Visiting Local Farms

Cheryl Bowen-DiTommaso of Dalby Farm introduces students from Marshfield's Pudding Hill Preschool to Stella the chicken. Photo by Kezia Bacon-Bernstein.

This past spring, I accompanied my son’s preschool class on a field trip to Dalby Farm in Scituate. We enjoyed a tour of the premises, meeting all of the animals that reside there – goats, sheep, rabbits and swine, plus chickens, roosters, geese and ducks, and even a pair of peacocks! We learned about the eggs, wool, and other products of the farm, and got to touch and smell various kinds of animal feed. The kids each had an opportunity to pet Stella the chicken, whose feathers were surprisingly soft. We also learned about the importance of recycling and composting.

There are a number of farms on the South Shore that welcome visitors. Many also offer classes and workshops for adults and children, as well as other opportunities for hands-on learning about agriculture, science, ecology, history, and plenty more. Recent columns have highlighted Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset and Weir River Farm in Hingham; you can read them in my nature column blog at http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com. In the meantime, let’s learn about a few more.

Located at 59 Grove Street in Scituate, Dalby Farm was founded in the mid-1800s. Originally a chicken farm that sold eggs to local merchants, it now focuses on rare and heirloom breeds of poultry and livestock. A satellite of the Plimoth Plantation Rare Breeds Department, and a member of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Dalby is actively involved in teaching awareness of animals and nature. It is open to the public from May through October, ideal for field trips, birthday parties, and small group visits. The material is tailored to fit the age of the group. The farm also runs seasonal events such as Spring Hatch Eggs-travaganza, Rare Breeds Discovery Program, The Dalby Farm Experience Summer Program, and the Country Christmas Fair. For more information, visit www.dalbyfarm.com or call 781-545-4952.

Another education-based farm is the Soule Homestead at 46 Soule Street in Middleboro, where the primary focus is “teaching children about the web of life.” Part of Soule Homestead’s mission is to show people where their food comes from and to promote sustainable agricultural practices. The farm has large fields for crops and grazing, which makes it scenic as well as educational. Many visitors go there just to enjoy the open space. George Soule, a Pilgrim, began farming this parcel in 1662, when he purchased it from the Wampanoag tribe. In 1988, the Town Of Middleboro bought the 120-acre property, intent on saving it from development and maintaining it for agricultural use. In 1993 a group of citizens began leasing it from the town to use as an organic farm and education center.

Now the Soule Homestead is open to the public, Tuesday through Sunday from 9-5, with free admission. It offers a variety of programs for hands-on learning, including school field trips and vacation programs, children's birthday parties and adult workshops. While there, you might meet the animals, spin wool or make butter, learn to identify different parts of a plant, experiment with centuries-old farm tools, or study how farming and the landscape have changed over the years. Plus there are several annual events such as Sheep Day, a summer concert series, The Harvest Fair, and the Unscary Halloween Party. For more information, visit www.soulehomestead.org or call (508) 947-6744.

I was surprised to learn that the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department runs its own farm, in Plymouth. Located on Obery Street, near the new courthouse, the farm’s summer hours are 9 am to 5 pm, seven days a week (After Labor Day, it closes at 3 pm). The Sheriff’s Farm features a free petting zoo, with cows, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and even a tortoise! The farm staff is made up of six correction officers who are also trained horticulturalists; these officers supervise an inmate crew who raise plants and care for the animals on the 90-acre farm. The hard daily work that the farm requires serves as rehabilitation for the inmates. The farm also hosts a Harvest Festival in the fall, and sells Christmas trees and other holiday décor in December. For more information, visit http://www.pcsdma.org/Farm_And_Petting_Zoo.asp.

One of the most important things you can learn while visiting these farms is the concept of sustainability. Especially since the end of World War II, agriculture in the United States has changed dramatically. While productivity has soared, so have the use of chemicals and practices that ultimately harm not just the soil, but the people and animals that live nearby. This affects not only the farm itself, but the surrounding lands, as well as the rivers, streams and other bodies of water downstream.

However, farms that employ sustainable practices strive to protect and enhance the land. While growing crops or raising livestock, these farms make use of on-site resources wherever possible, and limit the use of non-renewable resources. Some common methods include rotating crops, recycling crop waste, treating and composting manure, replenishing the soil without chemicals, and avoiding excess tillage and poorly managed irrigation. These practices not only sustain the economic viability of the farm, they improve the quality of life for the farm’s workers, as well as the flora and fauna both on and downstream of the farm.

