PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE TAKING A FEW YEARS TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE AT HARVEST HILL FARM. OUR CURRENT PRODUCTS ARE VERY LIMITED BUT PLEASE KEEP US BOOKMARKED!
DURING THIS TIME WE WILL NOT BE RUNNING THE FARMSTAND AT DOGWOOD BREAD COMPANY, BUT YOU CAN USUALLY FIND OUR SOAP AND LIP BALMS THERE!
We are a 27-acre Adirondack family-run farm perched above the Boquet River, just a few miles west of glittering Lake Champlain. We produce vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, meat, seed garlic, poultry, honey, soap and lip balm. We call our approach homegrown because it aptly describes our intimate scale and deep reverence for the relationships between our diverse garden, animals, landscape, local economy, and community.
We engage in holistic design to maximize the efficiency of our farm, utilizing methods such as cover cropping, intercropping, and rotational grazing to build resilient soils. Our chickens and pigs fertilize the fields as well as manage forage quality. This integrated approach toward building organic matter in our soils is our strategy for coping with the inherently volatile conditions of our environment, such as drought, disease, and nutrient leaching. We pride ourselves in growing premium products that enhance both the health of our farm and your family.
We see the farm as contributing to our local landscape by furthering the diversity of local product offerings. Our end vision is to bring organic fruit to our community within the Adirondacks. While we plan and finance the upfront costs of buying trees, canes, and bushes, we seek out market niches that allow us to maintain our small scale and capitalize on our specialized infrastructure through crops such as sweet potatoes, flowers, ginger, and season extended greens. Oftentimes, this means partnering within our vast web of other local farms and entrepreneurs.
We market our produce, flowers, soap, lip balm, honey and fruit through the farm stand. If you're a gardener, homesteader, or small farmer, visit our Seed Garlic page to reserve seed for fall planting.
OUR HISTORY
You may recognize the Harvest Hill Farm name from farmers' markets in years past: the bountiful bouquets, ruby heirloom tomatoes, and delectable head lettuce. Michael and Laurie Davis started the farm in 1996, choosing the fertile soils and high peaks of the Adirondacks in which to raise their three young sons. They ran a market garden and small CSA providing all-natural produce to Essex County for many years.
A lucky few remember buying produce at the on-farm stand one summer from young teenage farmers Liam Davis, their middle son, and his friend Luke Barns.
Eight years later, Liam and his then partner Jenny Linger ventured across the country on a five-month tour of more than fifty small farms and returned home to the Adirondacks in early 2014 to rekindle the farm business with a pocketful of ideas and a well of energy.
After an exuberant farming year in 2015 and exploring creative outlets, agricultural and otherwise, Liam and Jenny are now following separate paths, but their dreams and inspirations still infuse the character of the farm. Michael and Laurie are currently focused on setting up critical infrastructure before plunging back into full business.
Mike started farming Harvest Hill Farm in 1993 with Laurie and their young boys. He has directed Cornell's Willsboro Research Farm and Chazy Farm for almost two decades, conducting research into season extension, organic grain, and biofuel production. Mike has been thinking about, researching, and developing ideas in small farm sustainability and alternative systems for years. Aside from directing the garlic seed enterprise with his father, Ham Davis, he grows all things veggies, regularly does the farm chores, keeping the creatures alive and happy, and provides ample physical and moral support on large projects and harvests. He is an avid runner, outdoor enthusiast, and our resident bee whisperer.
Laurie works for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County and spent years as the acting director of Adirondack Harvest, an organization supporting local farmers and connecting them to their community and regional markets. On the farm, she lovingly crafts our soaps & lip balms, serves as our financial and organizational guru, cares for the winged creatures and is our acting flower goddess and bee aficionado. She is also top notch at fine motor skills, which makes her immaculate at knitting, hand weeding, and microscope dissection. Aiden, pictured with Laurie, was our big-hearted, rough 'em tough 'em farm dog until he passed away in March 2016.