Wright-Locke Farm

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My Reflections from 10 Years on the Board

October 2018

Written by By Sally Quinn (Former Board President)

September 10 was my last Wright-Locke Farm Conservancy Board meeting. My first one was the inaugural meeting of the Conservancy in the fall of 2008.  If I may take a moment to wax poetic, here are a few thoughts.  Leaving the Board is bittersweet for me.  Maybe it is hitting hard since this meeting fell two days after I watched my daughter marry her boyfriend of 11 years, a love affair that started in Ms Maserian’s art room at Winchester High School.  Or maybe I am just getting sentimental.  I am leaving the board because my term limit is up and I believe that is a good thing for the organization.  A place as vibrant as the farm profits from change in leadership.  And I am leaving the farm in extremely good hands.  Our Board and staff are committed, hard-working, and all share a love of the farm.  No problem there.

It has been a pleasure (and a fair amount of hard work) to watch the farm grow to what it is today.  I mean that.  I have enjoyed working with and meeting so many bright and energetic folks.   As lovely as the landscape is at the farm, it is the people who make it special.

I do not have to remind the board about how far we have come.  The farm is a distinctly different place from its first years when volunteers operated a pick-your-own raspberry effort from under the big tree on Ridge Street.   Due to the Life Estate granted to the Hamiltons, we only had access to the squash house and to get there we could not use the driveway.  Today we are well over a half-million dollar a year enterprise offering a full range of certified organic produce, locally sourced goodies in our farmstand, a rich panoply of youth and adult education courses, and over 70 events ranging from birthday parties, to Family Farm Nights, PTO get-togethers, Scout meetings, farm dinners, and weddings. This is managed with a staff of well under 20 (mostly seasonal), countless volunteers, and a dedicated Board.  Most noticeably absent from that list are the many, many people who just wander through, every hour of every day, all year long.  Something keeps bringing people back.  The farm possesses a magic and a serenity that humans need, more and more every year.  With the help of a very supportive community, we have created something special here and this success is due to WLF’s staff and dedicated volunteers. 

From the hard work that allowed the town to buy the farm in 2007, to the marvel of raising enough money to purchase the 12.6 acres that were up for development in 2015, the farm has been a miracle since its inception.  The many people who pitched in and made this happen deserve the thanks for that.  But it is extremely satisfying to look back upon.

So what sage advice do I leave for the farm?  Keep doing it like we do.  Maintain our open and welcoming attitude.  Every single person that comes to the farm deserves a hello and how-do-you-do.  Summer days can be hot, work in the fields and with children is hard, but we need to pull out a smile for our visitors.  That is what got us to this place. Nurture everyone who happens through. Who knows? The future leadership of the farm may be found feeding the goats some day soon

We have been smart (and perhaps lucky) enough to keep a handsome reserve as we all know that farming is tough and there are lots of things over which we have no control.  We have a board agreement that we will always hold a reserve at least equal to half of our annual budget.  For a rainy day.  Or, since we are a farm, a drought or a fire, or whatever. Hold on to that reserve, in case we need it someday.  It also helps us sleep at night.

And really, I am not leaving the farm or Winchester.  It is home. And I am certainly not leaving the Farm with any leadership issues. Lia O’Donnell, who has been Vice -President, is ably taking over the President’s role and Scott Gilmour is taking on the Vice-Presidency. These are two smart and energetic fans of the farm who care deeply about its future. So no problem there!

I might take some time to travel with my ever-patient husband, but the bees still need keeping, chores never cease, sunsets still need to be admired at the end of the day, and I love to fill in where needed.  So, you probably won’t know I left.  That works for me.  

Thank you for all the fun.  It has been a great ride.

Continue to think and dream big.  No one could have imagined where we would be today and I cannot foresee where we will be in another 10 years.  But let’s keep dreaming.  Believe there is no limit.  

Keep an eye to the budget.  Write it as well as you can and try to live within it.  Know where the money will come from.  But never be afraid to invest in something new.  Every week we think up and hear about new ideas.  Usually the good ones float to the surface and the others seem to just wither away.  Visitors, staff, volunteers, and board members all need to be listened to, because they are a source of great forward movement.  Let’s keep reaching out to all of them.

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The History of Ice Harvesting in New England

September 2018

Written by Board Member, Michelle Prior

Many of you know about our 1827 Barn and our famous Squash House, but have you ever noticed the small building off the back of the 1827 Barn? It is an old Ice House! What is an Ice House do you ask? For many of us, the whole booming business of ice harvesting has long left our memories, but this Ice House is a remnant of that time.

We have recently redone the Ice House as an exhibit so more people can learn about the history of the area and of the farm. Here is some information and to give you some background (courtesy of Michelle Prior, one of our board members).

