Barberry Hill Farm
Kelly Goddard, Luna Kressin, Aaron McMullen, Mel Fellows
Fall 2023
Connecticut
The Farm
Barberry Hill Farm is a family farm established in 1909. We grow cut flowers, fruits, and vegetables, specializing in varieties of heirloom tomatoes and hard to find vegetables. We practice sustainable growing techniques using leaf mulch and do not use pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
The Project Funded
The project that Barberry Hill Farm will tackle is the exponential growth of field bindweed on our property. This invasive weed has caused increased loss of crops as well as increased employee hours, causing severe hindrance of our growth and production. Over the last 15 years, bindweed has shown exponential growth during growing seasons, and in order to preserve our land, as well as others who are experiencing this problem, we believe on-farm research is necessary. Our experiment outlines eight plots, each utilizing different methods of field bindweed management. We plan to use different cover crops, field plastics, and shade crops in our research to find the most efficient way to combat bindweed growth on our organic farm. Support from our community and other local farmers is of the utmost importance to us as a local and family owned farm. We plan on sharing our research design and data with them through our website, social media, as well as through field days on the farm. We hope that you at For Farmer see this project as important. Thank you for the opportunity.
