Driving around Harvard it is not uncommon to see gardens and signs proclaiming “eggs for sale” or “honey for sale.” Besides the larger businesses such as Carlson Orchards, Doe Orchards, and Willard’s farm, households in Harvard raise a panoply of crops from apples to asparagus, rhubarb to raspberries, as well as animals from sheep to peacocks. These backyard botanists raise plants and animals in addition to their other jobs either for income or as a hobby, to provide their families with food, and also for the satisfaction.
Phil and Beth Wilson of Still River Road have 16 acres planted with all-organic gardens. They sell honey and grow perennials, flowers, herbs, and colonial crops to supplement their software business. They sell stone containers called English troughs, in addition to rustic urns containing perennials for gifts, by appointment.
“We have a historical focus, in keeping with our house,” says Wilson. Although it is a hobby, the couple is “trying to grow that hobby into something that is commercial.”
Linda Hoffman owns the 25-acre Old Frog Pond Farm on Eldridge Road. Old Frog Pond Farm sells eggs and offers certified organic pick-your-own raspberries and apples. Hoffman is primarily a sculptor working with old agricultural tools, so she has long been concerned “about the disappearance of farmland in New England.” She is also an editor for Wild Apples (named for the Henry David Thoreau essay), a journal of nature, art, and inquiry.
“You wouldn’t raise organic apples if you were dependent on the income,” said Hoffman, later remarking, “It’s just been wonderful...difficult but beautiful.”
Dave and Pam Durrant raise animals, grow their own vegetables, and sell eggs on the nine-acre Micheldever Farm on East Bare Hill Road, in addition to their fulltime jobs running Durrant Design. When asked in a recent interview why they farm, Pam Durrant laughed and said, “Since we always did it.”
Dave Durrant added, “That’s how you eat.”
Farming helps them to minimize their carbon footprint and control what they eat—they grow organically, using their own compost and manure from their animals for fertilizer.
There are some tax advantages to be gleaned from farming. Massachusetts tax law Chapter 61A offers tax breaks to households with five or more acres actively devoted to agriculture, as long as they earn $500 annually in gross sales, plus additional sales for each acre over the five-acre minimum. There are penalty taxes for ceasing production or selling the land for nonagricultural purposes.
Many households grow plants and raise animals primarily for their own use.
“Our goal is mostly just to feed ourselves,” says Andy Perkins of Bolton Road.
Perkins grows fruits and vegetables organically for her family and has free-range chickens. She also used to raise pigs and cows, which provided all the meat for her family.
Joe and Deb D’Eramo of Warren Avenue also have a large backyard garden, in raised beds due to the poor soil. Last year they raised enough butternut squash to store through the winter; they ate the last one in May.
“That’s very satisfying to know that we grew it and it tastes great,” says Joe.
Bonnie Chandler of Prospect Hill Road raises goats, sheep, and chickens for her own use.
“I’ve been in Harvard 15 years and got my first farm animals when I moved here,” she says. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do my whole life.”
She milks her goats, gets her lambs butchered locally, tries to sell wool, and also sells goat kids. Although she tends her animals full-time at the moment, she does not break even.
“I find them fascinating and a lot of fun,” Chandler explains.“It’s a money-losing hobby, but it takes all my time.”