Seacoast Eat Local

As you head north on Route 4 into North Berwick, there’s a point in the road where you find yourself along a ridge. The view from the road opens up and is enough to make one stop, pullover and take in the landscape. These pastoral lands are the subject of a recently launched campaign by Great Works Regional Land Trust to help conserve Deb-Tone Farm:

Great Works is excited to announce that the permanent protection of another local farm is underway. Most of you know Deb-Tone Farm, even if the name doesn’t elicit an immediate image. Nestled at the top of Cabbage Hill on Route 4 in North Berwick, Deb-Tone Farm has been home since 1954 to Marion & Kenney Goodwin and their prize-winning “Milking Shorthorns.”

This 20-acre farm represents a ‘keystone’ piece in the 500+ acre complex of fields that is Cabbage Hill and is part of our strategic plan to protect our regions’ working landscapes. This fact coupled with the predominance of agriculturally significant soils on the property made the conservation of Deb-Tone Farm eligible for partial (50%) funding from the Federal Farm & Ranchland Protection Program.

Now we begin the exciting work of mobilizing our community to raise the remaining 50% of the funds necessary to purchase a conservation easement on Deb-Tone Farm. The first step toward raising the local match ($115K) needed to make this a reality began on  April 10th, when the citizens of North Berwick voted to allocate $40K from their Open Space Fund to this project. 

On Saturday, June 6, 2010, Tufts University, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, will be having a free Farm Day to kick off the summer Livestock Field School series. Farm Day will begin at 9:00 a.m. and run until 3:30 p.m.

Farm Day will have something for everyone, from experienced livestock producers to those trying to figure out if raising livestock is right for them, to folks with a few backyard animals. Hands-on educational workshops will be running throughout the day, including species-specific overviews for raising cattle, sheep, goats, swine, or poultry; how to grade and process eggs; a livestock quality judging demonstration; and a workshop on incorporating alternative energy practices on your farm. Feed and equipment vendors will be available throughout the day to field your questions, and you will have the opportunity to network with farmers of all levels of expertise. And did we mention it’s free? Well, all except for the pig roast lunch – but we hear that’s well worth the money and features a Tufts-raised, local and delicious pig!

Farm Day will be held at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA, by the farm office on Nickerson Lane. To RSVP or with questions contact Sam Anderson, sanderson@comteam.org or  978-654-6745. Please RSVP in advance. If you will be buying a lunch the cost is $10, payable at the event.To learn more about Farm Day visit http://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/resources/farmdayschool.html.To learn about the Livestock Field School series visithttp://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/resources/livestockschool.html.