Before the advent of freon-based refrigeration in the early 1900s, ice was the only way to keep things cool and keep food from spoiling. Ice Harvesting – the process of extracting ice from freshwater sources – was a significant business throughout the 1800s.  The commercial ice industry can trace its roots to Boston, the first natural ice business began in Boston in 1805.  In its heyday, ice was the first agricultural product of the year in New England, harvested in the heart of winter, January & February.

Specialized tools were developed to harvest 12-20inch thick ice, and the work was extremely labor intensive.  Scrapers were used to clear snow from frozen lakes and ponds and the pond ice was scored into large grids (like a checkerboard) by ice plows. Large custom-made saws were used to cut ice blocks following the outlines of the scored grid. Splitting bars or spades separated the blocks from the larger grid.  People working on the edge of the cut sections of ice then used long picks or poles to direct the ice blocks into channels cut into the pond – pushing them along like a floating assembly line. Ice blocks were then lifted into ice houses by conveyor belts powered by animals, machines or humans.  Gaffs were used to lift the blocks into place and the ice was tightly packed in rows and columns inside the ice house.

Ice Preservation and Ice Use

Ice was preserved in houses which were specifically built for the purpose of storing harvested ice.  Ice houses were double walled and tightly insulated with straw or sawdust. Small ice houses were built by private landowners and commercial ice houses could store as much as 80,000 tons of ice.  The ice itself was sold to individuals and businesses and ice harvested in the heart of winter was preserved and sold throughout the year. Ice was often wrapped in blankets before being transported for sale.

Ice from New England was sold to customers in the southern United States, in the West Indies, South America, India, China and Europe. In the 1850s the ice box was patented and ice boxes began to appear in homes in greater numbers and families would receive weekly ice deliveries.  

Ice was used primarily for preserving foods and making ice cream– it was not consumed the way it is today, to chill beverages or be blended into smoothies. Ice harvesting from natural water sources began to decline with the invention of automated ice machines and the widespread expansion of refrigeration.  However, ice harvesting is still being done in New Hampshire and Maine and the public can participate in the annual President’s Day weekend harvest at the Thompson Ice House in South Bristol, Maine.

Currently we do not of a consistent schedule for the Ice House. If you would like a tour of the Ice House Exhibit, please contact Archie McIntyre.

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A Walk Amongst the Raspberry Bushes

August 2018

Written by Community Engagement Manager, Kim Kneeland

As July whizzes by and turns into August (where is the Summer going?), one thing starts jumping to the forefront of everyone’s mind here at Wright-Locke: Raspberries! Our late-bearing crop of raspberries start emerging as little red pin-pricks that dot the bushes when seen from afar. At first there are too few to pick for market, so staff and volunteers relish in the handfull or two of this special, seasonal treat. Of course, before we know it, we will be inundated with berries and it is GO GO GO time!

But hold on! Let’s go back in time! What’s the history behind these berries? Why do we bend over backwards to cultivate, coax, and coddle this one crop? Besides the fact that organic raspberries are hard to find and we think that it’s important to offer this sought-after fruit, raspberries are a long-standing tradition at Wright-Locke and for the surrounding community. In the 1960s/70s, as the Hamiltons took over ownership of the farm property from the Lockes, they started to establish these raspberry plants. While they did not plan to do much market farming themselves, they did hope to keep the land for agricultural uses (for tax purposes or otherwise). It became a tradition every year for the Hamiltons to open up the farm fields to raspberry pickers.

Now, this is always a bit of a touchy topic around here as I have heard many different stories from folks who used to come in those years – recounting tales of shivering in their boots as they got called out for nibbling raspberries in the fields, stories about barking dogs and shotguns… Of course, many of these tales also seem to have a tinge of embellishment, perhaps from the memories of a young child (we all know how that goes). But no matter what experiences everyone seemed to have when visiting the farm, they all came back year after year for the raspberries, and that tradition is a fond memory for many.

Raspberries were also an important mainstay as the farm transitioned from being privately owned to its current state as a nonprofit community farm. Before the farm had any staff members, a group of dedicated volunteers and board members carried on the picking tradition each fall, bringing in a small sum for the farm to help get its feet underneath it. It’s pretty amazing looking at the pictures from this time: almost the entirety of the current vegetable and flower fields were comprised of raspberry bushes and there was still a gigantic hedgerow that blocked any view of the farm from the outside.

A single crop (raspberries) wasn’t going to be enough to sustain a multi-season farm, so slowly we started planting more veggies, hired a farmer, and that’s when the farm really started coming alive. Raspberries have continued to be a seasonal highlight, despite the fact that we have thriving farmers’ markets, a Farm Stand, and CSA shares and have expanded our produce and flower offerings greatly. The raspberries are both a nod to our past and a great way to be involved in the present farm — we love sharing the experience of picking your own fruit!