By Kezia Bacon-Bernstein
June 2010

Kezia Bacon-Bernstein's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 13 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com.

Preserving Agricultural Landscapes

Cows graze on a hilltop pasture at Weir River Farm.

It was in the middle of our third hayride at Mass Audubon's Daniel Webster Farm Day that it occurred to me that my son and I have been spending an awful lot of time on the farm this month. In addition to attending Farm Day, one of our annual fall rituals, we picked tomatoes, potatoes and a pumpkin at Weir River Farm's Market Garden in Hingham, sat on tractors and took a different hayride at the South Shore Natural Science Center's Corn Festival in Norwell, picked apples at Mounce Farm in Marshfield, and visited the cows at O'Neil Farm in Duxbury. Plus, every week we've stopped by Rise and Shine Farm in Marshfield to pick up our farm share (and if Abel's lucky, dig some carrots). We are fortunate to have so many farms, so close by.

Despite its agricultural history, the South Shore can no longer be described as a farming community. There may be farmlands hidden away here and there, but to get a real feel for the wide-open fields that large agricultural enterprises require, you have to go to Plympton or Middleboro or parts of Bridgewater. This wasn't the case 100 years ago, when farming was still a way of life around here.

Things have changed. Lands where once we raised cattle, or grain, or vegetables are now neighborhoods, strip malls, big box stores. It won't change back. That's why I am grateful for organizations like Mass Audubon, The Trustees of Reservations, and The Wildlands Trust for having the foresight to preserve agricultural landscapes.

It was 25 years ago that Mass Audubon purchased the 350-acre Dwyer Farm from Edward Dwyer, the last in a short line of owners that also included statesman Daniel Webster. Dwyer was ready to retire from farming, but did not want to see his land absorbed in suburban sprawl. Negotiations with the Conservation Commission had stalled, due in part to the property's $500,000 price tag. But thanks to the tireless efforts of Dorothea Reeves and other volunteers on the Committee to Preserve Dwyer Farm, numerous fundraisers, and an anonymous $100,000 donation, Dwyer Farm was saved from development and preserved as open space for future generations. "Nature doesn't last for us if we take it for granted," Reeves told the Marshfield Mariner. "This is paying off some of our debt to nature."

Since then, the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary (Winslow Cemetery Road, Marshfield) has grown to over 500 acres. With rolling green meadows, an apple orchard, and vestiges of old agricultural structures, it still has the feel of a traditional New England Farm. It is also one of the most strikingly beautiful places on the South Shore. Audubon has added two miles of walking trails, wildlife observation blinds and platforms, boardwalks through red maple swamplands, and foot bridges over the Green Harbor River to facilitate exploration. It is open year-round, dawn to dusk.

Another agricultural landscape now preserved for posterity is Weir River Farm in Hingham (Turkey Hill Lane). Managed by the Trustees of Reservations since 1999, this beautiful 75-acre property was originally a country estate, founded in the early twentieth century. Most recently, it was the home of Polly Thayer Starr, an acclaimed painter. Ten acres of fields have been left open for pasture, evoking an aura of days long past. The Weir River flows through the northwest edge of the property. There are also 60 acres of oak and red cedar woodland, and a good old-fashioned barnyard, with horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and a llama.

The Trustees of Reservations have made a point to preserve the farm's historic character while providing diverse wildlife habitat. This spring, on a hilltop field that once grew corn and winter rye, grower Cindy Prentice (with the help of hundreds of volunteers) put in a 2.5-acre Market Garden, with 90 varieties of flowers and vegetables, including 20 different kinds of sunflowers. The garden is open to the public twice a week for Pick Your Own; they also have a small farm stand. All summer long, Weir River hosts Open Barnyard on Saturdays, where visitors can meet the animals that reside there. The season culminates with the Fall Festival, with livestock viewings, live music, pony rides, pumpkins and more. Walking trails are open year-round.

Why should you visit Weir River Farm? Meghan Connolly, the property's Education and Interpretation Coordinator, has this to say. "When people first discover the farm, they often have the same reaction: 'a place like this exists on the South Shore?' There is something about this place that appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds. Whether it is a five-year-old collecting eggs for the first time, an eighty year old neighbor out for his daily hike, or a volunteer with their hands in the soil of our market garden, there is a community here that everyone can be a part of."

