What would the Champlain Valley be without small family farms? Locally-produced vegetables, meats and cheeses, roadside farm stands, and farmer’s markets are essential to our daily lives and unique sense of place in the communities along Lake Champlain.
Unfortunately, high land prices and development pressure often make it difficult for many local farmers to stay on the land and nearly impossible for new farmers to obtain access to productive farmland. Thankfully, conserving land can lower the capital costs of owning land. Our partners at the Open Space Institute (OSI) employed such tools in Essex County, New York to give new farmers a chance to grow their businesses on conserved farmland.
The Lake Champlain Land Trust is grateful to be partnering with OSI and these talented farmers as we work toward our shared goal of protecting the Champlain Valley’s historic farms, working forests, scenic open space, and local sources of fresh food.
North Country Creamery at Clover Mead Farm
Perched high above Port Douglas in Keeseville, NY, this fertile land has been in continuous agricultural production for over two hundred years. Today, farmers Ashlee Kleinhammer and Steven Googin make farmstead cheeses and yogurt from the milk of their grass-fed cows.
The conservation easement, now held by the Lake Champlain Land Trust, protects the scenic beauty of the farm fields, as well as over 40 acres of woodland providing valuable wildlife habitat. Visitors to the farm’s popular Clover Mead Cafe and Farm Store can pick up North Country Creamery cheeses and yogurt year-round. The Cafe serves sandwiches, baked goods, and coffee during the warmer months.
Mace Chasm Farm
The 126-acre Mace Chasm Farm lies along scenic Mace Chasm Road in Keeseville, NY, just a half-mile west of the Trembleau Mountain Tract (which was conserved in 2017 by OSI and the Lake Champlain Land Trust).
Farmers Courtney Grimes-Sutton and Asa Thomas-Train run a diversified, rotational grazing livestock operation, featuring Devon Cattle, Katahdin Sheep, heritage breed pigs, turkeys, and chickens. Visitors can purchase specialty sausages, smoked meats, and a variety of fresh cuts at the farm’s butcher shop.
The property contains nearly 40 acres of USDA-designated prime farmland, as well as a small tributary of Mud Brook, which flows into the Ausable River. The Lake Champlain Land Trust will now steward the Open Space Institute’s conservation easement.
Reber Rock Farm
Located in Essex, New York, this 88-acre diversified farm produces pasture-raised meats, grains, vegetables, fruits, jams, and maple syrup. A partnership between farmers Racey and Nathan Henderson, Gwen Jamison, and Chad Vogel, Reber Rock Farm is known throughout the Champlain Valley for its horse-drawn winter logging operation.
The property includes 25 acres of mature forests, as well as two streams that feed the North Branch of the Boquet River. The conservation easement, which the Lake Champlain Land Trust will take over from OSI, protects the property’s ecological, agricultural, and scenic values. Visitors can stop by Reber Rock’s self-service farm store year-round for local goods and products.
Echo Farm
Nestled in a scenic valley between Sprig and Whipple Mountains, Echo Farm is a 173-acre small-scale diversified operation producing fresh organic vegetables, meat, and flowers. Farmer Dillon Klepetar and his team harvest seasonal food for weddings and other special events as part of their innovative farm-to-table catering company.
At Echo Farm, land stewardship takes center stage, and sustainable practices are used to ensure the land can sustain future generations of humans and wildlife.
The conservation easement, now held by the Lake Champlain Land Trust, protects the scenic beauty of the farm fields, as well as over 140 acres of woodland and an undisturbed stretch of Crooked Brook. Situated within a critical wildlife movement corridor linking Split Rock Mountain (conserved by the Lake Champlain Land Trust and partners in 1993) to the Adirondack High Peaks, the property’s woodlands also serve as a haven for local wildlife.
Understory Farm
Perched high above the Boquet River, this 127-acre property is mostly wooded, with small areas of open agricultural land surrounded by mature upland forests. Farmers Travis Gigous and Nina Mirabile raise chickens and ducks and grow rice in a man-made rice paddy.
Another key linkage within the northern route of the Split Rock Wildway, the woodlands are rich with streams, rolling hills, and patches of mossy rock outcroppings. The Lake Champlain Land Trust will now take over the stewardship responsibilities of the conservation easement.
Severance Farm
This scenic 157-acre farm, now under a conservation easement held by the Lake Champlain Land Trust, includes a mix of agricultural land, wetlands, and woodlands. Situated just outside the idyllic lakeshore Village of Westport, the property is a protected buffer for a portion of Hammond Brook, which drains directly into Lake Champlain.
Owned and operated by the Severance Family, the farm produces hay and provides pasture for livestock. Motorists driving up Stevenson Road from the Village of Westport can enjoy dramatic views across the farm’s rolling fields to the Adirondack Foothills.
