator

I first met James Steever during the Co-op’s screening of the film Greenhorns, part of the Green Living Series at Red River Theaters.  The film documents the trials and struggles of young farmers in America.  James and his three partners, Joanna Brown, Peter Brown, and Chris O’Leary were just beginning their own entrepreneurial venture on 72 acres of land in Concord.  Together they bring a wide diversity of farming experience and education to the table. 

Joanna and James

Within a few months of our meeting, Generation Farm’s fantastic fresh salad greens were available in the Produce department.  As they started their greens production last year, Generation Farm was simultaneously clearing twelve acres for vegetable, fruit and flower production; erecting and planting a 30x60 ft. greenhouse; building healthy soil; developing their organic farm plan of companion cropping, crop rotation, and green manures; pursuing organic certification; and acquiring the permits, variances and architectural plans for erecting a 40 x 80 ft. barn.

Greg and Paula with pepper starters

Now that all of those carefully laid plans are coming to fruition, they’ll be planting 3 acres of organically managed fruit trees using Michael Philips holistic organic orchard techniques.  Their goal is to become one of the first commercial organic orchards in the state. When I asked James about his motivation for farming he said, “…farming is inspiring us because it fosters a connection with nature, our land, and its diverse ecosystems.  Farming as a career choice is as political and ethical a decision as much as it is an economic one.”

Joanna and James in the greenhouse.