However, we’ve found a lot of difficulty in offering raspberry picking recently. With the extreme weather fluctuations these past years, plus a pest that has been gaining numbers and strength in our area, it has been hard to offer the same picking schedule as before. We are finding that our crop needs longer to ripen, and that more of the berries are being affected by pests. Instead of opening up for good for the season and offering picking hours almost every day of the week, we’ve had to scale back our picking to a couple days a week.

This is also important since the U-Pick operations are almost completely reliant on volunteer labor. With everyone’s schedules so crazy in August and September — vacations ending, school starting, and work ramping up — it can be really hard to coordinate appropriate picking hours. True to history, farmers have to be flexible and adapt to current challenges. We’re constantly trying to find the right balance of opening our fields, doing our own picking, and managing the pest pressure so that we can all still enjoy these tart and tasty treats.

If you are interested in volunteering and helping to make this Raspberry season a success, you can learn more here!

  • U-Pick Guru – Greet, orient pickers, and facilitate berry packing on our beautiful patio during late Summer and Fall
  • Raspberry Picking Squad – volunteer those picking skills and help us pick for markets, jam (and maybe a couple extra for you!)

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Investing in our Farm

June 2018

Written by Executive Director, Archie McIntyre

So what to do?  Late in 2010, a group of Board members and volunteers put our heads together and came to the realization that since we were trying to preserve a farm, we should try to do some farming.   We looked at each other and rapidly deduced that none of us had the foggiest idea how to do it.   We needed some expert help and, in early 2011, we hired Adrienne who had been farming an organic farm outside Washington, DC.  Sally started those first seedlings in her living room and, sure enough, come the second week of June, we actually had real vegetables, grown in Winchester, at the Winchester Farmers Market.  It was a small, but very proud display. 

Looking back it seems pretty simple, but it was a big step for us at the time.  It marked the first real investment in our farm.  Taking on a financial obligation, when the payout is uncertain is risky business.  But in the end, that investment has paid off.  We are now bursting with activity from early March to late November, growing and selling a full compliment of market crops. We’ve added farm-based educational programs and classes for people of all ages, and we’ve opened our doors for public and private events, providing a community venue for recreation, leisure and gathering.  This time of year, there is always something going on at the Farm.  Come up and check it out for yourself. 

It takes a lot to keep a small farm going and thriving.  When the Town purchased the Farm in 2007 and formed the Wright-Locke Farm Conservancy to run it, it’s fair to say we didn’t have much of an idea of what was in front of us.  We took over the pick-your- own raspberry field and had the use of the Squash House.  The remainder of the buildings and the farmstead as we now know it were part of a life estate held by Bertha Hamilton until she passed away in 2010.

In those first several years we tended the raspberry crop and opened the fields up to our picking public each September for about six weeks until the first frost brought the season to an end.  It was a great volunteer effort that netted the Farm about $15,000 to $20,000 per year.  But that didn’t seem enough to sustain and justify a $14,000,000 investment by the Town in this last remaining 20 acres of our farming heritage.

The farm has been “saved”.  We have a long-term lease (30 years, with a 30 year extension) from the Town and we were able to buy 12.5 acres around the Farmstead with the generous support of many in the community.  And we have been able to invest in and restore our historic buildings that form the backbone of this important resource.

Anyone who lives in an old house knows it takes a lot of upkeep.  It’s no different for us with our farmhouse, 1827 Barn, Ice House, Farm stand and Squash House.  I could give a long list of all the projects – new roofs and exterior repairs, repainting all the buildings, wiring and building alarms, new public, accessible bathrooms for our many visitors and on and on.  All told, with the generous support of our community, we have invested over $500,000 in stewarding our (town-owned) buildings.

This month marks the completion of our last major exterior restoration project: our Squash House. Thanks to Scott and other volunteers and contractors, we replaced all of our deteriorated windows (34 of them in total) with historically accurate, six-over-six double hung sashes, replaced rotten gutters, soffits and exterior clapboards and repainted the entire exterior.  All our major buildings at the Farm are on the National Register of Historic Places and subject to a State Preservation Agreement so everything we do to the exterior has to be historically appropriate and subject to reviews and approval by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.  It adds a degree of difficulty and expense, but in the long run, it’s worth the extra care and attention to detail knowing that we’ve taken care of the buildings and set them, and the farm, up for a bright future. 

Now all of our historic buildings have been restored, we look forward to our next projects.  There’s always something on the horizon that needs our attention.  Top on the list is displaying some of our many historic farm implements, wagons and tools so that our visitors can properly appreciate them.  We are working on a display of our ice harvesting tools in our Ice House that’s tucked just to the north of our 1827 Barn.  One big project is to move one of our three horse-drawn Ice Sleds from below the 1827 Barn up to the Barn’s second floor loft where it can been seen by all the people who come through the Barn.  It’s a lot easier said than done to move a 1,000 lb. sled.  We’re lucky to have Charlie Silva, one of the members of the This Old House crew, to help us move and lift the sled with one of his telescoping lifts that can maneuver this unwieldy, heavy artifact.  Charlie says he needs to block off a full day for the work, making sure there’s enough time should unanticipated difficulties arise.  Checking with Amy, our Events Coordinator, and Erika, our Education Coordinator, it turns out that we have only one full day when the barn is not otherwise occupied with activity between now and mid-October.  Fingers crossed that one day works for Charlie’s schedule.

