Jeff Bennett's Blog

It was just a year ago when I posted about a fire that destroyd the venerable Verrill Family farmstand in Concord.   Verrill Farm is much more than a farm to all of us in this community so this was quite a loss.

What happened next was remarkable.  The Verrill family and their dedicated staff persevered continuing to harvest the crops in the field, setting up a temporary stand and serving Bar-B-Q on schedule the following week.  The temporary stand has been modified a few times since to accommodate the New England weather and has served all of us well.  The community also poured out their continued support of Verrill Farm donating for the building of a new stand and their continued patronage during this last year.

The Verrill story is a compelling one.  The Verrill family has operated the farm on this land since 1918.  One hundred acres are prime farmland and 100 acres are wildlife habitats, woodlands, and wetlands. The Verrill’s have worked the land diligently and also managed their land with generous foresight. In 1982, after years of planning and negotiations, about 200 acres were placed under an Agricultural Preservation Restriction, thus preventing development of this land. This long term commitment gave sharper focus to our agricultural enterprises. This is a marvelous gift that the Verrill family have bestowed upon it’s neighbors for generations to come in Concord, Sudbury and Lincoln.

Today is a new day and Verrill Farm’s new stand…actually beautiful farm retail store…has reopened.  Yesterday was ribbon cutting for the new store.  What a great day for the Verrill’s and all of the members of our community.

As I said a year ago:  Viva Verrill Farm!