Visit the Trust’s Protected Farms
Four of the Connecticut Farmland Trust’s protected farms have farm stands open to the public, offering everything from summer produce to fresh raw milk to Christmas trees. Two additional farms are open to the public for walking and nature viewing. We encourage you to visit!
Cold Spring Brook Farm, Berlin & Rocky Hill
41 acres preserved in 2004
Tom Nielson and Steve Bengtson, cousins and owners of Cold Spring Brook Farm, worried about the impact of encroaching development on the future of their farm, which is located just off the Berlin Turnpike, a major commercial thoroughfare. They ultimately offered to sell the Trust an agricultural conservation easement on their farm at a steep discount. Funding from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program supported this purchase. Purchased by Tom’s family in 1910, the farm includes the oldest house in Berlin. Tom and Steve run a seasonal farm stand with an appealing selection of annuals and perennials in the spring and a wide variety of vegetables through the summer. All of the plants, hanging baskets, and produce are grown on the farm. The farm stand is located at 979 Deming Road and is open 7 days a week from mid-April to mid-September. (860) 666-0026.
Humphrey Evergreen Farms, Hamden
19 acres preserved in 2004 and 2005
Humphrey Evergreen Farms is a 19-acre evergreen and nursery stock farm that thrives in the midst of dense residential development. The farm borders the state government’s Agricultural Experiment Station’s 75-acre research farm and lies near the “head” of Sleeping Giant State Park. Owners Dick and Sally Jaynes operate a “cut-your-own” Christmas tree business with a wide variety of firs, spruces, and pines, and also grow nursery stock for their business, Broken Arrow Nursery. The Christmas tree farm, located at 680 Evergreen Avenue in Hamden, is open 7 days a week from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and Broken Arrow Nursery, located at 13 Broken Arrow Road in Hamden, is open through most of the year. 203-288-1026 or www.brokenarrownursery.com.
Phillips Farm, Southbury
20 acres preserved in 2004
Lovdal Farm, Southbury
38 acres preserved in 2005
Working in concert with the Trust for Public Land and the Southbury Land Trust, the Connecticut Farmland Trust accepted an agricultural conservation easement on 20 acres of prime farmland on the historic Phillips Farm to facilitate its protection. This protected farmland is part of the 97-acre Phillips Farm Preserve, which is owned and managed by Southbury Land Trust. The farmland is under lease to a local farm family and supports hay, corn, and beehives for their honey business.
The Southbury Land Trust purchased an adjacent 50-acre farm from the neighboring Lovdal family and transferred an agricultural conservation easement on a portion of that farmland (with some public access) to Connecticut Farmland Trust in 2005.
The Phillips Farm Preserve and neighboring Lovdal Farm are located on Sanford Road off Jeremy Swamp Road. They’re open year round to the public for walking and nature viewing from dawn to dusk – parking is available on the Phillips property. For more information, contact the Southbury Land Trust at 203-264-4441 or www.southburylandtrust.org.
Scaglia Fruit Farm, South Glastonbury
17 acres preserved in 2002
In December 2002, Elsie Scaglia granted the Trust its first agricultural conservation easement to permanently preserve her family’s orchard and berry farm. The farm sits on a ridge overlooking the Connecticut River with magnificent panoramic views of Hartford’s skyline. The farm is now operated by Belltown Hill Orchards. Belltown runs a seasonal “pick-your-own” operation – berries, tree fruits, tomatoes, and pumpkins – from mid-June through October, as well as a farm market, open throughout most of the year. Call ahead to find out what’s in season, then drop by 483 Matson Hill Road. 860-633-2789 or www.belltownhillorchards.com.
Stone Wall Dairy, Cornwall Bridge
20 acres preserved in 2007
Stone Wall Dairy has been farmed for the past 150 years and is now the first farm that dairyman Chris Hopkins has owned. With a high concentration of prime farmland soils and its role as a local agricultural resource, the Trust was proud to help this dairy operation remain a viable business – in fact, it’s the largest active dairy in Cornwall. Tucked into a small valley on the Cornwall-Kent town line, Stone Wall Dairy lies just across the Housatonic River from a stretch of the Appalachian Trail. With its white clapboard farmhouse, old red barns, and tree-lined pastures, the picturesque farm is known as the southern “gateway to Cornwall.” The farm’s 20 milking Jersey cows produce raw milk, sold in local stores and at the farm’s on-site farm stand. Drop by the farm store year-round, 332 Kent Road (Route 7) in Cornwall Bridge. 860-672-0261.
The Trust has also protected seven working farms that are not open to the public including the Barnes Farm in New Hartford, Random Farm in Ashford, Hollow Brook Farm in North Canaan, On the Hill Farm in Salem, Osuch Farm in Watertown & Bethlehem, Stoney Hedge Farm in Lebanon, and Grassy Hill Farm in Falls Village.