Yes, the Farm has become a busy place with lots of activities going on.  Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on plans for a new, year-round Education Center which will help alleviate some of this pressure by providing a full 12-month calendar for all the things going on and an additional venue at the farm for our many activities. 

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A Closer Look at Animals on the Farm (Part Four): Goats

May 2018

Written by Education Director, Erika Gorgenyi, and long-time volunteer, Jane Hammer

To round out our series of animals on the farm, last but certainly not least are the goats. Many have made it a routine to visit them, bringing food scraps and watching with a smile as they consume nearly everything in sight. Goats are whimsical and “capricious.” Despite the debate over the etymology of that word, it seems to describe goats quite aptly. Goats belong to a genus of mammals known as capra and the word capricious refers to someone or something that is impulsive or unpredictable, subject to change on a whim. If you’ve been around goats long enough, you’d notice this to be a hallmark of their behavior!

However, goats can also be quite smart and very affectionate, prone to bonding with people much like dogs. Humans partnering with domestic goats goes deep into our evolution, at least 100 centuries! From the early part of the Neolithic Age, when people began cultivating land for crops, they began tending herds of goats in the regions of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Perhaps that’s why they are such a draw people of all ages to the farm: they speak to a deep part of being human that is relatively dormant in our society.

Goats are “ruminants” and as such, have four chambers of their stomachs to digest dense, fibrous material by fermenting it in their gut.  Other ruminants like sheep and cows are called “grazers,” preferring to eat grasses, while goats are known to be “browsers” who choose shrubs, trees, bushes, vines first but will also eat grasses when available. Part of the digestion process includes sending partially digested and fermented food (called cud) back into the mouth for another round of chewing in an effort to break the material down even further and extract more nutrients as it goes on to the next stage of digestion. This is why you might often see the goats chewing when they are laying down and not eating.

Male goats are called bucks or billies, females are called does or nannies and young, baby goats are called kids.  Male goats who have been castrated are called wethers.  At Wright-Locke farm, we have four wethers and three does. All goats, both male and female, have horns. At a very young age, before their horns have developed, many goats are “disbudded” (a procedure to prevent horn growth) so that they will be less likely to harm themselves, one another or their caretakers.  It is thought that horns are mainly for protection in the wild, so on the farm they are often seen as not necessary. You will notice that some of our goats have been disbudded and others have not.

Our goats are vital, working team members here on the farm. Goats are natural landscapers: their strong inclination to browse helps us prune trees and shrubs, mow grasses, and trim back overgrowth of vines and brush. Carefully managed, browsing goats can nurture diversity and abundant growth of beneficial trees, plants and grasses including those that are good for goats to eat!  As they exercise their bodies and natural instincts and consume such a varied diet, the goats keep themselves healthy and happy. In this way, the goats help us to maintain a forested landscape that is healthy, diverse and enjoyable for all.

Goats are fun to visit and feed–with care.  It is true that goats are very curious and will try to nibble on almost everything, even things they should not eat like your hair, clothing, and more. We’re happy to be able to “share” our goats with the public and just ask that you follow a few important guidelines when visiting.

Please do NOT give them:

  • starchy foods like bread and pasta which can disrupt their gut balance
  • NO trimmings from a chemically-treated landscape
  • Rhododendrons and other members of the Azalea family can make goats very sick
  • wilted leaves from Cherry and other stone fruit trees can be toxic to goats
  • also, Holly, Lilacs, Lily of the Valley, Yew, Milkweed, Rhubarb leaves and Red Maple should not be fed to the goats
  • be careful with plastic bags, which can accidentally blow into their pen during feeding
  • refrain from picking growing farm crops or nearby grasses and plants to feed them.

DO feed them fruits, veggies, acorns, and woody/leafy trimmings from your yard (if you don’t use chemicals). Weeping Willow is a nice treat for goats and actually aids in their digestion.

Finally, we see our keeping of goats, and all of our other non-human friends on the farm, as a way to exemplify respect for living things and humane treatment of animals.  As we care for the goats properly and allow their “goaty-ness” to thrive, be honored and put to good work, the farm seeks to offer the community a clear view of what “humanely raised” look like. In this way, our animals on the farm help us to take a step towards healing the connections among humans, our food, and the vibrant, fertile, biodiverse natural heritage that is our responsibility and privilege to regenerate.