A third agricultural landscape now preserved for the enjoyment of future generations is the Historic O'Neil Farm in Duxbury (Autumn Ave.). By far the most recent of such acquisitions on the South Shore, the property was opened in part to the public in 2005, thanks largely to the efforts of The Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts. It is now run by its own non-profit corporation, Historic O'Neil Farm, Inc. Conservation restrictions and an agricultural preservation restriction are in place to ensure that the farmhouse, barn and outbuildings will remain, and that the 145-acre farm will never be developed as house lots.

The farm was founded in or before 1736, and has been in the O'Neil family since 1829. Current owner Carl O'Neil, along with his brother Edward, took over day-to-day operations in the 1950s; Carl himself has been running the dairy farm for the past 30 years, selling milk to Agri-Mark, a cooperative best known for Cabot Cheese. It is possibly the last working dairy farm on the South Shore.

While O'Neil asks visitors not to disturb activities in the barnyard, there is a new walking trail on the property, and another one in progress, both of which give you a sense of the land and how it is worked. While there, you might catch a glimpse of O'Neil plowing a field or letting the cows out to pasture. Once a year, on Farm Day, the entire farm is open to the public, with hayrides, animal demonstrations, and children's games and crafts. Private tours also may be arranged.

Besides being a fun place to bring the kids, farms like these - some working, some not - are a wonderful destination for anyone seeking a pleasant walk or the opportunity to spot some wildlife. They speak to our region's not-so-distant history, and remind us of the importance of keeping land undeveloped and open to the public.

"Agricultural landscapes are a window to our past, the classrooms of today's new farmers and an important piece of our food independence in the future," says Meghan Connolly. "Even non-working farms are an important feature in defining the unique feel of Massachusetts and provide critical habitats for grassland bird species and other wildlife."

by Kezia Bacon-Bernstein
September 2009

Kezia Bacon-Bernstein's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 13 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com.

Visiting Weir River Farm

Graham Schofield, 3, of Marshfield, checks out the chickens at Weir River Farm.

If you haven’t yet visited Weir River Farm in Hingham, now’s the time to check it out. Managed by the Trustees of Reservations since 1999, this beautiful 75-acre property offers something for everyone.

Like World’s End, its majestic companion to the east, Weir River Farm features a stunning view of Boston Harbor. The panorama from the top of Turkey Hill can be breathtaking. On a clear day, you might be able to see the North Shore.

Weir River Farm was originally a country estate, founded in the early twentieth century. Most recently, it was the home of Polly Thayer Starr, an acclaimed painter. Ten acres of fields have been left open for pasture, evoking an aura of days long past. The Trustees of Reservations make a point to preserve the farm’s “historic pastoral and agricultural character,” while providing diverse wildlife habitat. The Weir River flows through the northwest edge of the property.

There are also 60 acres of oak and red cedar woodland. A footpath from the top of Turkey Hill meanders down through the fields and the woods, and then divides into two trails. One trail leads to the barnyard, while the other directs visitors to The Grove. Intentionally reminiscent of a British woodland, The Grove features an open understory plus a garden path bordered with flowering shrubs and perennials.

The trails measure a total of 1.5 miles. Some are quite steep. Whether you’re hiking uphill or down, be prepared to feel your muscles at work! Trail maps are available near the parking areas.

Weir River Farm’s trails connect to those in the Whitney & Thayer Woods Reservation, which in turn connect to Wompatuck State Park and Hingham’s Triphammer Conservation Area. These parcels comprise the largest contiguous tract of open space on the South Shore, totaling close to 5,000 acres.

The barnyard is . . . well, a good old-fashioned barnyard. The restored barn and adjacent pens are home to a small number of horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens -- and a llama. Throughout the late spring and summer (beginning May 2), Weir River Farm offers Open Barnyard every Saturday from 10-2, where visitors can meet the animals and learn more about how they are cared for (free for TTOR members, $3 for non-members).

In season, Weir River Farm sells the all-natural eggs, beef and pork produced there. This year they plan to offer homegrown cut flowers and pumpkins as well.

Also, on Wednesdays from 10-11 beginning June 3, there is an Outdoor Story Hour. Other programs for adults and children, including the Farm Hands Camp for ages 5-12, are available throughout the year. Call 781-740-7233 for more information.

How To Get There: From Route 228 near the Hingham Town Library, turn onto Leavitt Street. Follow Leavitt for 0.6 miles, then bear left onto Turkey Hill Lane, and follow it to a dead end. There are two small parking areas.

By Kezia Bacon-Bernstein, Correspondent
April 2009

Kezia Bacon-Bernstein's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 13 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com.