Tour A Fantastic Farm In Cheshire County Sept. 10

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org, InDepth NH

WALPOLE, NH — There is an upcoming opportunity to tour an exemplary farm and learn about the ways of land stewardship in the Cheshire County area.

It is coming up as part of the Summer Farm Tour Series by The Cheshire County Conservation District. Dog Days Farm will be explored on Sept. 10 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The farm is located at 72 Jaffrey Rd., Fitzwilliam.

It is a diversified vegetable and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm.

In a telephone interview, Thursday, Benee Hershon, district manager for the Cheshire County Conservation District, said the gathering is open to anyone who wants to learn about farming and the resources available for those who would like to learn.

It is part of a summer series that promotes the conservation and responsible use of natural and agricultural resources for the Southwest region of the state.

Earlier this month, on Aug. 12, the tour visited Lee's Bees in Walpole.

The Conservation District helps the people of Cheshire County by providing technical, financial, and educational assistance for efforts to support wise use of the land.

"Our goal is to encourage the stewardship of healthy soils, productive ecologically sound farms, diverse wildlife, productive sustainable forests, healthy watersheds, and clean water to ensure those resources are available for future generations," according to a news release.

Cheshire County has some of the state's most valuable farmland.

In Helenette Silver's "A History of New Hampshire Game and Furbearers" in 1957, she references the first residents of the area with native Americans who mostly hunted the land but then supplemented their meat and fish with planting corn, squash, beans in the fertile valleys of the Connecticut River and notes C. E. Potter's 1856 account that the area was farmed by the Squakhegs, Naticooks or Souhegans, the Namoskegs and the Pennacook tribes.

The first European settlers to the region appeared in the 1730s, according to the Historical Society of Cheshire County "In the Pasture - 300 years of Agriculture in Cheshire County."

The settlers cleared the land of trees and created subsistence farms, raising poultry, sheep, tobacco and dairy in the 18th century. When roads were developed, these farmers realized they had a commercial crop.

John Brooks of Stoddard in the 1830s traveled to the markets of the Northeast with his neighbors' produce who paid him to take their excesses to be sold. He was among the first truckers of the state.

The region's soil has a rich farming history and was part of the "Golden Age" of sheep farming which lasted for 50 years after the War of 1812.

Today, Hershon said there are still farms thought to be declining in number in the state, including Cheshire County.

Established in 1945, the Conservation District operates out of Walpole.

"...we work alongside the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and other conservation partners." For more information contact info@cheshireconservation.org or 603-904-3011.

These tours are made possible through grant programs such as the NH Conservation Districts Climate Resilience Grant and the Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund.

The Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund's mission is to support local farmers in increasing sustainable food production for wholesale markets to contribute to a thriving local farm economy.

Since starting in 2017, the MFC Farm Fund has awarded over $225,066 in grants to 28 local farms used to buy needed equipment and other purposes. Although this year's applications are now closed, people can still give to the fund when they roundup their purchase at the Co-op, Hershon said.

The mission of the Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund is to bolster local farmers' efforts to expand sustainable food production for wholesale markets.

Annually, farmers may apply for grants ranging from $500 to $20,000. Funds can be used to support a range of projects, including the purchase of equipment and infrastructure, farmland conservation, packaging and labeling design needs, and technical assistance.

Eligible applicants include farms in Cheshire County and abutting NH towns. If applying for Emergency Relief, the eligibility has been expanded to also include agricultural producers in NH and VT that have an established vendor relationship with the Monadnock Food Co-op.

Past recipients & their projects include Lee's Bees (Walpole) a honey, beeswax, and bee pollen producer; Monadnock Berries (Troy), a second generation fruit farm that produces blueberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, and cut flowers; Nubi River Farm (Peterborough)

Elsbeth Pendleton-Wheeler and Jasen Woodworth at Nubi River Farm, a diversified farm, produce vegetables, cut flowers, pastured chickens and eggs; Abenaki Springs Farm (Walpole), is a certified organic vegetable production farm; and Archway Farm (Keene) is a local meat producer, among others.

For more information, reach out to Nina Halsted: nina@cheshireconservation.org or (802) 400-3660.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.